Today’s reading is from Jonah 3:1-10. I love the story of Jonah, the rebellious prophet, the godly man who didn’t really like the way God acted towards other people! Jonah was happy to receive God’s mercy, forgiveness and compassion for himself, but was unwilling to go to the people of Nineveh, because he didn’t feel they were worthy of God’s mercy, forgiveness and compassion. He ended up learning a lesson the hard way (from inside the belly of a great fish), because God is not one to show favouritism. All people can receive His mercy and grace; the message to repent which Jonah carried brought about repentance in the Ninevites and God was merciful to them.

It can be sobering to realise that Christians can become comfortable in their relationship with God and then can look down on others as being unworthy of having the same opportunity to know God. The truth is that no one is worthy of a relationship with God; we all receive the free gift of salvation in exactly the same way, by trusting in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sharing the Easter story is important because all of us need to have the opportunity to repent, to turn back to God. For those who have received this free gift, we must learn, like Jonah, to be willing to pass it on.

As any parent knows, getting a child to ‘say sorry’ (and mean it!) is a difficult task. The child often fails to see that what they have done (snatching a toy from someone else, pushing someone unceremoniously away) is wrong, and even if they acknowledge that they have done wrong, they still don’t like the shame of admitting it and asking for forgiveness. Sally Welch says, ‘saying sorry is difficult; admitting guilt makes us feel small and ashamed; making restitution is costly.’ In our readings today (Acts 2:36-42), we see that we can never be made right with God without this first step of repentance. Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost brought conviction to many people who rightly asked what they then had to do. Peter’s command is blunt: ‘repent and be baptised.’ (Acts 2:38)

Though we may squirm at this first step, we find that when we do repent, we open the door to God’s blessings: ‘and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ (Acts 2:38) We can’t receive this gift if we are full of our own righteousness and pride, but once we empty ourselves of these things, our arms are open to receive God Himself! The U-turn implicit in repentance means we turn from our own ways of doing things and run towards God, finding that He is ready and waiting to accept us and not condemn us. Relationships are restored following repentance; there is a way forward.

Repentance is the start of our journey, but it is just the beginning. John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for Jesus, urged people to live out their repentance (Matthew 3:1-11): ‘produce fruit in keeping with repentance.’ It isn’t enough merely to have a head knowledge of God; we must live out our faith in the real world, with all its ups and downs, difficulties and disasters.

Repentance may well involve restitution (giving back what we have stolen, making right what we have done wrong.) It may mean seeking someone out and asking for forgiveness. Repentance can feel uncomfortable to us, for it accepts the status quo has to change and it refuses to let us off the hook! Yet when we repent, there is freedom and joy, because finally we are doing things God’s way!

Today, Ash Wednesday, is the first day of Lent, and as we journey through Lent, we are reading from Sally Welch’s book ‘Sharing The Easter story,’ which looks at a different Bible passage each day. This week’s theme is ‘Repenting,’ and today’s reading comes from 2 Samuel 12:1-5, the passage where the prophet Nathan skilfully confronts King David over his sinful behaviour (which includes adultery and murder) through an apparently innocuous story. David, drawn into this story of injustice, realises his sin and repents.

Looking on, we may feel bewildered at this godly king’s behaviour. How could he not realise his actions were wrong? How could he be so blind to the error of his ways? How could he sleep so peacefully at night, knowing he had engineered the murder of an innocent man? Yet this story shows us the deceitfulness of sin, how we can rationalise and justify the most sinful of actions while nit-picking over the faults of others. No wonder Jesus spoke about removing the plank in our own eye before worrying about the speck of sawdust in someone else’s! (Matthew 7:3-5)

Repenting means to turn away from wrong ways. We don’t define what is wrong: God does. There is objective truth and objective moral standards governing our world, whether we believe this or not. Nathan courageously confronts David through the disarming power of story. When the conviction of God comes upon David, there is wholehearted repentance (see Psalm 51).

We tend to see repentance as a turning from wrongdoing, but it is also a turning towards God. On Ash Wednesday, we admit our sinfulness and wrongdoing and call on God for mercy. His mercy is the hope we have that we can be forgiven and can indeed have that fresh start.

When I was at school, I loved learning new words; two of my favourites were ‘onomatopoeia’ (which refers to the sounds of words being like what they describe such as ‘sizzle’ or ‘buzz‘) and ‘oxymoron’ (a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.) I thought about oxymorons this morning as I read Mark 10:32: ‘the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.’ Fearful followers? A similar oxymoron is found in Matt 28:17 after the resurrection, when we are told, ‘when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.’

The idea of fearful followers and doubting worshippers seems incongruous (another favourite word of mine.) How can we follow God when afraid, given His repeated encouragement not to fear? How can we worship wholeheartedly while still doubting?

There are no easy answers to these questions. We are complex people in whom all manner of contradictions live. Life is rarely as black and white as we would like; there are many shades of colour (even many shades of grey!)

As we stand on the threshold of Lent (today is Shrove Tuesday, tomorrow Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, that 40 day period leading up to the greatest miracle the world has ever witnessed), ‘fearful followers and doubting worshippers’ seem to sum many of us up. We are bombarded with bad news on a daily basis: illness, rising costs of living, uncertainty, war. Even God’s word warns us of suffering and persecution (Jesus went on to speak to His disciples about His forthcoming death in Mark 10:33-34). And yet, at the very same time, hope flickers through, like the delicate snowdrop or the first light of dawn. We need not fear. We need not doubt. The Lord is still with us. The Lord is near.

Peter asks us what kind of people we ought to be (2 Pet 3:11) right after he has been teaching about the day of the Lord, the heavens disappearing with a roar, the elements being destroyed by fire, the earth being laid bare (2 Pet 3:10) – apocalyptic, scary stuff. Not for him the fatalistic pessimism you might expect or the hedonistic ‘eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die’ attitude of others. No, his advice is to live holy and godly lives, making every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with God. (2 Pet 3:11, 14) We are called to shine like stars in the universe, holding to the word of life. (Phil 2:15-16).

The world has enough fear and doubt to last a lifetime. God’s people are called to lay down fear and doubt and be filled with the faith, hope and love Jesus has died to purchase for us. If you want to give up anything for Lent, resolve to give up fear and doubt, no matter how dark things may look. After all, the days leading up to Easter Sunday were dark, but God still reversed the doom of death through the resurrection of Jesus. We are on the winning side; may faith, hope and love be our daily fuel as we walk through this Lent period and beyond.

Dave spoke tonight from John 4:1-38, the account of a meeting between Jesus and a woman from Samaria. Jesus said that He came to seek and save that which was lost, and here is a practical application of that. Jesus was waiting at the well when a woman came to get water. He asked for water; she was suspicious of Him, and yet through His conversation, her curiosity was aroused. Jesus spoke not of natural water but of living water, and this woman, who was an outcast in many ways because of her lifestyle (she was living with a man after being in other relationships previously) was drawn to Him and ultimately came to realise that He was the Messiah.

The woman was ultimately so taken by all she learned from Jesus that she forgot her chores, leaving the water jar at the well to go and tell others about Jesus. She had a new purpose and new hope in her life. Suddenly, her life had new direction and she was prepared to speak to everyone about this man! Jesus is still in the business of seeking out people who have hungry hearts. It doesn’t matter how empty we may feel: He can fill people with new life and hope. Many other people believed in Jesus as a result of His conversation with this woman; they came to hear Him for themselves and found salvation too. Nothing is impossible when God moves. The Holy Spirit can speak through ordinary words and bring people to salvation. Will we believe that He can do this again, that He can use our testimony to bring others to know Him?