Advent Week 2 –Advent Repentance: Returning to God with Whole Heart and Riven Soul (Part 1 of 2)

The Reverend Ben Knoblet / December 6, 2025

“Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.” Jerimiah 8:7 KJV

Advent marks the “now” of turning—a sacred summons to repentance in light of Christ’s first coming and in anticipation of His second. As Scripture declares, “repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:47), and “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2). The season of Advent is not merely a countdown to Christmas; it is a divine invitation to return to God with contrite hearts.

This turning is not a one-time pivot but a perpetual motion—a rhythm of repentance echoing through the Church’s homiletic tradition. Lancelot Andrewes, in his penitential preaching, evokes this cycle with his “now therefore” at the year’s equinoctial turn, when even creation returns to its appointed course (Jer 8:7). Advent repentance, then, is a complete circle: a turning from sin to God with whole heart, and a turning back to confront sin with rent heart. It is marked by fasting, weeping, mourning, and rending—actions that embody the soul’s yearning for restoration, grounded in the assurance of God’s merciful nature (Joel 2:13; Exod 34:6).

Part I of this reflection will explore one of the four principal movements of Advent repentance outlined in Andrewes’ Sermon, each enriched by his twofold motion and manner. Through this lens, we may see how the Church’s liturgical rhythm calls us not only to prepare for Christ’s coming but to be transformed by it. Let us begin with a collect that frames our journey:

Almighty and merciful God, who in your loving-kindness calls us to repentance and reconciliation through your Son Jesus Christ: grant us true contrition of heart, that turning from our sins, we may be grafted anew into your grace and await with joyful hope the coming of our Savior; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

From What We Must Return: Forsaking All Sin and By-Ways

Advent repentance begins with a decisive turning from sin in all its forms. The homily preached before King James, at Whitehall from Andrewes’s first call is clear: we must forsake not only gross outward deeds but also inward lusts, false opinions, and superstitious practices. As Isaiah laments, “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” (Isa 59:2), and Paul confesses the war within: “another law… making me captive to the law of sin” (Rom 7:23). Lancelot Andrewes warns against a shallow repentance that merely shifts from one extreme to another—from fleshly indulgence to worldly distraction—without truly turning toward God (Deut 5:32). Such repentance is incomplete, a detour that leaves the soul wandering in sin’s by-ways.

The Old Testament validates this concept from the very beginning with the Hebrew verb shub שׁוּב) ), “to return or go back, bring back” (Vine, Unger, and White 1996, 203). In its first

occurrence, God tells Adam that he and Eve will “eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19). This pronouncement marks the original instance of the need for course correction and, by extension, the ancient biblical longing for Advent.

Advent calls us to a higher turning. Just as the stars return to their appointed place in the heavens, so must repentant souls abandon sin’s blind alleys and walk the via recta—the straight path—toward the presence of God (Psalm 16:11, KJV). This is no passive drift, but an active forsaking—a deliberate reorientation of heart and life. Tertullian, in On Repentance, urges believers to tear up the roots of sin, not merely trim its branches. He writes, “While it abases the man, it raises him; while it covers him with squalor, it renders him more clean; while it accuses, it excuses; while it condemns, it absolves.” He adds, “The less quarter you give yourself, the more (believe me) will God give you.” For Tertullian, true repentance must be seen in how we live—not just in what we confess (On Repentance, ANF 3:657–68).

Practically, this turn demands vigilance. The daily examination becomes a spiritual compass, guiding the soul away from occasions of sin, corrupt objects, and harmful company. It is not enough to regret sin; we must flee from its sources. Advent’s penitential tone invites us to fast not only from food but from every indulgence that clouds the soul’s vision of God. We weep not only for what we’ve done but for what we’ve become—and we mourn the distance sin has placed between us and our Creator. Repentance is an ongoing process, not a single conversion moment. Advent is an annual observance for a reason.

Thus, the first motion of Advent repentance is a forsaking—a turning from all that separates us from God. It is the beginning of the circle, the first step toward restoration, and the necessary clearing of the path for Christ’s coming. Only by leaving behind the by-ways can we hope to walk the way that leads to life.

In the second part of this reflection, I will explore, through Bishop Andrewes’ sermon, our return to God—how Christ mediates this reconciliation—and the practical means of turning through fasting, weeping, mourning, and rending the heart.

References

Andrewes, Lancelot. “A Sermon Preached before King James, at Whitehall, on the Tenth of February, A.D. MDCXIX. Being Ash-Wednesday.” In Ninety-Six Sermons. Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1841.

Tertullian. “On Repentance.” Translated by S. Thelwall. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1885.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.