“The reign of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.” That’s the meaning of this Lenten season. It’s simple. Or is it? The meaning of the Scriptures is never really “simple.” That’s why I expend so much time and energy in these homilies digging deeply into the meaning of the words. Over the centuries, people have tried to explain the Scriptures using contemporary ideas. In most cases, the result has been the distortion of the original message. When the meaning of the Scriptures is distorted, we become confused and frustrated, and, before long, we’re tempted to give up trying to make the Scriptures fit into our lives at all.
Take the word “repent,” for example. It’s a very “Lenten” word. What images does it bring to mind? Doing penance for our wrongs in sack cloth and ashes? Perhaps sinners falling into the hands of an angry God, as Johnathan Edwards preached? Or, maybe, the words of the “Confiteor” prayer: “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”? If that’s what you believe repentance is, what kind of Lent are you likely to have? But is that what “repentance” really means?
I’m going to give you another of my famous Greed words – and don’t forget that the New Testament as we have it today was written in Greek. If you don’t remember any other Greek word I ever give you, remember this one: metanoia. What it means literally is a change of mind and heart. Jesus’s message is profound: “Change your mind.” OK, but change our minds from what to what? He says, “Change your mind and believe the gospel.” Once again, we have a word with ambiguous meanings. In Greek, the word used here (pisteo) can mean either ‘to believe’ or ‘to trust.’ That means that we need to change our attitudes from distrust to trust. Distrust is our natural state.
What’s it like to live in distrust? What’s it like to believe that there’s no one you can rely on? What’s it like to feel like everything depends on you? What’s it like to feel overwhelmed and powerless with nowhere to turn? Is there any pain worse than feeling isolated and alone like that? Self-reliance is hell – especially if you think that this is what life will always be like.
When Jesus speaks to us in our Gospel reading today, he comes offering us a way out of hell. And his way is not hard. In fact, it’s no trouble at all. “Change your mind,” he says to us, “and trust the gospel” – the good news. So, now we have to ask, “What exactly is this ‘good news’ we’re being asked to trust?”
The good news is that the reign of God is here. This is not a vengeful, threatening God. Rather, our God is a God of promise. In his covenant with us, God promises that we are called to live, and that death has no more power over us. The good news is also that this God of promise sends us his Holy Spirit to provide us with the power we need to be able to overcome every obstacle – even death itself. There is no goodness we cannot achieve. If we are reliant on God, and no longer isolated and alone, we no longer have to feel that life is a struggle in which we’re always on the verge of overwhelm. Finally, the good news is that trust in God frees us from being at war with ourselves. The God of promise and power is not the God of consequences. There is literally nothing left to fear so long as we live in trust of God. We are no longer fighting anybody or anything.
“Repent and believe the gospel” is an invitation to examine our attitudes. In our Lenten reflections, we take a look at how we see ourselves and our world. We search out those places where the last vestiges of fear and self-reliance are hiding. Of course, we are human. That means that we’ll never be entirely rid of fear and self-reliance as long as we live. Yet, we trust that God will provide us the means to get our needs met. Everything else is a “want.” Which of our wants are masquerading as needs? Which of our fears are coming from our doubts about getting these false needs met? And which of our fears are coming from events that haven’t happened yet? How much of the anxiety we live with comes from the unrealistic expectations we impose upon ourselves or others? Is there anything God put in our lives that we find unacceptable? Are there any treasured goals we may have that we’re afraid to leave in God’s hands? And, most importantly, is there anything in our lives for which we’re not grateful?
This is the kind of Lenten reflection that today’s Gospel invites us to undertake. Once we’ve completed this self-reflection, it’s time – with God’s grace – to undertake self-correction. Correction doesn’t necessarily mean doing anything. It means changing our minds. It means letting go. It means accepting life as it is rather than how we wish it would be. It means doing everything we can, then surrendering the outcome to the will of a loving God. And it means finding gratitude for everything in our lives with the conviction that all things – that means all things – in God’s world work together for the good.
May your repentance – your change of mind and heart to trust that the reign of God is within you – be fruitful!