From the Pastor |
On Wednesday February 26th, we entered into the Season of Lent. Lent is a time of preparation… of repentance, prayer, self-examination and reflection, and this season begins with a call to repentance.
Repent… that’s one of those words we do not really like. After all, it requires that we take a good, long, hard look at ourselves… to recognize and admit that we have done wrong… that we have indeed sinned against God and one another. Not really a favorite past-time for most people. However, the truth is that we are all guilty of sin, and we need to repent in order to truly live as Disciples of Christ… but we often forget that repentance is not just a “one and done” action… we need to repent over and over again. Why? Because even after we have come to God and confess our sins and are baptized into the Christian faith… we are not suddenly made perfect! To repent means to turn around, to turn back… to make a change. Repentance does not eliminate our struggle with sin and make us perfect… because we are still human and very imperfect. Each time we break one of God’s commandments… each time we fail to fully and totally Love God… each time we fail, even in some small way, to love our neighbor… every time we slip up… even just a little bit… we move away from God. We wander from the path God has laid out before us. That is what the word we translate as “sin” means. In Hebrew it literally means “miss the mark” or “lost from the path.” Whenever we repent, we turn back to God… back to God’s path. That is the reason this season of Lent is so important for us. We are human… we tend to get busy and distracted and we forget… forget that we need to keep returning to God because we keep wandering from God’s path. Our Psalm today reminds us how important repentance really is. Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose [iniquity] the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. The psalmist speaks of three things that alienate us from God: Transgressions, Sin and Iniquity. In English, we tend to use those words interchangeably, however in the original Hebrew they were three very distinct words. As I said before, The Hebrew word for “Sin” literally means "miss the mark” or “lost from the path.” These can be either accidental or deliberate, but are anything that causes us to deviate from the path of God. “Transgressions” are defined as wrong-doings or acts of rebellion (nothing accidental about those), and finally, “Iniquity” means something that is crooked or twisted, and was used to mean perversity or depravity… great immoral behavior or injustice. This Psalm, believed to be written by David, tells of the consequences of not confessing our sins, transgressions and iniquities to God: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer” Think about that… He felt like his bones, his whole body was wasting away… was being damaged and worn out… He groaned in pain all day long, feeling weighted down and weak… There is a story about a famous playwright in England, who as a prank sent identical letters to twenty of the most famous men in London. The anonymous note simply read: “Everybody has found out what you are doing. If I were you I would get out of town.” As the story goes, all twenty men actually left town. What may have been a joke demonstrates a serious truth: Guilt can be a powerful thing. Even thousands of years ago, David recognized that there are profound effects of ignoring feelings of guilt and shame… In fact, psychologists say that unresolved guilt can make it hard to concentrate and difficult to think straight… Guilt can cause insomnia, digestive issues and stomach pain, muscle tension and headaches. Feelings of guilt can literally make you feel heavier and more belabored. Even mild guilt can make you hesitant to embrace the joys of life. But when we confess our sins… when we acknowledge whatever it is we have done wrong… no matter how large or how small the infraction… when we repent and return to God… we are forgiven! This is important because the word we translate as “forgiven” means to be lifted up, carried, supported. When we confess our sins… the guilt… the weight of them is lifted up from our shoulders and we are supported by God… We Are Forgiven! “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven…” When we are forgiven of our sins… we are truly blessed… happy… or as the New Living Translation of the Bible puts it: “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven…” “Oh, what joy…” You see… There is joy in repentance! This is not merely an attitude or feeling… but it is a declaration of God’s favor… of our being brought into a right relationship with God. For when we repent… we are forgiven… God takes our guilt and shame and becomes our shelter… our hiding place… our strength and protection… God sees us through even the most difficult times. Joy, true joy, is found in reconciliation with God and in living with a clear conscience. The good news for us is that God is always seeking reconciliation, always offering forgiveness. Psalm 32 reminds us that reconciliation is possible… that redemption is possible… forgiveness is possible. The amazing news is that a new start is available to us all. Unfortunately, living with a clear conscience seems a bit more challenging. We are human… we are too aware of our faults and failures and often we worry that these will keep us from living in right relationship with God. Too often we live under the weight of our brokenness. But God is will not give up on us… God longs to have each and every person to live and love and find the joy and pace that comes only from God; for everyone to live in harmony with all of God’s wondrous creation. That’s why we need to begin Lent… not with condemnation, but with encouragement. We begin with this psalm of hope, so that we can be reminded that we’re not alone. The African-American spiritual says: “Sometimes I feel discouraged / and think my work’s in vain. But then the Holy Spirit / revives my soul again” For “There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.” (There is a Balm in Gilead Hymn # 375 in the UM Hymnal) This happens through repentance… by turning back and confessing those things that separate us from God so that God can lift the weight of them from us… so that we are able to find true joy in our lives simply because we are brought closer to God. Repentance enables us to embrace the reality of life in the kingdom. So, “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”
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Yeon Shin
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