REPENTANCE + RETURN = THE TWO STEP DANCE OF REORIENTATION

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd, 

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight, 

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

This old Shaker song has been reverberating in me this Advent season, “to turn, turn will be our delight, till by turning we come ‘round right.” Centuries before this song was ever sung, a man named John cried out, “Repent!” Every year we make our annual trek into the wilderness and listen to his cry, “Prepare the way for God. Repent!” 

Sadly, John’s ancient cry of possibility has been twisted, turned and even painted on highway billboards in order to scare and shame people back to God. But long before angry Christian preachers got hold of the word, the original Greek word ‘ metanoia’ meant simply a change of mind or ‘to turn around.’ No fear; no shame. I cannot recall the preacher’s name who I once heard say that when the crowd heard John cry repent, their first reaction could very well have been, “You mean we can?”  

Repentance is much better understood as an invitation to the possibility of new life. It is made available because of the divine promise that we are eternally and absolutely held within the embrace of God who will never forsake us. Indeed, repentance is one step in the two-step dance of reorientation that is a part of our Christian life. “Will you persevere in resisting evil and whenever you fall into sin repent and return to the Lord?”

When we repent and return, we are choosing to reorient our life to God’s vision for our life. Reorientation is vital to our Advent journey and involves waking up, being stirred up, and again, turning around. But just how might we practice this dance of reorientation? I want to offer to you some words of reorientation. When practiced, they are words that turn us around and help us return again to the life God yearns for us to live.  

The first word is one that my daughter taught me. It was about three weeks before Thanksgiving when it happened. I took the dogs outside one night, and I did not make it off the front porch when I was stopped dead in my tracks. I could not believe what I saw! The house across the street was adorned with thousands of Christmas lights! I could literally feel the frenzied expectations of the next month churning up in my soul. I even cried out, “This is not how it's supposed to be!”

That is when a pint-sized messenger from God named Hannah walked out onto the same porch, saw the very same lights, and exclaimed, “Wow! Dad look at all the pretty lights. Wow!” If only for a few minutes, that one word, WOW, reoriented me to that deeper reality at work in our world, the “valley of love and delight” as the song says. Here are a few other words of reorientation.  

Thank you. Think about it. When we utter these words, we are acknowledging our dependence on someone other than our self. Consequently, the daily practice of gratitude reorients us to a life of humility and dependence on those around us, and even more, on God. In my sanctified imagination, I have long imagined that when God rested on the seventh day of creation, God leaned closely to the earth, waiting for a word. God heard the word when someone looked around at the joy and wonder of it all, and prayed, "Thank you." 

I am sorry. These may be some of the most difficult and yet most important words we ever say.  However, this simple phrase holds the power to turn us from our brokenness and return us to the one from whom we are broken. Practicing forgiveness reorients us to a life of mercy with those whom we love and with God. “ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” II Corinthians 5:17-19

Peace be with you. We share these words every Sunday in our worship, but I sometimes wonder if at that moment in our liturgy we truly grasp what we are saying. Peace be with you.  Shalom. It is so much more than a casual greeting between friends or the expected segue into announcements or the cue for children to return from chapel. 

Remember, “peace be with you” was Jesus’ Easter greeting to his friends who were locked up in their fear and grief. It is the threshold into the new creation inaugurated in the resurrection of Jesus. It is the summation of the very dream of God for all creation! 

Remember too that these words come in worship at the moment of our reorientation, just after we have repented and returned to the Lord in our confession and absolution. When the Peace is exchanged we are a new creation! The exchange of the Peace announces that the new creation is in our midst, and it is our pledge to join God in the ongoing creation of Easter in the world. I wonder what might happen if we would more freely and boldly share, by word and example, this greeting in the world.  Rather than “blessing their hearts” or quipping “how are you” why not bestow on people the peace of God?  It very well could be a way for us to turn the world to the dream of God. Peace be with you. 

Some will decide that these words are far too simple, even sappy. Though simple, these words carry a power to turn us from our selfish ways into the deeper way and truth of God’s life for us. Test me on it. Take some time during these last few days of Advent to turn away from all you’re trying to get done. Turn aside from all the expectations that this season seems to put on us. Turn away from the weight of despair and regret. Put a few words of reorientation into your conversations, and in so doing repent and return to the Lord. Dance the dance of reorientation. 

When true simplicity is gain'd, 

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight, 

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

+Russell