Unburden Your Spirit
Posted by pastorbill09 on March 27, 2009
Psalm 51:1-12
This is the psalm in this week’s lectionary. It is powerful. Nowhere is there a better statement of how deeply our sin can mark us. It is attributed to David after his being accused by Nathan of his infidelity with Bathsheeba.
I remember an episode of a series called “thirty something.” It’s been off the air for a pretty long time. One of the main characters, toward the beginning of the show, had cheated on his wife. He told his friend about it – not to brag, but to relieve himself of it. He said even though it was only once and never happened again and he regretted it, still it was there — a huge chasm in his life he could never cross.
Living with an awareness of our sin can be a terrible burden. If you read the writings of the saints through the centuries you’ll find that each of them were deeply aware of their sin. That awareness, though, may be the surest way of putting ourselves in a place where we can truly open ourselves to God.
Lent is a time of reflection and penance. Penance isn’t so much about punishing ourselves as it is about unburdening ourselves. Letting go of our sin requires recognizing its hold on us.
“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.” Those are words that can only come from a soul that has looked inward and seen its true self. Now, I am not a doctrinaire Calvinist by any stretch, but I do have a lot of respect for the concept of total depravity. We are not, not any of us, who God intends us to be. Our only hope is to fall back on God’s steadfast love. We have to let go of our sin and unburden our spirits. Verse 17 of this psalm reads: “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” That is our salvation.
Peace,
Pastor Bill
Bill Clark said
I concur. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to our spiritual growth and becoming closer to God is the our lack of awareness of our sin, most especially the sin of pride. In “Mere Chtistianity”, C. S. Lewis calls it the greatest of all sins; the one we are quick to see in others but very reluctant to see in ourselves. I believe that pride is a barrier to knowing ourselves as we really are. We can’t come to our knees and repent of sins of which we are unaware.
As for me, I was guilty of pride. I believed that all I needed in life was an education and a good work ethic, not help from an outside force, certainly not God. (Who is God, anyway?) I was not able to receive God’s help through the Holy Spirit until I was shocked into awareness of this great sin. Perhaps I needed God’s help to become aware. Amen.
Comment welcome. Bill