Daily Repentance
March 14, 2025
Dear City Church,
This past Sunday, I introduced a new sermon series called Repentance Unto Life. The series will last six weeks leading up to Easter, covering the season of Lent. Historically, Lent is a time the Church has used for preparation and repentance. I realize that repentance is one of those religious words that preachers use a lot but seldom define. The hope of this sermon series is to define repentance thoroughly. But not just to define it but to practice it, individually and corporately. By the end of these six weeks, I hope we have a better understanding of what it would look like for City Church to be a place that’s serious about repentance.
Each week, we will focus on a single word that captures a key component of repentance. It can be easy for us to equate repentance with mere confession—what we do in our worship service every Sunday. But it’s more than mere confession. Repentance can be explained by the following six words: See. Believe. Grieve. Turn. Bear Fruit. Reconcile. These words or actions don’t always happen chronologically. They’re meant to happen iteratively—over and over—in the life of a Christian. As the great preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, “Sinning and repenting make up the Christian life." In calling this sermon series Repentance Unto Life, we’re saying that repentance is both the path to life and the path of life. In other words, repentance is the door into the full kingdom life that Jesus offers us. And repentance is the way we continue in our Christian faithfulness. Repentance isn’t a “one-and-done” type activity. Repentance ought to mark each week—each day—of a Christian’s life.
On Ash Wednesday, when I first introduced this Lenten theme of repentance, I laid out a challenge for you: repent every day during Lent. This could mean repenting of a new sin each of the 40 days of Lent, or it could mean repenting again each day for the same sin. In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother. “Up to seven times?” he wonders. Jesus answers, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus insists on forgiveness that goes far beyond our usual instinct. By implication, he likewise insists on a repentance that goes beyond our usual instinct.
I was stunned the first time someone pointed out to me that in Matthew 18, Jesus may have been suggesting our need to forgive a brother up to seventy-seven times for the same sin. But if you’ve lived long enough, you know how it works. The same sin causes new pain, new shame, new hurt time and time again. That’s why sometimes we have to forgive our brother (or sister or friend or spouse) up to seventy-seven times for the very same sin. If we have to forgive another person up to seventy-seven times for the same sin, what makes us think that we won’t have to repent ourselves of the same sin seventy-seven times? Sin often wears itself into ruts in our lives. Many of us have habitual patterns of sin. But the good news of God’s grace is that we can keep coming back to the well of God’s mercy. Each time we sin, there’s new grace for us.
Already just ten days into Lent, I’m seeing in myself the need to repent again and again for the sins of pride and jealousy. Hardly a day goes by that I’m not comparing City Church to other churches. (And in my skewed mind, you can probably guess which church comes out on top.) But having to repent over and over (even for the very same sin) draws me closer to Christ. Every time I repent, it makes me more dependent on the love and grace of Christ. Every day, we consume so much content—news articles, podcasts, social media, Substack posts, even pastor blog entries. Today, let me encourage you to do more than consume content. Would you allow these thoughts to lead you into repentance? Stop right now. See your sin. See the mercy of God in Christ. And turn into God’s loving arms.
Stay Well & Do Good,
Erik