*This is the eleventh installment in a series of articles that are designed to help unpack the practical implications of the We Have a Dream declaration that has been entrusted to us as a family of Friends here in Mid-America. Using Acts 2:17 as a holy compass, We Have a Dream seeks to discern and describe the specific directions that God is currently calling the people of EFC-MAYM to take so that the “dream of the gospel is lived out … in our local churches, in the communities where our churches serve, and in the family of churches called Evangelical Friends Church-Mid America Yearly Meeting.
Turn from your brokenness and turn to God, because we have really Good News …
the Kingdom of heaven is near! (cf. Mt 4:17).
re·pent \ri-ˈpent\ verb: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life; to feel regret or contrition; to change one’s mind (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repent).
A story is told of a little boy who was “prone to wander” from time to time. His parents wanted to do their best to protect him from danger, of course, so they established some very clear boundaries on how far he was allowed to roam. The next door neighbor’s yard was completely off limits, for example, due to the multiple hazards that it contained (heavy machinery, building materials and a vicious dog, just to name a few). Never, under any circumstances, was the little boy allowed to venture into this forbidden kingdom. The boundaries could not have been more clearly delineated.
For anyone who has ever been a little boy, or who has ever known a little boy, what happened next will not surprise you. You guessed it. The little boy crossed the line.
When the little boy’s parents discovered that their son was missing, they immediately gathered the entire family and sent everyone out to search for the missing child. A short time later, the boy was found, safe and sound. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he was found wandering around the “forbidden kingdom” that belonged to the next door neighbor.
When his parents asked the little boy why he had chosen to blatantly disregard their instructions and wander off into the very place that they had so clearly and repeatedly told him not go, the thoroughly embarrassed and guilt-stricken young lad offered up the following defense: “Well, I just came over here to turn around and come back.”
According to his good friend, Matthew, the first word that came out of the mouth of Jesus when he began his public ministry in Galilee following his baptism in the Jordan and temptation in the Judean wilderness was not “come,” “follow,” “believe,” or “receive.” The first word of the gospel was “repent” (Mt 4:17). This was also the first word out of the mouth of John the Baptist as he prepared the way for our Lord’s gospel message (Mt 3:2), and it was the first word out of the mouth of Peter as he invited his fellow countrymen to respond to the claims of the gospel on the Day of Pentecost (Ac 2:38).
For many of us, the word “repent” conjures up terrifying images of hellfire and brimstone or street preachers holding signs that warn us to “turn or burn.” But I don’t think that is what Jesus, John or Peter had in mind when they issued a call to repentance to their first century audience. The word they used for repentance was metanoia, a Greek term that is literally translated “change your mind.” It was a word of grace, an invitation to turn away from one’s former way of life in order to turn towards the new and living way offered through the gospel (euangelion or “good news”) of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When understood in its original context, then, one could easily argue that this call to repentance would have been received more as a message of mercy than a message of judgment. After all, Paul would remind us, it is God’s “kindness that leads us to repentance” (Rm 2:4). “He is patient with you,” Peter would add, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9).
This may help to explain why the parents of the little boy mentioned earlier chose not to be excessively harsh with their son when they found him wandering away from home. In fact, they could tell that he was visibly shaken by the entire affair and was genuinely grieved by his misbehavior. He had learned his lesson, and there was no need to rub salt in the wound. Like Dorothy, the young girl from rural Kansas, the boy quickly discovered that the grass is not always greener on the other side and, at the end of the day, “there is no place like home.”
Oh, and just in case you may be wondering how I know all of this to be true, that little boy was me.
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” – Jesus, Revelation 3:19-20
– David O. Williams, General Superintendent
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