Genuine Repentance

From Pastor Tim’s article in the 3/2/16 Weekly Update

There are many memories from my childhood that bring a smile to my face when I pause to remember them. I remember my first Major League baseball game I attended with my dad in 1973 and the typical summer routine of playing ball and going swimming. When I close my eyes I can still see the green grass and the rippling water where we would dive into the cool, refreshing water.

There’s another clear mental image I can recall from my earliest days. From the far reaches of my mind I can clearly remember observing men and women humbly repenting of sin at the altar of our church.

They were people I knew, people I respected. They were, in some cases, my Sunday School teachers or youth leaders. Couples who the previous week had sat in our kitchen enjoying cake and coffee after the Sunday evening service would be found on their knees repenting of sins that had offended a holy God. It was memorable, yet almost common.

I would sit mesmerized watching individuals sobbing, broken and contrite, pour out their hearts to God in genuine repentance over sins that had been brought to mind by Holy Spirit utilizing the pastor’s message that day or night. I grew up knowing that there were times, when as part of a healthy spiritual life, we needed to confess our failure and receive the grace of God to forgive us.

I am old now, and some of the memories of my youth are harder to collect. Like butterflies free from the captor’s net, the mental images that were once crystal clear, are fading ever so slightly. From where I’m standing now I see fewer and fewer of these bent-knee encounters with God’s grace. They may be still happening, but they aren’t happening in the public eye as much anymore.

Could it be that we are less inclined to repent with brokenness and tears than we used to be? Are we more prone to give reluctant acknowledgement to sin without honestly feeling the pain of having disobeyed God? Without keen awareness of our sin, isn’t the grace of God we love to declare actually cheapened? Like a man going 2 miles per hour over the speed limit we know we shouldn’t be doing it but we’re not losing any sleep over it.

The images are harder to see now. What was once so clear as to form an impression is now going the way of the black and white television set. One can still talk to people who remember them, but few under 40 have ever seen one. I’m grateful to have been exposed to genuine repentance and the trimmings that come with it (tears, brokenness).

When God’s people begin to repent of and confess their sins (1 John 1:9 and James 5:16) the evidence of a fresh outpouring of Holy Spirit will no doubt be a return to the public evidence of repentant people earnestly seeking God.