Contrition in Repentance

"The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit."

Psalm 34:18

Contrition for sin is an important facet of genuine repentance.  When we were kids, the snide tone or snarky way people said sorry were reasons to reject an apology as insincere.  We wanted people to at least act like they cared when they were apologising for doing wrong.  Conviction of having done wrong is not just a thought that passes through our minds but includes a recurring stab of regret or unsettled feeling inside of us.  The Bible says David's "heart smote him" after he cut off the corner of Saul's robe.  Though he did not kill him as was suggested by his men, his guilty conscience would not let the act pass unnoticed and without repentance.

Contrition is not beating oneself up for doing wrong, for this can be from pride as much as anything.  Webster defined "contrition" as:  "1) The act of grinding or rubbing to powder; 2) Penitence; deep sorrow for sin; grief of heart for having offended and infinitely holy and benevolent God. The word is usually understood to mean genuine penitence, accompanied with a deep sense of ingratitude in the sinner, and sincere resolution to live in obedience to the divine law."  Having a broken and contrite heart due to sin is surprisingly rare--given the amount of opportunity there is for it to be displayed with the amount of sins we are guilty of.  We can be sorry for our sin due to embarrassment, to be exposed as flawed, that we will face negative consequences.  Feeling sorry in itself does not mean we are willing to take any steps to change our ways or do what is right going forward.

I read an article the other day that provided examples of the antithesis of contrition for sin.  The article spoke of a woman who stole an item of clothing from a shop, and after being caught out by security footage admitted she did wrong to the owner of the shop and her online followers.  In her apology she called the theft a "silly mistake," and that "she was only human."  While admitting she knew she did wrong, it seems (unintentionally or not) minimised the severity of her offence by implying, "Everyone does this."  I have noticed a tendency to substitute less confronting words for the sinful reality, like calling someone a "shoplifter" rather than a "thief."  She also offered reasons she claimed contributed to her "silly" decision, that she "had a few drinks" and had a "brain injury" from repeated blows to the head.  These reasons sounded a lot like excuses--quite unlike the contrition David showed when confronted for his sin.  He simply said, "I have sinned against the LORD."  No deflection, explanation, justification or attempt for damage control.  Contrition for sin describes it in all its ugliness before God without trying to soften the blow to protect ourselves or our reputation.

It is possible to sin and feel sorry for ourselves, but godly sorrow and contrition leads to a changed life by God's grace.  After writing a sharp letter to the church in Corinth, Paul followed up with encouragement for the change it fostered in 2 Corinthians 7:9-11:  "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter."  God is near to those who have a broken and contrite heart, and our LORD is pleased to save such sinners.  Selfish sorrow leads to sinners feeling like victims when it is God who has been wronged.  If our sorrow for sin does not lead to change in our lives for good, it may be we lack contrition before God whom we have sinned against.

The Sovereign Judge

In Ezekiel 15, God compared the usefulness of vine to a tree in doing work and making things.  From the wood of a tree, boards can be milled and structures can be built.  Wood from trees would have been used to make many things:  carts, tools, doors, furniture, crates, ships, musical instruments and much more!  In stark contrast, the building potential of a vine was nil.  Trying to make dowels out of the soft runners would be a pointless waste of time.  In regards for doing work, what the vine was best suited for was to be burned in the fire.  At least it could provide a bit of fuel for a short time until it was reduced to ash.

God spoke through the prophet in Ezekiel 15:6-7:  "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ⁷ and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them."  The people of Israel were like a vine that bore no fruit, and the only profitable use for them was to be made fuel for the fire.  They had been unfaithful to God and sinned against Him, and Jesus made mention of this common practice in John 15:6:  "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned."  Those who by faith abide in Jesus will be made fruitful, yet those who are unfaithful and depart from him will be consumed in the fire of God's judgment.

Because vines are not suitable for building anything, no one would question the wisdom of landowners who gathered and burned the vines that littered the ground.  Wood from trees was a valuable resource that was employed for useful purposes rather than burning it all.  The ironic thing is, people who would not think twice to dispose of vines by burning can fault God for bringing fiery judgments upon anyone--even those who have cut themselves off from God through wilful sin.  The owner of a property has the right to do whatever he wants with his vines, and the sovereign Creator has every right to do as He pleases with His creation.  By His wisdom everything we see He created, and without Jesus Christ nothing was made that is made (John 1:1-3).  Doesn't God have the most basic rights to ownership we claim for ourselves, to do as He wills?

A literal example of God's fiery judgment was seen long before the season of Ezekiel's ministry in Leviticus 10:1-3:  "Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. ² So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. ³ And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.' " So Aaron held his peace."  Aaron, the high priest and father of Nadab and Abihu who were killed before the LORD for their trespass, knew his sons were to blame--for God did no wrong to judge those who do wickedly.  Peter remarked it is time for judgment to begin at the house of God, and if it begins with God's people what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel (1 Peter 4:17)?  Nadab, Abihu, and the suffering of God's people in Jerusalem in Ezekiel provide sobering clarity on the subject.

It is the sinner who does wrong, and the just and righteous God has every right to judge sinners as He sees fit.  Praise the LORD He has provided a means of atonement and forgiveness by His own gracious sacrifice.  Should God be blamed for the severity of His judgments when mankind refuses His sure remedy by repentance of sin and faith in Jesus?

Courage to Confess Fear

I grew up in an era where action movie heroes were popular that featured muscled actors like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger who barged into trouble with guns blazing.  For 90 minutes, viewers were treated to stunts, explosions and cringeworthy puns as the body count rapidly multiplied.  Today the ladies have taken centre stage to fill the role of the tough, death-defying and emotionally impotent heroine who take the lives of human beings and aliens as casually as we take a sip of water.  It is exceedingly rare to see a modern film where action heroes betray a shred of what could be considered fear when there is only a step between them and death.  This could be seen as weakness, and we can't have that!

In Braveheart (a work of fiction loosely based on history), I found it refreshing for the courageous protagonist William Wallace, on the eve of his execution, to be shown on his knees in prayer to God and confessing he was afraid.  He prayed God would give him strength to die honourably without crying out under the pains of torture, for he felt to do so was to admit the wicked, wheezing Longshanks had won.  Previously the film portrayed Wallace many times jumping into the fray, putting himself in harm's way and risking death to secure freedom for himself and fellow Scots one battle at a time.  Though the Hollywood depiction of William Wallace puts the most bold among us to shame, it was humanising for him to be portrayed as vulnerable before the almighty God as he confessed his fear--which is common to all people.  That may be the courageous thing Wallace did in the film.

With wisdom comes grief, and increased knowledge can be accompanied by fear.  Our bodies are wired to respond to fear when we are startled or frightened to flight, fly or freeze.  There is no one who is without fear, and anyone who boldly claims to be fearless is especially suspect.  Fear has countless disguises, cover-ups and names that camouflage it because we are naturally ashamed to be viewed as fearful.  It is a hit to our pride to say we are scared, and we can express fear by laughing as easily as crying.  Fear is a part of our flesh we inhabit, but the Holy Spirit who regenerates Christians fundamentally changes us from within as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:6-7:  "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."  God has given us a Spirit of power, love and a sound mind, and His perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).

As long as we live in a body of corruptible flesh, our experiences and feelings can fall short of the spiritual reality of what Jesus has done for us.  We can be filled with the Holy Spirit and still feel afraid because we are preoccupied and distracted by what is not God.  Even as Timothy needed to be intentional to stir up and use the gifts God had given Him, so we must remind ourselves God has not given us a spirit of fear.  We are no longer slaves to sin, worry and anxiety because we now are in Christ, and we should not allow fear to be a squatter in our lives who robs us of peace.  After speaking of the Comforter He would send, Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:27:  "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  When we realise we are afraid, we ought to take courage in Christ and confess this sin so we might be strengthened to do God's will and abide in His love.

Jesus Unites People

There is a local bridge that attracted the attention of a community Facebook group due to an odd reason.  Someone, for some reason, had climbed the supports of the bridge to fly an Australian flag.  Days passed and I was surprised an individual or local council had not had it taken down.  From a liability standpoint, it makes sense to remove the flag to deter additional people from risking their health in scaling the bridge to fly a flag.  When the flag was finally removed, people on the online forum noticed and the majority lamented it was gone.  Overnight, on each side of the bridge Australian flags were attached near the footpath.  After these were taken down, 10 Australian flags took their vacant spot--5 on each side!

The bridge was flag-free until around Australia Day when one Australian and Australian Aboriginal flag were displayed by one another on each side of the bridge.  It wasn't too long until the Australian flags were taken down, but the Aboriginal flags remained.  As I walked across the bridge one early morning, I thought it would take a brave soul to take it upon yourself to be the one to decide to remove the Aboriginal flag.  As an Australian immigrant it seemed a provocative gesture to have the Australian flag removed and the Aboriginal flag to remain because it was first flown in 1971 at a land rights rally.  Interestingly, the flag was granted official status in 1995, and the copyright for the Australian Aboriginal flag was purchased by the federal government in 2022.

I had never considered it before:  it struck me that without Australia there would be no Australian Aboriginal flag.  Borne out of great struggles, the Aboriginal flag became a symbol of Aboriginal history and identity that brought people together.  The experiences of people (indigenous and otherwise), both good and bad, can be useful in guiding us to mature into the people we are today.  We observe this many times in the Bible, how God is able to use anything--even the hatred of family members--to be redeemed for God's good purposes.  Joseph's brothers stripped him of his coat and sold him to slave traders, yet what they intended for evil God meant for good and to save many people alive when Joseph was made ruler in Egypt.  In Jesus Christ all people can experience unity that transcends the bonds of family, ethnicity or shared experiences, for we are all citizens of God's eternal kingdom.

One wonderful aspect of trusting and following Jesus is He changes our perspective completely.  Rather than focusing on the past, comparing ourselves with others or worrying about the future, we are called to look to Him today and find rest for our souls.  Whilst wrongfully imprisoned, Paul wrote in Philippians 1:12-14:  "But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; ¹⁴ and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear."  By faith in Christ, Paul realised how God was able to further the Gospel though he remained in chains.  He saw fellow believers grow bold in their witness and rejoiced rather than becoming bitter about the injustice he faced.

With identity secure in Christ, there is no need to be annoyed or provoked by what flags are flying on the bridge today.  We don't need to fall prey to victimhood by repeating all the wrongs done to us or how we feel slighted today because we have an audience with the Almighty God who loves us and gave His only begotten Son Jesus to save us.  The lyrics of a worship song "At the Cross" came to mind recently that says, "I know a place, a wonderful place where accused and condemned find mercy and grace, where the wrongs we have done and the wrongs done to us were nailed there with him there on the cross."  Isn't God wonderful, to provide atonement and forgiveness for the wrongs we have done and the wrongs done to us?  By the cross, Jesus has drawn all people to Himself.  If we rejoice to have God atone for our sins and wash us clean of them, will we also permit the wrongs done to us be nailed to the cross and washed away by God's love and justice forever?