True Repentance

everyone. Israel Falau is a famous rugby player who was on a $4 million contract. He quoted

a verse from the Bible on Twitter. I'll show it on the screen now. This is what Israel

Falau actually said on Twitter, in addition to the meme and the Bible first. Those who

are living in sin will end up in hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves you and is

giving you a time to turn away from your sin and come to him. It's a warning message

of impending danger and a call to repentance. This message angered a lot of people from the

LGBTQI community, Rugby Australia, who is the governing body of rugby, and to the sponsors

and Israel Falau's personal sponsors. Furthermore, it even angered some Christians. And just two

days ago, we've heard that Rugby Australia has terminated his contract. So there are many

questions that we would like to ask of this situation. Why is this post causing so much

offence? What does it mean for me? Have a look at the list of sins up on the screen. I've

struggled with at least one of them, even now. So what does God actually want from us? What

does repentance really look like? What does it mean to be grieved by our sin and say sorry

to God and to live for him? We also need to think about what does it mean to preach the message

of repentance in this day and age, given there's so much opposition. Jonah 3 alludes to all these

topics, and we need God's help to understand it. So let us pray so that we can do so. Dear God,

as we come to the topic of repentance, and as we come to your word, help us to understand

it so that we can repent, believe in your word, and know how to proclaim it for your sake. I

pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So when we look at Nineveh's repentance, there are two parts

to this reaction. The people's repentance, and how the king reacted to this repentance, and how he

commanded the repentance to continue. So let us look at the first one, the repentance of Nineveh's

people. For those who were not at church the last couple of weeks, I'll try to summarize what's

been happening in the book of Jonah. In chapter one, God told Jonah to preach against Nineveh,

and Jonah tried to run away as far as possible by boat, and God caused the storm to rise up.

Jonah realized that he was in the wrong, so he told the sailors to throw him in the ocean,

where God graciously rescued him by using a big fish. In chapter three, God called him to proclaim

to Nineveh, and we can see the message that Jonah preached from verse four. So looking at verse four,

we can see that Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, proclaiming 40 more days,

and Nineveh will be overthrown. And we can see how each person in Nineveh responded to this message.

The Nineveh believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least,

are put on sackcloth. So what does it mean for someone to put on sackcloth and fast?

So sackcloth is something that's rough and plain. I can't find any sackcloth to illustrate this,

so I'll use a modern, somewhat transcultural equivalent. And you know, 25 kilogram rice bag.

Imagine putting that on me right now. That's not something that you'll wear every day. It's not

very flashy, and it's actually not a fashion statement. So what does it mean in the Old Testament

to put on sackcloth? In the Old Testament, it means it's a sign of mourning, or someone trying

to lower themselves and debase themselves, or the fact that they want to repent. So the idea

of fasting is similar, that they want to carry the idea of mourning and repentance. So the word

repentance means turning away from sin. And we can see how the Nineveh repented in verses

six to nine. For having had a look at how each of the people at Nineveh repented, let's look

at what it means to repent together. The word corporate means the whole body. So the word

corporate repentance means how a whole group of people repented together, usually done by

the direction of a leader. So when you read Jonah chapter three, verses six to nine, you can

see how the king directed all the people at Nineveh to repent. So the claim then is issued

by a royal proclamation to get everyone to repent. The king, in effect, is trying to get everyone

to repent together or corporately. So we might not be that familiar with the idea of corporately

repenting. But we can see that in the Old Testament. We can see that most clearly in the book of Psalms.

Psalms. But there's a whole category of Psalms called corporate laments, where the whole community

of Israel is led by the leader to, you know, some lament. Although the king isn't a believer,

we can see that in his speech where he tried to get the people to repent. He called the whole

community to repent, to put on sackcloth and to fast. And in these verses, we can clearly

see that these actions are meant to be an act of repentance and not just acts of mourning,

but what the king says in chapter three, verse eight. In chapter three, verse eight, he says,

let them give up their ways, their evil ways and violence. And that's a concrete expression

of their repentance. And we can assume that everyone in Nineveh listened to the king because

God relented from bringing his judgment to Nineveh. So that's a really amazing transformation.

To understand how significant it is, we need to know what the Assyrians are like. The Assyrians

for the capital at Nineveh were known for their violence. In fact, they became very successful

by being violent and conquered everyone around them. So for the king to tell everyone to give

up their violence, it's for them to give up their identity and for them to give up the

ways that made them successful. So there's one question we need to ask. Did the Assyrians

really repent? So if you look at the evidence from the book of Jonah and also the rest of the

Old Testament, the answer is yes and no. The Nineveh of the generation repented once, but in

the generation that followed, we saw that it didn't produce long-lasting ultimate repentance.

We can find out from the Old Testament and even the book of Jonah. Firstly, we can see

that it's just by the way that the king addressed God. In verse 9, the kings of Assyria said,

God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.

So you might wonder why I highlighted the word God. The word God used here is the word Elohim,

the generic term for God. So where is the sailors in chapter 1 when they cried out to God? They

said, they actually cried out to the Lord Yahweh, the personal name of God. And the king here just

know God as a generic God that is powerful and not a God that he personally served and worshipped.

Secondly, we will look at the motive that the king gave for repentance. Looking at the same verse,

we can see that the king wanted to avoid disaster. The first line says, God may yet relent with

compassion and turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish. He wanted the people

to believe in God because he wanted to avoid disaster for his city. And it's not because

he wanted to believe in a God that he wanted to serve and relate to. Thirdly, ultimately, we can see

the Assyrians went back to their violent ways. So the book of Jonah was written between 786 and 746 BC.

So the mere 30 to 70 years later, the Assyrians returned to the violent ways. And we can see

that because they completely destroyed Israel. So it's conceivable that some of the people in

the city would have seen how the Assyrians acted towards Israel. So the very fact that you can see the

violence enacted by the Assyrians, you can see that the Ninevites didn't have a long-lasting repentance.

So it leads to an important question. The Ninevites mourned, they fasted, and they gave up on the evil ways.

If that's not real repentance, what is? And the important question for us is, how do we know that we have

truly repented? So let's look at our repentance. Our working definition of what repentance is, is the

turning away from sin. To understand the true nature of repentance, let's look at the book of Thessalonians

from chapter 1, verses 8 to 10. We'll start from verse 8. They tell you how you have turned to God

from idols to serve the living and true God. So from here we can see the act of repentance.

It has the implicit meaning of turning away from sin towards something. So the people here, they've

turned away from sin towards God. So let's look at what that means for us. When we sin, do we try to

repent by trying to stop the act of sinning out of fear of going to hell? We can see that from the

example of Nineveh, that that might not produce a long-lasting repentance. In contrast, the people of

Thessalonica showed that the evidence of true repentance. We can see that they didn't only

believe in the God of judgment, but the Lord who saved them and that they want to serve. I'll read

verses 9 to 10 again and highlight a different bit. In verse 10, it says, they tell how you have

turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son, whom he has

raised from the dead, Jesus who rescued us from the coming wrath. Can you see how that's a

completely different attitude to repentance? So I'll try to illustrate this point by using

an example that younger people will get. And I sort of understood as well, since I'm not too old yet.

I joined the Facebook group called Subtle Christian Traits. Yep, everyone laughs. It's good.

This is where young people discuss various issues and share jokes that Christians will find funny.

And since they didn't set an age barrier, they let me join, which is good. There's a recent set of

posts that's asked, is it a sin to... So that's one random post. Is it a sin to read the Bible in Klingon?

And some of these are pretty trivial or funny, but some of these are serious questions that people ask.

Someone asked, is it a sin to have a tattoo? All of these are good and valid questions,

but in light of repentance, it misses a point. Repentance isn't just about giving up sins.

Repentance is about changing your entire life's direction.

So to answer all these random posts, someone on that Subtle Christian Trait group posted something

very helpful. They wanted us to ask the question instead, is it glorifying to God to do something?

This is real repentance, not just the act of giving up on our sins, but to live for God.

In other words, repentance and faith aren't two separate things, but they're two sides of the same coin.

So let's apply this to ourselves. If there's a sin that we all need to corporately repent of together,

it's probably greed. And greed might not mean the accumulation of wealth,

for some of us, it might mean putting yourself first in pursuing material things and consumerism.

It might take another form.

So my struggle with greed is not in the form of being tempted to put my trust in the security that wealth brings.

I'll tell you why I struggle with this.

So my parents gave up promising careers in Hong Kong to migrate to Australia.

And with my dad in particular, he gave up a job as an engineer to work as a handyman.

But five years after migrating in 1993, my mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer and was given a 4% chance to survive.

And by God's praise, she's still alive, so you guys don't have to worry about me or her.

She's still growing strong today, so praise God for that.

But what that meant for us as a family is, we've been on a single income since 1993, from that point onwards.

As a result, I've always lived with sort of a siege mentality.

I hated to be wasteful.

And if you need an evidence of it, you can see it in the car that I drive.

It's older than some of you.

It's from the year 2000.

So I find it hard to waste, and I wanted to be secure in my wealth.

I had to work really hard to be generous and to give up my trust on material security.

And God has changed me slowly, and he's still growing me in this area.

And each of us would have a different struggle with greed.

And each of us would work through it differently.

But in this mission month, as we've alluded to, let's use the pledge cards that we were given today

and pray about it and bring our pledges back next week,

not just as an act of generosity.

It's actually an act of serving God.

Ask us, is it glorifying for us to use our money this way?

Okay.

So let's think about how we can actively use our money to serve our true and living God.

So I'm only testing on the tip of the iceberg here.

After this mission month, our church is going to go through a series called Wealth on Purpose.

It will reinforce the idea of how we can proactively turn from serving ourselves

towards serving God in our resources, our time, our talents, and our treasures.

So having looked at what repentance looks like, let's look at the third point.

How do we preach repentance?

One of the most memorable quotes I've seen on Facebook about the Israel Folau saga goes something like this.

People are now offended by a message that they think is not true,

about a God that they think is not there,

condemning you for a sin that you think you haven't committed,

sending you to hell, a place you don't think is real.

So if you think about it,

the Israel Folau tweet is basically a similar message that Jonah preached,

a warning about impending disaster.

Given our current context of increasing opposition to the gospel,

how do we share this gospel of repentance?

Let's look at how the repentance of the Thessalonians helped them share the good news of Jesus.

We will pick it up from verse 8.

The Lord's message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia.

Your faith in God has become known everywhere.

Therefore, we do not need to say anything about it,

for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us.

They tell you how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

So we can see here that repentance has been known everywhere

because of how they lived.

So when a whole group of people repent and change the way they live

from serving themselves or their idols and to serve the living and true God,

it creates the context for gospel conversation.

So this has two implications for us in the way that we do evangelism right now.

So firstly, we need to have people know us personally and not just on social media.

If we display true repentance in a personal context,

it makes for effective sharing of the gospel.

That's why in the Mission Month booklet,

please pick one up on the way out,

or even now you want to,

but on the way out is better,

because otherwise it would be quite chaotic.

But pick one up now,

well, not later, sorry, I mean,

but pick one up later.

I've listed six ways how we can engage in frontline mission,

both in the way that we live and the way that we speak.

It's by intent that through community groups

that we'll work through these six areas as we pray together

and encourage each other to keep doing this.

So these are the six areas that we are trying to work through

and show how this helps out the way that we share the gospel.

The first two points,

modelling godly character and making good work,

shows the importance of those around us

seeing the evidence of true repentance

and an active life of following Jesus.

The next three points,

ministering grace and love,

moulding culture,

and being a mouthpiece for truth and justice,

shows the importance of living for Jesus

and its outward impact.

It is through deliberate actions in this area

that people see the repentance of following Jesus,

how that shows our practical love and concern for other people.

So it's in this context

that we can be a good messenger of the gospel

and an effective messenger of the gospel.

So secondly,

to create these contexts,

we actually need to get people to know us.

So I'd encourage you to get in the habit

of hosting meals,

social, sporting events,

where a whole group of Christians

can meet with a whole group of non-Christians

so they can see Christians in a social occasion.

So that's what's been recommended

from Sam Chan's book

that I've been recommending since last year.

In chapter two,

he outlines some of the principles

on how we can do that.

And I want to show you

how we've borrowed these principles

and put it into action.

On Friday morning,

in our English class ESL,

we've invested time

so that the students can get to know us.

In the intermediate class,

Andrew and I

have been asking the students

to prepare messages

on how they can introduce themselves

and how they feel about living in Australia.

Through morning tea

and through our lessons,

we also illustrate things

from our own life

in our context

so they get to know us

and other teachers.

For some of them,

some of them for a term,

some of them for more than a year,

they slowly warm up to the Bible

and they get more curious

to learn more from it.

So last week,

I started

the Investigating Christianity course

and about two-thirds of the class

stayed behind to study the Bible.

That's just two days ago,

we studied a passage from Romans 1

and some of you

might have seen it

on my Facebook post.

It's a message on sin and judgment.

So it has great potential

to offend people.

But although the passage

was so sober,

the students were willing

to engage with the Bible

and were really willing

to understand.

And one of the reasons

is because they knew

that this message

was delivered

in the context

of a relationship.

And I believe

that all of us

can do something similar

in our own

frontline context.

As people get to know you

and witness your repentance

and see how you live out

your life

with concern

for other people,

you can invite people

to church.

So one of the things

that I've made up

and produced

is this invite.

It's got all the

frontline,

all the local mission activities

that our church hosts

as well as

the Sunday service.

So if you can,

grab these.

There are stacks of them

on the Connect desk.

Get in the habit

of using them

in your personal context.

Hand them out.

If you don't have any more,

grab a whole heap more

and keep doing it.

And the thing is,

people are actually

quite willing

to go to church.

So a lot of people

that haven't been to church,

they assume that church

is a club for Christians

so you have to be a Christian

to be here.

But you know,

we welcome everyone.

So get in the habit

of inviting people

and use these

in relational context

so that people

can get to know Jesus.

So as we looked at

repentance

and how to preach repentance,

Nick will lead us

in a time of repentance

together

as we turn away

from our idols

to serve the living

and true God,

our Lord.