Lectionary for Sept. 14, 2025
14th Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 51:1-10;
1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-1
One of my favorite parenting practices that my partner introduced with our kids is “making it right.” When I was a kid, apologizing for doing the wrong thing was usually enough. That is, unless we broke something—then we would have to help pay to fix it (still sorry about that remote I threw …). But every time my kids do something that hurts someone else, especially physically or emotionally, they must make it right.
They start by apologizing, but then they have to do some good, with a greater impact than the injury (Exodus 22:1-9). This is repentance. Apologizing is all well and good. But repentance is reorienting oneself from traveling away from love and taking steps toward love. My kiddos don’t just apologize for the wrong they do. They also take steps to make it right and reengage in kindness toward their siblings. Instead of ending the incident in sorrow and embarrassment, they reengage in acts of kindness. And, thanks to my partner’s wisdom, the kids get back to kindness and joy quickly.
The lectionary passages this week are all about the joy of repentance.
The classic text describing the joy of repentance is Jesus’ parables about lost things. This week, we read the first two parables (the two wayward sons and their neglectful father is the third parable in the set). In these parables, Jesus makes a strong kal v’homer (“light and heavy”—similar to a fortiori) argument that if humans know how to celebrate the return of lost things, how much more does heaven and the divine court know how to celebrate the return of wayward humans? Just as a shepherd calls together his friends to rejoice in the finding of a lost sheep, and a woman calls together her friends to celebrate the finding of a lost coin, the joy of heaven is magnified by one who repents (more than by the 99 who don’t need to do so). Jesus told these parables to help his Pharisee interlocutors understand the joy that God derived from tax collectors and sinners being welcomed into repentance.
Friends, there is joy in heaven for repentance!
The author of 1 Timothy also celebrates the joy of repentance. The writer acknowledges that he was a blasphemer and violent aggressor, acting in unbelief. In fact, the author goes so far as to say that he is the foremost sinner! But Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners! So, instead of leaving the writer merely feeling sorry, Jesus pressed him into service. The one who was once violently opposed to Jesus’ movement has now been found to be faithful. Again, this is repentance. The author didn’t just tell Jesus he was sorry—he went about performing the work of repentance. Where once he persecuted Jesus, he began to serve Jesus’ mission.
Even the psalmist declares the joy of repentance. David’s repentance for his evil actions could not be in undoing the murder and rape that he had perpetrated. Instead, once he tasted the joy of God’s salvation and mercy, his repentance was to teach God’s ways to his fellow wrongdoers and literally help his fellow sinners return/repent (Psalm 51:13).
In the last example from this week’s texts, it is God who repents. Exodus 32 is one of at least 13 times in Scripture that God repents. The Israelites had used the wealth that God insisted the Egyptians should pay them in retribution for their years of slavery to construct an idol. God was, rightly, offended by their lack of faithfulness. God rejected the people, handing over ownership to Moses, and prepared to smite them. Moses interceded, however. He reminded God of the divine promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as arguing that the Egyptians would mock God. Upon hearing this, God repented from the evil that God had planned.
Systematic theologians will get themselves tied up in knots trying to explain away God’s repentance here and in many other passages. Fine, and fun for them if they enjoy it! Some will take the word of the false prophet Balaam in Numbers 23:19 over Moses, Samuel, Jonah and others. We all have choices in interpreting the vast library of Scripture. For me, this, and all the other passages where God repents, underscore the preciousness of repentance. God is not embarrassed to demonstrate turning away from anger and violence toward forgiveness and embrace. Isn’t that what we long for in God’s grace? God turns away from just punishment for the violence and anger we perform to give us underserved forgiveness and embrace.
Friends, there is joy in heaven for repentance!
