Week 36: Think Different (Part 2)

Last week, we talked about repentance - and hopefully - maybe saw the phrase - "Repent" in a whole new way. Repent coming from "Meta" and "noia" in the Greek - "Think Different." Change your way of thinking - because if you change the way you think, you'll automatically change the way you live.

Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has comeMatthew 4:17

That was #33 on our list of Fifty Things

#33 - REPENT (THINK DIFFERENT)

But it was the first thing that Jesus said as He began His ministry. It was His slogan. It was the message that He preached wherever He went. But you know what, let's be honest - sometimes it takes a while to think differently. For some of us about certain topics or issues or ideas - the light bulb goes off immediately - we can see where we were wrong in the way we were thinking. But even if that light bulb goes off - life is not as simple as we would sometimes like it to be. There's nuance, there's special situations, there's how one thought dovetails into many thoughts which grows into a philosophy which influences our attitudes and behaviors and so many actions in so many different areas of our lives. So even if the lightbulb goes off -

the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.Matthew 4:16-17

Even if the lightbulb goes off…it can still take a while for that light to seep into all of the nooks and crannies of our minds and hearts and lives. It can take a while for the light to change our actions and our behavior. More on that later.

But again - if we're being honest - sometimes it just takes a while for the lightbulb to go off in certain areas- period. Sometimes we're just a little slow on the uptake. And you know why sometimes we're slow on the uptake? A lot of it has to do with who has shaped our thinking about certain things and how MUCH we've allowed them to shape our thinking and for HOW LONG we've allowed them to shape our thinking. More on THAT later too.

But these things were exactly what was happening on that fateful Palm Sunday when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on the week that would lead to His crucifixion and death.

We read about this in Matthew 21 -

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. "Go into the village over there," He said. "As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately let you take them." This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, "Tell the people of Jerusalem, 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey- riding on a donkey's colt.Matthew 21

Which is a reference to prophecies in Isaiah 62 and Zechariah 9

The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to Him and threw their garments over the colt, and He sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of Him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around Him were shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!Isaiah 62 and Zechariah 9

Now the actual phrase that the people were chanting according to the Greek was a phrase of Hebrew origin

"Hosanna"

Which loosely translates to "Save Us" or "Save Us NOW." And it was kind of a mix - it was a shout of adoration and praise, but also a plea of desperation. Some would say maybe it translates better as "Save us, I beg of you!"

That's what the people are shouting. Now - let's talk about

"What were they thinking before?"

When Jesus entered Jerusalem - and His name and reputation proceeded Him… people were looking for the Messiah. When Jesus rode in on the colt the way He did - there were probably some in the crowd, certainly some of the religious leaders - who recognized this as a "sign of the Messiah."

So they are recognizing Jesus as the Messiah - but they have mistaken what the Messiah came to do. They are THINKING that the Messiah - Jesus - is here to save them from an earthly kingdom. To liberate them from Roman rule. To restore the glory of the old Kingdom of Israel. To establish a Kingdom in which Jesus would rule a literal nation-state from a literal throne in a specific time and space in history.

Yet Jesus, all throughout His ministry has said things like -

The Kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs. You won't be able to say, 'Here it is!' Or 'It's over there!" For the Kingdom of God is already among you.Luke 17:20-21

Jesus' "kingdom" was not something you could point to geographically or politically. There is not a flag that symbolizes this Kingdom or movement.

Jesus said in the very beginning -

The Kingdom of Heaven has come.Matthew 4:17

It was here - NOW. But it didn't look or act like a temporary kingdom of the world.

In Matthew 12:28 Jesus makes a connection with a person being a member of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God with having the Spirit of God upon them through the person and power of Jesus Christ.

But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon youMatthew 12:28 (NASB)

Now, Jesus has made pretty clear through His ministry - and the dozens of dozens of statements He has made about the Kingdom of Heaven - what He makes plain and obvious to Pilate when questioned by Him -

Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.John 18:36

And maybe the biggest non-verbal clue that Jesus wasn't here to rule and earthly kingdom in an earthly manner was the fact that Jesus explicitly refused to be made an earthly king. In John 6 we read

When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, He slipped away into the hills by Himself.John 6:15

You know what it says immediately before that happens?

When the people saw Him do this miraculous sign, (feeding of the 5,000) they exclaimed, "Surely, He is the Prophet we have been expecting!John 6:14

Ladies and Gentlemen - all of this to say - you can get some of your thinking… right. You may be technically correct in some aspects… but even then - you may not correctly discern what Jesus wants from you. You may not pursue the correct course of action until you

"Think different"

And in this case, like in so many modern cases - we need to "think different" by reconsidering everything

RECONSIDER EVERYTHING

Rethink our assumptions

RE-THINK YOUR ASSUMPTIONS

And most importantly - re-alighing our thinking with Jesus

RE-ALIGN YOUR THINKING WITH JESUS

And in this case - they needed to think different about what Jesus was there for and the manner in which He was going to achieve what He set out to do.

Now the people were asking Jesus to Save them…save them now!

Did Jesus save?

You better believe He did. Did it happen in the way the people lining the streets with palm branches think it was gonna happen?

Did it happen in the way the people with palm branches WANTED it to happen?

No. But was it better than anything they could've wanted or imagined?

Jesus indeed came to save - but He wouldn't do it by establishing a political kingdom or by overthrowing one. Kingdoms of this earth come and go - but the Kingdom of Heaven… is forever.

Jesus WOULD save - He WOULD liberate - He WOULD set the captives free - but you know what, no matter who your rulers are… no matter what kind of freedom or oppression or system or government you live under there are still things that imprison us as individuals. The first is the way we think. And the second is sin. The things we do wrong and the way we miss the mark in our lives with God and others.

Now as far as atonement - paying the price for all sin, all time - this triumphal entry - well, this was the first step in the final week leading up to it. But if we're being honest, Jesus was already providing salvation while He walked the earth. He was already bringing people into His Kingdom. When Zacchaeus changed the way he thought which lead to him changing his actions and bringing restitution to the people he cheated - Jesus said

SALVATION has come to this home TODAY, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.Luke 19:9-10

Jesus was already in the process of saving these people that were crying out "Save Us, Now" by encouraging them to Repent - "Think Different." And that would include thinking different about sin.

Some of you were waiting for me talk about sin. Maybe? I don't know. Some of you hardcore baptist background people? People raised in a small church with an angry preacher? Our Lady of Brimstone Church? The people who when they walk in here go - "How can that guy be a preacher, he doesn't even have a pulpit to pound on!"

Look, I wasn't skipping the sin part - I'm well aware that the first thing that Jesus preached was

Repent OF YOUR SINS and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has comeMatthew 4:17

But again - we gotta get this right. "Think different" of your sins and turn to God…

Think about your sins, differently. Think about your actions where your falling short differently. Think about the places where you miss the mark - differently. Think about there ways in which we don't live up to the mission of loving God and loving people… differently. It's part of how Jesus saves us. It's part of what Jesus saves us from. In essence clearing out the bad theology junk drawer that so many of us have because we were raised in a certain system or with certain teachings and we've allowed them to be reinforced and fortified in our hearts and minds and lives regardless of what Jesus was teaching.

You know why it was so hard for the people on Palm Sunday lining the streets with palms and their garments and shouting "Save Us, Now!" - you know why it was so hard for them to let go of that image of Jesus as political conqueror and national liberator - because those ideas had been understood and reinforced for literally hundreds of years prior to the Messiah actually showing up on the scene and going - "I see what you're thinking, but I'm gonna need you to think different."

So let's think different about sin and repentance and align with what we learn from Jesus in the Gospels - not just what we've been programmed with for the majority of our lives.

First here's what repentance is not

REPENTANCE IS NOT PUNISHING YOURSELF

Some of us grew up thinking repentance was some kind of self-administered emotional beatdown. Which leads to this shame spiral. Right? We've come to realize that what we're doing is wrong - whether through healthy guilt, intervention of God's Holy Spirit, explanation and intervention by wise friends, careful study and reflection or your spouse just says 'you're being a jackal - knock it off!' So many ways we can arrive at these conclusions that we've dun goofed.

But when we do - we're called to repent - to think differently about our sin. To think differently about our actions. To reconsider everything. Why we're doing this in the first place.To re-think our assumptions - and to re-align with Jesus' examples and teachings for our lives. You know what we're not called to do? We're not called to re-buke ourselves. We're not called to re-live our failures. We're not called to focus on past re-grets.

It's okay to be honest. You may even have to say to people - I really messed up here. I was way out of line. I wasn't thinking straight. I was being selfish. I was being self-centered. I wasn't seeing things from anyone's other perspective except the one I chose… whatever. And you can pray and say, "God, help me do better. Help me see things the way you do. Help me think about my own life and how I interact with other people and the choices I make - help me see them the way YOU do." But we are not called to beat ourselves up. There's no point in which Jesus asked those who He told to repent to beat themselves up and whip themselves and go around saying or thinking "I'm the worst, I'm trash, I'm garbage." Not to God and not to others. There was Restitution that went along with Repentance and Re-thinking. But in the entirety of the Gospels - and you can go and read them if you want to check me on this - there is not one instance of Jesus telling someone who is repenting - "God's gonna need a little more groveling." I'm gonna need you to change out of your good clothes and put on some sackcloth. You acted like garbage. I'm gonna need you to look the part for a while.

Nope. When Zachhaeus said that he was gonna pay back anyone who he had cheated four times as much and give half his wealth to the poor - that wasn't something Jesus forced upon Zacchaeus - that was something Zacchaeus chose for himself. And when Zacchaeus was excited and overjoyed to be in the presence of Jesus, Jesus didn't tell Zacchaeus - "Uh, tone it down. This isn't good PR. You need to act like you're devastated. You need to go on the ashes and sackcloth tour for a while. Don't look happy." Nope.

When they bring the woman caught in adultery to Jesus - more accurately, the woman framed for adultery - does Jesus tell her to go and do penance once He says, 'neither do I condemn you?' Go and serve 20 hours of community service down at the temple? Go and write a letter shaming yourself to everyone? Go home and thank God every day that I didn't pick up a stone? Nope.

That's not what God asks of us and it's not what God requires of us. Cause you know what the apostle Paul said leads to repentance? God's kindness. Romans 2:4

Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking-seek His purpose for your life]?Romans 2:4 (AMP)

God's kindness leads you to repentance. Not fear. Not shame. Not punishment. So why do you think He would want that from you AFTER you repented? Or while you were in the process of repenting?

Seeing how Jesus responded to those who were called to repent - and Jesus said if you've seen me, then you've seen the Father - I think it's safe to say that Jesus does not want to chastise, He wants to change us by changing our minds.

Now - there's a trap here - I'm gonna share it with you - the trap doesn't come from Jesus. The trap doesn't come from repentance. The trap is kind of one we set for ourselves. We can recognize that we messed up. We can recognize that we have fallen short. We may even just respond to Jesus' call for a life change without a clear indicator about every thing or way in which we need to change. And we can be so READY to change - so ON FIRE about a new life with Jesus - that we think repentance means

"Don't ask questions. Just fall in line."

And if we do that - well, first, I'm not sure how helpful that really is. I think God wants us to use the minds He's given us. I think Jesus wants us to reflect on our actions and our place in the world and what it means to be a follower of Jesus and to wrestle with scripture and interpretation and application. If we're not careful, we could either out of what we mis-label as obedience or just out of laziness or ignorance - we could fall in line with the wrong teachers. The wrong information. The wrong picture and plan of what Jesus wants and what it means to be a Christ follower. And let me tell you, there is no shortage of 'religious leaders and influencers' selling bad product.

Repentance requires us to use our minds.

REPENTANCE REQUIRES US TO USE OUR MINDS

God is not looking for robots.

Paul said that we would

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Repentance is not mindless behavior modification. Repentance is mind transformation.

REPENTANCE IS RENEWAL

REPENTANCE IS MIND TRANSFORMATION

Now we've been talking about how repentance is changing our mind - changing the way you think. In the context of what we're told Jesus preached - the first thing of His Fifty Things - there's another aspect - the "turn."

In Matthew 4:17 we read

Repent of your sins and TURN to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has comeMatthew 4:17

REPENTANCE IS TURNING FROM SOMETHING - TOWARD SOMETHING ELSE

I'm back on a little bit of a professional wrestling kick - so I'll be working the references in every so often. In wrestling there's something called a turn. More specifically a "heel turn" or a "face turn." A "heel turn" is when a good guy starts acting like a bad guy. He goes from being a 'babyface' to a 'heel.' A "face turn" is when a bad guy starts acting like a good guy. They go from a heel and turn toward babyface actions.

Now there's writing in wrestling. Hope I'm not the first to break it to you - the action and stunts are real, the outcome and storylines are pre-determined. I know! Now, the difference between a good heel turn or face turn and a bad turn - is the writing. Is it motivated? Are the actions of the wrestler motivated. Why are they changing their behavior? What influenced them? A bad turn just has the character flipping from one side to the other without a lot of reflection or build up and without motivation or direction.

If we get this wrong - if we think repentance - not in wrestling, but in real life now - if we think it's just a "turn" - okay "stop doing bad stuff." "I saw myself as a bad guy, now I'm a good guy." You're gonna have the same problem as in wrestling. It's not a good turn. It's not going to be a satisfying turn long term.

REPENTANCE IS NOT JUST "STOP DOING BAD STUFF"

Jesus said it's a turn TOWARD God

REPENTANCE IS TURNING TO GOD

The apostle Paul says this in Acts 20 which perfectly aligns with what Jesus preached in Matthew 4 -

I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike- the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.Acts 20:21

And while the impetus, the inclination, the realization - the driving force behind your turn from your sins and to God may be instantaneous - one day, one night, one moment - whatever - repentance, according to Jesus… Paul… scripture… is more than just stopping a sinful action. Cause you can stop something and still be stuck. You can stop a behavior and still not have a purpose to move toward.

REPENTANCE IS NOT RESTRICTION

REPENTANCE IS RE-ROUTING

REPENTANCE IS A CHANGE IN DIRECTION

When we repent - We think differently, and we TURN from sin… toward God. The trajectory of our lives - our purpose - our desires - and our actions as well - start moving toward love, and truth and wholeness and trying to love God and love people and live like Jesus.

Repentance is also not temporary. In wrestling - sometimes you get lousy storytelling. The bad guy becomes a good guy, but then later he becomes a bad guy again and he's forgotten everything that he's learned and he jettisons his friendships and he's just a bad guy again. He just turns again.

Two things - one, I realized in my examples I've been using "good guy" "bad guy" - male examples. Just a term and old habits die hard. Women's wrestling is the best it's ever been. There are good girls and bad girls and some of the best professional wrestlers on the planet are women - so just want to make sure I acknowledge that.

Secondly -

REPENTANCE IS RECURRING

When we repent - when we think differently and turn from our sins and turn TOWARD Jesus - turn TOWARD His example of what the Father wants from us - it's not just a choice, it's not just a decision - it's meant to be a lifestyle. We keep moving toward God. We keep letting Jesus renew our minds by changing the way we think. And we may struggle. Nobody's perfect. We may stumble. We may struggle with the same sin - we may struggle with new sins. We're human, all have sinned, all will sin, it's part of the human condition. But we keep moving.. even if we take two steps forward and two steps back… we don't turn back… we keep reaching ahead.

REPENTANCE IS REACHING AHEAD, NOT LOOKING BACK

The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3 -

I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press one to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.Philippians 3:12-14

Don't get tripped up in your race by that word that Paul uses - 'perfection.' Repentance will change us - noticeably, but not perfectly. Not this side of heaven, anyways. You know, we may have days where we realize that we're off… our thinking is off, our attitude is off, our motivation is off… our understanding is off, our behavior is off… and when we realize that - we readjust.

REPENTANCE REQUIRES ONGOING RECALIBRATION

That's when we re-align with Jesus way of thinking. But there is never a point while we are on our journey of repentance that God is looking down on us like "If they mess up one more time…"

You know, Jesus says something a number of times throughout the Gospels and He takes it from something the prophet Hosea writes in the Old Testament - He says -

go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'Matthew 9:13 (NIV)

You want to know how you know when you're on the right path with repentance? Not just that you've given something up or you've turned from your old ways. Not due to a lack of struggles with sin. We prove our repentance by our deeds - especially the way we treat those who God loves - which is everybody. The way we treat our neighbors. In Acts 26:20 the apostle Paul states that

all must repent of their sins and turn to God - and prove they have changed by the good things they do.Acts 26:20

Just one more think for us to 'think different' about - repentance is more about what we DO than what we don't do.

John the Baptist, who once again, prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus said -

Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.Matthew 3:8

REPENTANCE IS PROVEN BY OUR DEEDS

And repentance is a lifestyle. It's shown by our actions, but it starts in our thinking.

Let's bring this home some quick

REFLECTION

If repentance starts with our thinking - what's shaping your thinking right now? Who are the voices? What are their philosophies? What's influencing your thinking right now? Social media? Cable news? Your past? Your present? Your wounds? Your fears? Traditions? Your parents? Your peers?

Thank you so much for letting me share with you today. Couple things - if you liked the Palm Sunday tie-in to repentance and thinking different, thank my wife. It was her idea and I was just building off of it - so thank you, Erin. I married well. She's very patience. Watches wrestling with me. I'm pretty sure that's in Proverbs 31 somewhere. Next - this Friday, it's Good Friday. We're gonna do our traditional Good Friday service that we do. We're gonna come in, we're gonna sing some songs, there's some I think you haven't heard in a while. After we do that, I'm gonna read the Passion account and we'll take communion and reflect upon Jesus' sacrifice and look forward to celebrating NEXT SUNDAY which is Easter. Bring some friends and family with you. We're gonna take a break from Fifty Things for Easter and it will be an Easter message. Hope to see you here on Friday and next Sunday.

Until next time, may we have the courage to rethink what we've always believed, the humility to release what no longer gives life, and the grace to walk in a new way of seeing and loving and living. May your mind be renewed, your heart be softened and your life bear the fruit of repentance. And may repentance not feel like fear but like freedom. God bless you. Have a great week!