SERMON
SERIES FOR LENT 2015
At the Cross Roads:
When We Feel Estranged from God
Psalm
51:1-12 and 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Pastor Robyn Hogue February
22, 2015 Skyline Presbyterian Church
In the Christian church, the first day of Lent,
occurs six weeks before Easter. In the early church, the length of the Lenten
observance varied, but eventually it began six weeks (42 days) before Easter.
But this provided only 36 days of fasting because Sundays were considered feast
days and therefore not supposed to be fast days. By the middle of the 7th
century, four days were added before the first Sunday in Lent in order to
establish 40 fasting days, in imitation of Christ’s fast in the desert.
The custom of using ashes is from an even older
ceremony. Christians who had committed grave faults were obliged to demonstrate
public penance. On Ash Wednesday the Bishop blessed the hair shirts which they
were to wear during these forty days and sprinkled ashes over them which had
been made from the palms from the previous year. Then, the penitents were
turned out of the holy place because of their sins, as Adam and Eve were turned
out of the Garden of Eden because of their disobedience. They did not enter the
Church again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by doing
penance for forty days and receiving sacramental absolution. Later on, the
practice came to include ALL
Christians in recognition that, “ALL have
sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
With that as background, we hear again the
tortured words attributed to King David following his adulterous union with
Bathsheba, the murder of her husband Uriah, and finally Nathan the prophet’s
confrontation in which Nathan publicly pointed out David’s sin. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot
out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from
my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalm 51:3) With ashes marking our
foreheads, our sin is quite literally “before” us, and we echo David’s prayer.
Ashes...the residue of a burned-out fire.
Nothing would seem so appropriately symbolic of the less-than-spectacular state
of humanity. Gray and lifeless, ashes make it clear that something is not
right, that human beings have settled in the dust and settled for the worst.
When I was at seminary Dr. James I. McCord,
President of Princeton Theological Seminary, would ask each new class of seminary
students, “What made you feel that God was calling you into the ministry?” Inevitably
some poor, unsuspecting soul would say, “Well…I like working with people.”
Dr. McCord usually looked the student right in
the eye and said, “You have not met many of the people you will be working
with, have you? Some of them just are not all that nice.” And we know why. It
is that perennial feature of the human situation to which Psalm 51 calls us—sin.
Any good history book includes a long list of
mistakes, complete with names and dates. It is very embarrassing. And this is
especially true of our Bible. Israel’s story is a long list of mistakes. King
David’s story is very embarrassing. So is the behavior of the disciples in the
Gospels. So is the situation of the early church, as is painfully obvious in
the letters of Paul to the fledgling bands of Christians in the first century.
So is the history of the Christian church throughout the centuries. So are the
denominational and congregational lives of the contemporary church. So are the
details of our own life stories…if we are honest enough to admit it.
In short, Psalm 51 is not just about Israel or
David, it is also about us! It is about how sin pervades our lives. And it is
very embarrassing. We are at the crossroads of some very bad news. What could
be more appropriate to consider at the beginning of Lent?
What do we do when we are at the crossroads and
feel cut off from and estranged from God?
I don’t want you leaving here without the rest
of the story. You see, Psalm 51 is not just about human nature; it is also
about God’s nature. “Steadfast love...abundant mercy” are the phrases we
encounter again and again. And the good news is that God is willing to forgive
sinners. God is able to re-create people. Israel’s life as a nation is an
example. David’s life is an example. Yes, sin is a powerful and persistent
reality, but God’s grace is an even more powerful and enduring reality.
By the grace of God, a persistently disobedient
people become partners with God in “an everlasting covenant.” By the grace of
God, dull and disobedient disciples of Jesus become known as those who have
been turning the world upside down. By the grace of God, Saul, the former
murderer, becomes Paul, ambassador for Christ. And by the grace of God, you and
I can be made new creations as well. And THAT
is good news indeed.
What to do
when we feel estranged from God? Cry out to the Lord with an honest heart. Name
your sin before a holy God and ask, beg, the Lord to make a new heart within
you. God is able to do this…even in the likes of you and me.