Have you noticed how we associate people with certain settings? If I were to mention someone who works with you, you picture your place of work. If it’s someone you know from church, you picture that person in church. But when that person pops up in a different setting, “I know you but what are you doing here?” Sometimes I even have trouble calling up the name, simply because I’m seeing this person against a different background.
Today our Jewish friends are observing Rosh Hashanah, their New Year celebration. Unlike the Gentile New Year, Rosh Hashanah is solemn; it begins the Days of Awe. The most impressive part of the synagogue liturgy is “Unitaneh Tokef,” a prayer which leads the worshipper to ponder “Who shall live and who shall die, who shall see ripe age and who shall not, who shall perish by fire and who by water….” Writes George Robinson: “The God to whom we pray on the Days of Awe is not a cruel or vengeful God. As the liturgy says, ‘It is not the death of sinners that God seeks but that they should repent.’” (“Essential Judaism,” 94) That last sentence reminds Christians of 1 Timothy 2:4, God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Against what background do you picture repentance? Followers of Jesus have our own rhythm to the year of worship. Talk of repentance is common in Advent and especially Lent. That’s what’s in the air at those times of year. But now? Maybe repentance isn’t what you’re thinking about. “I know you but what are you doing here?” Like learning to know a person in more than one setting, repentance in season and out of season helps us know our Jesus better.
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