2 Chronicles 24:17-24
Acts 7:51-60
God created human beings with the ability to communicate. I recently saw a video on YouTube of diapered twins yammering away at one another in their own language. They clearly understood one another. One lifted his foot and pointed to his foot that was missing a sock. They seemed to have found it a reason for great hilarity. I could not help but join in the laughter as well. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JmA2ClUvUY
Scripture points out to us that God gave us this ability to communicate because he himself wants to communicate with us. We are told that before the Fall, God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. You get the sense of easy dialogue and sharing. We all love the old hymn that says “And he walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am his own.”
After the Fall God communicates through the prophets. He calls Moses to the mountaintop and explains to him the kind of community he is longing for his people to be. Throughout the Old Testament every time the people have strayed he sends someone to give the people God’s word, calling them back from disaster to redemption. It is never God who fails to make the attempt at communication. Over and over again, the people have rejected the prophets and declined to hear what God has to say. Jesus tells the parable of the rich man in hell wanting God to send someone to his house to warn his family about what happens when you live it up, rejecting God. He is told that if his family has not already paid attention to the law and the prophets it is unlikely that they will listen to anyone new. We are also told that since people refused to listen to the prophets, God sent his own Son to be the Word. The world’s answer to this wonderful form of communication was crucifixion. You would think that this would be the end of God’s desire to communicate, yet he goes one step further to send the Holy Spirit to speak directly in and to our own spirits. The Holy Spirit continually reaches out in a multitude of ways. It is we who refuse to hear and reject the word.
2 Chronicles, 24:18b-19, tells that the anger of the Lord came upon Judah. Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them [the false religious practices], they would not listen. God did not fail to keep trying. He sent his Spirit upon Zechariah, the king’s son, who spoke the word of the Lord but they killed him as well.(Sound familiar?) In the Acts reading, Stephen boldly tells his listener: “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him.” And so, of course, they stoned Stephen.
God communicates. We stop up our ears. We grow hard. We grow rebellious. We "kill the prophets". We reject the Word that the Spirit longs to communicate. God weeps. And finally God judges.
Ain't It a Shame!
Ain’t It a Shame!
Psalm 25
The dictionary defines shame as a “disturbed or painful feeling of, incompetence, indecency, or blameworthiness.” No one likes to feel shame. We all tend to have an exalted estimation of ourselves We think of ourselves as loving, good or moral, capable of good if not great things. We think that if we work hard and are disciplined that we will eventually reach our material and spiritual goals. To not make the grade is painful indeed. “I can’t believe I did that!” We had thought we had the skills, motivation, heart or spiritual commitment to be what we had intended. Shame follows.
David’s first great statement is that his hope is in the Lord. So often our hope is in ourselves. We look to our natural gifts, education, discipline, moral upbringing etc. David says “No!” His hope is not in himself but in the Lord. He goes on to give a wonderful agenda for dealing with shame. He begins with humility. He knows it is not within his power to make things right. He looks to the Lord and counts on His goodness and unfailing love. He recognizes and owns his condition. He admits that he is a sinner. As Paul says, he has fallen short of the glory of God”. David declares, “I am lonely and afflicted.” He takes refuge in the Lord and knows that the Lord will teach him. The Lord confides in him and covenants with him. David makes a new commitment to integrity and shame is replaced with hope. What a healthy response!
Many of us stumble on the first step. It is hard to admit that we have failed. Instead of owning up we set about to cover up. We design “stories” to make light of the occurrence. We lay blame on others. We excuse our own behavior indicating that this mis-step was an aberration, and of course not our normal behavior. We avoid places, situations, and people who might unearth or enhance these feelings of incompetence. Church becomes less attractive. The saints become “bores.” The shame burrows deep within beating us up with reminders of our failures. It is hard for us to come to terms with the consequence of our acts. We hate to admit that our relationships have been affected. We are loath to lower our sights and create more realistic dreams. We cannot abide being ordinary instead of exceptional. You might think that this is addressing only “superior” people but even the most average of us have expectations above what we are able to produce. However, once we have taken our eyes off of ourselves and put them on the Lord the process of healing can begin.
The psalms of David consistently remind us of the compassion and loving kindness of God. (Psalm 139). It is not his desire to condemn but to save. How wonderful it is to know that the Holy Spirit is willing and present to teach us step by step. How awesome to know that God desires to confide in us and that he is willing to make a covenant with us. He has promised that he will be our God and that we shall be his people. We can rest in the hope that while we are not what we should be, neither are we what we will be. God promises that we will trade these tattered rags for white robes.
But, David also says that there are those who should be put to shame. He strongly states that the treacherous will be put to shame. Those who carelessly choose to do the wrong thing even though they have the wherewithal to do better. They could but they won’t. This is not a matter of humbly recognizing limitation. This is a matter of confessing outright rebellion. In this case one does not ask forgiveness for not measuring up but for willful arrogance. In this instance shame is a proper response.
In either case shame is not a Christian virtue. Instead shame is a call to reality. We are finite creatures who fail and rebel, but there is hope in the Lord. He wishes to wash away the shame and replace it with newness of life. Ain’t it a shame that more of us don’t let go of our shame and rest in the unfailing love and compassion of God?
Psalm 25
The dictionary defines shame as a “disturbed or painful feeling of, incompetence, indecency, or blameworthiness.” No one likes to feel shame. We all tend to have an exalted estimation of ourselves We think of ourselves as loving, good or moral, capable of good if not great things. We think that if we work hard and are disciplined that we will eventually reach our material and spiritual goals. To not make the grade is painful indeed. “I can’t believe I did that!” We had thought we had the skills, motivation, heart or spiritual commitment to be what we had intended. Shame follows.
David’s first great statement is that his hope is in the Lord. So often our hope is in ourselves. We look to our natural gifts, education, discipline, moral upbringing etc. David says “No!” His hope is not in himself but in the Lord. He goes on to give a wonderful agenda for dealing with shame. He begins with humility. He knows it is not within his power to make things right. He looks to the Lord and counts on His goodness and unfailing love. He recognizes and owns his condition. He admits that he is a sinner. As Paul says, he has fallen short of the glory of God”. David declares, “I am lonely and afflicted.” He takes refuge in the Lord and knows that the Lord will teach him. The Lord confides in him and covenants with him. David makes a new commitment to integrity and shame is replaced with hope. What a healthy response!
Many of us stumble on the first step. It is hard to admit that we have failed. Instead of owning up we set about to cover up. We design “stories” to make light of the occurrence. We lay blame on others. We excuse our own behavior indicating that this mis-step was an aberration, and of course not our normal behavior. We avoid places, situations, and people who might unearth or enhance these feelings of incompetence. Church becomes less attractive. The saints become “bores.” The shame burrows deep within beating us up with reminders of our failures. It is hard for us to come to terms with the consequence of our acts. We hate to admit that our relationships have been affected. We are loath to lower our sights and create more realistic dreams. We cannot abide being ordinary instead of exceptional. You might think that this is addressing only “superior” people but even the most average of us have expectations above what we are able to produce. However, once we have taken our eyes off of ourselves and put them on the Lord the process of healing can begin.
The psalms of David consistently remind us of the compassion and loving kindness of God. (Psalm 139). It is not his desire to condemn but to save. How wonderful it is to know that the Holy Spirit is willing and present to teach us step by step. How awesome to know that God desires to confide in us and that he is willing to make a covenant with us. He has promised that he will be our God and that we shall be his people. We can rest in the hope that while we are not what we should be, neither are we what we will be. God promises that we will trade these tattered rags for white robes.
But, David also says that there are those who should be put to shame. He strongly states that the treacherous will be put to shame. Those who carelessly choose to do the wrong thing even though they have the wherewithal to do better. They could but they won’t. This is not a matter of humbly recognizing limitation. This is a matter of confessing outright rebellion. In this case one does not ask forgiveness for not measuring up but for willful arrogance. In this instance shame is a proper response.
In either case shame is not a Christian virtue. Instead shame is a call to reality. We are finite creatures who fail and rebel, but there is hope in the Lord. He wishes to wash away the shame and replace it with newness of life. Ain’t it a shame that more of us don’t let go of our shame and rest in the unfailing love and compassion of God?
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