People define “repentance” in many different ways.

Beyond the simple sentence-definition, how we understand, engage, and even feel about the word differs from person to person, denomination to denomination.  Is it a deep apologetic response, or a simple “turning around”?  Does it evoke sadness, shame, hope, or joy?  Is it one time or ongoing?

How we understand that word impacts how we understand God.  I have met people who see God as loving in that word — because He offers a chance to make things right — and God as cruel and controlling — as He forces us to claim ourselves as bad and withholds a future until we do.  If we desire a healthy and true understanding of God, it is worth being honest about how we understand the words associated with Him.

I was sitting with “repentance” recently as I processed a verse that seemed to indicate hope rather than shame, invitation rather than finger-pointing.  I looked up the Hebrew word, and learned there is not an exact equivalent for our usage of the term “repentance”, most commonly “the act of turning from misdeeds or moral shortcomings.”  The closest approximation used in scripture is Teshuvah, which means to return.

Return.  Growing up I heard “turn” often (“turn back to God”, “turn from your evil ways”) though it felt different than the word “return”.  “Turn” indicates that you were facing one way, and then another; “return” indicates you are coming back to a place.  “Turn” can feel predominantly corrective; “return” feels invitational.

The invitation to return looks less like a finger-pointing, condemning God, and more like that father in the prodigal son account:

“‘I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’  So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
Luke 15:18-20

Without a doubt, there was a turning within the younger son.  He had dishonored his father and squandered the ill-gotten inheritance on vices, until realizing he had to turn from those ways.  Stopping the negative actions was only part of it, and not even the most spectacular.  The powerful moment in this story is his return to his Father.

To be clear, he is still struggling to understand his father and himself; he believed his father could make him a servant and that he himself was unworthy of anything more.  However, he did know that his father was powerful and good, capable of lifting him from the pig mire and giving him some semblance of a future; this understanding was enough to lead him home.

The story reveals how wrong he was about both his Father and himself.  His father did not make him a servant, but restored him to sonship and celebrated his return; he did not see his son’s failings, but saw his son.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:21-24

Scripture calls us to repent; Jesus said often “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 4:17)  Without a doubt we have thoughts and actions that keep us from seeing and accepting that Kingdom; fortunately there is an invitation in the midst.

The story of the prodigal son came when spiritual leaders failed to understand that invitation:

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:2

To them, these sinners were unworthy of interaction; to Jesus, they were children of God with whom God longed for restoration, made clear through a string of stories:

• Leaving ninety-nine sheep to pursue the one lost sheep, and rejoicing with others when it is found (v.3-7)
• A woman scouring her house when losing one of ten coins, and inviting her neighbors to rejoice when she finds it (v.8-10)
• A son who dishonors his father for money, only to be received back with open arms and celebration (v.11-32)

No matter what you’ve done, there is a God who sees you as His child and longs for you to return to Him.  There was much rejoicing when the sheep, coin, and son returned to where they were meant to be, and your return brings rejoicing as well.  Whatever is keeping you from seeing, trusting, and being with Him has no true power over you; you can “turn”, so that you can “return.”  Like the son, you may not know what will happen next, but I can tell you this: God is God, and God is good.  He is powerful enough to lift you from the mire, and loving enough to do immeasurably more.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
Psalm 40:1-3