Repent or Die

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

Hear the old time preacher shouting:

"Repent or Die!"

It sounds harsh, doesn't it?

Let's look at where the statement originates and unpack it.

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?

I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?

I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any.

So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.
If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” - Luke 13:1-9, New International Version, ©2011

Jesus is confronted with the deaths of some people that His countrymen assumed were evil. They wanted to know if it was God’s judgment. He read the intent of their questions and replied that they were no worse sinners than the other Galileans, but cautioned the folks that unless they changed their living and thinking (repentance), they would die like the others.

Notice how he is always personalizing things, taking the onus off of the “other guy” and bringing it back to our choices.

Then He ups the ante and refers to some very fine people who had died. The question is rhetorical. Of course these did not have tragedy come into their lives because they were worse sinners than anyone else. That is not the meaning of tragedy – then or now.

Trouble comes to everyone, sometimes it just seems random.

Again, He points back to them with a life lesson – Indeed, however, lack of change (movement, repentance, elasticity in our lives) will lead to death. Here, He refers to death in the spiritual dimension whether He is referring to a last judgment or just to death for all intents and purposes in this life. In either and both cases, the loss is great to ourselves and to others who would benefit from our living. Above all, as He will indicate, the loss is greatest to god Himself.

REPENTANCE:

• R – Resiliency in the face of tragedy.
• E – Effort extended when ease is expected.
• P – Progress when it is easier to sit, wait, and let the world pass you by.
• E - Exiting the arena of negative habits and entering the realm of new possibilities.
• N – Nagging the part of ourselves that drifts into routine ruts of negative thinking.
• T – Tickling and teasing our thinking so that we are always moving to the edge.
• A – Accepting diversity and ambiguity as part of life.
• N – Noticing the changes around us as the signs that call for adjustments of our courses and the urges through which God may be speaking.
• C – Calling on God in confession and contrition for constant conversion to His image and purposes.
• E – Ever energizing ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit to be stirred, moved, disturbed and empowered to LIVE (opposite of DIE!) as people who make a difference …

OR .. we can …

DIE

We can die through …

• D – Decline. We just die a little at a time, drifting away from the source of life and vitality into a dark abyss of disconnected despair.
• I – Inactivity, irrelevance, inertia, or inward focus. These sap our lives in an endless loop of selfish hum-drum-ness.
• E – Extinction of all that makes us alive to God, ourselves, and others.

BUT – Then He tells us a parable of a farmer and a fig tree. The fig tree story reminds us that God takes no joy in our death and has not given up on us. He is extremely reluctant to do so and stalls to give us ample opportunity to find the place of repentance (life and mind change).

We can change or die, but to change is far better.

The resources are available.

The grace is free.

The power is abundant.

The choice is ours … daily.