Wearing the Mess You Made

 

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Do not gloat over me, my enemies!  For though I fall, I will rise again.  Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.  I will be patient as the Lord punishes me, for I have sinned against him.  But after that, he will take up my case and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies. The Lord will bring me into the light, and I will see his righteousness.  Then my enemies will see that the Lord is on my side.  They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying, “So where is the Lord—that God of yours?”  With my own eyes I will see their downfall; they will be trampled like mud in the streets.  In that day, Israel, your cities will be rebuilt, and your borders will be extended.  People from many lands will come and honor you—from Assyria all the way to the towns of Egypt, from Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River, and from distant seas and mountains.  But the land will become empty and desolate because of the wickedness of those who live there.  O Lord, protect your people with your shepherd’s staff; lead your flock, your special possession.  Though they live alone in a thicket on the heights of Mount Carmel, let them graze in the fertile pastures of Bashan and Gilead as they did long ago.  “Yes,” says the Lord, “I will do mighty miracles for you, like those I did when I rescued you from slavery in Egypt.”  All the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the Lord will do for you.  They will be embarrassed at their feeble power.  They will cover their mouths in silent awe, deaf to everything around them.  Like snakes crawling from their holes, they will come out to meet the Lord our God.  They will fear him greatly, trembling in terror at his presence.  Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people?  You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love.  Once again you will have compassion on us.  You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!  You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.  Micah 7:8-20

Of course the story of Israel, starting with Abram, is like the story of us all, starting with Adam.  The story begins with God’s kindness and gifts; it quickly progresses to a fall.  Sin is more than endemic, or pandemic, it is universally common to human DNA.  I have (what is probably) an annoying habit of taking impromptu surveys when I preach.  I may have asked one question more than any other; how many of you have NEVER sinned…not even once?  In 40 years of preaching I’ve never seen a single hand raised to claim perfect innocence.  The obvious conclusion is that we ALL make a mess of life.  Jeremiah said so in the Old Testament, and Paul validated it in the New Testament: 

Lord, we confess our wickedness and that of our ancestors, too.  We all have sinned against you.  Jeremiah 14:20
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Romans 3:23

If you listen very closely to what Micah wrote about Israel’s mess-up, and how the prophet steps into Israel’s shoes, he, on behalf of his people, is owning it, confessing it, wearing the mess.  And in the middle of that messy-dress admission of guilt, the prophet speaks a word to every one of us who possesses human DNA:

When you’ve messed up it’s right to confess two things:

     1.     That YOU messed up, you’re not a victim; you’re the perp!

     2.     That God’s not done with you, because you’re willing to admit the mess-up, and ask for help to change.

For You Today

It’s important to see the hand of God mete out punishment for our sinfulness.  And it’s just as important (maybe more so) to see that God derives no joy in doing so; as the perfect parent, our Heavenly Father punishes in order to correct.  And that tells us He hasn’t written us off.  You correct what you are still going to keep and use; you don’t throw away what you love.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

Waiting in Pain

[i]

Monday, February 25, 2019

O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage!  Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me.  Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.  My guilt overwhelms me—it is a burden too heavy to bear.  My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins.  I am bent over and racked with pain.  All day long I walk around filled with grief.  A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken.  I am exhausted and completely crushed.  My groans come from an anguished heart.  You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh.  My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind.  My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease.  Even my own family stands at a distance.  Meanwhile, my enemies lay traps to kill me.  Those who wish me harm make plans to ruin me.  All day long they plan their treachery.  But I am deaf to all their threats.  I am silent before them as one who cannot speak.  I choose to hear nothing, and I make no reply.  For I am waiting for you, O Lord.  You must answer for me, O Lord my God.  I prayed, “Don’t let my enemies gloat over me or rejoice at my downfall.”  I am on the verge of collapse, facing constant pain.  But I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done.  I have many aggressive enemies; they hate me without reason.  They repay me evil for good and oppose me for pursuing good.  Do not abandon me, O Lord.  Do not stand at a distance, my God.  Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior.  Psalm 38:1-22(NLT)

Waiting is always hard; just ask a 4-year-old who is trying to go to sleep on Christmas Eve.  But waiting when you’re in pain and have no answers is the hardest assignment known to humankind.  And what makes it harder is when the heavens seem silent and indifferent to your pain.

King David understood his life was on the verge of collapse, physically, mentally, and, worst of all, spiritually.  Relationships, respect, and his very life were at an all-consuming low.  He’d offended God, and everyone imaginable, and he was paying for his sins in overwhelming, consummate grief; David existed just a breath away from all kinds of death, with an elephant sitting on his chest, laughing at how the former conquering darling of Israel, now struggled to get just one more filling of air into his lungs.  The words describing his anguish roll like an inventory of judgment:  crushed, groaning, heartbroken, convicted, weakness, dim vision, disinterested, pursued, trapped…and forsaken.  He was waiting in pain with no answers.  In response to David’s circumstances was that thundering silence of the absence of hope.  He knew there was no way out. 

Amid this Psalmist’s prayer we hear the cry of desperation:  You know what I long for, Lord; David longed for an end to it all.  The only question was how long will this take, and how shall it end?  Visions of a whole bottle of pills danced through David’s imagination; or would it be falling on his sword, or an enemy’s sneak attack while he slept, or perhaps just start the chariot in the closed garage and wait for the fumes to do their blessed work.

The prayer came quickly at the end, but it was attached to a lifetime of having placed himself firmly, unquestionably in God’s hands.  David, despite his sin and shame that the whole nation knew, was still a man after God’s own heart[ii] and he was committed to not speaking another word in this life if God didn’t answer.  His prayer was four words long:  COME   CLOSE    QUICKLY    SAVIOR!

That was it; no defenses, no excuses, no bargains, no claim of victim status; David knew his condition was his responsibility; he had no mitigation to offer as reasonable, and knew he needed the mercy of God; he only asked forgiveness.

And in the end, he got just that…and more:

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!  Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!  When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.  Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.  My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.  Interlude  Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt.  I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”  And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.  Psalm 32:1-5(NLT)

For You Today

Need we even say it?  Confession IS GOOD for the soul!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:  via Pixabay.com

[ii] Acts 13:22