by Michiana Covenant | May 12, 2016 | 2 Corinthians, Pastoral Practice, Repentance
In my preaching I have often distinguished between repentance and apology: repentance is where you turn from sin to God and admit your fault, while an apology is an attempt to defend yourself. I have usually said that an apology is appropriate for a mistake, whereas repentance is appropriate for sin.
But in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11, Paul commends the Corinthians repentance — and their apology! As soon as I saw this, it made perfect sense of so many situations of interpersonal conflict. Too often, when we confront someone about their sin, we simply demand repentance and refuse to hear any “explanation” (thinking that the explanation is being offered as an excuse). But Paul is demonstrating a different way. He wants to hear their explanation — their “apology” for their actions — because that will further open communication between them.
Think about how Paul says this:
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
What is the difference between godly grief and worldly grief? John Chrysostom says it well: “Worldly sorrow…is regret for the loss of money, reputation, and friends. That kind of sorrow merely leads to greater harm, because the regret is often a prelude to a thirst for revenge. Only sorrow for sin is really profitable.” (quoted in Guthrie, 379)
Proverbs 9:7-8 says, “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.”
How do you respond when someone rebukes you? Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Verse 11 shows us what this looks like:
11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!
Paul uses seven words to describe the Corinthians’ godly response: the first is “earnestness” – haste – being eager to deal with the problem.
But second, they defended themselves – being eager “to clear yourselves.” This is the word “apologia” – where we get our word “apology.” This word refers to the idea of defending yourself. An apology is a defense of your actions. When you apologize, you are explaining yourself. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you standing there.” “I’m sorry, I was reading a book and I lost track of time.” Those are apologies. If you tell your child, “Apologize to your sister,”you are telling your child to explain their reasons why they did something.
And Paul says here that apologies can be a good thing! Even when you realize that you have sinned, you may still need to offer an apology! You may need to say, “Yes, I was wrong – I sinned against you – and here’s the context to help you understand what happened.”
Paul does not give us all the details of what the Corinthians said to him – but plainly he was satisfied by the combination of repentance and apology that he received.
The third word – what indignation – is a much stronger word. It can refer to displeasure, annoyance, anger, even rage. The object of their indignation is not clear. Possibly they are enraged at the false teachers. Maybe they are upset at themselves for their own blindness. But godly sorrow will produce indignation in you. Godly sorrow will produce strong emotions in you!
The fourth word – what fear – shows how the Corinthians have realized the severity of what they have done. In v15 Paul will speak of the “fear and trembling” with which they received Titus. Why does the wise man love the one who rebukes him? Because the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom! Why is this person rebuking me? If this person is rebuking me out of love – then maybe I’ve missed something – maybe I need to hear what this person is saying.
The fifth word, “what longing” – is the same word used in verse 7 – where Titus told Paul of their longing for him.
And this is closely related to the sixth word – “what zeal” – which speaks of their enthusiasm for Paul – reflecting their dedication to the gospel and to Paul himself.
The final word “what punishment” focuses on the outcome: the word could be translated “what vengeance” or “what retaliation.” It has to do with the dispensing of justice. We saw back in 2:6 that Paul spoke of how the punishment inflicted by the majority was sufficient.
And so, at the end of verse 11, Paul says:
At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.
They were guilty. That’s why Paul wrote the severe letter! But now they are innocent! How can the guilty become innocent? By repentance! And by bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.
So how do you demonstrate godly sorrow? Well, when someone shows you your sin, you should respond with earnestness – promptly dealing with the sin – you should respond with an apology – explaining the situation (not to excuse yourself – but to clear yourself by specifying exactly what has happened); and you should respond with indignation, fear, longing, zeal – real emotions that express your concern that the relationship be restored! – and with “punishment” – with proper consequences that will demonstrate fruit in keeping with repentance.
And when you are confronting someone else, remember that if we demand only repentance — if we refuse to hear a person’s apology — then we are claiming to be higher than God (after all, even God asked Adam to explain himself!).
Peter J. Wallace
by Michiana Covenant | Feb 11, 2016 | Women, Women's Ministry
By Elizabeth Sunshine
I was honored to be asked to lead a devotional at the 2016 MCPC women’s tea on the topic of “books.” I asked my dad for suggestions, and he pointed me to Ecclesiastes 12:12. “My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” As a grad student, I can confirm that the verse is very true. In fact, I’d consider putting it on t-shirts for my classmates. But I didn’t think that’s what the event’s organizers had in mind, so instead I focused on the ways books in general and fiction in particular have influenced my life. I chose this because the value of reading non-fiction for spiritual growth can be relatively obvious. The influence of stories is more subtle but no less real.
We get a hint of the importance of stories in the structure of the Bible. Though we think of it as one book, the Bible is actually many books in many different genres. It contains theological treatises (such as Romans), law codes, also poetry, prophecy (in both prose and poetry) and lots of narratives. Stories take up a large percentage the Bible, and while many of them are history, Jesus’ parables are a kind of fiction. God uses this huge variety of forms to communicate to us because different types of writing speak to our experiences in different ways and affect us differently. And if God considers stories a helpful way of communicating truth, so should we.
One of the first things the Bible tells us about human beings is that we’re made in the image of God. We find this out in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible. At that point, all we’ve been told about God is that He created everything and did it by speaking. Authors, like their Creator create using words. So every time we pick up a book we should recognize that God’s image is being expressed. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everything in every book is good. Authors are also fallen, so we need to read any book with discernment. But we should give thanks to God for the amazing privilege of being made in His image and for the joy we gain from seeing the ways authors intentionally or unintentionally reveal His image in them.
Stories can aid our spiritual growth by helping us develop empathy. They let us get inside the head of someone different from us and understand the world as they experience it. This in turn can help us understand the real people who have had similar experiences. When you meet someone on the street, you don’t know what they’re thinking or their backstory. But when you read a book, the author often tells you that, which makes it easier to understand and relate to the characters.
Fiction is also a huge source of encouragement for me, something my parents taught me at a young age. When I was 10, my parents took my family to Europe for several months, and we traveled to Hungary. We took a night train into Budapest and transferred to another train that would eventually take us to the town where we would be staying. The schedule said the train would have a snack car, so my parents planned on eating breakfast on the train. As the train left the station, a blizzard hit our area. It was then that we discovered the train had little to no heat. My brother and my father walked along the train looking for the snack car. Snow blew upward between holes in the floor of the passages connecting different cars. One bicycle car was covered with ice because the door was opened. My dad tried to close it, but it was jammed. To quote my father, “the bathrooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the fall of Communism” (this was 1999). My father and brother reached the end of the train, but there was no snack car. So my brother and I sat in the compartment bundled up in our coats while my mom fed us gummy bears that she had found in her purse. We had been reading The Hobbit as a family, so my dad said, “Bilbo Baggins describes adventures as ‘nasty, unpleasant things that make you late for breakfast.’ That means we’re having an adventure.” Suddenly, I was excited because I was on an adventure. I was still cold and hungry, but I wasn’t miserable because I saw my predicament differently.
I still draw on Tolkien for encouragement and inspiration, especially when life seems overwhelming. Tolkien does a great job depicting both genuine good and genuine evil and helping us recognize the difference. He also shows us ordinary people, like the Hobbits, standing up against this evil and making a difference. Good stories aren’t just a way to escape from the evil in the world. They’re a picture of what we can do, and they can provide motivation to take risks and do things that may be frightening. G.K. Chesterton once said, “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” The problems that face the heroes in fairy tales are symbols of the evil in the world. And when we see characters in stories slaying their dragons, it can encourage us to stand up and face our dragons.
We’re all busy, so I’m sure many of you don’t have much time for reading. But when you do encounter stories, either in books or in movies, I think it’s helpful to think about them and draw lessons or encouragement from them. I’d also like to encourage you to give thanks to God for the gift of books and the way He can use books of all kinds to make us more like Christ.
by Michiana Covenant | Sep 10, 2015 | Baptism
And what is a Christian?
In light of all the discussions about Kim Davis and her anti-Trinitarian church, it is useful to think about how the Bible describes a Christian:
“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26)
What is a Christian? A Christian is a disciple of Jesus. It is convenient for us that Jesus has told us how to define a disciple: “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Therefore, a Christian is one who has been baptized in the triune name of God and is being taught to observe all that Christ commanded.
So when I say that someone is a Christian, I am making a verifiable claim about their objective status as a part of the visible church. The New Testament *never* uses the term “Christian” to refer to some inner reality that no one else can know. Christian is the term that refers to one’s public, outward participation in the church of Jesus Christ. In the same way that a Muslim is someone who conforms to the outward requirements of Islam, a Christian is someone who conforms to the outward requirements of Christianity.
At least, that’s what the Bible says.
Of course, Jesus also makes it clear that not all Christians will enter into glory (e.g., Matthew 25:31-46). It is permissible to say that not all Christians are “truly Christian” — because there are those who apostatize. But unfortunately, many people today seem to take this secondary sense of the word as the primary sense. They use the term “Christian” to refer to those who will enter glory at the final judgment. But that is *not* how the Bible uses the term Christian.
When I say that Kim Davis is not a Christian, I am not saying that she is eternally damned. I have known many Oneness Pentecostals who appear to have truly believed the gospel (and generally speaking, they wind up leaving the Oneness Pentecostal religion and they become Christians by being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and are taught to observe all that Christ commanded!). The question of one’s eternal destiny is not identical to the question of whether they are a Christian! To put it simply, the thief on the cross *never* became a Christian (he was never baptized), but Jesus says that he belonged to Him — and I make a particular point to avoid disagreeing with Jesus!
But *ordinarily* there is no salvation outside the church. And since Jesus has reserved to himself the right to judge extraordinary cases, I leave it to Jesus to make those decisions!
But if you are not baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit — and if you are not currently being taught to observe all that Jesus commanded (in other words, if you are not part of a Christian church) — then you are simply not a Christian.
by Michiana Covenant | May 11, 2015 | Bible, Preaching
Does God hate you?
In Jeremiah 11, the prophet lays out God’s covenant lawsuit against Jerusalem. The logic of the chapter is pretty simple: God said that if you disobey him and turn to idols, then he will destroy you. Well, for generations now Israel and Judah have disobeyed God and turned to idols. Therefore, God will now destroy you.
Sometimes we hear this and think that God is just a cosmic sadist, watching our misery for his good pleasure! If God is a God of love, then how come he allows this to continue?
We need to keep reading. In Jeremiah 12, verse 7, the LORD says:
“I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.”
Think about this! The temple where I said I would dwell with my people forever? I have forsaken it.
My beloved bride – the one who I called “my people”? I have given her into the hands of her enemies.
You can hear the grief in the LORD’s voice – even as you hear the anger:
“My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.” (Jeremiah 12:8)
What does a lion do – when she “lifts up her voice against me”? When does a lion roar? Lions do not roar before they pounce. Lions are silent stalkers. They only lift up their voice after they have subdued their prey!
God has been mauled by his people! You – and I – mauled God. Our sin sent Jesus to the cross. WE might as well have bee the ones who spit on him, beat him, and hammered the nails into his hands!
“Therefore I hate her.”
Wait. God hates us? Yes, he cannot help but hate us! For we have sinned.
But doesn’t God love us? Oh yes, but that is precisely why he must also hate us. For we have sinned. He loves the good that he created. And therefore he hates that which has marred his good creation.
But take heart, for if God only hates us because he loves what he made us to be, then we can trust him to do what it takes to remove the evil.
Indeed, only a love so deep that it is willing to hate is worthy of being called love! I knew a man who did not seem to care that his wife had cheated on him. That man did not love his wife. A man who loves his wife will hate her for cheating on him. Only such a man will be able to bear the cross needed to restore the marriage!
Only when you understand the depth of God’s hatred and sorrow over our sin and rebellion can you truly understand the beauty of John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You can listen to the whole sermon here
by Michiana Covenant | Feb 26, 2015 | Marriage, Office, Parenting
It seems as though everywhere you turn, you see another example of the abuse, the manipulation, and the deceitfulness of power. In recent months I’ve encountered so many stories of abusive husbands, fathers, pastors, and politicians that I’ve been left reeling.
One common feature in these stories is how slow people are to do something about it. It’s pretty easy to see the pattern: other people see the problem, but they are slow to do anything because they wonder “Am I just over-reacting?” “No one else seems to think that this is a problem.” “And when I look at myself, I face the same temptations — on a bad day, maybe I would do that too…”
And so we say nothing. We do nothing. We even think that we are being charitable — “showing grace” to someone, like we would want someone to show grace to us, right?
Except for one thing.
What about the people who are suffering under the abuse? Who will speak on behalf of the poor? Who will speak up for the oppressed? They are often so deceived that they don’t even realize that they are oppressed! How often does the abused wife defend her husband? How often do they say, “Oh, but I deserved it — I was in the wrong, after all!”
Part of the manipulation and deceitfulness of the abuse of power is that it is based on a half-truth: since we are sinners, we all “deserve” bad things. So when the abuser says, “It’s because of what you did,” it is really easy for us to believe him.
At this point, every single husband among you should be saying, “I’ve done this to my wife!” Every parent should say, “I’ve done this to my child.” Every pastor and elder should say, “I’ve done this to my flock.”
And this, my friends, is why we are paralyzed when we face abuse in others. We hear the words, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone,” and so we do not dare to bring an accusation. After all, on a bad day, it could have been me…
So how do you know when to speak up? I will give an answer that I have failed to practice myself — partly in order to encourage myself to heed my own words! You always speak up. Obviously, you cannot speak into every situation of abuse in the world. So when I say “always” I mean, in every case where you have the opportunity to speak.
If you see someone who is abusing authority, then you should speak the truth in love, and show him his fault. If he is a wise man, he will love you for it (Proverbs 9). If he is a fool, he will hate you, and the result will probably be ugly — but at least there will be an opportunity for his folly to be unmasked. It can be as simple as asking a question, “Why did you say X to your wife?” “Can you explain why you did Y with your children?” You don’t have to take a “adversarial” approach. After all, you are doing this because you love him (or her). You want him to grow in wisdom. If you speak with the voice of the Good Shepherd, then ordinarily the sheep will hear His voice.
But what if they don’t? Well, that’s why Jesus gave us a way of handling such matters. If they refuse to listen — if they don’t repent — then you take one or two others and try again. If he won’t listen to them, then you tell it to the church (Matt. 19) — you bring a charge to the elders.
And then there are the hard cases. Several years ago a friend told me of a girl who accused her step-father of sexually abusing her. There was only one witness (the girl), and the man denied it. There was no other evidence. The elders believed the girl (and encouraged her mother to divorce the man), but how could they proceed with an ecclesiastical trial? They took seriously the saying, “Where there is smoke, there is fire,” and conducted a thorough investigation. It was highly unlikely that a man would molest his step-daughter once and never do anything else improper. Sure enough. They found other things that had sufficient witnesses. Maybe they could not convict him of the one thing that he denied — but they could assure the girl that (as far as the church was concerned) he would no longer be able to prey upon the weak. [And the church cooperated with a civil investigation that put the man in prison.]
If we do not speak on behalf of the weak, then the powerful will continue to oppress them. And if we do not gently confront the little “slippages” (as we call them!) among ourselves, then we will become oppressors in our turn.
And this is why we need to continually listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd ourselves. In a world that is overrun by words that bite and devour, we need to listen to the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.
by Michiana Covenant | May 14, 2014 | Marriage
A Wedding Homily by Peter J. Wallace
[Note: This was my homily for the wedding of Christopher and Shelby Aemmer last Saturday. I don’t think I’ve ever heard so many people laughing at one of my sermons — but then again, you also need to read the homily in the light of the fact that the groom was visibly shaking for the first part of the service. I think the opening line broke the tension and allowed everyone to ease up a bit!]
This isn’t going to end well.
Carl Trueman points out that “All human marriages begin with joy but end in tragedy. Whether it is divorce or death, the human bond of love is eventually torn apart.”
This isn’t going to end well. At its best, this marriage will last for 50-60 years, and then it will end in tragedy. At least one of you will be heartbroken. Or, maybe you both die together in a car wreck — so at least you go together! If that’s the best you can hope for…
So why on earth are you standing here? Why on earth do you want to go through with this?
Why on earth? Well, there are earthly reasons for getting married. Marriage was ordained for procreation. God said, “be fruitful and multiply,” which means, “Go have babies”! After the fall, marriage provides a remedy against fornication, and provides mutual help and comfort. These are good things.
It’s why everyone gets all dressed up for the wedding! The beauty of the surrounding assembly all points to the glorious radiance of the bride, and the splendor of the groom! The public splendor of this moment is designed to prefigure the private splendor that comes later. And yes, the physical intimacy of love-making is delightful! And those little critters that pop out 9 months later are delightful in an entirely different sense!
These are still good earthly reasons for getting married. But even so, this marriage is heading for a tragic end – where one or both of you ends up heartbroken! So let us consider the heavenly reason why you would get married.
After all, while “all human marriages begin with joy but end in tragedy…The marriage of Christ and his church…began with tragedy and ends with a joyful and loving union which will never be rent asunder. There is joy to which we point in our worship, the joy of the Lamb’s wedding feast.” (Carl Trueman) This is why we say that marriage “signifies to us the mystical union between Christ and his Church.”
If you think of marriage as primarily about your own happiness – primarily about your own comfort – then all you will find is disappointment and death. But if you think of marriage as primarily about the other – so that you seek the good of one another – then you will still find disappointment and death!
Because, Shelby, this guy will disappoint you more than anyone ever has! And, Christopher, she’s going to fail you like you wouldn’t believe! You two are going to sin against each over and over again! You are going to be miserable! And then you’re gonna die. So why are you here? Oh, that’s right! Because marriage isn’t primarily about your own happiness – or about the other’s happiness.
Marriage is about Jesus.
Marriage signifies to us the mystical union between Christ and his Church – a marriage that began with tragedy, and ends with glory.
This is why marriage must always involve bearing the cross. Chris, why do you love Shelby? Don’t say, “Because she’s so lovable!” because there are days when she’s not lovable. You love Shelby because Christ loved you and he died so that you might live. Marriage is all about the gospel. If your love depends on her performance, that’s a marriage based on works, not grace. And likewise, Shelby, if you only give yourself to Christopher because he’s such a charming fellow, well, he’s not always quite so charming! A marriage based on the gospel keeps your eyes fixed on Jesus.
And when you forget the gospel, when you sin against each other, repent! Forgive! As God, in Christ, has forgiven you.
But I don’t want to forgive! What she did was wrong! What he did hurts!
A marriage fixated on law – a marriage fixated on rights – will become a wasteland, where the two of you are clinging desperately to a me-centered universe of one!
So what do you do? Love God. Love one another. Repent, and believe the gospel. That sounds simple. It is simple. It’s not easy – love is the hardest thing in the world! – but a gospel-centered marriage, a gospel-centered life, is simple.
It just means have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus – that mind that is yours in Christ Jesus – “who though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:6-11)
