In the film ‘Heist’, the casino owner (a hard-nosed, ruthless man who is feared but not loved, played by Robert De Niro) is left ruminating on death and destruction with a former employee who has robbed him to pay for an operation which will save his daughter’s life. Mr Pope is estranged from his ex-wife and daughter because of his ruthlessness and is dying from cancer, but still he has not been merciful to his employee; now, wryly, he remembers his mother’s words to him: ‘Regrets in death mean you’ve lived life wrong. Don’t live life wrong.’
The good news for us as Christians is that we don’t have to live – or die – with regrets; we have the opportunity to live life right, through God’s grace and mercy to us. Despite our mistakes, our sins, our weaknesses, our failures, we can be cleansed and purified, given spotless garments of righteousness to wear. John reminds us, ‘But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.’ (1 John 1:7-10)
Regrets can weigh us down and leave us under the cloud of guilt and condemnation, but God is able to free us from that: ‘Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud.’ (Rom 8:1, The Message) We are able to rest secure, because even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts. (1 Jn 3:20) He is able to turn everything that happens in life – even the sin and shame – to good. (Rom 8:28) Christ really does transform both our living and our dying.