Is Repentance Even Possible?

The Church is always talking about repentance. We are called by Christ to “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3.2) But we have grown cynical about life. Around every corner we find people who claim to repent, only to be fooled. Is it even possible to repent?

True repentance isn’t action. True repentance is an attitude change. Without a change of mind, our actions will always return to sin. We see it in others, and we experience it in ourselves. Nonetheless, repentance is the way to do the will of God. There is no other way.

The Lord said this parable, “A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he repented and went. And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him.”

Matthew 21.8-32

To help us ‘get inspired’ to repent, the Church shares stories of repentance through the lives of the saints. Some saints are ‘worse sinners’ than others, but all have a story of repentance. Today, the Church offers us the life of Saint Moses the Black.

The story of Saint Moses the Black, like so many other saints, should remind us that repentance is possible no matter how far away from God we may find ourselves. I wonder sometimes if these stories help. The saints seem so far in the past, I wonder if we even believe them.

Moses was so vicious, as a slave he was set free because even his master wanted nothing to do with him. Saint Moses had the help of the Church. He was able to surround himself with ‘likeminded’ Christians and lived the remainder of his life in his repentance. He wasn’t alone.

It is time to stop using other people as excuses to not repent. It is too easy to look at others’ sins and refuse to try. “They’re not repenting, why should I?” Because it is the only way to do the will of God! The Church is here to help us, just as it helped Moses, or at least it should be.

Imagine if the Church became a place where believers lived out their repentance. Imagine if the Church were the place where we received encouragement to repent rather than grow cynical. Imagine if the Church believed repentance was still possible.

That Church does exist. We are the ones who have left. We live ‘as if’ everyone in the Church is supposed to be already holy, rather than trying to repent. That was the message Christ is offering us today in the Gospel lesson. We say we repent, but we do not.

Don’t lose hope. Repentance is still possible. It just requires for us to change our mindset and do the will of God. It requires us to ensure the Church is a place of repentance, a place where we can live our repentance without judgment. We may even make mistakes, but we’re working.

It is up to you to make your local church a place of repentance. It is up to you to be the support and encouragement, without judgment, for others to repent. Those around Moses didn’t force him to repent. They provided a supportive place to repent. They provided him with the Church.

The Church is the place we share our common life with each other. Our common life is a life of repentance and forgiveness. It is still possible, but only if we provide the place, only if we provide the Church to each other.