As we approached Lent this year, I was unsurprisingly thinking about repentance. Repentance is the act of turning around, a significant theme during the season of Lent. As I thought about this theme this year, I found myself singing the song, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. The song repeats the phrase "turn around" over and over again. And then the singer talks about feelings that oddly seem to fit our experience of both Lent and life in general.
I was surprised as I continued to sing this song in my head to note how well the song fits with our scripture lessons for Lent this year. Today, we return to Jesus' baptism as told by Mark, continuing through the next few verses to consider Jesus' time in the wilderness to prepare for ministry as well as the words with which that ministry started (Mark 1:9-15). As I considered the words that Jesus spoke at the start of his ministry, I wondered about the good news that he was bringing and how people might feel about the inbreaking kingdom of God.
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Some of you may have noticed that this is the second time we have read some portion of these words in the last few weeks. As I noted before, Mark packs quite a bit into relatively small spaces. So we return again to the scene of Jesus’ baptism which we heard at the beginning of January.
As we celebrate the Transfiguration today, we consider the ways in which we still tend to respond like Peter, I use a personal story to talk about deep theological meaning, and we ponder what it means to let the fullness of all that we are to shine forth in the presence of God.
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Today is Transfiguration Sunday in the church calendar used by many Protestant congregations. Many of the mainline Christian denominations follow a common calendar that helps us follow the teachings of Christ throughout the year. As we have touched on before, this Church Year serves several purposes: as an instructional tool, as a continuous cycle of celebrations, and as a means of delineating the rhythm of time (similar to other types of calendars).
Connected to the calendar itself is a series of suggested Scripture readings for each Sunday and special celebration. Through these suggested readings, the seasons are further defined. In addition to the colors and the images of the season that we may use in our worship spaces or bulletins, the readings further flesh out the meaning of the season. So the readings for Advent speak both of the coming of the Messiah as well as the coming of the Kingdom. And the readings following Easter Sunday refer to the Resurrection appearances of Christ. In this way, we are constantly, week after week, reminded of and prepared for the journey that is both Christ’s ministry and our own.
The Sunday’s since we welcomed Christ into the world at Christmas have focused on Jesus becoming known to the world. This includes his birth, the announcement to the Shepherds, his presentation at the temple, the visit of the magi, his Baptism, the call of his disciples, and the beginning of his teachings.
Today we witness a story of Jesus ascending to a mountain top with a few of his disciples. I think this is a fairly familiar story for most of us. We recall Jesus going to the mountaintop with his inner circle, Peter, James, and John. While they are there, Jesus becomes dazzling in their sight, his clothes shining brightly. Perhaps we remember as well the return of the voice from heaven, claiming Jesus just as the voice had at his baptism. These are certainly the highlights of the story, perhaps the key pieces for us today as we consider what it means for Jesus becoming known to the world. But there is more here that we should consider both to understand what is happening in the story as well as what is happening in our world today.
After Jesus is transfigured before them, Elijah and Moses also appear and are talking with Jesus. Considering both lived hundreds of years earlier, I am curious how the disciples recognized the two early Jewish leaders. Was there something specific about their appearance from tradition that suggested who they were? Or perhaps Jesus told them after the fact?
However it is that the three disciples recognized who Jesus was talking to, the appearance of these two key figures of early Judaism is meant to show that Jesus is the culmination of all that has come before in the law (represented by Moses) and the prophets (represented by Elijah). This was an important point in that early community and still for us today. Jesus was born into a Jewish community. His earliest followers were Jewish and would have recognized all of the hints and allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures found in Jesus’ story. And here we have a scene that brings to mind not only the story of Moses going up the mountain to talk with God and receive the ten commandments, but also of Elijah going up the holy mountain to behold the glory of God.
This reinforces the belief that Jesus is indeed the one foretold – the Messiah that would come to fulfill all that is in the law and the prophets.
Then of course we have to deal with the response of the disciples. In all three gospels where this story appears, Peter is the one to suggest, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s make three shrines--one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Mark 9:5, CEB). I love that our reading today follows this suggestion up with the note that Peter says this because he felt he needed to respond but didn’t know how because he was in fact terrified. Peter simply knew that this was an amazing experience in the presence of holiness, so his response is to try to hold onto that experience right there in that place.
Everytime I read that part, I am reminded of our modern world. We talk about “mountaintop experiences.” We have entire industries built around providing or encouraging these types of experiences--experiences that transcend our day to day lives and give us a sense of something higher, perhaps holy.
We see it not only in our day to day lives, but in religious circles as well. People have an experience of the divine while on pilgrimage or on a mission trip, and then they want to stay in that experience or recreate the experience so that they can feel exactly that way again and again and again. But Jesus doesn’t go along with this. He takes his disciples back down the mountain, back to everyday life. They can carry that knowledge with them, but they can’t stay on the mountaintop.
It is the same for us today. We can and do have experiences of the divine in our lives. Perhaps it is a sunrise while staring out across the waves of the ocean. Perhaps it is a sense of the holy in the midst of worship. Perhaps it is the feeling of peace we get while serving others. Jesus reminds us that it is good to have these experiences and remember them, but we also must return to everyday life instead of trying to stay on that mountain top.
As we consider our experiences of the divine in our own lives, we also need to consider the ways in which we are connected to this story of Jesus and his disciples. Several years ago when I was in seminary, I took a class called “Worship and the Arts.” It was a great class in which we explored the interaction of art with the sacred stories we tell in worship. One of our assignments that term was to develop a work of art based on a biblical story.
I started writing poetry in high school and all through college. In seminary, I adapted this and began writing prayers and hymn-texts. So when it came to this project, I wanted to stretch myself with another form of artistic expression. I chose to try my hand at painting instead. I did a painting based on the story of Moses on Mount Sinai from Exodus.
In the background were the pillars of smoke and fire that had guided the Israelites across the desert. Then in the center of a mountain range were two glowing circles. One had two rays coming out of it symbolizing the two rays of light coming out of Moses’ head (translated as horns in Latin, leading to art depicting Moses with horns in the middle ages). Perhaps the rays of light were how the disciples had recognized Moses on the mountain with Jesus in our story today.
In the center of the other circle, I made the sign of a cross. You see, in addition to the story of Moses on the mountain that was my primary focus, I also had this story of the Transfiguration in my mind. And as I thought about the encounter that Peter and James and John had on the mountain top, I began to think about the final episode of the TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the two-part series finale, Captain Picard has a vision and is guided to bring a star ship to the same point in space at three different times over his life. The result is a rupture in space-time such that in the final minutes of the episode, all three ships from all three times appear at once.
And so I wondered. What if Jesus is not meeting with the spirits of Moses and Elijah? What if Jesus is literally meeting with Moses and Elijah in their own times? What if somehow this experience that Jesus and his followers have is the same experience that Moses had on the mountain and the same experience that Elijah had on the mountain?
There are other examples of this idea of experiencing historical events in the present in Christian tradition. For example, in Holy Communion, we are participating in Jesus’ last meal with his disciples as well as the great heavenly banquet that we will all enjoy in the future. Like an octave in music, each Sunday worship participates in every other Sunday. Baptism is a participation in the dying and rising of Christ.
If we think about it this way, perhaps we can begin to find our place in the stories of those that have come before, because there is something to be said for seeing ourselves in the stories and experiences we read in our Bibles. Each week, we gather in this place. Like Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, we come into the presence of God. And hopefully we are transformed by our encounter with God.
Or perhaps it is less a transformation and more that what is truly within us finally shows through if only temporarily. I think in our story today it is less that Jesus was transformed and changed in that moment and more that the reality of all that Jesus is shone through his exterior for a moment. Jesus carried the fullness of God within him. While the disciples knew it to a certain degree, his human exterior often hid what was truly within him. But for that one moment on the mountain top, the fullness of Jesus showed forth.
This can happen to us as well. Sometimes our true nature is hidden beneath what appears on the outside, and it can be hard to let our true nature out. Whatever the reason we feel the need to hide our true selves, it can be difficult to show who we really are. For some, like Jesus, being in God’s presence allows the truth to shine through. Sadly there are some for whom the Church is a place where the truth is denied, pushed down, and kept hidden.
For a time on that mountain Jesus was transfigured. Jesus who had the body of a man also contained within the fullness of God. And his disciples glimpsed the true one hidden by the outer form.
I hope that as we gather in this space, we may come into the presence of God.
May we be transfigured and transformed by this encounter with God that our true nature may come out.
May we create a space that is safe for all people to bring their full selves into the outside of God.
And then may we go forth with our memories of the divine to continue our ministry in the world.
This week we continue to read Mark 1 (see Mark 1:29-39) and continue our exploration of how the people recognized the light of the kingdom of God coming into the world through Jesus.
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This week’s gospel reading follows immediately after last week’s reading. As you may recall, last week we heard about Jesus’ authority. We read how he not only cast out a demon, but he also taught with authority. This authority was something that the people in the synagogue recognized even before he had displayed his spiritual power. The people were amazed, and the news about Jesus spread.
Today we read that after leaving the synagogue, Jesus and some of his followers went home with Simon and Andrew. There Jesus learned that Simon’s mother-in-law was bed-ridden with fever. He went to the bed where she lay and healed her. The fever left her, and she was well enough to get up and offer hospitality to Jesus and his friends.
After what happened in the synagogue and again in the home of Simon and Andrew, stories about Jesus spread through the community quickly. That very evening, people from all over town brought to Jesus anyone who was sick or possessed. Jesus healed them all that he could.
The next morning, Jesus arose early and went to find a place where he could be alone and pray. He obviously didn’t even tell his disciples where he was going since they had to go in search of him. The first thing they do is let him know that everyone in town is looking for him. I have to laugh a little at Jesus’ response. “Let’s head in the other direction…” (Mark 1:38, CEB). He wants to continue on to other villages throughout the region, for that is why he has come. And that is what he did.
As is true for much of the Gospel of Mark, this brief passage is dense with multiple ideas packed into it. To unpack these things a little more, we’re going to actually start at the end here and work our way back toward the beginning of our reading.
As we approach the end of the first chapter of Mark (there is still one story left in this chapter), Jesus makes it quite clear what his purpose is. He has come to spread the good news throughout the land. That’s it. He intends to travel to nearby villages so that he can preach there. And that is exactly what he does. He travels throughout Galilee preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons. As we will see as we continue through the Gospel of Mark, casting out demons is closely linked with healing, the two often occurring in close proximity in ways that at times become almost indistinguishable.
It is interesting that Jesus says that his purpose is to preach the gospel, and yet he not only preaches but throws out demons and heals as well. The healing is not his primary purpose and yet it serves his purpose. Part of the good news of the kingdom of God is that God heals. God loves us and cares for us. God is compassionate. Through healing those in need, Jesus strengthens his message.
Interestingly our story today also suggests that this is something that is quite draining for Jesus. Jesus spends almost an entire evening healing the people of the town, after preaching and performing two other miracles earlier in the day. Then the first thing he does when he wakes up the next morning is to sneak away for some alone time. Not only that, but when his disciples come and tell him the town is looking for him Jesus says, “let’s go the other way, instead.”
At the same time, we can’t forget that for Jesus the message about the kingdom of God is in fact intimately linked with his ministry of healing. As we recall from last week, Jesus teaches and preaches with authority, and then he casts out a demon. Then today we find out he goes home with friends from that and heals someone. And then he spends the rest of the day healing others.
The end of today’s reading suggests he has accomplished what he came to do in Capernaum, and now it is time to move on. He continues through Galilee, preaching in the synagogues, throwing out demons, and healing those who are in need. In fact, the very next story which finishes out this chapter of Mark is another healing story. While traveling through Galilee, Jesus heals a man with a skin disease. Jesus may have come to share the news of the kingdom of God, but he does this through more than simply preaching and teaching.
As we think about our place, our mission, our ministry here in this place as part of the body of Christ, I am reminded that this is also part of the message that we are called to share. We, too, are called to share the message of the good news of God’s kingdom to the world around us. But, just like Jesus, we do this through more than simply preaching and teaching.
As we look back over the last year, it may be difficult for us to think about the ways in which this congregation has participated in healing in our world. Part of this may be because we know that we ourselves are in need of healing. How can we heal others when we need healing, especially in the year that we have had? Another part of the reason may be because we don’t realize that the healing we offer the world often does not take the form of the miraculous healings that Jesus performs. This is not to say miracles cannot or do not occur, but the gift of miracles is not often ours to offer.
Still, we see evidence of God’s healing at work in our lives and in our community. And we have participated in that healing work. We have offered our prayers. We have offered hope through giving to support the needs of others in our community. We have offered food to families that might otherwise not have the resources they need. We have offered joy through Christmas gifts to children that might otherwise miss out. These are all elements of healing, even if they do not immediately call to mind the miracles that Jesus performed.
Within our own congregation, we have seen the effects of the virus that continues to run rampant around the world. And we have seen miraculous evidence of God’s healing.
At the same time, one thing we must remember is that healing does not always look as we expect. Many of us carry an image of what we think wholeness looks like. We tend to expect that all healing will bring that wholeness into being. Sometimes healing does bring about a full recovery of all ailments and that image of wholeness is restored.
But sometimes healing brings a new sense of wholeness. Sometimes healing means acceptance of new realities. Sometimes it is the mind that needs healing rather than whatever physical struggle one may face.
In the movie, The Sixth Sense, healing comes in unexpected ways for more than one person in the story. As the movie opens we learn that the character played by Bruce Willis is a well respected child psychologist. Over the course of the film, he attempts to help a boy who struggles with visions he cannot control that fill him with dread and fear. The boy is misunderstood by most of the people he encounters. He hides behind toy soldiers. He seeks refuge in a church.
By the end of the film, both the boy and the man find healing together. Rather than the healing bringing what we might consider wholeness or wellness, it takes a different form. The boy learns to live with his difference, accepting it not as the curse he once thought it was, but as a part of him that perhaps he can use in new ways that can be a help to others. The man comes to terms with just how drastically his life has changed. He is able to let go of things that he was afraid to give up before and to go in a new and unknown direction.
What does healing look like for us? Are we only satisfied with healing that brings the image of wholeness we envision in our minds? Or do we find that healing often takes other forms?
And what of the healing that we offer to our community? What does it look like for our congregation to participate in healing in our community? Does that healing look like we expect it to?
As we continue to dig into the gospel story, we find that healing is an essential aspect of the kingdom of God. Healing was a highly visible part of the ministry of Jesus. The gospels tend to describe it as flashy and miraculous. When we don’t see the same in our own lives or in the lives of people we care about, it may at times be discouraging. But as we grow deeper into our understanding of healing, we know that healing doesn’t always look as we expect it to. God revives us, lifts our spirits, and offers us healing even when our physical forms are not turned into some ideal vision of wholeness and perfection.
For our closing song today, I invite you to consider a song that I believe is familiar to most of us. Credited only as an African American spiritual, it is a song that recognizes the many forms that God’s healing takes. It is a song that helps us find hope no matter our circumstances. So let us remember all that God provides.
Jesus continues to shine the light of God's kingdom into the world. We know that one way in which people recognized Jesus as the Son of God was through miraculous acts of power and healing. But Mark tells us that people recognized that Jesus was a person of authority even before his first miracle (see Mark 1:21-28).
We know from history that Jesus was not the only traveling teacher of his time. Even his cousin John appears to have been well know. What made Jesus different? What made people take notice of him, even before the miracles started?
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As we have continued our journey through this season following Epiphany, one of the things we recognize is how Jesus brings God’s light into the world for all to see. We see the many colors of this light coming into the world in different ways - a light of forgiveness, a light of repentance, a light that calls to us. The light of God’s love guides us, leads us, commands us.
Today we read about how the people of Capernaum glimpsed this light. In the gospel of Mark, this is the first of Jesus’ miracles or healings. After all, we are still in the first chapter of Mark. So far, this chapter has touched on John the Baptist, Jesus’ baptism and temptation, and the calling of his disciples. We are told that Jesus goes into Galilee to announce that the time that was foretold is at hand, the good news that God’s kingdom is coming into the world. Bringing us now to Capernaum.
As we know was his habit, Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. This is a recurring theme in all of the gospels. Jesus is frequently found in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He is an observant Jew following the religious practices even as he is also teaching that things are changing as God’s kingdom comes near.
This is what the people of Capernaum respond to. It is not so much that Jesus is preaching change; I doubt the people of his time responded to change any more easily than people today do. But they recognized the difference in the way that Jesus taught as opposed to the way that the scribes and religious leaders typically taught. Based on what the text says here and what we know about what is to come, we can guess that the legal experts, the religious scribes, teach only the words printed on the page. “We must do these things. We must not do these things.” There is no question of why we do these things beyond the fact that the scriptures say so.
But Jesus teaches as one who wants the people to understand the why -- what is behind the text, why does the scripture say these things, how does this serve God’s kingdom? Rather than the text having authority over him, he clearly speaks as one with authority himself, one who thoroughly understands what the scriptures say and why. This is one of the reasons these legal experts that are mentioned are constantly questioning Jesus on his understanding of scripture. They are trying to catch him up, to prove he doesn’t actually know the scriptures. We know that they fail. Even the legal experts are at times amazed at Jesus’ knowledge.
Now I’m sure it is only coincidental that the naming of the legal experts is immediately followed by the crying out of one possessed by an unclean spirit. Even so, this scene serves to continue the conversation about Jesus’ authority. The spirit that is possessing the man knows who Jesus is and appears to be afraid. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God” (Mark 1:24, CEB). This unclean spirit recognizes Jesus and his authority. He knows that the coming of Jesus indicates the end of his power in the world.
Then Jesus commands the spirit to be silent and to come out of the man. With much shaking and screaming, the spirit comes out. Where there may have been those that doubted Jesus’ preaching, now they know the truth. Jesus comes with authority and power. God’s light shines through him for all to see. And the news began to spread.
It is fitting to read this text during this season. Jesus not only begins his teaching ministry but also has his first show of power among the people, whether we call it a miracle or a healing or perhaps both. In the gospel of Mark it is the first time that Jesus’ power is displayed in this way. Like the miracle at the wedding feast at Cana in the gospel of John, it is a public acknowledgement of who Jesus truly is. It is a public showing of God’s light shining out for all to see.
I think it is easy for us to get caught up on the miraculous part of this passage. Jesus just cast out an unclean spirit that was possessing a man. We know that many people in his own time followed Jesus simply because he could heal them regardless of what else he might say or do. On the other hand, Jesus does not turn these people away either. He knows they are in need of healing and he heals them, whether they believe anything more about him or not.
It is one reason I am more drawn to the first part of this passage about Jesus’ teaching. Before the miraculous display of spiritual power, the people recognize the authority of Jesus’ teaching. The passage says, “The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts” (Mark 1:22, CEB). The people notice the difference between the way that Jesus teaches and the teaching of the legal experts.
We know that the legal experts of their time were ones who studied the scriptures and knew them forward and backward. They could pull out a text for any occasion, and they advocated a simplistic devotion to the letter of the law. The words literally say this. This is why they are legal experts.
Now before you misunderstand what I mean here, we must also note that this is an act of devotion to God for them. They want so much to please God that they study the scriptures in order to understand exactly how God would have them act in every situation. When you put it that way, suddenly they don’t sound quite as wrong as they are perhaps often portrayed. But I would suggest that the difference the people notice is about relationship with God.
For the legal experts, religion is about following the laws that have been written in the past. Religion is about doing our best to follow the rules so that God is pleased with us. For them, religion is found in the scrolls of the Torah. What should I do in this situation? Well, what does the Law say?
Jesus instead comes teaching a relationship with God. How does what is in the Torah lead us into a deeper relationship with God? How do the Laws lead us to more deeply love God and one another? It is not simply a question of avoiding or appeasing God’s wrath. To oversimplify it, Jesus is asking, “where is the love?”
As I was thinking about how to visualize this, I thought of the Matrix movies. Now The Matrix is a deeply philosophical film delving into questions of the very nature of reality. It can leave us wondering, what is reality? It is also a story about finding oneself, about discovering one’s identity. For the creators, the Wachowskis, this was a very personal part of the story.
Over the course of the film, we meet an interesting cast of characters -- a small group of people who recognize the true nature of reality, the masses from whom reality has been hidden or at least unrecognized, and the Agents whose purpose is to maintain the illusion. In some ways, the Agents are analogous to the legal experts in our scripture today. The Agents are, we learn, computer programs designed to ensure that the rules are being followed. They themselves follow a strict set of rules, and they exist to enforce the behaviors of those in the system.
Of course, the analogy begins to fail when we realize that the Agents of The Matrix know that the world people see is a lie and that their true purpose is to make sure the truth remains hidden. The legal experts of Jesus' time did what they did out of a sense of devotion. They were not knowing accomplices to a great lie.
At the other end of the extreme, we have the small group of people who recognize that there is more to the world than the rules that people are forced to live by. We have a John the Baptist type, a Mary Magdalene stand in, various apostles, a Messiah, and even a Judas in their midst. This group teaches a new reality. Through their teaching and their actions, they speak with authority, showing that the narrowly enforced and controlled lives they live is not the fullness of reality. They teach a new way of being in the world with one another.
At the end of the film, the Messiah-figure, Neo, tells the legal experts of his world what to expect:
"I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there, is a choice I leave to you."
Other than the reference to a telephone, it is not hard to imagine similar words coming from Jesus when he speaks to the legal experts and other religious authorities. Jesus comes into the world teaching us that the kingdom of God is coming into the world. He speaks with authority, calling the people into relationship rather than blind adherence to a set of rules and laws. He speaks and acts with power and authority. He brings change.
For many, there is a certain comfort in knowing the boundaries. We like to have rules to follow. We like to be able to easily tell if what we are doing is right or wrong. Jesus doesn’t come saying that is necessarily wrong. What he does come saying is that there is more to loving and serving God than that. Living in the kingdom of God is about more than simply following a set of rules. This is why people were afraid, why people sought to challenge Jesus.
Jesus spoke with authority, as one who knew what the kingdom of God looks like and could tell people what it means to live in that kingdom. This is the authority people recognized before he ever performed an act of power.
Today I encourage us to reflect on Jesus' power and authority using the words of a well-known Methodist hymn-writer. Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley and one of the founders of the Methodist movement, is best remembered for his hymns. A prolific hymn writer, many of his hymns are still sung today, even across denominational lines. As we reflect on the light of power and authority that Jesus brings, we close with a hymn that proclaims this light and reflects on how this light overcomes the spirits and darkness in our lives.
As we continue to think about Jesus as a light to the nations and what it means for us to continue to reflect that light in the world, we circle back around to a topic that we touched on briefly a couple of weeks ago. On the Sunday that we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus, we talked primarily about forgiveness. Today, we add Jonah to that earlier conversation to help us better understand repentance which goes hand in hand with forgiveness.
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Some of you may recall that two weeks ago we talked about forgiveness. We took a look at the Baptism of Jesus and what it means for us to be baptized. I concluded that message by speaking of repentance as a corollary to forgiveness. Today we look more intentionally at repentance, both how it works and how it doesn’t.
Repentance is a somewhat complex word with lots of moving parts. It means to feel regret for past thoughts or actions, but the meaning doesn’t end there. To truly repent means to be so moved by the misdeeds of the past, that we commit to change our present and future. It gives us a sense of turning around to face the other direction. As we commonly think of repentance in the Church, it means to turn from a life of a sin to a life focused on God.
Of course, the Biblical writers didn’t speak modern English. The Greek word we translate as repentance is μετάνοια (metanoia). This word combines the concepts of change and time. The Greeks would have understood this as a change that took place over time or a different attitude or action that took place after some other event.
I think that this Greek concept is helpful for us in the modern world, even as it may perhaps be difficult for us. In the world of on demand entertainment and the availability of so many things nearly immediately through services like Amazon, we sometimes expect everything in our lives to work with the same immediacy. Repentance in our minds can become a “once and done” thing, leaving us feeling like failures if we don’t see the immediate effects in our lives. But the Biblical writers would not have had this same understanding. For them, repentance would have been something that took place over time after some event or encounter led them to change their minds. Repentance is an ongoing process of transformation, not a one time event.
But what is the event or encounter that leads to repentance? What leads us to “change after” in the sense that the Greeks would have understood?