9-8-2015

Good Morning All!!                       

         Psalm 25: 1-2; “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.”

      I was visiting with a member of one of my congregations the other day and we were talking about church members and their participation in events outside of worship services.  “Why don’t more volunteer to be in the Life booth at the Fair?”  “Why don’t we do more for the poor and the needy?”  He rattled off a few more but that is the gist of his line of questioning.  I told him that I thought the biggest reason was shame.  He gave me a shocked look so I figured I better explain.

    Many people feel shame.  Not that they are ashamed of being a Christian but they feel shame in that someone they know may see them and say something along the lines of “YOU, are a Christian?  I would have never guessed.”  We feel shame over our sinful nature and then are afraid to be seen in public being a Christian.

    As we look at this, try and see that guilt and shame are two different things.  Guilt is our response to doing something we think is wrong.  I feel guilty if I cut in line ahead of someone.   I feel guilty if I am rude so someone.  Guilt can cause you to change the way you act.  I ask, “Are you in line?” to keep from stepping in where I should not and I will let someone go ahead of me just to keep from being unfair.  Shame is how we view our character.  We look at our self and see someone who is a bad person, a bad employee, a bad parent, a bad spouse, someone who is promiscuous, someone who is deviant, someone who is unworthy.  Shame does not change our character for the good.  Shame only pushes us down.

    That is why when someone shames you or calls out some form of behavior in you; you back down and turn and walk away.  That is why the devil throws shame at you; in order to push you down and away from Jesus.  I hear it when someone tells me, “I’m not good enough to come to your church.” When they mean it, the pain is written all over their face and cracks through their voice.  The pain is tremendous but does not have to stay.

    You are a redeemed child of God.  You are not defined by events in your life; you are defined by God and his mercy.  You are not a bad parent or a bad spouse, a deviant or someone who is unworthy of love; you are a redeemed child of God.  Luther tells us to remember our Baptism, every day, in order to remember that you are a redeemed child of God.  Nothing beats that truth, nothing trumps that fact.  The past is just that- past.  Christ washes away our sinful character and replaces it with his Spirit in a new creation that desires his will.  We need not feel shame; it is not who we are any longer.

Father, keep me from being burdened by shame.  Move me by your Spirit to go beyond the devil’s lies and to reach out to share your great love.  Give me power over my shame.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret