Harsh Words and the Gladness of God

By Jason Comerford

What does the word repent bring to mind for you?

I’ll bet it’s not pleasant. For me, it conjures images of angry protesters with signs. Yelling preachers with pointing fingers. And this heavy, heartfelt exhaustion of yet ANOTHER thing I’ve apparently done wrong. It tires me.

It’s not a word that I naturally incline toward.

I’ve only been a Christian for 12 years, but one of the most consistent qualities of my walk with God has been His apparent love for giving me good things in unexpected, often unwanted, situations. Relationships I didn’t want now strengthen me as my closest friends. Injuries and illnesses have conveyed the tender care and kindness of our Church community. Financial difficulty has grown a steady—and happy—confidence in God as our faithful provider.

There’s a pattern to much of the Christian life: happiness seems to be found in the most counterintuitive places. The places where death, particularly death of self, dwell.

Which brings us to that unhappy word—repent.

In this Sunday’s sermon, Jeff read from Revelation 2:1-7, wherein Jesus calls the church in Ephesus to repent, or change their minds about something.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

Easy to miss in there is the powerful line “Consider how far you have fallen!” Jesus’s call is, I think, not merely about making a decision but about coming to a conclusion. Repentance is as much a coming to your senses as it is an actual decision you make.

So what is Jesus calling them to? Change their minds about what? Come to their senses about what? Consider how far they’ve fallen from what?

Himself.

More specific to this situation, they’ve lost connection with their first love, Jesus Himself. The source of all glory and goodness. The Happy, Holy God of Heaven wrapped in flesh, who gave up His life in order to save them. There’s no greater treasure to be had, and they’ve wandered off from that.

So for the Ephesians, and for all of us, that painful word “Repent!” conceals something wonderful.

It’s an invitation back into all joy with the God of Heaven.

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