Joy and Reciprocity
Good Morning Friends,
Are you a God defier or a God affirmer? Are you a stubborn mule? The word ‘sin’ has almost disappeared from our vocabulary, but the sense of guilt often remains in our hearts and minds. You see at the heart of every man and woman is the ability to become really bad. Maybe it is a matter of circumstance and the fear of reprisal that prevents each of us from exercising our most selfish desires. The problem is that underneath it all, we like David know the truth about the heart of darkness. David was a What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas kind of guy and he isn’t the only one. What we need is rescue, rebuilding, reconstruction of patterns that affirm God. What we need to discover is Joy and Reciprocity.
Scripture: Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah. Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Psalm 32:1-11 (NRSV)
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50 (NRSV)
Message: The theologian Augustine had today’s psalm engraved on his bedroom wall. When he was on his death bed he instructed others to recite it for him. The words are very important. The psalm is a teaching psalm. David, the author, wants us to pay particular attention to our need for forgiveness. Today’s psalm is a special psalm of penitence that is often sung or recited during the Lenten season. It is a wisdom psalm with a purpose of instructing us on how to act when we are troubled and afflicted. It is about God’s dealings with those desiring to be righteous… it is a picture of Jesus as our guide calling us to walk with Him on the journey and pray with Him and sing with Him. The psalmist, David, describes this experience of being made spiritually new… and how he got a fresh start… he describes how his slate, our slate can be wiped clean so we can come closer to the Lord. The psalmist encourages us as he describes how confessing to God changes our life. David holds nothing back, he lets out all his dark emotions and pressures. God’s mercy drives the healing, guiding him. This turning point of honest confession results in the sin and guilt disappearing. He prays his confession and experiences joy. And then having the knowledge of one’s self as a sinner and having come into wisdom, having unburdened his soul, he response with obedience to the advice revealed, he bears witness to the pardon he has received and this births gratitude and gratitude love. It ends with a shout of joy…a triumph of peace…a celebration with God our protector, God our forgiver. Friends, we struggle with guilt because we are guilty, but like David our perspective needs to be that of a sinner who has been forgiven, healed and restored. It is a way of grace, forgiveness, generosity, justice, compassion, and inclusion, the very message embodied in Jesus.
Pray we not
spend the rest of your life regretting our past. Pray we not regret our present. Pray we learn that we need to take real guilt seriously but stop wrestling with false guilt. Pray we realize that guilt has a purpose but that after it has brought us to repentance we should let it go. Pray that on that day you and I come to the wall, with no place to go, no exit and no escape and no excuses for our destructive choices we look into our heart of darkness and there be remembered and connected by God with an encounter not of despair but of joy. Pray that we then sing raising the roof.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 