Embedded in the quiet calm of the Advent season is John the Baptist’s call to repentance: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is drawing near.
We often misread the word repentance: either we dismiss it as too harsh, or we don’t take it quite seriously enough.
The word repent can call to mind cartoonish images of prophets who we might think are asking us to only see ourselves as unworthy sinners. It’s a very judgmental image of God — and God’s messengers, the prophets — that long ago took root in our collective psyches as part of a religion that was, far too often, shame-based.
The word repent is drawn from the Greek word that means to turn, to change one’s mind. It has a deeply spiritual, and quite frankly generative, meaning: the message of Advent is not of turning from being “bad” to being “good” but rather to turn one’s heart and mind from living at the surface of life towards something more alive, from our false selves to our true selves, from unconsciousness to consciousness.
That isn’t just an Advent message. It’s the whole story of our faith.
Yet the word repent also has a powerful prophetic resonance: when we, as individuals and as a community have embraced sin and selfishness, we must humbly and courageously turn away from injustice and privilege toward lives that reflect the image of the Beloved Community.
John the Baptist tells us: Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Our lives, not our lineage, tell the story of who we are. When we repent, we are not doing so because we’re punishing ourselves to make God happy; we repent to claim our birthright as children of God.
We must repent, then, of the evil ways that in our culture and world have become normative. We must repent of the sins of racism and inequity. We must repent of the greed that turns our living, beating hearts into sclerotic tissue. We must repent of a xenophobia and casual lust for violence that rips vulnerable immigrant families apart. We must repent of our tendency to deny the image of God in our neighbors and our adversaries.
Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven has come near. Repent is a word that we can take too seriously, if we mistake it as something that’s code for judgement and shame. Or, if we don’t take it seriously enough, for John’s call to repentance is an invitation to confession and accountability…and ultimately, to real and lasting change.
In both ways, repentance is a grace-filled call to heal our hearts. The kingdom of heaven has come near: may we respond with humility and hope.
