The Cycle of Repentance
adapted from a sermon by Fr Paul Fanous
The journey that we are going to go through today is the cycle of repentance. The cycle of repentance describes the forgiveness of God, from the beginning of the journey to the end of the journey.
The beginning point is that unfortunately, we all sin. No one can escape sin, St Paul is clear on that, there’s none righteous, no one will escape this idea of sin or committing mistakes in front of God.
The parable of the Prodigal Son is written about a father who had two sons. He had one son that stayed at home, and he had one son that took the money, wasted and squandered it. Both are on the journey of repentance to return to their father.
The younger son – the more obvious sinner – actually comes back sooner. The second son, at the end of the parable, we don’t know if he actually returns, but both are on the journey. Part of the understanding of this idea of the forgiveness of God is that we recognise two things;
- We are all sinners
- We don’t judge other people for sinning, we endeavour to forgive those around us.
No one is righteous because we’re all under the same condition, we all make the same mistakes. If we hold people to a high standard, then God will apply the same standard to us, and we will make the same mistakes as them. To carry on to the next stage is to acknowledge the sin.
As a hand full of sand thrown into the ocean, so are the sins of all flesh as compared with the mind of God
St Isaac the Syrian
St Isaac is saying that even though sometimes our sins feel really big and sometimes we feel we’re very far from the Father. The Father’s mind is like an ocean a little bit of sand has been thrown in to. The love of the Father is not affected by our sin, the love of the Father is not affected by the mistakes we make.
The Father in this parable sits and waits for the return of his son. His mercy is available but he waits for his son to return. My wickedness can never change the feeling of forgiveness. We must understand this crucial part of this journey is remembering that the Father’s love for me does not change. Nothing you can do is wicked enough, nothing you can do is bad enough, nothing you can do is deep enough that God would not accept you back. Not only would He, but He is waiting to accept you back.
Just as a strongly flowing fountain is not blocked up by a handful of earth, so the compassion of the creator is not overcome by the wickedness of His creatures,
St Isaac the Syrian
The next part of the journey is that as the son takes the money and squanders it, he experiences famine. He has this moment of awakening, he has this moment where he says, “what am I doing here? Couldn’t I be a servant of my father?”
Repentance is the gateway to mercy. It is open for all who seek it. By way of this gate, we enter into divine mercy and apart from this entrance, one cannot find mercy.
St Isaac the Syrian
So, there is a trigger point for the mercy of God. The mercy of God is waiting but there is something that we do that triggers the mercy of God, it opens up the mercy of God. It is available to everyone but we reach it through repentance. Repentance is a self-awakening. I begin to adjust my behaviour, I become alert to myself and my mistakes.
Fear is the paternal rod which guides us as far as a spiritual Eden but once we have reached there, it leaves us and turns back. Eden consists in a divine love.
St Isaac the Syrian
Maybe what wakes me up is fear, maybe what wakes me up is guilt, maybe what triggers me to go back is fear of bearing consequences of my mistakes. But it only brings me to the door.
Once I enter the door, what does the father do? He runs out, he robes me. He says, “be merry, come and feast.” It is love that continues the journey. When I walk the journey with God, love is the driving force, it’s not fear, fear is the beginning point, it brings me to the door, but love is what continues.
Guilt has no place in the spiritual life, except to return me to repentance. I don’t sit and wallow in my guilt. Unfortunately, some of us hold onto our guilt and don’t let it go even when we’ve returned, we maintain our guilt, we feel that God could never accept me. This is a toxic mindset and it keeps me from returning to God. The Father is sitting and waiting, He’s robing the people, He wants you in the feast, He doesn’t want you staying outside feeling lousy, He wants just enough guilt to bring me back.
Part of the journey is to be cleansed and to leave the guilt and the fear and to continue on with love and faith and that is one of the gifts of repentance. Even if, coming back, I can’t see how the guilt will leave me, once I recognise the forgiveness of the father, the consequence is love. I start to recognise the love of God and I start to love Him back in a proper way.
That last stage, which is the nicest stage, is the reward of sin.
The reward of a sinner is this, instead of a just reward, God grants them resurrection and in place of bodies that trampled on His laws, He robes them in the glory of perfection. The grace which raises us into life after we have sinned is greater than the grace which brought us into being when as, yet we were not.
St Isaac the Syrian
You will be rewarded for being a sinner as long as you return. You will have a gift for being a sinner, as long as you return. The gift and the grace you’ll get for returning is more than when God first created us. It’s a big statement, we’re bounced higher after repentance, it’s the highest spiritual level according to lots of the fathers. We take this idea of returning to God from examples such as the right thief, the first one to enter the kingdom. God doesn’t know how to hold a grudge. From the characteristics of God, we understand certain things, He doesn’t know how to be harsh.
When you read the Old Testament, read it carefully, people often see in the Old Testament a harsh God, ‘He’s wiping people out’, ‘He’s killing’ but read it carefully, you’ll see that God does not know how to be harsh. The second that you say ‘Sorry, please, don’t God’, He always relents, every time, you will never see him rebuking without saying “In the end, I will glorify you”, “I’ll raise you up”. The second someone bows down and says, “God I am a sinner”, God says, “Ok stand up”. See how He’s humbled Himself to the worst kings in the Old Testament.
The Glory of God is manifested in that. Let us recognise the invitation given to us by this parable of the prodigal. Let us be inside the feast, not outside like the older son and come inside and start the process of repentance today. Let it be today, don’t wait to start our process of repentance. Glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.