I was absolutely horrified and panic-stricken. Lara and I were at her parents' house in Lincoln. She was in the back room watching television and I was in the kitchen eating those large, irresistible, puffy white marshmallows. Down by my feet in the kitchen were three sets of sad little puppy-dog eyes. Our two schnauzers Addie and Reilly, and my mother-in-law's schnauzer Lucy, were manipulating me. They were doing everything they could to make me feel guilty for not sharing marshmallows with them.
And so I tossed Reilly a marshmallow. He inhaled it. He doesn't chew anything. And then I tossed Addie a marshmallow. She started chewing and chewing. And I tossed Lucy a marshmallow. But Lucy didn't do so well. She started shaking. Her legs started weakening. Her paws began sliding out from under her in four different directions. She was collapsing. I reached down and grabbed her and her body was growing limp. Lucy was choking on her marshmallow!
As you can imagine, I panicked. What can a fellow do for a choking dog? Can you do CPR on a dog? How would I ever be able to live with myself knowing that I had been delinquent in the death of an innocent little dog with big brown eyes? If this dog died, would my dog-loving mother-in-law ever speak to me again? What part of the world, what country, could I escape to in order to flee the wrath of my wife and mother-in-law?
For those few moments I was totally convicted of the fact that something I had just done would not only impact relationships I greatly value, but would ultimately lead to the death of an unsuspecting schnauzer. I was absolutely beside myself. It was just a marshmallow. Marshmallows aren't supposed to kill!
I immediately began praying and I grabbed Lucy and picked her up off the floor. As Lara's mom raced to the phone to dial the vet, I began applying the Heimlich maneuver on Lucy. I started massaging her throat. I smacked her on the back, hoping to dislodge the marshmallow. I stuck my two fingers down her throat hoping to push the marshmallow down. I gave Lucy a pep talk, "Come on, girl. Don't die on me. Breathe."
And then Lucy started licking her lips. And she hacked and cleared her throat. And she sprang back to life. And then she ran off into another room as if nothing had even happened. And did I ever breathe a sign of relief!
Six foundational teachings.
For the next several weeks we are going to be talking about the Christian basics. In Hebrews 6:1-2 the writer of Hebrews refers to six basic teachings that are foundational to our relationship with God. They are the elementary teachings, the basics, the nuts and bolts, and the essentials. The six foundational teachings are repentance from acts that lead to death, faith in God, instruction about baptism, the laying on of hands (ministry), the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
These six items detail the basic ways in which God wants us to relate to him. God wants us turning to him in repentance. God wants us trusting in him for salvation. God wants us pledging ourselves to him in baptism. God wants us serving him through the laying on of hands. God wants us hoping in him as we anticipate our personal resurrection. God wants us fearing him in light of our eternal judgment.
Repentance from sin.
The first item the writer of Hebrews mentions is repentance. Quite specifically he mentions in Hebrews 6:1 (NIV), "repentance from acts that lead to death." When I was standing in the kitchen the last thought that would have ever crossed my mind would have been that something so simple and random as giving a dog a marshmallow could have caused its death. It is overwhelming to know that our choices can carry such weighty consequences. God has allowed for the possibility of death as a consequence for our choices.
This past week a young girl woke up and smelled smoke in her house. There was a fire. She quickly woke her mother up and pushed her out the front door. She then ran back inside and got a sibling out. But then she made the fatal choice of re-entering the burning house a third time in order to rescue her pets. Firefighters later found her curled up in the corner of a room with her parakeet and her two poodles, Rusty and Cuddles. She had died of smoke inhalation.
Our choices can carry enormous consequences, even the consequence of death. Just think about all the labels that warn us about consequences. Just think about all the safety features that are installed every day to protect us from ourselves, from our careless choices, from our mistakes, and from others. We have smoke detectors, air bags, guard rails, seat belts, emergency shut-offs, child-protection locks, insurance, OSHA, and 911. The list is endless. We go to great lengths to insulate ourselves from physical harm, and we do so because we know that our choices can carry weighty consequences.
Consequences of our choices.
This morning I would like to talk about a consequence of our choices that gets very little press these days. It is true that God has allowed for the possibility of death in the physical realm. But did you know that God has also allowed for the possibility of death in the spiritual realm? Did you know that God has made us equally as responsible for our spiritual well-being as he has for our physical well-being?
When the writer of Hebrews speaks of repentance from acts that lead to death, he is talking about our turning away from those choices that cause a death in our relationship to God. In Romans 6:23 (NIV) Paul reminds us that, "the wages of sin is death." A wage is a salary. It is compensation. It is a payback. It's what we get in return for the work that we do. The wage that is paid for a hard week's work of sin is spiritual death. The consequence of the sin that we do is death in our relationship to God.
God has allowed for the possibility that as a result of our sins, we would be permanently cut off for eternity. He wants us to realize that our sin is not as harmless as marshmallows. And he wants us to take corrective action before it's too late. He wants us to take the necessary measures to see to it that we turn our backs on those choices, those acts, those habits, and those patterns that lead to death. God wants us to turn from the evil that corrupts us and destroys us. He wants us to embrace the life that he has mapped out for us.
This process of turning away from sin and turning toward God is what the Bible calls repentance. This repentance, this turning, involves our entire being.
Repentance involves the emotions.
Repentance involves our emotions. An example of this can be found in Psalm 38:18 (NIV). King David says, "I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin." King David was indeed troubled by his sin. It bothered him. It concerned him. He agonized over it. His sin caused him to lose sleep at night. King David became emotionally upset over the fact that he gave in to the temptation to sin.
As a teenager I can remember getting in knockdown, drag-out fights with my sister. I have a scar on my forehead from a matchbox car she threw at me! Typically, Dad would catch us in these fights, and he would sit us both down, give us a stern warning, and force us to make up with each other. As you can imagine, I became very good at apologizing for my sins. My problem was that I really didn't care. My heart was hardened. My sin didn't bother me. I was a jerk and I didn't care. I didn't lose any sleep over it.
You know, today I cringe at the thought of how calloused I was about my sin. I would cheat on tests if the opportunity presented itself. I'd better not get into all the things that I did. Let's just say that I got pretty ugly for a while. But one day I sat down and prayed about that and asked God to change my attitude. I said, "God, this junk should bother me. I know it bothers you. Help me to care. Hit me between the eyes with the severity of my sin." God answers those kinds of prayers every time and he answers them quickly.
You know, all of us have pockets of sin in our lives. One of the reasons those pockets of sin exist is because we don't care. Like David, all of us need to become troubled by our sin. We need to pray to God and ask him to send his Holy Spirit to work us over and make us lose sleep over our sin. We need to ask God to produce godly sorrow within us.
In 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NIV) Paul says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done."
So repentance involves the emotions.
Repentance involves the mind.
Repentance also involves your mind. An example can be found in Psalm 51:3 (NIV). King David says, "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me." King David paid attention to his conscience. He paid attention to God's word. He listened to God's voice. He consulted with prophets like Nathan. King David allowed God to train his mind. He prayed. He meditated. He became fully convicted intellectually that his sin was destroying his walk with God.
Over the years I have attended dozens of youth rallies, Christian concerts, and weeks of church camps. I will always treasure those experiences. They are part of who I am. I have attended rallies that were all preaching and teaching and Bible and intellect. I have also attended rallies that were almost entirely built on emotion and fear and filled with gut-wrenching, cry-on-your-neighbor's-shoulder kind of stories.
The most effective rallies by far were those that spoke to both the heart and the mind, to both the emotions and to the intellect. A purely emotional repentance will eventually run out of reasons to continue. A purely intellectual repentance will not care enough to follow through. Our repentance must wed the intellect and the emotions in order to succeed.
Repentance involves the will.
Repentance involves your will, too. We find an example of a repentance involving the will in Psalm 51:10 (NIV). King David says, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." In this verse we see yet another dynamic of repentance. David is asking God to give him an unwavering, unfaltering, unswerving, resolute spirit of obedience. David wanted to be in the game for the long haul. He wanted things to go much further than some touchy-feely New Year's resolution could take him. He was setting his will and asking God to provide the necessary strength he needed.
This past week I came across a story about the basketball player Rumeal Robinson. Back in 1989 when Michigan played Wisconsin early in the season, Michigan's Rumeal Robinson stepped to the foul line for two shots late in the fourth quarter. His team trailed by one point. So Rumeal could regain the lead for Michigan. Unfortunately he missed both shots, allowing Wisconsin to upset favored Michigan.
Rumeal felt awful about costing his team the game, but his sorrow didn't stop at an emotional and intellectual level. For the rest of the season Rumeal shot one hundred extra foul shots after each practice. At the end of the season in the national championship game, Rumeal was ready when he had to step to the foul line to shoot two shots with three seconds left in overtime. Swish went the first shot. And swish went the second.
Those shots won Michigan the national championship. Rumeal's repentance had been genuine because he set his will to work so that he would never make the same mistake again.
Repentance is incomplete without our emotions, our mind, and our will.
Repentance involves the body.
Finally, repentance involves your body. In Acts 26:20 (NIV) Paul is explaining his ministry to King Agrippa. Paul says, "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." It should be noted that repentance involves our entire being, including heart, mind, body, and soul.
Christianity is not just a religion for the emotions. Christianity is not just a religion for the mind. Christianity is not just a religion for the well-intentioned soul. Christianity is also a religion for the body. Our religion works itself into our hands, feet, mouth, lips, eyes, and actions. Our repentance is holistic. It is a total response of our entire being.
And repentance is the first thing that God looks for in our lives. His greatest desire is that we would turn from our sin and become fully yielded to him in repentance. That's why 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) tells us that, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." That's why Jesus tells us in Luke 15:7 (NIV) that, "..there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
Friends, God has placed the responsibility of repentance squarely on our shoulders. In Luke 13:3 (NIV) Jesus says, "...unless you repent, you too will all perish." He wants us to act every bit as responsibly with our spiritual lives as we do with our physical lives. He wants us to turn and show repentance from those acts that lead to death. Now is the time for us to repent and return to our God, and receive the eternal life that he created us to enjoy.
One road.
Now I know that all of you will be excited, but way up in a remote portion of Labrador, Canada there is a town called Wabush. For years, the town of Wabush has been completely isolated from civilization. But just recently, workers finished cutting through the wilderness and they built a road that could reach the town. Wabush now has one road leading into it and thus, only one road leading out. If you were to travel the unpaved road for six to eight hours to get into Wabush, the only way you could leave is by turning around.
The good news this morning has nothing to do with the fact that our sins have driven us into isolation far away from God. The good news is that God has cut through the endless wilderness of sin that once separated us from God and that he has paved the way for us to come home. Now is the time to turn your back on your life of sin and set foot toward home. God is waiting. The angels are poised for celebration.
Will you repent with all your heart, mind, body, and soul?