True Repentance

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God is one. Amen.

On this Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, in the Gospel today from the 18th chapter of the Gospel of St Luke, Jesus Christ tells us an important story about two people who are praying to God. The publican is not someone who runs a pub, but rather, a tax collector who is cheating people and is aware of his limited spiritual life. The Pharisee is a devout Jew who fasts regularly and gives a tenth of his income to The Temple. These two people are very different. However, they both believe in God; and they both are seeking to worship God. So, how do they differ in the eyes of Jesus Christ?

I think they differ in their approach to repentance—their approach to being sorry before God for how they are living their lives at present. The Pharisee is not only proud of how well he is doing, but highly critical of the tax collector, whose heart the Pharisee cannot see. The tax collector is aware of his limitations and says simply to God from deep in his heart, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” St Augustine preached about these different attitudes from the Pharisee and the tax collector with the following insights; and I quote:

How useful and necessary a medicine is repentance (reflected St Augustine). People who remember that they are only human will readily understand this. It is written, ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’

St Augustine is quoting Proverbs, chapter 5, verse 37, which is also cited by St Peter in First Peter, chapter 5, verse 5. St Augustine continues:

The Pharisee was not rejoicing so much in his own clean bill of health as in comparing [what he sees as his good spiritual health] with the diseases of others. [The Pharisee] came to the doctor [that is, God]. It would have been more worthwhile to inform [God] by confession of the things that were wrong with [his life] instead of keeping his wounds secret and having the nerve to crow over [that is, to triumph gleefully] over the scars [and failures] of others. It is not surprising,” concluded St Augustine, “that the tax collector went away cured, since he had not been ashamed of showing where he felt pain [Sermon 351.1; cited in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT III, Luke, Inner Varsity Press, 2003, p. 279].

We can all learn from those insights from St Augustine. We each know when and where we feel pain from our past actions. We need to be willing to confess that pain in confession to God and to know that he forgives us. Precisely because God forgives us, we can forgive ourselves and seek to live better lives.

Reflecting on this scriptural passage in the helpful study, The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox: Daily Scripture Readings and Commentary for Orthodox Christians, Joanna Manley offers us an important insight. She cites the 5th century Greek Orthodox monk, St Mark the Ascetic, who pointed out that: “Just as fire and water cannot be combined, so self-justification and humility exclude one another” [St Mark the Ascetic, On the Spiritual Law in The Philokalia, cited in Manley, p. 669, Monastery Books, Menlo Park CA, 1990, p. 669]. In other words, if we try to make excuses for our behaviour when we make mistakes, we are certainly not being humble. To be humble is to be aware of our limitations, to seek to do our best, but to accept that we will make mistakes, we will not always get everything right in how and when we pray or how we live. The very word humble comes from two Latin words [humilis and humus] meaning “low” and “ground.” In a sense, what we are seeking is to be grounded in the Lord—to be firmly rooted in seeking the will of the Lord for each of our lives. How can we do that? How can we become grounded in the particular will—the particular plan and hope—that the Lord has for each of us?

St Mark the Ascetic proposes an unusual, but practical bit of advice. In his writings, On the Spiritual Law, St Mark reflects, and I quote: “A good conscience is found through prayer; and pure prayer through the conscience. Each by nature needs the other” [p. 198]. That is a powerful idea. To be humble, as this tax collector is, we need to develop a good conscience—that is, to seek what is right for ourselves and for others. At the same time, because we are seeking to do what is right that approach guides us into a stronger and stronger prayer life. As our conscience becomes stronger, so does our prayer life. Furthermore, as our prayer life becomes stronger, we can see more clearly in our conscience what actions are right in our relationships with specific people and specific problems. Our conscience and our prayer life work together. As St Mark the Ascetic says, “Each . . . needs the other.”

God sees each of us as we are. He knows us better than we know ourselves; and He uses this knowledge of our thoughts and our lives to guide us to His purposes. Consider the words of the fourth-century poet and hymn writer, St Ephrem the Syrian:

In the case of the Pharisee who was praying, the things he said were true. [However,] since he was saying them out of pride, and the tax collector was telling his sins with humility, the confession of sins of the [tax collector] was more pleasing to God than the [statement about] almsgiving of the [Pharisee]. It is more difficult to confess one’s sins than one’s righteousness. God looks on the one who carries a heavy burden. The tax collector therefore appeared to [God] to have had more to bear than the Pharisee had. [So] the tax collector went [on his way] more justified than the Pharisee did, only because of the fact he was humble . . . (concluded St Ephrem) [Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 15.24, cited in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament III, Luke, p. 280].

These powerful insights from St Ephrem apply to each of us today. It is clear from this story in the gospel of St Luke that God is pleased when we are humble, when we confess our sins and when we seek to live better lives and to draw closer to Him. God does not expect us to be perfect persons; and He helps us to understand our imperfections and weaknesses. The confession of any sin is a sign of humility before a loving God.

Furthermore, when necessary, God will teach us to be humble. That experience can be both painful and helpful. A Serbian Elder, Thaddeus of Vitovnica, reflects that

if we ourselves do not learn humility, God will not stop humbling us…. Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we [encourage]. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the [challenging] circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts [that is, drawn into a situation where several strong conflicting ideas occur] and [we] can have neither peace nor [calmness] [Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives, Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2015; pp. 40, 8].

The title of this sermon is “True Repentance.” In a book filled with the teachings of Elder Thaddeus [1914-2002], Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives, he offers us a beautiful understanding how to be truly repentant by becoming truly humble. In a lecture delivered in 1998, he spoke of how Jesus Christ said to his disciples, “Peace be unto you” [John 20. 19]. The elder continued with his thoughts that now conclude my thoughts about true repentance. I quote:

[Like Jesus Christ,] I too wish that the peace and joy of the Lord may come upon all of us. The Lord will reward us with His Peace if we change our way of thinking and turn toward [Him]…. The perfection of the Christian life consists in extreme humility [that is, very strong humility]. Where humility reigns, whether it be within a family or in] society, as a whole, it always radiates [that is, sends forth] Divine peace and joy…. [True] repentance [leads to] a change of life. One must go to a priest and confess, or tell a friend or relative if something disturbs one’s consciousness and shatters [that is, destroys] one’s inner peace. After confession a person also feels lighter. God has created us in such a manner that we all influence one another. When a neighbor feels compassion [that is, sorrow for someone in trouble], we immediately feel comforted and stronger. [Because] life has dealt us many blows, … we must change our way of thinking…. If we turn toward the Fountain of Life—God [Himself]—then He will give us the strength [through which we can then] become rooted in good thoughts—quiet, peaceful and kind thoughts, full of love. Our sincere repentance will shine through, [with] good thoughts, good wishes, and feelings of love that radiate peace and give comfort to every being [pp. 171-172].

Elder Thaddeus concludes:

There, now you understand what [true] repentance is all about. [True] repentance is a complete turning of one’s heart toward [the] Absolute Goodness [of God], and not only [a turning] of the heart but also of the mind. [True] repentance is the unbreakable union of love with our Father and Creator. Therefore, we must always be in prayer and at all times ask the Mother of God to give us the strength to love [God] as she herself does, along with the saints and the angels. Then we will be blessed both in this life and in eternity as well. For God [gives] love, peace, and joy, which fills every [person] that seeks Him from the heart [p. 172].

And so, we ascribe as is justly due all might, majesty, dominion, power and praise to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, always now and ever and unto the ages of ages.

Father Emmanuel Kahn