Thought for the Day-Woe to Unrepentant Cities

Somerset Place, Bath, John Piper, 1942 (Tate Britain)

A Thought for the Day given at the lunchtime Eucharist at St Olave Hart Street in the insurance district of the City of London on Tuesday 16th July 2024 based on the text of Matthew 11.20-24 (‘Woe to Unrepentant Cities’)

Sometimes trying to decipher what Jesus says can be as frustrating as reading the small print of an insurance policy. Especially when he speaks in parables! Today’s short gospel reading could not be more comprehensive - and yet we can still struggle to comprehend!

The people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum have had the most exposure to Jesus and his ministry. Many of the disciples came from these places, which remained home to their families and friends.

Yet Jesus condemns them. All. Comprehensively. Three whole cities.

He says their fate will be worse than that of Tyre & Sidon - cities against which the prophet Ezekiel had pronounced judgement – and even worse than that of the city of Sodom, which was destroyed by an act of God. 

Jesus condemns the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum because they did not repent.

Which begs the question - what does a repentant city look like?

To repent, we are told, is to turn - to change our orientation, our attitude, our point of view. True repentance runs deeper than intellectual change. It’s about physically changing. Changing our posture – how we interact with those around us. Repentance means changing what we do and how we do it. For Christians, to repent means turning away from the sin of the world and towards the salvation of Christ.

Repentance is something we promise at our baptism. One of the first messages of the gospel. But one of the hardest things to learn!

Perhaps a city that repents will look like a city full of people trying to be more Christ-like. A city full of people trying to remain faithful to the greatest commandment - to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves.

Imagine if this City was full of people like that? It would look like the Kingdom of Heaven.

Sometimes even the most faithful treat that image as an unattainable ideal rather than a living reality.

Accepting that while some may be able to come close to living in the manner of Christ, not all will be able to do so, and certainly not all of the time. So we think nothing of coming to church and giving the odd quid to charity - but a few hours later turning back to wreaking havoc on the environment and propping up unethical and unjust economic systems through the lifestyle choices we make. We normalise a lesser vision of the Kingdom. We partially repent, because we feel to do otherwise is too costly. The premium just too high.

But Jesus did not condemn everyone in Capernaum except the most faithful - or those who managed to live by his teachings for a few hours a week. He condemned the whole City! Today’s lesson offers no such thing as partial cover. Repentance has to be fully comprehensive.

Jesus’s words today challenge the sinful and the complacent.

They also challenge us to re-assess our vision of the future – to make sure that we are fully, comprehensively, committed to the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven - not a half-baked version of it.

Desmond Tutu said:

“there will be no future unless there is peace. There can be no peace unless there is reconciliation. But there can be no reconciliation before there is forgiveness. And there can be no forgiveness unless people repent.”

Repentance is the foundation of that city of the future.

Is it a premium we are willing to pay? 

Image: Somerset Place, Bath, John Piper, 1942 (Tate Britain)