This is the sermon for the third-to-last Sunday of the Christian Church Year. The sermon text is Jeremiah 18:1-18. The sermon theme is: Repent…Please! Here is the Written Sermon.

Repent…Please!

What can i learn from clay? I wonder if that was the question Jeremiah was asking himself. The Lord told him to go to the potter’s house. So that’s exactly what he did. And what did he see? He saw a man working with clay very skillfully with his hands. And then, suddenly, when the potter saw something that he couldn’t fix in the clay—maybe it was a small pebble, maybe it was a part of the clay that was hardened—when the potter saw this, he mashed the clay down and moved it to the side.

What is it then that the Lord wanted Jeremiah to learn? What is it that he wanted all the people of Judah to learn? Jeremiah tells us: “Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:5–6 NIV)

The Lord has the right to change his actions. Now, when I say this, I need to very carefully explain what I mean. Our Lord above does not change. His attitude does not ever change. But his actions do. They change because we change. Just think of that potter. He pours all his effort and all of his talent into making that bowl or jar. But then he finds the flaw and throws it away. Did the potter plan for there to be a pebble stuck in the clay? Did he want there to be a hardened part of the clay that was unworkable? No. His attitude stays the same. He wants to make something from the clay. The problem is not with the potter. The problem is with the clay. So also, our Lord does not change his attitude. But because we change, he has to change his actions.

And, no doubt, when Jeremiah shared these words with the people of Judah they asked the question “what do you mean?” So the Lord has Jeremiah give a couple of examples: “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned” (Jeremiah 18:7–8 NIV)

The Lord promises to destroy people who are unrepentant. But then he changes his actions. Why? Because they turn. They turn away from their sin. They turn toward God. He changes his actions. But in all of this, his attitude is the same. He wants them to be saved.

He then gives another example which is just the opposite of the first one: “And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” (Jeremiah 18:9–10 NIV)

The Lord says that he will be good to a people. He promises to build them up and make them grow. But then what does he do? He changes his actions. Why? Because they didn’t repent. They didn’t obey. They didn’t listen. They concluded that since God said that he would be good to them, then they could be as bad and as wicked as they wanted and God wouldn’t notice or go back on his word. But what happened? The Lord “relented.” He changed his actions because they changed their hearts against him.

From here the Lord makes the people of Judah ask the question “which group am I in? Am I in the group that will be built up and flourish? Or am I in the group which will be torn down and go to hell?” ““Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’” (Jeremiah 18:11 NIV)

Notice the two huge thoughts the Lord wants the people of Judah to know. First, The Lord is telling them that they are in the second group, not the first. They are in the group that has heard the Lord promise to be good to them. And as a result, what did they do? They used his words against him. They used his promises as an excuse to sin.

So, the Lord tells them that they are in that second group that is on its way to be destroyed. Then he preaches one word to them. He tells them “turn.” And it’s not just what he says that is so surprising. It’s how he says it. He says “repent…Please!”¹ In the Hebrew, there’s a little, tiny word that the Lord attaches to the end of the word, repent to show how caringly and carefully he wants them to turn. The closest we can come to translating that word in english is the word “please.”

From here it would seem as if the end of the story writes itself. There is such an obvious conclusion to these words, right? Any stupid idiot could see that the common sense action to take would be to repent. For who wants to have God tear them down and send them to hell, right? But, is that how these words end? Listen closely: “But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”” (Jeremiah 18:12 NIV)

The Lord says “repent!” The Lord caringly and carefully says “please!” But the Lord’s people respond by saying two terrible and tragic statement. First, they say “It’s no use.” Now, notice what they are not saying. They are not saying that their own sins and where their own sins are leading them is of no use. Instead, they say that the Lord’s plan is useless and worthless.

Then notice their reason. Why is the Lord’s word and his way so useless and worthless to them? Because they have chosen to follow their own plans and their own paths. Why is the Lord’s word and way so useless to them? Each of them will act on the evil and hardness in their hearts.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, when the Lord in caring and careful words came to his own people in the Old Testament and told them “Repent…Please,” so very many of them worshipped their own sin and would not give in—even in the slightest. So the Lord carried them away to Babylon. And then when they died he carried them away to Hell.

So, my brothers and sisters, when the Lord comes to you as he is today, don’t say “it’s not use.” When he says “repent,” don’t say to him “let me follow my own way.” When he so carefully and caringly says “please,” don’t respond by hardening your hearts and resolving to do evil.

Listen to his words and take them to heart. Repent…Please! Confess your sins to your Lord and Savior. Confess your sins to your Lord who has never changed his attitude toward you. As Christians who already know your Savior, Jesus, I invite you to repent. Confess your sins and cling to that forgiveness that Jesus won for you.

Here, however, is where I need to speak in more detail. For it’s easy to say “repent.” The problem is that usually just as soon as our new man inside us turns to God, that very same moment our sinful nature plans a way and a time to turn back to our sin. When then is the solution?

Last week was Reformation. And at the very beginning of the Reformation Martin Luther wrote down some topics he wanted to talk about. He took that list and nailed it to a door. There were 95 topics he wanted to discuss. At the very top of the list he wrote these words: Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, when he said ‘repent,’ he meant that the entire life of a believer be repentance.”² Do you get the point that Luther was making? Repentance isn’t a one-time-event for us. We sin every day. So we repent every day. Repentance is like breathing. Every day, every moment your body is breathing out the bad and breathing in the good. And so our souls do the same. We constantly breathe out our sins and confess them. And we constantly breathe in the forgiveness Jesus won for us. That is what gives us the power to both see our sin and struggle against it.

The other problem we face is just as difficult as the first. On the one hand, we see our sinful nature—how powerful it is and how it seems as it’s no good to repent because we will just go back to our sins. And so our Savior says “repent…please.” And he promises to be our strength and our shield. That’s the first difficulty. But the other is just as hard. What if you don’t feel very sinful at all? What if, when you sit down at night to confess your sins and say your prayers and you really can’t think of a whole lot that you’ve done that’s wrong. If that is where you are, then mourn, be sad! For that is not a sign of your spiritual health. It is a sign that your conscience is almost dead.

Your condition reminds me of when I was in CPR class years ago. And in the Red Cross text book it said that first degree burns are painful. Then it said that second degree burns are even more painful. And I was expecting it to say that when it gets to third degree burns it’s even more painful. But it didn’t. You see, if the burn is that deep, the nerve endings that tell your brain that you are in bad shape are destroyed. And the section on burns concluded by saying that many people who have third degree burns don’t live very long after they have third degree burns.

If you cannot feel any need to repent, then you have third degree burns—not on your skin—no, instead, you have deep burns on your soul. And so, carefully and caringly, your Lord says “Repent…Please!” Repent of your sin and relent of sadness. Receive the forgiveness Jesus gives. And rejoice in the victory Jesus promises. Amen.

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¹ שׁוּבוּ נָא

² Dominus et magister nĩ Jesus chrĩ dicendo—Penitentiam agite. iẽ. omnẽ vitam fidelium penitentiam esse voluit.

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