Repentance should be prioritized, but …
“The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth. But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! ‘Let us eat and drink,’ you say, ‘for tomorrow we die!’” (Isaiah 22:12-13)
Right now, God is telling us to repent, but we are crying out to God for 'restoration.' The tears we should be shedding right now are 'tears of repentance,' yet we are shedding 'tears asking for restoration.' There is no restoration without repentance, but right now, we are so focused on the need for restoration that we don't even recognize the need for repentance. This shows how much we fail to recognize the sins we are committing against God. We no longer view sin as sin and continue to repeat the same sins before the holy God. Not only against God, but we are also sinning against our family members and church members, yet we do not consider these sins as sins and boldly continue to repeat them. Even then, we are not thinking that we need to repent. To that extent, we have become numb to sin. Meanwhile, we have become very sensitive to God’s blessings of restoration and material blessings.
To us, God is commanding today, 'Wail, lament, and tear your hair out, put on sackcloth' [(Korean Modern Bible) 'Wail and mourn, shave your heads, and wear coarse linen']. In other words, God is commanding us to 'weep tears of repentance.' I long for that moment. I remember the tears of repentance I shed through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit when I heard the message from John 6:1-15 during a college retreat in May 1987. I am praying that the Holy Spirit will allow me to shed those tears of repentance again. The reason is that tears of gratitude or joy without tears of repentance are meaningless. When I think of myself, my family, and the body of Christ, the church, I want to weep tears of repentance before God. However, those tears have dried up. Without those tears, I am barely managing family ministry and pastoral work. At the same time, I dream of a home and church where I am joyful and happy, without considering repentance for my sins. What would God think of this? In today's text, Isaiah 22:13, God commanded the people of Judah to 'wail, lament, and tear their hair out, and put on sackcloth' (v. 12), but they said, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die' (v. 13). How can they say 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die' without shedding tears of repentance? Isn't this the attitude of unbelievers who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus? (1 Corinthians 15:32) Before the flood in Noah's time, 'People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all' (Luke 17:27). How could the people of Judah be 'reveling and rejoicing' instead of shedding tears of repentance? (Isaiah 22:2, Korean Modern Bible) Aren't we doing the same thing now? Isn't the church doing the same thing now? While the Lord clearly tells us, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near' (Matthew 4:17), is the church today focusing on creating a festive atmosphere with worship and events rather than striving for repentance? And so, through the prophet Isaiah, God said to the people of Judah, 'Truly, this sin will not be forgiven until you die' [(Korean Modern Bible) 'This sin will not be forgiven until they die'] (Isaiah 22:14).
It seems that now is not the time to rejoice and be glad. Now is not the time to revel and celebrate. Instead, now is the time for repentance. We must confess and repent for our own sins, the sins of our families, and the sins of our church. We need to repent for not longing for our holy and righteous God and for not honoring the Lord who governs all things in our lives (v. 11). We must also repent for living in the same way as the people of this world, saying, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die,' and indulging in the pleasures and comforts of this world (v. 13). Now is not the time for laughter; it is the time to shed tears of repentance.
I want to shed tears of repentance again,
James Kim
(July 26, 2017, praying for the repentance of not only my own sins but also the sins of my family and the church I serve)