Repentance, Not Shame - Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
I recently listened to Brené Brown’s 2014 TED Talk about shame. Brené Brown is an author who researches shame and vulnerability for a living. In her TED Talk, Brown explains the difference between shame and guilt. Guilt, she says, is a feeling of remorse when we make a mistake. Shame is the conviction that because we made a mistake, we are a mistake. According to Brown’s research, shame is dangerous. It’s a driving force behind all manner of harmful conditions from anger to violence to addiction. As Christians, we know that the conviction of shame is simply untrue. God created us all with love and care and no one is a mistake.
Although the TED Talk is almost a decade old now, I found Brown’s words quite timely. Shame and guilt are ideas that usually go hand in hand with penitence in the season of Lent. But Brown suggests that we might need to look at repentance in a different way, and she’s not alone. Each year on Ash Wednesday we are greeted by the insuppressible faith and determination of the prophet Joel, who, as it turns out, has been speaking Brené Brown's language all along.
When we think of the prophets in the Old Testament, we usually think of those 8th century heroes like Isaiah and Amos who cried out to the people that if they did not repent, disaster would ensue. Joel has a different message to offer. Joel is speaking to people experiencing major trauma and communal grief. Sound familiar? A locust infestation had devastated their crops, their livestock, and their economy. “The day of the Lord is coming, it is near,” Joel says, because the scale of the tragedy feels absolutely cosmic. The world as they knew it had ended.
While some prophets attempt to make sense of the chaos and pain in our midst by showing us that our own choices have an impact on the world around us, Joel takes a different approach. He does not blame this cosmic devastation on the people. He does not criticize their behavior or threaten further destruction if they don’t change their ways. He does not preach divine punishment. “This is not your fault,” he seems to tell them, “and we will get through this together.”
Instead of answering the question “why,” Joel seeks to answer the question, “now what?” He tells the people to “blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly.” For Joel, the response to fear and uncertainty is not exhaustive explanation and justification. The response to fear and uncertainty is to come together and to turn toward God.
This shift broadens what it means to repent. To repent literally means to turn. Repentance is not just about acknowledging and contemplating sin and shame and asking God for forgiveness. It’s not just about the why. Joel believes that wherever the people find themselves, no matter how much they are suffering, when they turn toward God in lament, they will be strengthened, and this, too, is repentance. “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart.”
It is no stretch to see the similarities between Joel’s world and ours. And on Ash Wednesday, we too are called to repent. We sanctify a fast and we call a solemn assembly. And yes, we are called to reflect on our humanity, our brokenness, and our mortality. But Brené Brown assures us that we shouldn’t spend the next 40 days wallowing in shame. Joel agrees. As he puts it, “rend your hearts, not your clothing.”
For some, it may be valuable to spend time in Lent pondering the question, “why?” Why is the world the way it is? Why am I still struggling with…fill in the blank. Frankly, I’m a little jaded towards this line of questioning after three years of pandemic and no clear answers. So if trying to make sense of chaos and pain and mortality is not life-giving for you right now, or if it leads you down a dangerous spiral of shame, perhaps this year you might join me in asking, “now what?”
In the midst of the chaos and pain in the world during this season of Lent, Joel invites us to spend time together in prayer, with fasting, and through almsgiving. Yes, we will acknowledge the things of which we are guilty and ask forgiveness from God and from the community, but we will not turn towards the dangerous and unfounded convictions of shame. Instead, we will repent and turn towards God
To my surprise, Brené Brown explained that the antidote to shame is not righteousness or godly living, as I assumed it would be. In fact, the antidote to shame is compassion for ourselves and others. It may sound strange to think of this season of penitence as a season of compassion, but I think this is precisely what a holy Lent looks like. When we are able to examine our lives and our mistakes while trusting that we are no mistake and neither are our neighbors, that we are all deeply loved by God and deserving of compassion, then we will experience repentance in its fullest expression. We will know what it means to return to God will all our hearts. Amen.