Repent
by Kathy Matuschka
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‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me’ (Revelation 3:20).
Have you been to a function where there was someone with whom you had an unresolved issue? And because of this issue, you didn’t wish to interact with them, so you didn’t? I have. And the more you do this, the easier it is to keep that relationship lukewarm, safe from being too hot or too cold.
Each of us, in some way or another, come to the king’s banquet but avoid facing our host. There are barriers to our wholehearted participation in the kingdom of God. I don’t mean that we are unenthusiastic, but that we each keep some sinful attitudes and unresolved issues or wounds buried so deep that we are blissfully unaware that we are working against our best intentions.
We might be wearing the wedding outfit, but our insides are in constant need of a clean-up. While we say that Jesus is the guest of honour, we put him outside the banquet. Meanwhile, Jesus stands there knocking, and he asks to be invited back into our hearts and lives.
A fitting response to our banquet invitation is to repent – to turn towards our host and accept all the gifts our host offers. To be made uncomfortable in our complacency, to discard the superficial, false garments we wear and be clothed in Christ, and to have our eyes opened. Not because we need to for our salvation, but because that is the sort of kingdom it is, and because the banquet invitation package includes the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, enabling us to repent and be renewed.
Dear Jesus, thank you for waiting for me to answer the door. Thank you even more for your presence at the table with me, and for teaching me how to be human. Amen.
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