Loading...Sermon January 22, 2017
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Third Sunday after the Epiphany
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Matthew 4:17
Please be seated.
I love country music. I love words and country music uses words in a fun way. Apropos for today’s parlor people is the refrain from a song by Randy Atkins, “If You’re Going Through Hell:”
If you’re going through hell, keep on going
Don’t slow down ,
If you’re scared, don’t show it
You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there.
As I thought about repentance, I was reminded of another country song that makes me laugh and also really makes a point. It’s by Randy Travis and called, “Pray for the Fish.”
The song talks about the baptism of Eddie Lee Vaughn. The whole town gathered by the river to watch this baptism. Seems like Eddie Lee Vaughn had quite a reputation for being a sinful man. The town had even put bets down on whether Eddie Lee Vaughn would go through with the baptism. And if he did go through the baptism, people didn’t believe the water would change Eddie Lee Vaughn very much.
Just prior to the baptism, the preacher told the people gathered there was one thing they needed to do:
Pray for the fish
They won’t know what’s coming
When the sin starts rolling off the likes of him
Lord be with ‘em, they ain’t done nothin’
Please won’t you leave them just a little bit ‘a room to swim
Pray for the fish
Well, as Eddie Lee Vaughn was dunked in the water, he came up shouting “Hallelujah! I’m a brand new man.”
And as the words go:
Well the water got to bubbling
Sky got to rumbling
And the thunder backed up the choir
The fish started jumpin’
It was like they was swimmin’
In a lake of fire
Then Eddie’s momma stepped out of the crowd
And started yelling out loud
Pray for the fish
Eddie Lee Vaughn’s baptism was surely a sight to see. And it sounds like he had a lot for which to repent. Eddie Lee Vaughn also was a changed man.
Repent in the Greek means “change of mind” and in the New Testament was understood to stand for the Hebrew “to grieve for one’s sins.” According to the Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, repentance was the most important of all Jewish doctrines. It involved “profound sorrow for sin, restitution so far as possible, and a steadfast resolution no to commit that particular sin again.” (Matthew p. 274, 1951 edition). Repenting in this manner meant you received divine forgiveness.
Great sorrow. Making things right through returning something, changing behavior, or monetary compensation. Changing behavior so you do not commit the sin again.
In other words, when we repent, we are changed. We acknowledge the truth that harm has been done. We acknowledge the pain that has been caused to all of us through sin. We figure out a way to make restitution…to restore what has been harmed. We learn from what has happened and we live differently as a result.
Jesus knew that repentance changed us. Jesus knew that the act of repentance had the ability to restore relationships between people. Jesus knew that repentance healed brokenness within the community. Jesus knew that we’d only know him if we examined our lives and examined our communities and changed our minds and were deeply and profoundly sorry for any laws, rules, judgments, individual or corporate behaviors that caused harm.
Jesus taught us to love God and to love our neighbor. When we look at our personal lives, how are we doing? Where have we not been loving of God? Where have we not been loving of our neighbor?
What about our community life? Our life here at Nativity and St. Stephen? Are there things we do that are not loving of God or loving of our neighbors? And what about the organizations to which we belong? Or the communities where we live?
One way to repent is to build upon the many things we do that show we love God and love our neighbors. By looking at those things, we can do them more and more. It’s a way we offer restitution. It’s a way we do not commit the sin any longer.
For instance, Maria Cramer bought the sign we have outside now that welcomes our neighbors. We are a giving parish in so many ways. Through the food bank and Join Hands. Through our many special offerings during the year and many extra appeals. We come together to worship. We come together to deepen our discipleship. We come together to learn where we have done harm and how we can repent. We offer support and love to each other. And I know there are ways that each day you live your life, you demonstrate your love of God and your love of your neighbors. We can do this more and more, lessening the time and space for sin to occur.
Hopefully we aren’t like Eddie Lee Vaughn, whose sins created a lake of fire in the river for the poor fish. Hopefully we see that changing our minds and repenting for our sins gives us new life…gives us joy…and moves us nearer to the Kingdom of God.
Amen
