Moses and the Israelites arrive at the Jordan at last and send out scouts. These return with evidence of a fertile land, but filled with a giant, fortified enemy. The people's hopes collapse, and they mutiny, collecting stones with which to kill Moses and his allies. Until God intervenes. His glory fills the tabernacle, and Israel is silenced. He threatens the destruction of all Israel for their unbelief, and is only dissuaded by Moses' pleas for mercy. He banishes this generation from Canaan forever.
When the people hear this, they 'mourn greatly'- and decide to do something about it. In the morning, they strap on swords and march towards Canaan. They will repair what they have broken, do what should have been done. They ignore the warning of Moses and invade the promised land a day late- and are utterly routed in battle.
--
We often try to repent in this way. When we have sinned, we try to correct our misdeed. We try to cover our tracks, fill in the breach, make reparations, often only to be beaten down at our attempts to do better. But true repentance is so much richer than that.
When we meditate on the news of a loving, dying, rising God, we realize that while our sin is grievous, it is no longer condemning. And while it may cause problems, it is no longer controlling. The tracks of sin have been washed clean by our Lord's blood. He has filled the breach we created. He has repaired our relationship with the Father, re-making our peace with Him.
Which leaves us in an interesting place. If repentance is not covering our tracks, or filling our breaches, or re-creating peace, what is it?
In the Christian Bible, 'to repent' is the most common translation of the greek word 'metanoia'. This is an unfortunate translation*. To repent means 'to turn around', while the literal translation of metanoia is 'to think again' or 'to change one's mind'.
In Numbers 14, Israel 'turns around'. It changes its behavior. It covers it's tracks, fills the breach, makes reparations. It does what it should have done. But God rejects their new attempts at obedience. Why? Because they attempt to fix themselves without Him. And this is bound to fail, because we have a greater brokenness than our behaviors. Israel's repentances is at best addressing symptoms (behaviors, fears, faithlessness), while the disease runs much deeper.
Jesus demonstrates this idea when he says that to hate your brother is to kill him, and to lust is to commit adultery. He makes it clear that sin is deeper than behavior- it's a heart issue. It's an issue of our affections, of our longings and desires. Chiefly, sin is mislove, not misdeed; broken relationship, not broken actions. Therefore repentance is not acting differently so much as loving differently, thinking differently, relating differently. It is returning to relationship with the Lord in thought, desire, and conversation, and living from Him, instead of attempting to earn our way by living from ourselves.
Let's get practical. Once you have sinned, and realize it, you must not resort to new laws and new rules. Not at first, anyway. Boundaries are good, but often we use them to hedge our iniquity and try to be good enough. And when used in that way, rules only attempt to minimize something enormous- a deliberate rebellion against Love itself. Rules cannot contain such evil, much less defeat and transform it**.
But forgiveness can. Love that would be broken, that would take on rebellion and bear the true pain of our sin, can. Repentance, then, is to ground your thinking, your desires, your hopes, on this Love. It alone will change our desires, and so will change our actions.
----Jesus demonstrates this idea when he says that to hate your brother is to kill him, and to lust is to commit adultery. He makes it clear that sin is deeper than behavior- it's a heart issue. It's an issue of our affections, of our longings and desires. Chiefly, sin is mislove, not misdeed; broken relationship, not broken actions. Therefore repentance is not acting differently so much as loving differently, thinking differently, relating differently. It is returning to relationship with the Lord in thought, desire, and conversation, and living from Him, instead of attempting to earn our way by living from ourselves.
Let's get practical. Once you have sinned, and realize it, you must not resort to new laws and new rules. Not at first, anyway. Boundaries are good, but often we use them to hedge our iniquity and try to be good enough. And when used in that way, rules only attempt to minimize something enormous- a deliberate rebellion against Love itself. Rules cannot contain such evil, much less defeat and transform it**.
But forgiveness can. Love that would be broken, that would take on rebellion and bear the true pain of our sin, can. Repentance, then, is to ground your thinking, your desires, your hopes, on this Love. It alone will change our desires, and so will change our actions.
*Not that I could think of a much better one- I don't envy the translators' jobs one bit.
**Rules are useful in seeking how to love well, not to be good enough. How do we work on our motives? Look again at Jesus, who was good enough and has made us good enough. We no longer need to try to reach what He has attained for us- thus we are free to love, freely. And if rules help you love, go for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment