Jimmy came home from church crying.  He'd just seen his baby brother baptized and something was bothering him.  "What's the matter?" asked his Daddy.  Jimmy said with tears, "The minister said we are supposed to be brought up in a Christian home, and I want to stay with you guys!"

          It's not easy having a Christian home these days.  Secular influences are everywhere.  Some lies have been repeated so often we think they're true.  Churches vacillate on truth and assimilate sin in the name of inclusion.  The idea of sin is old-fashioned, and one choice is considered just as good as another.  Martin Luther today would be hearing churches say, "Here I stand - and here, and here and over there."  Tolerance is considered the highest truth, as these "Ten Commandments For Modern America" show us:

          1. Thou shalt consider all gods the same.   2. Thou shalt not place any religious images in public places.   3. Thou shalt not take the name of thy fellow human in vain.   4. Remember the Sabbath Day for tournaments and family outings.   5. Honor thy father and thy mother so long as they agree with thee.   6. Thou shalt not kill anything except the unborn.   7. Thou shalt consider adultery and all forms of sex natural and acceptable.   8. Thou shalt not steal from the environment.   9. Thou shalt not worry about false testimony against thy neighbor.   10. Thou shalt covet anything, no matter how foolish or whether thou canst afford it.

          Speaking of sin may be considered bad for our self-esteem today, but that wasn't the case in Old Testament times.  2,600 years ago God wrote a message for all generations.  It's about an idea that has all but vanished from our mind;  it's connected to sin and it's called "repentance."  Joel wrote, "Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love."

          This prophet spoke God's Word to a people who were self-centered.  They thought the whole universe revolved around them.  God was a tool to support their lifestyle and was only good for what He could give them.  If the Hebrew God didn't help them, they tried a Canaanite god.  Pick any god you want, the one who helps you the most, and if none of them do, forget about God.  Never believe in something that holds you back, not now, not ever.  Sounds like modern man talking.

          And all this seemingly worked until disaster struck.  In Joel's case, it was a plague of locusts.  Nothing was worse in that day than billions of flying pests descending on you.  They ate the crops, the leaves, grass and flowers, even some small animals.  They were everywhere, in everything, your house, your bed, your clothes, your hair.  Locusts came one year and laid eggs for the next.  Their destruction made even the most hardened and faithless call out to God for help.

          Such a plague was considered a sign from God that the people had gone too far.  They had overstepped their limits and violated God's Laws.  Then as now, people were masters at pushing the envelope of decency and pride.  They bent rules, ran after pleasure and lived selfish lives the likes of which we know all too well today.  Prophets tried to call them to repentance, but to no avail.  God finally had to send a message no one could misread or ignore.

          Then as now, when God speaks, people had better listen.  When He's had all He can take, He will move heaven and earth - literally - to bring people to repentance.

          But what is repentance?  Most people, even Christians, aren't sure.  On Pentecost, Peter said, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, every one of you, for the forgiveness of sins." (Acts 2:38)   We know Jesus is our Savior, we pretty well understand baptism, and we value the forgiveness of sins.  But do we know what repentance is?  Do we know what it means for our personal life?

          Salvation is more than just forgiveness of sins.  To be saved means we are torn from the grip of Satan and brought under the rule of Christ.  Jesus, God's Son, is the ruler of all mankind, the world and the universe.  He is our Lord and Savior.

          In order to come under His lordship and to be saved, there are some things each of us must do.  (1) We must repent, which means we turn away from our sinful life and turn our hearts to God.  (2) We must receive Jesus as our Savior, the Holy One who conquered sin, death.  (3) We must be baptized, and  (4) We must receive Jesus as the Lord of our life;  and this means following Him and obeying what He says.

          Now some may be saying, "Wait!  I thought all I had to do was believe the Gospel.  You've told us God did everything, that there's nothing we can do to receive heaven - God's done it all!"  If you've said that, you're right.  God has done it all.  There is nothing we can do to receive God's grace.  Grace has come to us all in Jesus Christ.

          Yet we're not robots.  God loves us just the way we are, but He won't leave us that way.  He wants to change us, to re-make our hearts, and that means repentance.  Being saved by grace is what we call "justification."  God gave salvation to the whole world in the cross of Calvary, whether anyone believes in Him or not.

          But to receive the benefits of what He has done requires faith.  St. Paul wrote, "The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)   Each one of us must believe Jesus is our Lord.  No one can believe for anyone else.  Pastors can't believe for their parishioners.  Parents can't believe for their kids.  Kids - your Mommy and Daddy can't bring you to heaven.  You, too must believe Jesus is your own Lord.

          So there's something left that's very important -- obedience.  True faith always means obedience.  This is we call "sanctification," holy living.  Faith in Jesus means obeying Jesus.  If you say you believe in Jesus but don't want to follow what He says, you don't have real faith.  Repentance is a sincere change of heart that turns a person away from sin towards a life of obeying God.  That's what Joel is saying in today's text, "Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.  Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love."

          William Barclay in his book The Mind of Christ, puts it this way:  "There must follow a change of action to fit the change of mind.  A change of life must accompany the change of heart.  A man must bring forth fruits meet for repentance...  Repentance means a turning around and facing in the opposite direction."  Isaiah says, "Let them return to the Lord who will take pity on them, and to our God, for He will freely forgive." (Isaiah 55:7)

          In the original New Testament writings, the Greek word for repentance is "metanoia" which means "a change of mind."  In the Old Testament, Joel and other prophets use the Hebrew word, "shoob" which means "turn."  The basic idea of these two words is that of rebellious subjects coming back, returning to serve their king.  When Jesus spoke of repentance, He meant a complete turn-about of life, a change of one's whole being.  The best story Jesus told of this is the Prodigal Son.

          So what does repentance mean for us?  It means this:  If we say we believe in Jesus, we must also follow Him.  It means we need to analyze what we do in light of what Christ has said.  Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you've done anything today because He said it, or if you've abstained from a sin because He said don't do it.  It is absurd for us to say we believe if we don't do what He tells us.  That's what repentance is all about.

          A man had a foolish son who was lazy and had a big mouth.  One day after an argument, he grabbed his coat and some money, and ran away to the city where he lived with drunks and hookers.  "This is the life," he thought, and he did as he pleased until one day he was robbed, beaten and abandoned.  He had nothing and was forced to eat from cafe dumpsters.  He tried to get a job but was too dirty and no one wanted him.  After weeks of panhandling and sleeping in alleys, he thought, "I have to go back home.  I'll ask Dad's forgiveness and maybe he'll give me a job."  So he did, and his father took him back and gave him a job.  But the boy still had a bad attitude, and was constantly being rude and defiant.  Finally his father fired him and sent him back to the streets.  "You still haven't learned," he said.  "When you have, come back and we'll talk again."

          This message may sound like it's all Law, but it's not.  Jesus has done all we need for salvation.  But He's calling us all to repentance, a complete change of heart, so that the faith we have in Him may not be lost, like it was on that foolish son.  Amen

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.