Repentance and Refreshment

Repent therefore, and turn again . . . that times of refreshing may come. (vv. 19-20)

I do repent of pride and greed. Please refresh my heart.

This fourth R in God’s classroom is a two-for-one. That’s how Peter told it in his
sermon on Solomon’s Portico. He urged listeners to surrender the weight of their pride,
turn from their sins, and come to God for refreshment.

Cartoons have pictured the woebegone prophet carrying sandwich boards announcing
“Repent, the end is near.” Those cartoons suggest that the call to repentance is something
of a joke. Peter knew the hard truth of the human heart – that submission to God in
real repentance means we turn over our hopes, dreams, and futures to God, who alone can
turn them from sawdust to something beautiful. To repent, we admit the sorry sin that
dulls our approach to God, and ask, humbly, to be forgiven.

God does forgive, the Bible promises, and the humility of repentance leads to a new
status: child of God, servant of God, friend of God. Repentance is the only posture in
which these gifts can be received.

The recently celebrated book 49 Laws of Power disagrees. It trains readers for
advantage and advancement. Its get-ahead slogans, well illustrated by stories of both
suckers and magnates, bear no resemblance to the Bible’s recipe for refreshment, nor to
the Bible’s warning that sins left hanging on your tree will weigh the branches and rot
the trunk. You can try the world’s “laws” for success, but so much better to simply pray,
“Lord, forgive me, a sinner.”

Redeemed

In him we have redemption. (v. 7)

The price paid for me, Lord, was more than I deserve. What can I do, Lord? I give you my heart.

Imagine you gathered all your treasures, every scrap or doo-dad you ever collected or
bought, every baseball card you once hoped would be the big prize, every necklace that
looked so good on the countless racks you surveyed. Then you placed it all on the pawn
shop’s counter. A moment of hesitation. Once sold, how impossible will it be to get that
stuff back – to find each buyer, to track each tool, cup, and saucer?

God promises a buy-back of every part of creation through Jesus, including every person
who believes. Nothing lost, none forgotten.

And all at the highest price. This is the redemption the prophets anticipated: “I the
Lord am your Savior, your redeemer” (Isa. 60:16). This is what David sang about: “O Lord,
my rock and my redeemer” (Ps. 19:14). This is the final buy-back. Hebrews calls it the
“eternal redemption” (9:12). It brings us all back to God, forever.

Redemption is a business term, common in the marketplace. In Bible times, redemption of
many kinds changed how a person would live: slave to free, criminal to acquitted, debtor
to creditor. In salvation, God offers the wealth of his very being – his one and only
Son – as the redemption price. Now free, our first response should be worship; our
second, eager service. Redeemed by God, we belong to God: heart, soul, and body.

Reconciled to God

. . . through whom we have now received reconciliation. (v. 11)

On my knees, Lord, I reach up to take your hand.

Reconciliation is the second of our R’s for all students in God’s School of Spiritual
Blessing. So gather round the chalkboard, because this R makes a huge difference.

All around us are fractured relationships where trust has been broken and people have
been hurt. Jobs have been lost. Business deals go bad. Marriages break apart.

Our relationship with God suffers too. The Bible calls pride the root cause of these
wrecked relationships. God said, “Be my people.” We said, “On what terms?” God said,
“There’s a single tree you’re not to eat from.” We said, “That looks awfully good.” God
said, “Ten great commands will put your lives in order.” We said, “I like just one – do
it my way.” Does that point toward breakdown, maybe a little?

Pride and stubbornness break relationships with God. The holy God who once called
creation “Good” announced the harsh news of judgment, but then proclaimed the good news of
reconciliation. The offense was great, the solution was greater. Love came down to make us
one again.

Reconciliation is God’s way to save us from all the ruptures sin causes. To be
reconciled is to walk with God again, approaching the Father in the name of the Son, who
died that we might live. The promise is life renewed by God’s power and for this
purpose – to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Ransom

Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all. (vv. 5-6)

Thanks to you, Savior and friend, for paying the price for all our sin.

Kids are going back to school where mastery of the “Three R’s” is both tradition and
priority. Growth in Christ isn’t defined by any simple formulas but for the next nine days
we offer “Three times three R’s” for spiritual growth. The first R is that God has
ransomed us.

When a pastor friend of mine in Africa was kidnapped recently, we waited anxiously for
a ransom demand. After a day with no word, we wondered what kind of dimwit gang had taken
him. I began getting a crash course in how to track kidnappers after the ransom was
delivered.

But if the ransom was too high, beyond reach, what would happen then? One
ransom – the most important ever paid – is beyond the reach of anyone, except God.
The gospel says that all have sinned. There’s a price to pay for that – death. Jesus
alone can pay it, and he has, on the cross.

The kidnappers’ ransom demand for my pastor friend never came because, unbeknownst to
us, he had escaped his captors and spent two days roaming the Serengeti before finding
help. Pity these inept thugs, who must have paid a heavy price themselves when they showed
up empty-handed at Thug Headquarters.

In Christ, ransomed sinners can do what everyone does when kidnappers’ plans are
foiled – take a breath, feel the wind at your back again, look skyward in thanks, get
happy with the hugs of those you love.

Children of God

So that we might receive adoptions as children. (4:5 NRSV)

Lord, I am grateful for all you do for me.

When my wife goes to work I get to watch our two-year-old twins. I try to do something
fun during this time, like building a fort or eating dinner outside. One day I decided to
throw the kids into the air and catch them. They both loved this, simultaneously giggling
and screaming. Unfortunately I did this right after dinner and as I turned to my young son
for his next turn I saw he had thrown up on himself. But he was still ready to go up in
the air. It took me a few minutes to convince him that it was in both our best interests
to take a break for a little while.

Scripture tells us that God knows and loves us as sons and daughters. He sent his Son
to redeem us (4:4-5); “in Christ you are all children of God through faith” (3:26). He
sent his Spirit to teach us to call out, “Abba, Father!” To teach us to grow in love and
understanding of what it means to be loved by God.

But children don’t always know what’s best for them. I doubt that my son understood
exactly why our game needed to end. We too have unanswered questions. Why would God not
want us to have a job, a spouse, a successful business or ministry? Why wouldn’t he heal
us? But if we believe that we are God’s dear children, then we can trust that, even if it
doesn’t feel like it, God knows what is best.