Repent and Believe

The message from God is as clear as the fresh water in the Holy Water Font used this week for Theophany. When Our Lord began His ministry, He called everyone to repentance and belief. The message was clear then, and it is clear now. We must change the way we think about God.

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1.9-15

Even if you have been Orthodox for a while, your whole life even, chances are you don’t understand God the way He desires. Don’t feel ashamed. Don’t feel judged. The reality is that only God understands His fullness, and only God reveals Himself to us.

At the time He was baptized by John in the Jordan, many faithful Jews didn’t understand God. Even after three years of public preaching and miracle working, many still didn’t understand Him. Now today, after more than two thousand years, we STILL don’t understand God.

Many Christians, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, think of God as an angry judge Who desires to ‘put people’ away in prison. Think of this for a minute and you will understand my point today. Have you ever heard from pious Orthodox that we are at risk of hell if we don’t confess?

Holy Confession is a sacrament of the Church through which we are forgiven for any sin, ANY SIN, we confess. This is by the grace of God. The moment we leave the Church, after confession, we begin to sin. This creates a problem for our soul.

IF we risk being condemned when we don’t confess, what happens if we don’t die the moment the confession is over? Since we cannot live without sinning, we either must remain in the Church in perpetual confession, or God isn’t the angry judge we think He is.

Obviously, we should participate in the sacrament of Holy Confession often, but I invite you to ‘repent’ and change the way you think of Holy Confession. Believe that God desires to forgive you, not condemn you.

The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has given us a way of life that reflects God’s desire to save us, not judge us. Our daily prayers must include confession. The Divine Liturgy includes confession. If we faithfully pray and attend (and engage in) the Divine Liturgy, we confess.

Our daily prayers and the Divine Liturgy don’t replace sacramental confession. They supplement it. Since it isn’t practical to remain in perpetual confession in the Church, the Church offers us the ‘next best’ thing. All this reminds of God’s desire to save us, not judge us.

As the Feast of Theophany slowly fades into our memories, I invite you to remember the words of Christ from today’s Gospel. “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Make this the year you stop thinking of God as an angry judge, and start remember His grace and forgiveness.