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Hate groups are on the rise in America.  A hate group is a group of people that gather around the idea that all the problems were facing are the fault of one person or one kind of people.  It might be people who are gay that are the problem.  It might be black people or white people.  It might be Democrats or Republicans.  Hate groups generally focus on one segment of society and hate them.  About every month or so there is another article in another newspaper about how more and more groups like this are forming.  Some say the rise in hate groups is due to the economy.  Some say it’s because of our African-American President.  Some say it’s because of immigration.  Still others blame it on the divisive political atmosphere we face.  Whatever the case, it seems that hate groups are on the rise.

Shawn was a member of hate group.  In fact, he started it.  He was just a teenager in high school, but he had already experienced a lot of pain in his family life.  He decided that he would blame other people for it.  So, he and a couple of friends formed one of the white-supremacy kind of hate groups.  They hated Jewish people.  They hated black people.  They hated people who are gay.  Shawn and his pals used spray paint and silly pranks at first.  Despite the fact that there were only three of them, they caused a lot of problems in the school.  It wasn’t long before most of the people in school hated them.  Hateful act was returned for hateful act.

Then, Shawn met Mr. Bamingi.  Mr. Bamingi was the janitor at the school.  He came from Africa and told Shawn about real hatred.  He heard about Hutus and Tutsis and how hateful act was returned for hateful act.  Shawn learned how the cycle of hate rarely stops.  Something began to happen to Shawn in his meetings with Mr. Bamingi.  He started to read different books.  He started to paint different pictures.  He started to think different thoughts.  Push came to shove one night when Shawn was out with this friends.  Mr. Baminigi had stayed late at the school and Shawn’s group passed just as he was leaving the building.

Shawn’s friends began calling the janitor names and standing a little too close.  It wasn’t long before one of Shawn’s friends through the first punch.  Now Shawn had a decision to make.  Would he continue to hate with his friends and join in the beating?  Or, would he continue to think different thoughts?  On this night, Shawn thought different thoughts.  He stepped in and stopped the attack.  Unfortunately, the attack would be turned on him as his supposed friends took out their hate on him.  But, Shawn had changed.  Now, it was not only his thoughts, but his actions.  There’s a word for this kind of change: repent.

I know that there was no mention of Jesus in that story.  I know that there was no mention of sin or confession or an admission of guilt.  There was nothing explicitly Christian about it.  Those are the kinds of ideas we usually associate with repentance.  But when we pay attention to what the Bible has to say, we find out the repentance is so much more than confessing sin or saying sorry.  It has to do with a deep change, not only in thoughts, but also in behavior.  That should sound awfully familiar.  Because, while Jesus wasn’t a part of Shawn’s story of repentance, we definitely know that repentance is part of Jesus’ story.   

When Jesus began his ministry he went about preaching, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.”  Jesus’ words meant that things were going to change because God’s kingdom had come close.  Because the world was going to change, the people in the world would have to change as well.  They would have to change their minds and start to believe.  There were two steps to the equation.  One, they would have to change their mind. Two, they would have to believe the good news.  This is something we’ll find throughout the Bible as we look at what it means to repent.

“The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.”  These words floated over the surface of the Sea of Galilee and came to the ears of Peter and Andrew as they cast a net looking for fish.  When they made eye contact with Jesus, he called out to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”  Immediately, the disciples left their nets and went to follow after Jesus.

Together they went on a little further and found some more fishermen.  “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.”  When James and John heard those words, their response was the same.  Jesus called them.  They left their father in the boat with the hired help and followed after Jesus.  Whether it was Peter and Andrew or James and John, those first disciples were also some of the first to repent.

Now, there’s no mention of them saying sorry for what they had done.  They didn’t bow at Jesus’ feet and confess all of their sins.  Why is it that we say they repented?  It’s because they changed.  And, it was a deep change.  They changed the way they thought and they changed their behavior.  Again, there were two steps to the process.  One, as in Peter and Andrew’s case, they left their nets behind.  Two, they followed Jesus.  Likewise, James and John left their father in the boat and then followed Jesus.  It would have been one thing if Peter and Andrew had only left their nets.  Maybe James and John were looking for an excuse to leave the family business.  Had they just left their nets, though, that would have been true repentance.  True repentance is a two step process.  True repentance is leaving the old behind and taking on something completely new.   

Peter and Andrew, James and John were the first disciples to leave an old way of life behind and take on something completely new, but they would not be the last.  Each disciple that Jesus called would be called to the same thing, to a deep change in the way they thought and in the way they behaved.  This is what Paul is asking the church in Rome to do in his letter.  Paul knows that church doesn’t make sense without this deep change in thought and behavior that we call repentance.  Paul gives them, and us, all kinds of examples illustrating what it means to leave behind the old and put on something completely new.

“Let love be genuine,” Paul writes.  Well, what does that mean?  It means two things.  First, it means to hate what is evil.  Second, it means to hold fast to what is good.  True repentance requires both.  It’s not enough to only hate what is evil.  We all know those morality arm chair quarterbacks who can tell every what they’re doing wrong.  We know those behavioral backseat drivers who can point out everyone’s faults.  To their credit, they know what is wrong.  But too often those same people don’t seem take their own advice.  That’s not repentance.  At the same time, we also know people who are good people, caring, kind, generous.  But those same people might not care too much about the evil in the world.  To each their own, they might say.  As long as it doesn’t bother me, they can do whatever they please.  In other words, these are people who hold fast to what is good, but they don’t really hate evil.  That’s not repentance either.

True repentance has two steps.  One, hate what is evil.  Two, hold fast to what is good.  This theme weaves its way through the whole passage.

How about this one: do not lag in zeal, but be ardent in the Spirit, serving the Lord.  We know lazy people, those who lag in zeal, who aren’t passionate about anything.  We know that they need to change.  And, we also know busy-bodies who are all over the place like a boiling pot of water.  They have this appearance of being fervent and active and involved, but really just end up doing a lot of nothing.  So, true repentance in this case is not simply to stop being lazy.  True repentance is to stop being lazy and to boil with God’s Spirit, to be busy in serving the Lord at work and in the neighborhood, at home and in the church.   

How about this one: extend hospitality to strangers.  At first this seems like just a one sided command.  But you have to think about how people usually react to strangers.  We know people who have put up walls and fences that are meant to keep strangers out.  We know people who build decks instead of porches for privacy.  There is a tendency in the world to keep strangers away.  So, even hospitality requires two steps.  First, all of those walls and fences that keep strangers way need to be taken down.  Second, those strangers need to be welcomed in.  It’s not enough to just take down the walls and expect strangers to feel welcome.  Hospitality also requires an invitation and a warm welcome.  Hospitality requires a deep change in thought and in behavior that we call repentance.

The pattern continues to repeat itself throughout this passage.  “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”  So, it’s not enough to avoid cursing those who curse you.  True repentance would have you blessing them in return.   

“Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.”  We know people who always want to be associated with the well-known, the well-connected, and those of good spirit.  They want nothing to do with those of humble means who can offer them anything in return.  But true repentance means putting away that desire to be associated with those lofty thing and also associating with those people of lowly condition.

“Beloved never avenge yourselves…if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink.”  It’s one thing to not take revenge when wronged.  It’s another thing entirely to approach our enemies with acts of kindness and generosity.  True repentance requires both.  So, by now you get the picture.  True repentance is a two step process.  It requires a deep change in thought and behavior, leaving behind an old practice and taking on something completely new.  Paul sums up the whole thing with a phrase that pops up now and again in Scripture, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  We could just lock ourselves up in a closet and not see or hear or speak.  We could certainly avoid being overcome by evil, but that’s not what Christians are called to do.  Christians are called to get out there and overcome evil, not with more evil, but with good.

Along the way, we’ve been talking about other people, about people we know who do these things or don’t do others.  But if we’re honest with ourselves we know we are those people sometimes.  We might not understand hate groups.  We might not understand why teenagers would join hate groups.  We probably won’t ever join one ourselves.  However, while we don’t understand hate groups, we do know what it is to have the desire to curse someone who curses us.  We know what it is to want to get revenge on someone who has hurt us.  We know what it is to want to avoid strangers and we know what it is to want to avoid those who are poor and in need.  We know what it is to struggle with those desires, but we also know that Jesus has called us to something completely different.

Jesus has called us to repent; to leave behind an old way of life of isolation, of cursing, of revenge.  Jesus has called us to leave behind a life of sin.  But Jesus has called us to more than that.  Jesus has called us to take on a new life of hospitality, of blessing, of feeding; to live peaceably with all; to let God’s Spirit boil over from within us and serve God’s son.  Repentance requires a deep change in the way we think and the way we behave.  It’s the only way that church makes sense.  Otherwise the world will continue to think that Christians accept those so-called Christian groups that hate and plan attacks.  If we continue to accept the groups that hate the world will continue to think that God is one that hates and plans attacks.

Deep change took place when Jesus Christ entered the world.  God’s kingdom drew near.  What we witnessed by watching Jesus is that God is not one who hates or plans attacks.  Rather God is one who blesses those who curse him.  God is one who associates with the lowly.  God is one who holds fast to what is good.  God is one who is rejoices with those who rejoice and weeps with those who weep.  God extends hospitality.  God feeds his enemies and gives them something to drink.  God’s love is genuine.  And, God sent his son to establish a kingdom where people would follow him in doing the same things.

This deep change that began when Jesus entered the world continues wherever people repent, wherever people like you and I allow ourselves to be deeply changed in the way we think and the way we behave.  The world needs more groups of Christians like this where love, rather than hate, defines our purpose; where white and black, Jew and Gentile, gay and straight can find be welcomed in.  It’s not an easy life, but as with Jesus raised from the dead, this new life promises to take us places beyond all that we can ask or imagine.  So, as you repent, as you are deeply changed, as you leave behind the old and take on something completely new, remember to always rejoice in that hope, always be patient in suffering, and always persevere in prayer.  Amen.