Unless You Repent

Most of the time, we miss the deeper invitation when God speaks plainly. Our ego gets in the way, and we miss an opportunity to grow up!

My teenager immediately took my question as an attack. Her school sends out a notice when an assignment isn’t turned in or a test has a low grade, and I got such a notice and asked her about it. She immediately went into self-defense mode and said the teacher was bad, the assignment was hard, and she didn’t understand the material.

Amazing. All it took to set this off was a simple question that was taken as an attack or an accusation.

But that’s the common default response humans have when they want to deflect responsibility. We allow our passions to defend our ego and hope that the boisterous response will stop the questions!

We don’t want to repent, usually because we wrongly think “repentance” is either an admission of weakness or an attempt to shame us.

But repentance is so very different than this shallow and childish notion.

Look at our lesson today in Luke 13:1-9:

At that time, there were some present who told Jesus of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." And he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, 'Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?' And he answered him, 'Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

What a strange story!

First, some background. The Romans had executed some Galileans for treason against Rome, and in another instance, a tower had collapsed on 18 people, killing them. Jesus uses these events to ask an important question and direct us to an important insight. One event was a crime against the government, and another was a tragic accident.

Were these unfortunate people somehow more guilty than the others who had not had a bad event happen to them? Jesus confronts our false belief that if something bad happens, then we must deserve it or that if something bad happens, then we are being treated “unfairly.” Both of these beliefs are wrong and miss the point of tragic events in our lives. He tells the crowd and us, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish!”

Huh?

On the one hand, Jesus seems to tell us these tragic events weren’t because these people were more “guilty” than everyone else, and then He turns around and tells us to repent, or we will perish as they did.

The key to understanding the Lord’s wisdom here is to insist I confront the true meaning of repentance.

To repent isn’t to admit you broke a rule or did a “bad” thing. That’s not what the word means. Repent means to “change your mind, perspective. and attitude.” This means I don’t assume I’m being attacked when I’m being corrected. I don’t believe I am being “punished” when reaping the consequences of my poor choices. And I don’t make everything about my ego and my feelings. I grow up and realize that I could change my perspective to be grateful that the Lord loves me enough to correct me. I can embrace difficult circumstances and even tragic events as “gifts” to draw me closer to Christ and become more like Him.

Or, I can continue in my selfish and childish attitude and “perish” from what my life could be if I only learned how to truly repent! This is why a faithful Orth9dox Christian sees repentance as the everyday work of reorienting my perspective and my heart towards Christ and away from my own ego!

St. Lazarus, the Wonderworker, was born in Asia Minor in 967 AD. His life was one of a single desire: to love God and serve Christ his whole life. St. Lazarus traveled the area, visiting monasteries and seeking God's wisdom. Eventually, he was tonsured a monk and then ordained a priest. He returned to his homeland in Asia Minor and built a monastery on Mount Galesion. He constructed a pillar on which he lived for many years, enduring severe hardships meant to confront his own desires for comfort and his desire for his way. He would choose love for God and his neighbor before selfishly living for himself. He reposed in peace at a very old age in 1053 AD.

So, today, are you struggling to change your perspective about what happened to you? Do you know what repentance means in the Orthodox Faith? Perhaps it’s time to abandon the wrong attitudes that feed our egos and embrace the mature wisdom of the Faith that calls me to constantly reorient my perspective and thinking. Only then will I finally live a Normal Orthodox life.

P.S. In your vigilant prayers, you drenched your pillar with streams of tears; by your sighings from the depths, you bore fruit a hundredfold in labors; and you became a shepherd, granting forgiveness to them that came to you, O our righteous Father Lazarus. Intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV