Creekside Church Sermon of March 18, 2001 "Repent and Rejoice " I Corinthians 10: 1-13	Rev. David Bibbee
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I don't know when it happened, or how, nor who to blame. One of the culprits is television and its electronic minions Nintendo and Play Station. The computer has contributed with a myriad of entertainment programs. Whatever the reason, we have a generation of children and adults who can interact with technology more than people.

I have a theory about the troubles of today's young people. It is because they didn't learn how to play during recess. Turn them loose on the playground and some will wander aimlessly. Others will have anxiety attacks because they can't find a computer monitor or mouse anywhere. I think things started going wrong when the games I learned as a kid at recess disappeared.

Mark Street Elementary had the playground equipment that we used year round. Most of our games were seasonal. Football in the fall, then basketball. In spring it was baseball and dodge ball. Girls jumped rope, played hopscotch, and jacks. The guys played marbles. Jacks and marbles went the way of "kick the can" and now are relics of the past. It's too bad. Recess games were a stepping-stone to learning important lessons about cooperation, team play and waiting your turn in line.

I remember an especially good marble season. I had a sock bulging with them. Since I had so many I sacrificed one for an experiment. I wanted to find out how hard you had to throw it against a brick wall at close range to break it. I picked a big one. It made quite a crack against the brick. Then I heaved it hard as I could, but it was a wild pitch. Instead of hitting the wall, it went through a window in the teacher's lounge…while the teacher's were lounging. Before the glass hit the ground I bolted around the corner of the building, only to see our principal, Mr. Bingman bolting out the door.

Mr. Bingman was a wonderful, kind man who would drop in on your class and tell you a story. He played baseball with the guys and jumped rope with the girls. We loved him. But storming toward me was a Mr. Bingman I had never seen. He was furious. Apparently he was nearly hit in the head by a large marble that crashed through the teacher's lounge window. "Who did it!? Who broke that window!" he yelled. I was the first kid he saw. "David…do you know who did it?" "Did what?" "Broke that window." I stood straight faced with my marble bag concealed behind me and said, "No sir." Figuring there was safety in numbers, I mingled with the crowd while he interrogated the guilty looking.

Something happened inside me that spring day. I loved Mr. Bingman. Now I was scared of him. I didn't want him to talk to me. I didn't want to be near him. An errant marble and a lie made me feel like the loneliest kid in the world. Compared to my peers, I always thought I was a good, honest, obedient lad, but that day changed my self-assessment. I wasn't who I thought I was. I almost confessed, but the thought of the price I would pay was greater than carrying the weight of my wrong.

Though I didn't know much about sin, I knew I was a sinner. I think for the first time I was ashamed, not just over what I had done, but for who I was. I bore guilt and the fear which kept me from knowing Mr. Bingman. In fact, for much of my life since then, I have misunderstood others intentions. I misunderstood God and the positive role repentance plays in our lives.

The word repentance doesn't usually have a positive connotation, does it? "Repent! The end is near!" "Repent or you'll be eternally sorry." "Repent or else!" I can't remember anyone ever saying, "Repent and rejoice!" The willingness to face the truth about ourselves is a scary, sad experience. Build thick walls around our shadow to hide it from others, and ourselves. We don't wait. It is hard to see our reflection in the mirror of Jesus' face. C.S. Lewis said, "Christianity is a thing of deep joy, but it doesn't begin with joy, but despair." Before we can imagine the kind of person we can become, we must be honest about who we are.

In our gospel lesson, Jesus is questioned about two events in which lives were lost. We don't know exactly what historical event Luke describes, but we can see how people were trying to understand it. "Why were the Galileans killed? Was it the wages of their sin?" Most would have said, "Yes." There were lots of people like Job's so called friend Eliphaz who said, "Think now, who that was ever innocent ever perished?" What about those guys who died when the scaffolding at the Siloam tower collapsed? Are they dead because they sinned?" They asked Jesus.

Jesus answered, "No." on both counts. "None were worse than anyone else." They wanted Jesus to lay it all out and make it plain. They wanted explanations and justifications about the calamities that come our way. How could a good God allow such things? But Jesus wouldn't go there. "It's like I told you," Jesus said. "They didn't suffer because they sinned. But as for you, if you don't repent, you will perish. God is not on trial. You are!"

There aren't many places where people gather expressly for the purpose of being honest. Not on Capitol Hill. Not on talk T.V. Not at your Euchre club. There is only one place you will find such honesty, and that is each Sunday at church. The reason we can muster the courage to repent of sin is because of who God is.

The Bible offers phenomenal insight into our psychological and spiritual make up and the motives at work in us. But more than assessing us, the Bible tells us about God, his power, his purposes and character and his love made incarnate in Jesus. It is hard to be honest about our failures when we try hard to look good. It's hard to go one way in life then change direction. It's hard to change your thinking and behavior. It's hard to live according to God's will and bear useful fruit. It is hard, and often we fail.

A man came into my study several years ago to talk. He was well known in the community. He was highly respected in his profession and public service. He was a loving husband and father. The recipient of awards and honors. A fine man by anyone's estimate, but he was miserable. He confessed to having an affair with a young woman half his age. He never believed he was capable of such a thing. Words couldn't express his guilt and grief. The problem was he was more horrified by his moral failure than he was willing to believe that God's grace was greater than his sin. His pride was punishing him. It seemed that God's forgiveness was no match for his failure.

His grief was part of repentance, but he wouldn't let himself believe that the heart of Christianity is the "second chance". Hanging on a limb of guilt, he wouldn't trust the voice that said, "Let go and let be. Fall into the arms of God's grace and promises." What are those promises? "The Lord is merciful and gracious and abounding in steadfast love. He does not deal with us according to our sin. As far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us." "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." "There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ."

I don't know if I was of any help to this man. We all sin. After we are baptized, we still sin. We still must repent, but at least we can be honest and rejoice believing that God's grace exceeds our sin. I like the way Will Willimon put it. He said, "We are joyfully free to have a negative assessment of human nature because we have such an optimistic assessment of God."

Whenever I reflect upon this theme, I remember this story of a monk walking along the bank, of a river. He sat to rest when his eye caught movement on the exposed root system of a tree which was extending into the water. Upon closer inspection he saw a scorpion clinging to a root, trying to negotiate its way to safety. The monk tried to help. Holding onto a limb with one hand he reached out to gently pick up the scorpion, but sensing an attack, it delivered a painful sting. The monk tried again but snapped his hand back with the same stinging result.

If only he could communicate to the frightened creature that he intended no harm, but wanted to save it. Several attempts later, the scorpion's situation was the same. The monk's hand was swollen and throbbing from the repeated stings, still the monk continued to play Rescue 911. He didn't know it, but a traveler had been watching for several moments. Announcing his presence he said to the monk, "You fool! Don't you realize it is always the scorpion's nature to sting? Let it die." But the monk replied, "Just because the scorpion's nature is to sting, does that mean I must change my nature which is to save?" How does the hymn go?… "Thou changest not, by compassions they fail not; as thou hast been thou forever wilt be."

Six years ago I was back home strolling through the neighborhood near my mother's home. Approaching the corner I saw an older gentleman working in his yard. As I neared him he looked up, smiled and said, "Hello." I stopped in my tracks. It had been 30 years since I had last seen him. "Is that you, Mr. Bingman?" "It is, and should I know you?" "I'm David Bibbee, do you remember me?" "Of course I remember you." He wanted to know about all that I had done and become. He amazed me with the things he remembered.

I asked, "Mr. Bingman, do you remember the time someone nearly nailed you with a marble through the teacher's lounge window?" "Yes." "Did you ever find out who did it?" "No. Do you know who did it, David?" "Well…yes, I do. What if I told you it wasn't intentional…that it was a throwing error…that I did it? "Well, I can't do anything about it now. There's a statute of limitation on such things. If I had known back then, I would have taken you to my office, sat you down and made you tell me exactly what happened. I would have told you how much the window repair would cost, give you a lecture, told you to stand up and face the door, and give you a big…pat on the shoulder, and say "Be more careful from now on and get back to your class." Then I said, "I wish I would have known that back then."

Christians believe in second chances. We get other chances because God forgives. Fear does not lead us to lasting change, but God's love does. Because God loves, we can be honest about ourselves and our failures. Knowing Christ has already paid our price, we can be penitent and walk with him on the road toward being new people. If this isn't something to rejoice in, I don't know what is. Let us pray.

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