The following sermon was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on September 15, 1985. The title is, Repent. 

Last Sunday we asked your prayers for three most important things that were all unfolding this week. Firstly, for a series of unprecedented meetings of Christian leaders from every possible background in South Africa, coming together, crossing all the barriers between them, trying to find Christ's answer to the turmoil that is besetting that country. secondly for the deliberations of the Episcopal Church's general convention meeting this week in Anaheim, California and thirdly for our own Truro Vestry as it went off on retreat Friday evening and Saturday, yesterday the Lord woke me at 3am and said you've got to report back on what has happened I really had a wonderful sermon prepared for you, and I hope you get to hear it sometime.

Ross Main is a clergyman from South Africa, and most of you know that he's now working in Washington, D.C., largely with leaders in our own government, and he's become a member of Truro Church. He went home to South Africa to take part in those meetings, and he called us last evening, and he said that they had three days of meetings with people from all sides, including Dutch Reformed, that's the Afrikaners, leaders from the government, members of parliament, Anglicans, including Archbishop Bill Burnett, a good friend of this parish he's visited on several occasions, black bishops, including Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, Gacha Buddha Lazy, the head of the Zulu nation, right across the spectrum. Every kind of constituency was represented.

All they had in common was the Lord Jesus. Ross said it was agonizing. It was wrenching.

It was seemingly impossible. But that there was a miraculous breakthrough. the Dutch Reformed that is the government people present at the meetings issued a statement of confession and repentance and then the whole conference of more than 400 signed it with only five that didn't. Confession and repentance.

And it was determined that delegates would meet with President Botha and in the name of Christ would insist, among other things, on a lifting of the emergency status and all the curfews and all of that, a freeing of political prisoners, and the dismantling of apartheid. And the Afrikaners joined in that call. The blacks who were present wanted to boycott all work for a week, and instead it was decided upon that they would call upon all Christians in that nation to set aside one day for prayer and fasting and staying away from work to demonstrate the seriousness of this call.

That day will be October 9th, a Wednesday. And Ross said he called because the conference wanted you to know what had happened and they wanted you to be thanked for your prayers and to say keep praying. the general convention of the episcopal church held its triennial meeting this week in california and firstly it elected a new presiding bishop edmund browning of hawaii he begins immediately working with john allen our present presiding bishop and then in january he takes over the full responsibilities of his new office.

I can tell you two things about Ed Browning. The first is that he is greatly loved by the people in Hawaii. I know that firsthand.

Having been there this summer, it doesn't matter where they're coming from theologically, they love him because he's been to them a man of care and compassion, and they consider him a good pastor and a good friend, and they return great affection to him. Secondly, I can also tell you that theologically he is very liberal. He's on the board of Planned Parenthood, which means that he comes down four square on the wrong side of the abortion issue, and it would appear from a number of his statements that he favors the ordination of homosexuals, and that signals something, as far as I'm concerned, that is very grave about where our church is at this moment.

On the issue of abortion, Noel was very well received by some and totally ignored by most. A resolution we worked on for over a year didn't even make it to the floor for discussion. The Surgeon General of the United States gave one of the most prophetic speeches I've ever heard in my life, and nothing that he said in it was even reported in the convention daily.

The convention called upon the church to study abortion for the next three years, but at the same time it commended once again the position taken by the last three general conventions, which is one of unequivocal opposition to any legislation that would limit abortion on demand. I don't know if you're aware of the fact that ours is the only church in the Anglican Communion that has taken that stand. The only member church in the Anglican Communion.

For all of the things that one might want to say in criticism of the Church of England, they at least have come out strongly for the sanctity of life. We in Noel welcome the study and we plan to be part of it, but in the meantime, 4,500 babies are dying every day. The House of Bishops also passed a resolution stating that sexual preference will no longer be a factor limiting anyone's admission to the ordination process.

Now in order for that to become the rule in the church, it has to pass both the clergy and the laity as well. It passed the clergy. It failed amongst the laity by four votes.

I read you the words of David why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed and I grieve for our church the vestry and i met on friday evening and yesterday for some time we've sensed that the lord was calling us to repent as just as he's called the church in south africa to repent and some of us have been asking lord what is it that you want us to repent of do we need to repent of sin in our own personal lives and the answer is yes of sin and compromise and materialism and adultery and of loving him too little and the world too much and each other very poorly do we need to repent of corporate sin here at Turo and the answer is yes of criticism and fault finding and broken relationships of pride and self-righteousness of lack of trust and of having lost our first love. Terry Fulham asked the renewal conference in July was there ever a time in your life when you loved Jesus more than you do now? Think about it.

Was there ever a time in your life when you loved Jesus more than you do now? And he said, if there was, if the answer to that is yes, then you've already begun the death process. Have you lost your first love?

Have we, as a parish, lost our first love? Have we got so involved in business and programs and ministries and forgotten what it's all about? are you in love with Jesus this morning?

Really? Are you in love with Jesus? As we met together, we sensed that the call to repent is something much deeper than just a matter of our personal compromise or the failings of Truro.

The church of Jesus Christ is infected with worldliness from top to bottom throughout the land, indeed around the world. Which is worse? A church that can sanction apartheid or a church that can sanction abortion and homosexuality?

The problem, you see, is that we can't say it's their fault, it's their sin, it's their problem. Because there's only one church. You do know that, don't you?

there is only one church and we're part of it there's no place to run to where are you going to go I'll leave this church behind and go start another please don't we've got over 20,000 denominations already we don't need anymore they're all corrupt they're all polluted they're all desperately compromised and ours is one among them Daniel prayed for his people in ancient Israel Daniel perhaps one of the most righteous men in all of history prayed with and for his people to us oh Lord belong shame of face to our kings our princes to our fathers because we have sinned against you to the Lord our God belongs mercy and forgiveness though we have rebelled against him we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God walk in his laws which he set before us by his servants. And I say to you, we, the Episcopal Church, has failed. We have failed.

We have not raised high the standards of God's word. We have not honored the lordship of Jesus. We have not been open to his spirit.

We have compromised. We have been inundated by worldliness. I wanted to flee from the convention.

I felt filthy. Lord, have mercy. Christ have mercy do you know what worldliness is?

worldliness is loving Jesus and hating his cross it's hating the gospel reading we heard this morning if anyone would follow me let him take up his cross we want to follow Jesus but we don't want to take up his cross we don't want to die to self what's being said in every corner of the church is we don't want to die to self we want self expression self fulfillment do your thing whatever it is and call it godly Jesus says die to self there's all kinds of things in self that need to be crucified pick up your cross and St. Paul wrote to the Philippians brethren join in following my example and note those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. You hear that?

Not the enemies of Christ. The enemies of His cross. And Paul said their end is destruction.

Their God is their belly. Their glory is their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.

it was an interesting retreat we spent about half of our time in prayer and about half of our prayer time in tears Derek Prince reported last spring that a totally secular marketing research organization did a survey of some 50 million people and you know what it concluded? That from a marketing perspective, from a marketing perspective, how you sell things, what you appeal to, from a marketing perspective, there is absolutely no difference between the Christian and the non-Christian in America today. We have the same tastes, the same standards, the same values, the same motives, the same goals, the same lusts, the same compromises, the same consequences.

I've had people telling me for months, there's so many folks at Truro who are hurting. That's right. There are.

And throughout the church. And the church is compromised. And if you're living in adultery, you're hurting.

And if you're living in alcoholism, you're hurting. And if you've given your kids away to the secular system, you're hurting. And if you've compromised in your business, you're hurting.

And maybe there are other reasons as well. but that's what worldliness is it's one thing for the ship to be in the water it's another thing for the water to be in the ship it's one thing for the church to be in the world and it's another thing for the world to be in the as he sees fit. It applies to us as a parish.

It applies to the Episcopal Church and it applies to the whole compromised, rotting, broken body of Jesus over which the Father weeps. Am I right, Edna? You might think that the bottom line of this sermon is that I'm leaving the church something in me wants to but as I've already said there's no place to go that's not the solution I'm convinced and the vestry of this church is convinced I believe I can speak for them you ask them yourselves that the solution is flat out for Jesus friends flat out for Jesus love him as we've never loved him before serve Him as we've never served Him before.

Glory in the cross, forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the cross of Christ alone, and work with the empowering of His Spirit as we never have before for the renewal and the reformation and the restoration and the revival of His church. Let's bow and pray together. let's kneel and pray together let's just be quiet for a moment before God and let Him apply this very hard word to us.

It hurts to repent. I don't like giving this sermon. But God, we need to hear what You'd say to us personally.

Have you lost your first love? Love so amazing. so divine demands my life, my all.

If there's anyone against whom you're harboring a grudge or a bitterness, someone who's hurt you maybe terribly, I'd ask you in the name of Jesus to forgive that person right now. and ask God to forgive you for harboring that grudge. And if I've offended you, please forgive me right now.

Father, cleanse us. Forgive us for our backbiting. Forgive us for our gossip.

Forgive us for our division. Forgive us for our lack of trust. Forgive us for our complacency.

We're so satisfied we give away a million dollars a year and it hardly dents our pocketbooks. Forgive us, Father. Father, we beg You to have mercy on our church and raise up strong leaders who would love You more than the acclaim of men and who would honor Your Word.

Father, we pray for Edmund Browning in his new ministry. Thank You for his pastor's heart. Thank You for his love for Your people.

We pray that You would anoint him with a new concern for Your Word and that You would make him a mighty man of God. We pray for our bishops For our clergy, we pray that they would speak your truth boldly and that you would attend that proclamation with signs and wonders and healings as you renew your church. Be exalted, Lord Jesus.

Lord Jesus, I love you. Thank you for loving me. the lord god has called us to repent repentance means change if there is no change in our lives there is no true repentance that is the word of the lord that doesn't require us to be successful but he does require us to be faithful Almighty God we thank you for the gift of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ I ask you to join with me in the prayer of confession on page 9 have mercy upon us most merciful Father in your God and national privilege of our sins, no, things done and done. And so as all of us, I am concerned, but remain in this earth to the newness of life, to the honor and glory of your name, and to the Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.