True Repentance
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
57 Stories For Cycle C
"Today we're going to talk about Lent," Tanya announced at the beginning of the adult class she had been teaching for more than 20 years. "It dawned on me the other day that in all the years I've been teaching this class we've never talked about Lent." The class members seemed to agree and Tanya Washington began her Lenten discussions by giving the class members some background on the history of Lent. Then she asked her class how they thought about Lent.
"Mostly I think of Lent as a time to give up something, make some kind of sacrifice," said Jawan Black. "I've just about run out of things to give up on though. Don't know what I'll give up this year."
Shamal Pippen saw Lent from a different angle. "I think Lent is about repentance," he said. "It's a time to rethink your life before God and dedicate yourself anew to be about the will of God. I know I can do better with my life. Lent's good for me that way. It gets me into thinking about what I can do to better myself in the eyes of God and in the eyes of others."
"How do the rest of you feel about that?" Tanya Washington asked.
"I think Shamal's got it about right," replied another member. "Lent is about repentance all right. I know I can do a lot better with my life, too."
"What is true repentance?" Ms. Washington asked of them all.
"It's feeling sorry for your sins," said one. "It's feeling sorry for your sins plus a vow of improvement. I can do better. That's the heart of repentance."
As the class discussed the matter of true repentance they came to general agreement. Repentance consists of at least two acts. First, it's feeling sorry for what you've done wrong. Second, it's a promise that you can and will do better in the future.
Tanya Washington let the class mull over their consensus for a few moments. Then she announced rather sternly, "Well, I for one disagree totally with this kind of thinking about repentance. I've been repenting like that all of my life but it never seems to do me any good. I don't think it's done all of you much good either. Here we all say that each year in Lent we feel sorry for our sins and promise that we can and will do better but who does any better? I don't, for one.
"It seems to me that my promises are just like so much straw in the wind. I say I can and will do better but I don't. That's made me think about this repentance business in a new way. What's the point of promising we can do better all the time when we don't do it anyway? This year I decided that I'm not going to promise that I can do better. This year I'm going to confess to God that I can't do any better. I've said, 'I can,' for years but I don't. So why not just tell God, 'I can't.' I can't do better Lord. That's why I come to you. I don't have the power to remake myself but you have the power to remake me as a new person.
"This year in Lent I'm just going to say to God, 'I can't.' I'm going to ask God to do for me what I can't do for myself. I think that's what true repentance is all about. To 'return the Lord with all your heart,' means to turn away from running my life under my own power and offering my life to the power of God."
"Mostly I think of Lent as a time to give up something, make some kind of sacrifice," said Jawan Black. "I've just about run out of things to give up on though. Don't know what I'll give up this year."
Shamal Pippen saw Lent from a different angle. "I think Lent is about repentance," he said. "It's a time to rethink your life before God and dedicate yourself anew to be about the will of God. I know I can do better with my life. Lent's good for me that way. It gets me into thinking about what I can do to better myself in the eyes of God and in the eyes of others."
"How do the rest of you feel about that?" Tanya Washington asked.
"I think Shamal's got it about right," replied another member. "Lent is about repentance all right. I know I can do a lot better with my life, too."
"What is true repentance?" Ms. Washington asked of them all.
"It's feeling sorry for your sins," said one. "It's feeling sorry for your sins plus a vow of improvement. I can do better. That's the heart of repentance."
As the class discussed the matter of true repentance they came to general agreement. Repentance consists of at least two acts. First, it's feeling sorry for what you've done wrong. Second, it's a promise that you can and will do better in the future.
Tanya Washington let the class mull over their consensus for a few moments. Then she announced rather sternly, "Well, I for one disagree totally with this kind of thinking about repentance. I've been repenting like that all of my life but it never seems to do me any good. I don't think it's done all of you much good either. Here we all say that each year in Lent we feel sorry for our sins and promise that we can and will do better but who does any better? I don't, for one.
"It seems to me that my promises are just like so much straw in the wind. I say I can and will do better but I don't. That's made me think about this repentance business in a new way. What's the point of promising we can do better all the time when we don't do it anyway? This year I decided that I'm not going to promise that I can do better. This year I'm going to confess to God that I can't do any better. I've said, 'I can,' for years but I don't. So why not just tell God, 'I can't.' I can't do better Lord. That's why I come to you. I don't have the power to remake myself but you have the power to remake me as a new person.
"This year in Lent I'm just going to say to God, 'I can't.' I'm going to ask God to do for me what I can't do for myself. I think that's what true repentance is all about. To 'return the Lord with all your heart,' means to turn away from running my life under my own power and offering my life to the power of God."
