The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, March 11th: Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9)

JESUS SAYS WE MUST REPENT – OR PERISH

I was listening to a sermon in my car the other day. I can’t remember if it was some preacher on the Evangelical radio station in my area, or if it was a CD of a Scott Hahn lecture that I recently borrowed, or maybe it was Imus in the Morning—but I kind of doubt that. (One thing for sure, it was NOT the Catholic radio station in my area, which would rather air 20 hours of “elevator music” than even 20 minutes of solid Christian doctrinal teaching.)

Well, whoever it was, a statement he made kind of jumped out at me. He said that Satan knows more correct theology about God than even the brightest, most educated theologians in all of human history. Satan, after all, is a supernatural being with an intellect far greater than mere mortals, and he is a powerful angel who was in the very presence of God until he rebelled because of pride and then was cast out of Heaven. Satan has seen God in action—from the inside—and he knows exactly what God is like.

However, the difference between Satan and a devout Christian, the anonymous speaker said in my car, is that Satan would never, ever consider repenting.

So it’s not enough merely to know about God or to believe in God. St. James wrote in his epistle in the Bible, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder” (James 2:19).

In addition to knowing facts about God, a true disciple must repent, ask for mercy, and dedicate him or herself to serving the Lord. This is the only way we can be in a true loving relationship with God.

In this week’s gospel reading Jesus repeated the exact same bold statement within a few paragraphs of each other. Twice he declared, “But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

Repentance is so important. It was the primary message of countless Old Testament prophets. It was the message preached by John the Baptist as he called people back into a relationship with God. It is the message Jesus is proclaiming to us in this week’s gospel.

If we don’t repent, we cannot be forgiven. If we’re not forgiven, then we’re still stuck with our sins. If we’re still stuck with our sins, then we can’t enter into Heaven. So as Jesus said (twice), if we do not repent, the end result is that we will perish. Repentance is that important.

Unfortunately, in our modern society it is very difficult to repent—and not because we don’t have anything to repent of. On the contrary, our society just might have more sins per hour per person than any other culture in human history. If you don’t think so, just consider the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, anger, lust, greed, envy, gluttony, and sloth. In bygone generations people were taught to avoid these seven attitudes that invariably lead to sin. In our modern generation, these seven attitudes are encouraged, celebrated, and rewarded. The resultant sins are just exploding all over society.

So it’s certainly not a lack of sins that makes it hard for us to repent. The problem is that we frequently do not recognize these sins as sins. The problem is we have redefined sin to be nothing more than either personal preferences or the result of unfair circumstances or just plain bad luck. We have gone so overboard trying not to be judgmental or intolerant, we can no longer even bring ourselves to label any behavior—no matter how vile or harmful—as a sin. At best we call it a constitutionally-protected personal choice; and at worst we call it any one of a zillion illnesses.

“Oh, the poor fellow. He has an illness that compels him to kidnap children and rape them. He needs counseling to help him control his urges.”

“Oh, the poor dear. She has an illness that makes her embezzle money from her employer. She needs therapy to help improve her self-esteem.”

“Oh, the poor man. He is unable to work because he has an illness that forces him to sit on the couch all day smoking pot, watching TV, and scarfing down Hostess Fruit Pies by the case. He needs welfare checks and food stamps to pay his bills.”

Nope, nothing here to repent of. If it’s a personal choice or a unfair circumstance or bad luck or a pseudo illness, then no one is personally responsible. No one is guilty. No one has committed a sin. And no one needs to repent. How wonderful.

Only one problem. Jesus says if we don’t repent we will perish. I suspect Jesus said the same thing to Satan way back when Satan was throwing a prideful hissy-fit in Heaven. At that moment, when Satan possibly still could have repented and been forgiven for his rebellious arrogance, he instead defiantly proclaimed that he had done nothing wrong except stand up for his right to make his own choices—or maybe he insisted that he had an illness that compelled him to demand that other creatures worship him as if he were God.

Either way, Satan was cast from Heaven because of his sin and his lack of repentance. He now prowls the world in a seething rage, looking for unsuspecting souls to deceive and devour. He is apparently having a bloody field day in our modern society.

What a crying shame that we find it so hard to repent. It is, as Jesus said (twice), absolutely necessary to keep from perishing.

©2007