GODLY SORROW
By Steve Zeisler
There's a cartoon taped to the scale in the men's locker room at the Palo
Alto YMCA. It's Bob Thaves' Frank and Ernest, one of my favorites. The cartoon
shows doctor holding a clipboard in his hand, and before him on the scale
is his patient. The doctor is saying, "Yes, it's remotely possible
that earth's gravity has increased, but I think there's a much simpler explanation
. . . ."
In 1 Kings chapter 22 we read the end of the story of Ahab, the king of
Israel. It bears a certain similarity to the Frank and Ernest cartoon. Ahab
was determined to go to war against the Arameans in Ramoth Gilead. He had
made an alliance with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and they met together
to plan their campaign. This is how the story ensues.
So the king of Israel brought together the prophets-about four
hundred men-and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead,
or shall I refrain?"
"Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the
king's hand."
But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom
we can inquire of?"
The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man through
whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies
anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah."
Micaiah was summoned, and he eventually told Ahab that God would not give
him victory; in fact, if he continued on this course he would die in battle.
Ahab hated hearing that; he wanted to hear what the 400 "yes men"
had suggested, that he would be successful in whatever he did. So he went
to war disguised, trying to beat the prophecy. A stray arrow struck him,
and he died in disgrace, just as Micaiah had predicted.
Receiving hard truth
The point here is the same as in the cartoon of the man on the scale in
the doctor's office. We find ways of deflecting news we don't want to hear.
So at times it is necessary for a spokesman, someone who cares for the people
before him, to describe reality as it is so we may repent and changes may
be brought about. We need Micaiah the son of Imlah in our lives at times.
We need someone who will challenge our ideas when they are false.
A morning like this when we take communion together is a particularly good
time to raise the subject of allowing the truth to prevail in our experience,
because the scriptures say we should examine ourselves when we come to the
table of the Lord. If we eat the bread or drink the cup in an unworthy way,
with impurity or steadfast rebellion in our hearts, we're guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord.
We've come to a passage, 2 Corinthians 7:2-16, where Paul speaks of his
experience of being a Micaiah, of having to say hard things to the people
he loves so they might turn from their sins and repent. We'll find we can
learn some important lessons from this passage.
I saw a news article from a Southern California newspaper not long ago.
It talked about the fall of yet another well-known media minister. He left
his ministry because of sexual sin, and a public disgrace to the cause of
Christ has come about. I found myself wondering where the brothers of this
man were, the people who ought to have known, who could have stepped in
and been redemptive, bringing healing and repentance rather than public
disgrace. There's another situation not too far from us in which a pastor
is abandoning his responsibility and living in sin, and his church is winking
at it. No one is saying anything; the pastor is too important to be challenged
by anyone. This man, the people who care for him, and our Lord's name are
in jeopardy because no one will speak.
Pride and pleasure
The Corinthians, as we know from our studies, had two propensities for getting
into trouble. One of them came from their pride, the other from love of
pleasure. Their pride regularly led them to factionalism. They attached
themselves to teachers and spokesmen who had impressive credentials, a flamboyant
speaking style, esoteric knowledge, or something else that caused them to
rise to prominence so that others gathered around them. The Corinthians
loved pride, self-promotion, and superiority, and they needed to be corrected
in this kind of problem more than once. In fact, that was the subject of
2 Cor. 2:5-11, where Paul recognized that the majority had to bring correction
to an individual who had led a minority faction in rebellion against the
church. The individual, who had to be publicly corrected, is the one who
is again in view here in chapter 7.
We need someone who will challenge our ideas when they are false
Their other characteristic problem was an attraction to sins of physical
excess. They got drunk at communion, for instance. Paul had to castigate
them for taking the communion meal in gluttony and drunkenness rather than
in a way that honored the Lord. Sexual sin was also an easy failure for
them. In 1 Corinthians 5:1-2 it says:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among
you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his
father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled
with grief?
They were unwilling to challenge sins of that sort. So there's a good bit
in the life of the Corinthian church that needs someone like Micaiah the
son of Imlah to care about them for Christ's sake, to speak for the Lord
and raise a word of challenge to repent. Paul ministers in that role, especially
the passage we're studying today.
Characteristics of a corrector
Verses 2-4 are a preliminary word where Paul talks about what's going on
inside him. What sort of man ought to fill the role of corrector?
Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we
have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn
you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we
would live or die with you. I have great confidence in you; I take great
pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows
no bounds.
Paul makes two important points. First, his motives are right. When he had
to say hard things to them, it was not for his own sake. He didn't have
an axe to grind, and he didn't come to get riches, prominence, or ego satisfaction
from them. I used to play football, and I recall good and bad coaches. One
demanded a lot of the team, insisting we go beyond what we thought we could
physically do. We ran until we dropped, practiced till it hurt, and call
on reserves we didn't know we had. Sometimes the coach's demands on us succeeded
in producing efforts that went beyond our expectations. But he wasn't centered
on his own ego. He was demanding, but he wanted to serve his team, to see
those in his charge succeed. But other coaches I've known are exactly the
opposite. They treat their players like cattle, and if an individual is
injured or needs extra help, he is "thrown away" and someone else
put in his place because the program exists to promote the coach.
Paul is making that distinction here. He has had to demand hard things of
the Corinthians. He has pointed out areas of their lives that they needed
to hear about even though they didn't want to, but he didn't do it for his
own sake. His motives were pure. That's a very important place to start
if we are ever to be Micaiahs ourselves. Remember what Jesus said about
logs and splinters in one's eye. Jesus said, first the log needs to be removed
from your own eye before you can remove the splinter from another's eye.
If we don't deal with our own motives and shortcomings, we shouldn't be
in the ministry of shaping up someone else.
Paul alludes to another qualification in saying that the Corinthians are
in his heart; he would live or die with them. Whatever happens in this correction
process, he is not going to hold himself at a distance. Whatever pain or
hardship they have to go through, his shoulder will be under the burden
with them. Christian ministry of this sort cannot possibly take place at
great distance. When the apostle must come to his church, or when a brother
must come to his brother or sister, then he needs to be willing to say,
"I know it's going to cost me something if you suffer because you matter
so much to me."
Lessons from history
Now Paul goes on in verses 5-16 to give a little history:
For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest,
but we were harassed at every turn-conflicts on the outside, fears within.
But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He
told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern
for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did
regret it-I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while-yet
now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow
led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were
not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to
salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what
this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness
to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern,
what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves
to be innocent in this matter. So even though I wrote to you, it was not
on account of the one who did the wrong or of the injured party, but rather
that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are.
By all this we are encouraged.
In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see
how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.
I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just
as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus
has proved to be true as well. And his affection for you is all the greater
when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and
trembling. I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.
Let me explain this history of Paul's travel and the regretted letter, and
then I'll go back and draw some points from this that have application to
us as well. Paul had visited Corinth (for 18 months) once and had written
two letters, one (which is lost) before the letter of 1 Corinthians that
we now have, and the letter of 1 Corinthians itself. He had then gone on
to Ephesus. While he was there he heard of growing problems in the Corinthian
church. Two things happened that are not recorded in the book of Acts, that
we know about only because of what he says here. First, he paid a visit
from Ephesus to Corinth and had a terrible time. In chapter 2 verse 1 of
this letter he talks about a visit that was very painful; they didn't listen
to him, they argued, and he realized that the more he talked the worse it
was getting. So he left with a broken heart, having accomplished nothing
but trouble. Second, he went back to Ephesus and wrote a letter (also lost
to us) that he regretted for a time. It was a letter castigating them, facing
them with hardship, warning them of tragedies that would result if they
didn't change their ways. Then-nothing happened
The role of Titus
So all Paul had to remember of the church he founded, where he ministered
for a year and a half, is that the last time he had seen them they got in
a fight, and then he wrote them a letter to which they didn't respond. He
didn't know if the poison was spreading or if they'd turned around. And
he was afraid to go back himself because he didn't want to have another
fight. So he sent his friend Titus to find out what was happening, and then
Titus' return was delayed. Paul waited anxiously in Ephesus, fervent in
his prayers, and finally decided to head back in the direction of Corinth,
hoping to meet Titus along the way. He got as far as Macedonia, probably
Philippi, where he'd been beaten and jailed once, and then Titus joined
him.
There was great joy in Paul's heart because Titus, his brother in the Lord,
was back, and Titus had good news. He said Paul's letter had done what he
had hoped it would-it turned the people around, and they were able to discipline
the man who was leading a rebellion against the people of God (so that now
Paul even urges them in chapter 2 to quit being hard on this man, hoping
he'd turned around and they could welcome him back). Paul was thrilled to
hear from Titus, overjoyed to know that the letter he had regretted writing
turned them from foolishness.
Now, let's look at what we should learn from this about the role of the
Micaiah in life, of the doctor who has to say, "No, gravity has not
increased . . . ! You've put on too much weight." What should we learn
about the role of Christians like us who sometimes have to say difficult
things, or who need at times to be the recipient of someone's warning?
There are a couple of things I want to say. First, I'm impressed that Paul
shows his inner life. He's depressed, afraid, agitated, joyful-he's involved
in his world! He can't live as an automaton. When people hurt, he hurts,
and when there's good news, he's excited! He's willing to let them see the
kind of man he is, and that he cares about them.
I've been following the process of David Souter's attempt to get confirmed
as a Supreme Court Justice. Here is someone no one knows anything about,
and the only way he can get confirmed to the Supreme Court is to appear
to have absolutely no convictions about anything.
But it's exactly the opposite in Christ. Paul talks about being afraid when
he's alone in Philippi waiting for Titus, and about being worried that his
church might have fallen into disaster. Later he talks about being joyful,
and about a range of other emotions he had.
Godly sorrow
There are some other issues I would raise here for us to learn about this
process of correction. One of them is in verses 10-11, where the phrase
"godly sorrow" appears. This is an important point. "Godly
sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but
worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in
you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation,
what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done."
First of all, he says there's no benefit to sorrow by itself. Enjoying seeing
someone hurt is a terrible thing. But godly sorrow is the experience where
someone has to hurt for a time in order to come to their senses, to receive
a necessary challenge. Paul is delighted that they have read his severe
letter and have been challenged by it. C. S. Lewis, in a letter to Sheldon
Van Auken, used the phrase "severe mercy." God had been severely
merciful to him in the death of his wife. Van Auken later wrote a book with
that title, A Severe Mercy. Severe mercy is severe when it
has to be in order for the fruits of mercy to be received.
We shouldn't avoid pain and challenge when they are necessary
We shouldn't avoid pain and challenge when they're necessary-I would draw
that conclusion from the phrase "godly sorrow." We shouldn't hope
for Christian associations that are predictable, or Christian friendships
where there's merely shallow, conventional speech and no concern for depth.
We shouldn't look for a church or fellowship group that will merely tickle
our ears and avoid all difficulty, because difficulty is at times necessary.
The second point I would make from verses 10-11 is that godly sorrow leads
to repentance, not to hurt feelings. Paul says they changed, they performed
the necessary surgery, they became zealous for righteousness again. There
are people who come to the pastors of our church on a chronic basis; each
time we talk and pray, a way of turning from their problem is presented,
and they agree with gushing tears that the solution is right-and again and
again, nothing happens. Eventually, they go on to another church. Their
tearfulness is not accompanied by repentance or change. But Paul says godly
sorrow leads to repentance, a change of direction.
Verse 12 makes a point that is worth highlighting. Paul says he wrote to
them not just to get them to deal with the specific problem of the man who
was leading the rebellion, but so they could learn to understand themselves:
" . . . but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how
devoted to us you are." Paul wanted them to do what they had to do,
and in doing so, to come to understand themselves. They didn't really want
to live in a world of arrogance and phoniness. Paul is saying he didn't
want them to just do what they had to do, but to learn in the process. If
we're going to be part of the process of helping people turn from things,
it's not good enough just to get them to take the actions; we should hope
that some insight penetrates their experience as well.
Fellow-soldiers
Lastly, verse 13, and earlier verse 6, highlight the role of Titus in Paul's
experience. Titus was Paul's long-time fellow soldier. They had fought wars
for Christ's sake in many places, traveled together, spent hard times and
good times together, preached and prayed together. There is a depth of friendship
between these men that is inescapable in this passage. He says earlier in
this chapter that just seeing Titus buoyed his spirits. Titus had been sent
on a difficult errand, and Paul found out that those in Corinth had treated
him well, and that Titus was excited in turn to get to know them, so that
two groups of people that Paul loves now love each other. Titus came back
and reported that the Corinthians thought well of Paul. There's an excitement
about seeing connectedness in Christ that is very important to me. We ought
to have people who matter to us like this, deep friends, who know us well
and whom we know well, whose very appearance brings joy to us. It's too
easy for us to have a lot of acquaintances but no real brothers and sisters,
no real compatriots in Christ. Paul and Titus had become that for each other.
This ought to exhort us to ask God to begin to open us up to experience
the vulnerability it takes to have a real friend, the willingness to sacrifice
yourself, to enter one another's worlds, to soldier with them for a time,
so that we have people who care that much for us, and so that we have the
opportunity for that kind of intimate friendship.
To conclude, last week we talked about being yoked to non-Christians and
why that's such a bad idea-having an unbreakable, inflexible oneness that
dilutes our influence, that makes us live in a way that is less and less
of the Lord. The exact opposite point is being made here, isn't it? We're
not yoked enough to each other! We're not involved enough with those who
are our family-we don't get close enough, speak forcefully enough; we're
unwilling to do the courageous thing or we're too hardened to receive godly
sorrow. We've taken communion today, and the Bible forbids us to take communion
in an unworthy manner. It may very well be that we need someone to help
us see our unworthiness. I need someone to come to me and tell me when I'm
being arrogant, or when greed has infiltrated me, or I've stopped caring
for other people. You need people like that to come to you. So it's good
to avoid being unequally yoked with unbelievers. But let's be more yoked
to each other! Let's be more willing to say the hard thing when it's required,
and expect godly sorrow to have its result, that life should abound.
Catalog No. 4226
2 Cor. 7:2-16
Twelfth Message
Steve Zeisler
September 16, 1990
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