Last week we talked about how our church is on this decision making process of deciding if we are going to change the name of the ministry to better reflect the calling that God has put on us.
The name we’re mulling over is Arise Church, which carries with it the purpose of God’s call to arise to his work. Next Sunday we will be having a special meeting of the church, where the membership will vote and make a decision. Whichever way the church decides to go in name, matters much less than making sure that we continue to follow the call of God. So last week we began to talk about God’s call for his Church to arise.
Last we we talked about how the Church is to arise to focus. We are to focus on the core of the Gospel. God created us to be with him, our sins separate us from God, sins cannot be removed with good deeds, paying the price for sin Jesus died and rose again, everyone who puts their trust in Jesus can have eternal life, eternal life starts now and last forever. This core to the Gospel should be the focus of the Church, with secondary doctrines and issues being given grace. We can disagree on music, on clothes, on preaching style, on architecture, on how the end times come about, or our role in the salvation process. I have opinions and interretprations on all of those, but they are second to Gospel work and if we call on Jesus as Lord and Savior, and hold to the core of the Gospel, then we are brothers and sisters and we need to move forward in the work we are called to.
This brings us to our second week in our series, where we’ll be looking at the second place the Church needs to arise. We need to arise to repentance.
Let’s take it back to the beginning of our Christian walks. Back before we accepted Jesus as our Savior. The message of Jesus is summed up in Mark 1:14 where we read, “14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”
The Gospel message begins with repentance. Repentance is the acknowledgment of sin and the turning from it. Without this acknowledgment there is no salvation. In Paul’s words in Romans 10:9-10, we can see this underlying understanding of repentance. We read, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." To confess Jesus is Lord and believe he was raised from the dead, pre-supposes an understanding of why Jesus is Lord and why he was raised from the dead.
If you confess Jesus is Lord, you’re acknowledging that he is God. Believing he was raised from the dead is acknowledging that God came earth to be a stand in sacrifice for humanity’s sin, so that that sin could be dealt with without the shedding of his creation’s blood. The resurrection is the realization that what Jesus said was true and that his sacrifice for us was acceptable as payment to God the Father.
We see this played out in the life of of the woman caught in adultery. In her encounter with Jesus in John 8 we see her brought before Jesus to be killed through stoning. Jesus responds with challenging those there that they could throw the first stone if they had no sin. All eventually left. But being sinless himself, Jesus could have picked up the first stone and began the process. Yet he had compassion and after everyone left, we get this brief conversation between Jesus and the woman, “10 Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ 11 She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more (v.10-11).’
Moving away from sin is a part of the acceptance of Jesus as Savior. If there is no repentance, then salvation does not happen.
But repentance doesn’t stop at the door of entering into salvation. Repentance should be a part of the believer’s life. You might have heard people quote this passage from 2 Chronicles 7:14, “14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Let’s walk through that real quick, “If my people” in the context these are the people of Israel. But if this is a prescription for all of God’s people, then it would be for anyone who is in covenant relationship with God. So “if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,” you have entered into covenant relationship with God and are now a part of the people of God. So then this would apply to you.
What must the people of God do, they must, humble themselves, pray ( which is seeking the face of God), and turn from their wicked ways. What is repentance but, humbling ourselves to the reality of sin, praying for forgiveness by seeking God’s way and not our own, and turning away from sin’s wickedness? Repentance is a part of God’s people. And what follows repentance? Forgiveness.
But maybe this verse is taken out of context, maybe it’s descriptive of what was for the people if Israel and it’s not prescriptive for the Church today. Let’s fast forward to the first letter of John, chapter 1, starting in verse 5.
“1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
“2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says ‘I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
Verses 1-10 can be looked at as addressing those who have not accepted Jesus yet. It’s about who God is light. It’s about what sin is, darkness. And in God there is no darkness or sin. To have fellowship with God there needs to be an acknowledgment of sin, because if we deny that we have sinned, then we cannot have fellowship with God. It would be the same as calling God a liar, and if we can believe God’s word, then we cannot be with him.
But then John’s address of little children, and the use of fellowship, makes it clear that this isn’t just about those who have not yet accepted Jesus as Savior. It’s not just about people who have yet to repent. It’s about God’s children, his people, his Church. John’s encouragement that if we sin, even now as believers, our Advocate is Jesus. And just as he saved us that first day we repented of our sin, he continues his role as Advocate in every proceeding sin. Because his work on the cross didn’t just cover our past sins, it covers our current sins, and our future sins.
When we then repent as believers, it’s not to receive salvation, that already happened. No, it’s to build our relationship with God. It’s David crying out in Psalm 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” David was apart of the people of God, but because of his sin, the joy of the Lord wasn’t in him. He wanted that restoration of relationship, which comes through acknowledgment of sin and a turning away from it.
God uses the idea of marriage to describe Jesus’ relationship with his Church in Ephesians 5. The day we accept Jesus as Savior is like the wedding day, it’s a moment in time when we move from being single, to being a recognized couple. It would be strange then to never say you’re sorry for something you did to your spouse. That’s a break down of communication, and it leads to unhappy marriages.
Why are so many Christians struggling in their relationship with God? It’s because they don’t have the joy of their salvation. Sin is still too prevalent in their lives. And without the acknowledgment and turning away from that sin, too many Christians fall back into sin’s grip, and too many don’t experience God in his fullness. Repentance is as much a part of the Christian’s walk with God as reading the Bible, praying, meeting in worship with God’s Church, and doing Gospel work.
And it’s all done through the cross at Calvary. So in the discussion of should we change our name here at the Alliance Church, this is the new logo that we’re looking at. It continues the blue that we have had for several years, the sunrise in the back represents the rising to our calling. The two saguaros both represent the desert we’re in, but also coupled with the central cross, point us to the three crosses of calvary. The place at which our salvation was bought.
The Church is called to arise to repentance, both on a individual level in our personal relationships with God, and on a corporate level. Every week there seems to be another pastor who has embezzled money. Another pastor who has sexually groomed and assaulted a youth. Another professed Christian caught in adultery, or in a shady business deal. The world is quick to notice that Christians are just as likely to gossip, and judge as anyone else. The world sees us quick to call out sin, but in such a venomous way when we do that the truth is not coupled with love (Ephesians 4:15).
In his book, Blue Like Jazz, author Donald Miller relates a story of his time in college. He was a part of a small Christian group at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. The story begins with an annual party that goes on at the college called Ren Fayre, where Millar states, “…everybody gets pretty drunk and high, and some people get naked.” As Millar and his friend Tony were talking about what they could do to “come out as Christians,” Millar made a joke that they could do a confessional booth, because a lot of the students would be sinning.
Tony took the idea and ran with it, embarrassing Millar along the way in front of the other Christians in their friend group. But Tony change it from a booth where the sinning college students would come and confess, to a place where the Christians would confess to the college students. Millar records Tony saying, “Here’s the catch. We are not actually going to accept confessions. We are going to confess to them. We are going to confess that, as followers of Jesus, we have not been very loving; we have been bitter, and for that we are sorry.”
The first “customer”, as Tony called him, was a guy by the name of Jake. After Millar confessed his unlovingness, they had this conversation, “It’s really cool what you guys are doing…A lot of people need to hear this.” “Have we hurt a lot of people?” You haven’t hurt me. I just think it isn’t very unpopular to be a Christian, you know. Especially at a place like this. I don’t think too many people have been hurt. Most people just have a strong reaction to what they see on television. All these well-dressed preachers supporting the Republicans.” “That’s not the whole picture. That’s just television. I have friends who are giving their lives to feed the poor and defend the defenseless. They are doing it for Christ.” “You really believe in Jesus, don’t you?” “Yes, I think I do. Most often I do. I have my doubts at times, but mostly I believe in Him. It’s like there is a something in me that causes me to believe, and I can’t explain it.” “You said earlier that there is a central message of Christ. I don’t really want to become a Christian, you know, but what is that message? (pgs 116-127)”
Through this act of repentance in front of a non-believer, Millar was able to share the Gospel with him. Repentance is such a powerful work of God in our lives, that it not only brings us closer to him, but opens up the work of God in the lives of others as well.
I once heard a speaker share how he was attending a church and had invited a non-believing friend to a service. As they sat in the service the pastor got up and publicly confessed a heated altercation he had with a board member. Because the altercation was public, the pastor felt the need to ask forgiveness publicly from this board member. The two reconciled on the platform that Sunday morning. The person telling the story says he sunk in his seat. His thought was, my friend doesn’t need to hear the problems of the Church, they need to hear how victorious we are. But on the way home the friend broke down crying, saying that if the pastor could ask for forgiveness like that, then they wanted to as well. Because of the repentance of God’s people, a non-believer came to Christ.
Church, we are called to arise to repentance. We are called to turn away from our sin. We must do this before we can call the world to Christ. We must set the example, if we want to call others to it. This is why Jesus states in Matthew 7:5, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” Jesus isn’t saying we can’t call out sin, what he is saying is that we need to start with our own, before we can move on to another’s.
So my challenge today is this. We have two cross laid out in this room. There are hammers with those cross and nails with those hammers. There are also papers and pencils. Take a moment go before God and if there is a sin that needs to be confessed I want to challenge you to write it down, walk to one of those crosses and nail that sin to the cross. Repent of it, that we as the Church would arise to repentance. That we would look to ourselves first, that we may be ready to share the Gospel, the hope of the forgiveness of sins with the world. Amen.
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