Preaching & Repentance - Part 2 (of 3)
Matthew 4:17 - Preaching & Repentance
Within the context of last week’s reflection, if sin turns our gaze inward toward our appetites and anxieties, repentance moves us outward.
This is the sense in which Paul tells the Colossians to “Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on earth.” (3:2)
The call of Christ is always toward a re-orientation of interior sight, the gaze of the heart.
Repentance is not the moral cleanup we perform before God will approach us.
It’s not self-generated moral effort.
It’s our cooperation with grace.
It’s our response to God already coming near, our awakening to His presence.
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The King has drawn near. Therefore our entire lives must be recalibrated.
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This is why Jesus begins here: because everything else - healing, teaching, discipleship, mission - flows from a mind newly aligned with the truth, and a will newly strengthened by the nearness of God.
When sin darkens the mind, repentance illumines it.
When sin weakens the will, repentance fortifies it.
And when sin narrows life to the cramped space of self, repentance opens us to the spaciousness of the Kingdom.
Jesus’s first sermon is still His invitation today.
Through repentance, we allow Him to make our minds new, that our hearts might burn continually with the fire of His divine love.
Onward and upward,
Ted
Something Worth Listening To
Inspired by George Meredith’s poem, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending is a beautiful masterpiece and one of his most beloved works. It unfolds as a peaceful, pastoral romance, and the solo violin becomes the lark itself. I challenge you to find a more serene piece of music.
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