Psalm 51; 2 Samuel 11-12 "C.P.R."
Ash Wednesday
INTRO: Today is Ash Wednesday, and throughout the world, Christians of many
branches of Christ's church are observing this unique day in the Christian
calendar. It is a day of penitence, and fasting. It is, quite frankly, a
rather gloomy day. In fact, all of Lent seems to be somehow depressing. Like
most Christians, I prefer the celebratory times like Christmas and Easter.
So why do we have Lent? Why all of this emphasis on Sin, sacrifice, and
suffering?
Much of the answer to these questions can be found in the words of the
psalmist, David.
I. CONFESSION
Let's take a quick refresher course on David. David is remembered by all as
the greatest king of Israel. It is David who as a small boy slew the
Philistine giant, Goliath. It is David who is the great ancestor of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
But David has a problem. It all began one day when his armies were off at war,
while he remained home in Jerusalem. It was evening. David went up to the
roof of his palace, and stood looking out over his magnificent capital city.
He was feeling proud of his accomplishments, but maybe a little bored as
well, back here, all alone.
As David looked around, there below him in a neighboring building, a movement
caught his eye. And as he looked closer, he realized that it was a woman - a
naked woman - bathing.
Well, like most men would, he continued looking for a few moments, then
politely turned away. But he couldn't get her out of his mind. He went back,
and watched some more. He began to devise a plan...just a theory at first,
but a plan.
He would send her a royal summons, to join him for dinner. Wouldn't that be a
nice treat. And maybe after dinner....
And as he watched, and thought, and fantasized, his resistance weakened, and he
decided "Why not. After all, I'm the king!"
To make a long story short, he sent for her, he slept with her, and she -
became pregnant.
This was a problem. Because Bathsheeba, which was her name, was married.
Not only was she married, but she was married to Uriah, a soldier in David's
army. Who had been away for a long time.
David had Uriah called home from the front, to "report on how the war was
going." And he invited Uriah to spend a few nights at home. That way, Uriah
might think the baby was his. But Uriah refused to share the joys of the
marriage bed while his men were deprived of the same privilege.
When David realized that he could not cover his sin by deception, he sent Uriah
back to the battle, and gave this order to his General.
"Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw
from him so he will be struck down and die."
And that is exactly what happened. David committed murder, to cover his
adultery. He married the widow Bathsheeba, convinced that he had gotten away
with his sin.
It was only a short time later that the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David,
to tell him a story about a crime that had been committed within his kingdom.
"There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich
man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing
except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with
him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept
in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
"Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking
one of his won sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come
to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and
prepared it for the one who had come to him."
Well, when David heard this story he was incensed. He raised his kingly voice
and pronounced the verdict "This man deserves to die."
Imagine the silence in the courtroom as Nathan looked David in the eye and said
"You are the man."
In the privacy of his chamber, David wrote these words when confronted with
that awful truth. Somehow, by the strength of his character, they were
preserved so that generations would know of his sin, but also how he responded
to his sin. He turned to the Lord, and prayed:
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot away my transgressions.
Wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me."
David's response, when confronted by his sin, his terrible sin, was CONFESSION.
Why bother to confess? God has known what he has done all along. That's only
too apparent. But, now David knows. David sees his actions for what they
are. David knows himself for who he is. And the weight of his sin is
unbearable.
His confession, in part, acts as Catharsis. He needs to get it off his
chest, to let loose the flood of guilt, to obtain release, to feel relief.
His sin also puts him back in right relationship with God, whom he had sinned
against.
Do we ever do that - By our actions demonstrate that we think we know better
than God? Modify the teachings of scripture to suit our desires. Know what
we are about to do is wrong, and go ahead and do it anyway - after all, who
will ever know - who could possibly be hurt?
But then, when we realize our own sin, we know who is hurt. Our Lord is
hurt. And we are hurt, as we feel separated from God by the barrier of our
guilt. The first step to reconciliation is Confession.
II. PARDON
But David does not stop with confession. In the midst of his confession, he
actively seeks after the grace of God. He prays:
"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow..
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity."
Sin makes you feel dirty. Especially, so it seems, sexual sin. David has the
nerve to go to God and ask God to make him clean.
He speaks of hyssop. It is the same plant that we call Marjoram. At the first
Passover, the Israelites used Hyssop and the blood of a lamb to mark their
houses as consecrated to the Lord. It was a branch of hyssop that the
soldiers put a vinegar soaked sponge to offer to our Lord on the cross.
It is a symbol of the inward cleansing that only God can give. David knows
that he can not atone for his wrongs. Only God can make him pure.
Tonight, we have good news. The good news is that God still offers complete
cleansing as we come to him in confession. To know that our pardon is found
in the branches of the cross, and the sacrifice of Christ's blood. The
good news is that in the Lord's grace, the scarlet stain of our sin is bleached
whiter than snow.
Isn't it amazing that until we recognize the depth of our sin, we cannot
realize the height of our salvation.
Confession, brings PARDON.
III. RECREATION
But David knows that he has still not gone far enough. If we stop here, then
the future will simply be a repetition of the past. David continues in his
prayer:
"Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
David is speaking of one of the great truths of the faith. The theological
term is Sanctification. But a better word might be re-creation.
-About two years ago, I had the opportunity to compete in a regional arts
festival, by displaying a couple of my oil paintings. One of the exhibits
featured a potter, working at her wheel, and I stood there for almost an
hour, watching her work raw lumps of clay into beautiful pots.
I was somewhat cruelly pleased at one point when a pot that she had about half
finished collapsed into itself on the wheel, becoming once again an ugly lump
of earth. Now, here's the point. What did she do with that faulty pot?
Did she throw it away? No. She carefully pushed it all together, and began to
refashion the clay. Same clay, new pot, re-formed, re-created to do her
will.
David, confessing his sin, claiming God's pardon, prays "Re-create me. Create
in me a pure heart."
Pure, with no faults, or hard spots, or pollutants. A heart which can be used
in the present and the future, despite the faults of the past.
Perhaps that is the problem with so many Christians. We are willing to confess
our sin, and we are certainly willing to accept Christ's pardon. But we
resist so strongly that process of re-creation. We want to keep living as we
always have. We want to retain control. It is frightening, to turn our
lives totally over to the hands of God, the master potter.
But how wonderful it is when we do allow the Lord to shape our lives. For as
we confess, and are pardoned, and are re-shaped, we move from being tough,
squat, ugly pots, full of lumps and impurities; to being pots of beauty and
grace, which God is proud to use in places of highest honor in the heavenly
kingdom.
CONCLUSION:
The other day I went out for lunch with John M. so that we could do some
planning for these services. John was doing double duty that afternoon, as
preacher, and rescue squad responder. I imagine that one of the things that
John is called to do from time to time is to give C.P.R.
Cardio-Pulmonary-Resuscitation. There are a lot of people alive today who
would be dead without it.
The formula for eternal life, the formula followed by David is just the same.
C.P.R. Confession, Pardon, Re-creation.
Tonight, we have an opportunity to come clean before our Lord. As we worship
together, let us be honest in confession, rejoice in God's pardon, and open
ourselves to re-creation, into new life with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
