Sometimes being sorry is not enough.
We all have times where we’ve had to apologize for something we said or did. I’ve got a LOT of experience here. Try as I might (and I truly DO TRY!!) I still manage to offend folks. And so I tell them that I am sorry for what I did, and I ask them to forgive me. I’m sure that everyone reading this can relate.
Sometimes it takes me a while to even figure out that I’ve hurt someone’s feelings. I grew up on the north shore of Boston, very close to the Atlantic coast. There was a phrase I heard from time to time that said, “Light dawns over Marblehead.” It held a double meaning. First, it was literally true. Marblehead was a seacoast town nearby and, since the sun rose in the eastern sky, light actually DID dawn over Marblehead.
But it’s second meaning was more poignant, because the “marble head” also referred to a hard-headed dunce who didn’t realize the effect of his or her actions until it was too late. Then, when they finally figured it out, the phrase had its second use. It was a more classy way of saying, “Ah, so NOW you get it!” When I’d eventually figure out that I’d done something offensive, when “light dawned over (my) marble head,” I’d have to go and offer my apology.
But sometimes you have to be MORE than sorry.
Our verse today tells us that THE KIND OF SORROW GOD WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE LEADS US AWAY FROM SIN AND RESULTS IN SALVATION.
When I was about nine or ten years old, my older sister made money from ironing clothes. She kept her earnings safely hidden away in a decorative jar with a lid. Safe, that is, until I found out. Then I would frequently help myself to her stash of cash when I wanted money for candy. My sister, knowing how much she had in her jar, realized something was up. She and my Mom confronted me. I was sorry. I apologized. I cried and made promises.
But not too long afterwards, when temptation struck again, I started to steal her money again! Then one day my Mom walked in the door and found me with my hand in the jar. I was sent to my room to await my father’s return home from work. After he got home I had to drop my trousers while he applied some hard discipline to the seat of learning. (In other words, he spanked my bare bottom … HARD! As any good parent knows, if you can’t reach a child’s heart through their head, there is another route.) After that spanking I was MORE than sorry; I was REPENTANT! And I never stole money from my sister again.
Sometimes you need to be more than sorry.
THE KIND OF SORROW GOD WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE LEADS US AWAY FROM SIN AND RESULTS IN SALVATION.
He wants us to be sorry for our sin, of course. But He truly wants MORE than that. God wants us to see how our sin is destroying us, our character and our relationships. And He wants our sorrow to lead us away from sin.
The word “repent” has been given some very negative connotations. It has even been mocked. Yet it is actually expressing a very important concept. The meaning of the word is simply “to turn around and go in the opposite direction.”
Someone is driving an automobile and using GPS can make a wrong turn and find themselves headed in the wrong direction. That’s when the voice will say, “Make a U-turn.” You’re being alerted that the direction you’re currently heading is not going to take you where you want to go. You’ve got to turn around. You need to repent.
Repentance is a decision to turn our life around. It is a personal recognition that the road we’re on will not take us where we really want to go.
I haven’t met many people who really want to end up in hell. I’ve had some folks with marble heads make jokes about going there. They’re convinced it will be fun because all their friends will be there, too. It reminds me of the scene in the Star Wars movie “The Empire Strikes Back” where Luke Skywalker is being trained in his Jedi skills by Yoda. At one point, filled with more ignorance than information, Luke says, “I won’t fail you! I’m not afraid.” Yoda knows better. His now classic reply is simply, “You WILL BE!”
Those people making jokes now aren’t afraid of hell. They have more ignorance than information. They may not be afraid of hell now; but they will be! And at that point “sorry” will not be enough.
THE KIND OF SORROW GOD WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE LEADS US AWAY FROM SIN AND RESULTS IN SALVATION.
There’s a time when the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience CAN lead us away from sin. That time is now. It’s not tomorrow, nor is it next week. The time to let our sorrow TURN US AROUND and get us headed in the right direction is now, because it is the only time you are guaranteed to have.
God WANTS us to experience that sorrow, because He deeply wants us to experience His love. He wants us to repent (to turn around) and get on the road that results in our salvation.
Since I’ve already quoted Yoda, I’ll wrap up with another one of his gems of wisdom. This one comes from the next film in the Star Wars franchise, “The Return of the Jedi.” I’ll have to modify it a bit to make my point, but Yoda wouldn’t mind.
“A great weakness you carry. Fear for you, I do. Face God you must, and “sorry” will not be enough.”
THE KIND OF SORROW GOD WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE LEADS US AWAY FROM SIN AND RESULTS IN SALVATION.
