WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:08.779 Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. 00:00:11.019 --> 00:00:21.719 Lately, I've been trying to learn a little bit more about church history, and specifically the history of the church as it relates to issues of racial justice in the West and in particular in our country. 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:30.039 And right now, our parish council is actually reading through the book The Color of Compromise by Jamar Tisby, which is all about that topic. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:37.420 And it's hard. It's hard in general. It's hard for me in particular because I love the church. 00:00:38.019 --> 00:00:46.739 But it's hard going because it requires facing up to the reality that the church has gotten it wrong in history. 00:00:46.740 --> 00:00:53.020 And there are times when the church has been complicit, and that's a painful thing to have to wrestle with. 00:00:53.780 --> 00:01:06.920 But as I've been doing this, I've also come to the conviction that our society has no hope of healing and actually being able to move past this racial trauma apart from the church. 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:15.960 I actually believe that the church is the key and that the church offers what we most need to be able to move forward together in our country. 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:22.799 And that's because even though the church hasn't always gotten it right, and even though there are plenty of times where the church has gotten it wrong, 00:01:23.699 --> 00:01:28.159 the church has at its core the capacity for self-correction. 00:01:28.699 --> 00:01:36.699 And that's because the church has at its core, and Christians have at our core, the ongoing daily practice of confession and repentance. 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:46.359 And I don't think we have any hope of moving forward as a society unless confession and repentance, as Christians understand it, 00:01:46.420 --> 00:01:50.700 unless those practices are at the very heart of our progress. 00:01:50.700 --> 00:01:57.600 And I think this is such an important topic that we're going to spend the next two weeks talking about it, 00:01:57.600 --> 00:02:00.460 and we're going to do that by looking at Psalm 32. 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:08.000 And so we're only going to get through part one today, and then in a week we will do part two, 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:15.199 looking at confession and repentance and true change as we see them in Psalm 32. 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:20.239 So this morning we're going to look at the reality of sin, as we see it in this Psalm, 00:02:20.339 --> 00:02:23.459 and then we're going to look at two possible responses to sin. 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:27.659 So the reality of sin, and then two ways of responding to sin. 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:29.459 Let's pray and then we'll get started. 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:33.800 Lord, we thank you and praise you. 00:02:33.920 --> 00:02:38.800 As we lit this candle together this morning, it reminds us that your Spirit is with us. 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:45.180 And we know that your Spirit has the ability to use your Word and to bring it alive, 00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:51.280 and to enable you to speak to us through it, to tell us what we most need to hear. 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:55.200 And so we pray, Lord, that we would hear your voice this morning, 00:02:55.199 --> 00:03:03.079 and that we would have the open-hearted humility to respond to your Word with faith and action. 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:10.560 And we pray this for our betterment, Lord, so that we would become more like your Son, Jesus. 00:03:10.819 --> 00:03:12.319 And we pray this for your glory. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:14.859 And we say all of this in your Son's name. Amen. 00:03:15.859 --> 00:03:19.159 So first of all, we want to look at the reality of sin. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:24.299 Now, when I say the word sin, I realize that's a pretty archaic-sounding term. 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:32.000 If you go on Google Ingram and look at that viewer that charts word usage in literature over history, 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:35.920 you'll see that the word sin has basically fallen into disuse. 00:03:36.200 --> 00:03:39.780 It's been in steady decline since the 1800s. 00:03:39.880 --> 00:03:43.160 And I think that's partly because of what the word sin means. 00:03:43.720 --> 00:03:50.860 In Psalm 32, verse 1, the word sin there, if you look at the Hebrew word for that, 00:03:50.860 --> 00:03:54.540 it's the word that most often shows up to refer to sin in the Old Testament. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:58.280 And the word actually means to miss the mark. 00:03:58.920 --> 00:04:01.720 Or another way of thinking about it is to go off the path. 00:04:02.660 --> 00:04:11.500 And in other words, sin implies, the word sin implies that there is a target that our lives are meant to be aiming at. 00:04:11.500 --> 00:04:15.939 There is a path that we're meant to be walking on. 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.459 There's a way of being human. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:25.279 So another way of saying it is, the word sin implies that there is an objective standard of right and wrong. 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:28.579 That there is a way of being human in the world. 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:35.359 And that is, I think, a major part of why the word sin has fallen into disuse. 00:04:35.539 --> 00:04:42.479 Because in the West, we have mostly done away with the idea that there is a common standard of right and wrong. 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:47.639 Most people today, if you ask them, would say that morality is more a matter of personal preference 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:49.740 and that that's the way it should be. 00:04:50.039 --> 00:04:53.599 And we are the first culture in history to do this. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:58.680 We're the first culture in history to do away with the idea of a common notion of right and wrong. 00:04:59.100 --> 00:05:02.840 And the reason we did this was in the name of expressive individualism. 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:10.540 We basically wanted a society where people feel free to live however they want and to be whomever they want 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:12.200 and to feel good about themselves. 00:05:12.900 --> 00:05:20.379 And so people desiring this said, well, you know, religion and specifically Christianity is getting in the way of that. 00:05:20.379 --> 00:05:28.519 It's getting in the way of the kind of society where expressive individualism sits at the very heart of our ethics. 00:05:28.719 --> 00:05:31.579 And so people said religion is getting in the way of that. 00:05:31.659 --> 00:05:33.159 Christianity is getting in the way of that. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.560 We don't need the church telling people how they should live their lives. 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:42.120 We don't need the church and this faith making people feel guilty, making people feel shame. 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:50.439 And so the idea was if you get rid of religion, if you get rid of words like sin, then we can be free. 00:05:51.579 --> 00:05:53.920 Then we won't have to feel guilt anymore. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:06:00.939 Then everyone can do what they want, live how they want, and feel loved and affirmed and accepted exactly as they are. 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:07.319 And, you know, you hear that and you think, well, I can see why people jumped on board with that. 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:13.300 Because that sort of utopian vision of society, free from guilt and shame, that sounds like a great thing. 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:19.079 And if it's really being caused by the church and being caused by religion, then maybe this is a good idea. 00:06:19.159 --> 00:06:20.100 Maybe this is progress. 00:06:21.159 --> 00:06:25.199 The problem is that's not at all how things played out. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:32.639 Instead, instead, we've actually, as a society, become really, really confused. 00:06:33.599 --> 00:06:38.459 Christianity is fading in the West, and yet there's every bit as much guilt. 00:06:39.180 --> 00:06:40.939 There's every bit as much shame. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.060 Those things have not gone down. 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:46.139 In fact, I think you could argue that they've actually gone up. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.779 And what's interesting is now in our society, we're trying to have our cake and eat it too. 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:59.219 Because on the one hand, people say that morality is a matter of personal preference and that you shouldn't tell other people how they should live their lives. 00:06:59.539 --> 00:07:05.699 And yet, on the other hand, when it comes to certain issues, we enforce a kind of lockstep moral conformity. 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:08.379 And there's no exceptions. 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:13.559 And it seems as though we've not actually become less judgmental. 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:18.439 I think you could argue that we've actually become highly puritanical in our society. 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:20.240 And the great irony is this. 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:31.160 Even as our secular society rejects religion, it is becoming more and more a religion in and of itself. 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:36.279 Our secular society is becoming more and more and more its own religion. 00:07:36.459 --> 00:07:43.480 It's becoming a dogmatic, even fundamentalist religion of secular humanist values. 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:54.300 And people who transgress are shamed and they're stigmatized and they're even excommunicated, what we call being canceled today. 00:07:54.580 --> 00:07:57.800 So what we see is that we are actually more judgmental. 00:07:57.939 --> 00:07:59.680 We are more closed-minded. 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:02.720 There's more guilt and shame, not less. 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:08.080 Now, when we see something like that happening, we really need to ask why. 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:09.520 Why has this happened? 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:09.639 Why has this happened? 00:08:10.019 --> 00:08:12.419 What's the reason behind this shift? 00:08:13.259 --> 00:08:23.000 And the answer, the answer is that even though we don't use the word sin nearly as much, sin as every bit as present. 00:08:23.699 --> 00:08:26.939 And sin is every bit as real as it ever was. 00:08:27.159 --> 00:08:33.279 And I think that on some deep level, we all know that there is real evil in the world. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:36.419 We know that there is a whole lot of evil in the world. 00:08:36.939 --> 00:08:42.519 And I think that deep down, we are all terrified that some of that evil is in us. 00:08:43.439 --> 00:08:46.339 And I think that fear haunts us. 00:08:47.299 --> 00:08:55.839 And with Christianity, Christianity offers a very coherent way of recognizing sin and dealing with sin. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:04.320 And it's a way that's been refined over thousands of years, confession and repentance and forgiveness and new life. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:08.100 But without this, we have no way of dealing with sin. 00:09:08.220 --> 00:09:13.440 We've done away even with the language that allows us to name sin for what it is. 00:09:13.500 --> 00:09:17.740 And so we have a problem without the language to address it. 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:29.039 And so instead, we have this kind of incoherent, quasi-religious secularism that simply isn't up to the task of handling sin. 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:32.600 But wait, there's more. 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:41.919 When you see people being judgmental, and when you see people being closed-minded, and when you see people weaponizing shame, these are symptoms. 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:43.840 They're symptoms. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:53.399 And regardless of whether you see this happening in a church or a religious community or in secular society, when you see these things, they're symptoms. 00:09:53.980 --> 00:10:00.540 When you see these things, they show us that the problem is not that we have too much religion. 00:10:01.420 --> 00:10:03.940 The problem is that we don't have enough of the gospel. 00:10:04.780 --> 00:10:06.379 We don't have enough of the gospel. 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:15.120 Among all the religions and philosophies of the world, only the gospel has the ability to deal with sin once and for all. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.200 Only the gospel can set people free. 00:10:19.179 --> 00:10:29.080 Only the gospel can release people from sin, can release societies from sin, and create the possibility of building something new. 00:10:29.779 --> 00:10:32.379 And without the gospel, this is not possible. 00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:43.759 And so what you see is this increase in anxiety over sin, and an increase in the kind of judgmentalism and stigma and shame that often accompany unaddressed sin. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.559 And that's, I think, what we're seeing right now in our society. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:54.139 And what this psalm shows us is there are really only two ways of responding to sin. 00:10:54.139 --> 00:11:00.199 And I want to look at each of those, and hopefully that will make what I've just said a little more clear. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:06.580 But the first option that we have for dealing with sin is the option that is the most common option. 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:12.779 And that's what we see in verse 5, which makes reference to us covering our iniquity. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:15.340 The psalmist talks about us covering our iniquity. 00:11:15.439 --> 00:11:18.019 So the first response to sin is simply to cover it up. 00:11:18.019 --> 00:11:32.559 In the book of Genesis, when the first human beings sinned for the first time, when they decided to disobey God and rebel against God for the very first time, something happens immediately. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:35.659 And that is shame enters the picture. 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:39.399 The first thing that happens to them is that they feel shame. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:42.639 They realize that they're naked, and they feel ashamed. 00:11:42.779 --> 00:11:43.500 And so what do they do? 00:11:43.699 --> 00:11:44.960 They cover themselves. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:47.139 They cover themselves. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:53.000 And I want to point out, this is before the word sin had been invented yet. 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:56.240 This is before religion existed. 00:11:56.379 --> 00:11:57.960 This is before the church existed. 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:00.840 This is before any of that exists. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.160 And so what this shows us is something that is very important. 00:12:04.540 --> 00:12:07.300 That guilt and shame don't exist because of the church. 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:12.780 The church exists because of guilt and shame, in part. 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:18.459 Guilt and shame came first because they're the fruit of sin. 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:28.839 So we've been dealing with sin and guilt and shame since the very earliest days of our forefathers. 00:12:29.539 --> 00:12:38.480 And what that means is we all have this kind of voice in us, and that voice is always whispering to us, you're not enough. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.720 I hear this voice in me that says, I'm not enough. 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:45.220 There's something wrong with me. 00:12:46.920 --> 00:12:47.860 I'm bad. 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:50.680 Ultimately, I don't matter. 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:53.980 I don't have what it takes. 00:12:55.800 --> 00:12:58.200 Sooner or later, people are going to figure out that I'm a fraud. 00:12:58.920 --> 00:13:00.159 I'm going to be found out. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:04.699 And we all have this voice in us that is whispering that to us. 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:08.139 That's the voice of guilt and shame and accusation. 00:13:08.439 --> 00:13:15.360 And when human beings feel this, when Adam and Eve first heard that voice in their hearts after their sin, 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:18.399 they did the only thing they could think to do, and that is they hid. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:28.000 They covered themselves with leaves, and then they covered themselves by concealing themselves behind bushes. 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:34.959 Then they began to cover themselves by lying and by blame shifting and by finger pointing. 00:13:34.959 --> 00:13:45.279 And what we see is that covering iniquity is anything that we do to hide or to compensate for our sin. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:49.279 It's anything that we do to hide or to compensate for our sin. 00:13:49.439 --> 00:13:58.679 So, you know, there's a reason why in the ancient world you have religions all over the globe that all involve some kind of ritual sacrifice. 00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:05.259 Most religions, if not all of the religions in the ancient world, involve some form of ritual sacrifice. 00:14:05.459 --> 00:14:08.899 And often in the ancient world, this took the form of human sacrifice. 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:11.860 And you say, well, how could anybody possibly think that that was okay? 00:14:11.860 --> 00:14:18.440 Well, humans have always known, across all cultures, on some deep down instinctive level, 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:25.320 we've always known that one of the best ways to deal with sin in a community is to transfer the sin, 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:30.639 to transfer the guilt onto a representative, be it an animal or a person. 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:35.480 And if a community can transfer the guilt and the sin onto a representative, 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:43.580 then that animal or that person, that representative, can bear the sins of the community and then die in place of the community, 00:14:43.819 --> 00:14:45.580 and the sin dies with them. 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:49.919 And so that's one of the major reasons you see this across the globe in the ancient world. 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:55.919 But then we also have a lot of people who believe that if we simply do enough good deeds, 00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:00.299 we can do enough good that it will bury the sin. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:01.839 It will bury the bad deeds. 00:15:01.979 --> 00:15:06.699 We can conceal the bad deeds by burying them with good deeds. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.099 And so Islam teaches a version of this. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:14.120 The Eastern religions also teach a version of this through karma. 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.259 That's a big part of the teaching that accompanies the practice of yoga, 00:15:17.479 --> 00:15:19.559 is the accumulation of good karma. 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:25.000 And, of course, we have a lot of non-religious ways of dealing with this as well, 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:28.239 a lot of non-religious ways that we cover sin and shame. 00:15:28.839 --> 00:15:35.459 Freud and his daughter Anna Freud, they were made famous through their development of the ego defense mechanisms. 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:41.359 And so you see things like denial and repression and compartmentalization and rationalization. 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:49.079 This is part of our vernacular in the modern world, ways that we deal with sin and guilt and shame. 00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:53.240 We also have the rise of things like the self-esteem movement. 00:15:53.400 --> 00:15:55.440 We have therapists and gurus. 00:15:55.540 --> 00:15:59.200 And more and more and more, guilt is treated almost like a mental illness, 00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:03.060 like anxiety or depression that needs to be dealt with through therapy. 00:16:04.780 --> 00:16:09.980 All of these are basically different ways that human beings try to cover our sin. 00:16:11.160 --> 00:16:17.759 They're ways that human beings try to hide, try to cover ourselves with leaves, try to hide in the bushes. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:22.799 And right now, I actually think that this is exactly what we're seeing in our culture. 00:16:23.220 --> 00:16:30.200 I think that this conversation around systemic racism in America is an incredibly important one. 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:33.799 It is a crucial conversation that needs to happen. 00:16:33.939 --> 00:16:41.120 We need to look back and reckon with the history of oppression in our country. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:45.700 And until we're able and willing to do that in an honest way, 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:49.279 I don't think that we're going to be able to move forward together as a society. 00:16:49.419 --> 00:16:50.740 I think that it's going to break us apart. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:51.940 But here's the problem. 00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:55.820 Doing that is inducing moral panic. 00:16:56.580 --> 00:16:58.980 It's inducing moral panic in people. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:01.480 And that's what I think we see playing out right now. 00:17:01.580 --> 00:17:05.519 People have been thrown into a state of moral panic and they have no idea what to do 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:10.639 because we live in a society that says people are basically good and we only get better. 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:14.720 We live in a society that says everybody should live and do as they please. 00:17:14.819 --> 00:17:19.799 And yet at the same time, we have this crushing reality of sin that we all play a part in. 00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:22.299 And I think that people have no idea how to handle it. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:25.900 And so people are desperate to cover their sin. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.940 They are desperate to prove their purity, to prove their sinlessness. 00:17:29.940 --> 00:17:36.580 And you have individuals and businesses who are terrified of being called out and shamed because of their sin. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.820 And so I think that if you look at our society right now in America, 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.660 we are all scrambling like Adam and Eve in the garden. 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:46.340 We're scrambling to cover ourselves with fig leaves. 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:48.519 We're scrambling to hide in the bushes. 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:51.200 We're scrambling to point the finger and say, 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.340 I didn't sin, they sinned. 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:54.620 He sinned. 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:55.740 She sinned. 00:17:55.740 --> 00:18:00.440 And so we have people who are virtue signaling and blame shifting. 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:05.640 And we're all trying to shake off that guilt and that shame because it's unbearably painful. 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:09.259 And I think what we see is that our modern secular culture 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:14.559 simply cannot bear the weight of the sins of our past and present when it comes to race. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:17.420 We cannot bear the weight of that sin. 00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:20.720 And it is cracking our society at the very foundation. 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:25.720 Covering sin doesn't work. 00:18:26.700 --> 00:18:31.279 It doesn't work no matter how well we think we've covered it. 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:32.480 It doesn't work. 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:33.819 Verse 3 says, 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.880 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away. 00:18:37.120 --> 00:18:39.640 No matter how much we try to compensate for our sin, 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:41.920 no matter how much we try to cover it up, 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:44.220 no matter how much we try to shift the blame, 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:48.240 no matter how much we try to eradicate it through therapy or medication, 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:49.859 sin remains. 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:54.620 And our bones waste away. 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:58.859 I think what that means is it eats away at us, down deep, 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:00.959 maybe below the level of our conscious awareness. 00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:02.099 It eats away at us. 00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:06.000 It rots and festers. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.219 We know under the service there is something rotten. 00:19:09.159 --> 00:19:10.699 And it needs to be dealt with. 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:14.180 And so we never really know if we've done enough good. 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:17.340 We never really know if we're good enough. 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:20.559 We never really know when all is said and done, 00:19:20.940 --> 00:19:23.160 how's it going to come out? 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:28.019 Have we done enough good to counterbalance the bad? 00:19:28.620 --> 00:19:31.560 And we always worry that if we're found out, 00:19:31.600 --> 00:19:34.540 and if there's ever anybody who actually sees the truth about us, 00:19:34.600 --> 00:19:36.140 that they'll see the truth that we're a fraud. 00:19:37.880 --> 00:19:39.080 That we're frauds. 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:44.319 And there's only one other option for dealing with sin. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:47.639 But it's an option that is only possible. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:54.759 It's only open to people who believe the gospel and who have a relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:19:55.179 --> 00:19:58.379 The other option for dealing with sin is to give up, 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:01.279 give up trying to cover it and conceal it, 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:02.740 and to simply come out, 00:20:03.399 --> 00:20:04.339 to come out of hiding, 00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:05.700 and to confess it. 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:08.559 Psalm 32 verse 5 says, 00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:10.240 I acknowledged my sin to you. 00:20:10.660 --> 00:20:12.500 I did not cover my iniquity. 00:20:12.840 --> 00:20:16.600 I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.100 And confession simply means coming out of hiding. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.200 It means you stop covering up. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:26.019 It means you stop trying to compensate with all of your good deeds 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:27.220 and all of your good intentions. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:29.660 It means that you stop blame shifting. 00:20:30.819 --> 00:20:35.140 Confession means acknowledging that there is a target in life. 00:20:36.140 --> 00:20:39.220 That there is something that our lives should be aiming at. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:40.360 But we've missed the mark. 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:45.000 Confession means acknowledging that there is a path that we should be walking. 00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:47.960 There is a way of being human in this world 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:50.720 that reflects the heart of the God who made us. 00:20:50.860 --> 00:20:52.140 But we've gone off the path. 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:57.019 That we've gone off the path because we've rejected God 00:20:57.019 --> 00:21:00.240 and His way in our hearts. 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:02.360 And we've said, I want to live my way. 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:05.440 And I want to live my way in the world that God made. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:06.820 In the body that God made. 00:21:08.299 --> 00:21:14.120 What confession means is that we bear the full weight of responsibility 00:21:14.120 --> 00:21:16.580 for all of that on ourselves. 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:19.220 And we bring it to the Lord. 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:23.500 And we simply say to God, I have sinned against you. 00:21:24.380 --> 00:21:25.340 I've sinned. 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:28.140 Not I sinned, but He made me do it. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.740 Not I sinned, but my sin was not nearly as bad as their sin. 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:35.600 Not I sinned, but it was my upbringing. 00:21:35.780 --> 00:21:36.680 It was my parents' fault. 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:39.980 Not I sinned, but it's really society's fault. 00:21:40.520 --> 00:21:42.140 It's I sinned. 00:21:42.860 --> 00:21:44.080 And the fault is mine. 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:45.620 And mine alone. 00:21:45.619 --> 00:21:48.039 That's what it means to confess. 00:21:48.719 --> 00:21:52.959 And when we're confessing, we're confessing ultimately to the Lord. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.539 We're confessing to the Lord. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:22:01.059 Because all sin that we commit, even sins that we commit against other people, 00:22:01.479 --> 00:22:04.659 all sin is ultimately sin that we commit against God. 00:22:04.660 --> 00:22:07.480 Because we live in the world that God made. 00:22:08.259 --> 00:22:12.980 And we are people who only exist because God made us. 00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:16.580 And so any sin against anyone or anything in this world 00:22:16.580 --> 00:22:19.040 is ultimately a sin against the one who made it all. 00:22:19.700 --> 00:22:20.680 Who is God. 00:22:21.980 --> 00:22:25.080 So then the question arises, how can we possibly do this? 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:28.720 How can we possibly have the courage and the boldness 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:33.160 to stand before the God who made us and to confess sin like this, 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:37.840 knowing full well that when we do this, we deserve nothing but God's wrath? 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:41.080 How can we possibly do this? 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:44.360 The first verse of the psalm says, 00:22:44.820 --> 00:22:47.620 blessed, or actually a better translation would be happy. 00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:53.120 Happy is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:56.980 And you say, well, I thought you just said we shouldn't be covering our sin. 00:22:57.080 --> 00:23:00.200 But notice in verse 1, we're not the ones covering our sin. 00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:03.360 Verse 1 is talking about God covering our sin. 00:23:03.860 --> 00:23:08.039 What's fascinating is that in Romans chapter 4, Paul quotes this psalm. 00:23:08.120 --> 00:23:12.420 He says, blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 00:23:12.580 --> 00:23:15.720 And then Paul asks in Romans chapter 4, how is this possible? 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:19.400 How could God possibly cover the sins of his people? 00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:23.640 And then he gives the answer in Romans chapter 5, verses 8 and 9. 00:23:23.860 --> 00:23:31.259 He says, God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:36.940 Therefore, we have now been justified by his blood. 00:23:39.120 --> 00:23:40.620 How does God cover sin? 00:23:41.380 --> 00:23:42.940 With the blood of Jesus Christ. 00:23:42.940 --> 00:23:52.740 Ancient societies knew on some deep, instinctual level that the best way to deal with sin 00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:57.860 is to have someone from the community who can represent the community, 00:23:58.340 --> 00:24:01.559 have someone who can bear the sins of the community, 00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:08.160 and who can die on behalf of the community and put those sins to death as well. 00:24:08.299 --> 00:24:10.820 Societies knew that on some deep level. 00:24:10.819 --> 00:24:15.220 And I think even though we don't practice human sacrifice literally anymore, 00:24:15.220 --> 00:24:20.299 I think that we are still longing for that in some way, even in secular culture. 00:24:20.439 --> 00:24:28.039 I think every time we identify somebody in the public who we expose in terms of calling out their sin, 00:24:28.139 --> 00:24:31.500 every time we vilify somebody publicly, 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:36.460 I think part of why we do that and why people relish the opportunity to do that 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:40.099 is because when we do that, we feel a bit of vicarious relief. 00:24:40.099 --> 00:24:45.119 We feel for a moment the burden of our own sin lift, 00:24:45.859 --> 00:24:48.759 but only for a moment, and it's only ever temporary. 00:24:49.219 --> 00:24:53.740 And all of the sacrifices performed in all of the various religions around the world, 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:58.039 both ancient and modern, all of those sacrifices are only ever temporary 00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:01.339 because there's never been a sacrifice that can bear the weight of all the sin. 00:25:01.879 --> 00:25:07.679 There's never been a sacrifice that could be an innocent representative on behalf of a community, 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:09.140 not until Jesus Christ. 00:25:10.100 --> 00:25:13.840 And that's what makes Jesus Christ and the gospel utterly different. 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:16.980 Only Jesus Christ, because he is God, 00:25:17.840 --> 00:25:20.700 only Jesus Christ, because he is blameless, 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:27.560 only Jesus Christ can take all of the sin of the world on himself once and for all. 00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:31.319 Only Jesus Christ, as it says in the book of Hebrews, 00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:36.679 can become the one true sacrifice to end all sacrifices, 00:25:36.679 --> 00:25:39.740 to make all other sacrifices unnecessary. 00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:42.119 Only Jesus Christ can do that. 00:25:42.819 --> 00:25:45.500 And through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, 00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:52.079 God offers complete forgiveness for sins past, present, and future. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:57.000 So anyone who comes to God and confesses their sin in the way that we've just talked about 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:01.339 and puts their faith in the cross of Christ, 00:26:01.859 --> 00:26:06.119 anyone who comes to God on those terms immediately receives forgiveness 00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:09.220 and pardon for all sin in their life. 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:11.779 And God's forgiveness is absolute. 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:14.579 The sin is dealt with. 00:26:14.779 --> 00:26:16.059 The burden is lifted. 00:26:16.059 --> 00:26:19.019 And as Paul says later in Romans 8, verse 1, 00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:24.099 there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:26:26.899 --> 00:26:29.619 Now we're going to have to continue with this next week, 00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:31.819 with part two of this series, 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.259 as we look at what follows confession 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:38.299 and what true change looks like in the Christian life. 00:26:38.419 --> 00:26:42.919 But I just want to draw everything that we've just said together right now. 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:46.779 Now, the reality of sin is something that we cannot escape. 00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:50.140 We can stop talking about it. 00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:51.840 We can ignore it. 00:26:52.019 --> 00:26:54.000 But it's never going to go away. 00:26:54.860 --> 00:26:56.500 And on our own, 00:26:56.820 --> 00:27:00.820 the best that we can do to deal with the reality of sin is to cover it up, 00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:03.480 which doesn't ultimately work. 00:27:04.120 --> 00:27:07.820 And we're seeing one example of how that doesn't work 00:27:07.819 --> 00:27:13.319 as our society tries to wrestle with the individual and the corporate sin 00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:16.379 that we bear around issues of racial justice. 00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:18.799 We simply cannot cover this up. 00:27:18.919 --> 00:27:20.279 We cannot compensate. 00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:22.519 There's no amount of atonement. 00:27:22.679 --> 00:27:23.819 There's no amount of... 00:27:24.819 --> 00:27:27.279 There's no way that we can ever pay back 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:29.839 or make up for these sins that have been committed. 00:27:30.639 --> 00:27:34.200 And so as our secular culture tries to wrestle with this, 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:36.179 it's cracking under the weight of that sin. 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:40.700 So the invitation this morning is this. 00:27:41.620 --> 00:27:45.960 Jesus Christ loves you so much that while you are still a sinner, 00:27:46.580 --> 00:27:49.539 while you were still in active rebellion against him, 00:27:50.279 --> 00:27:54.960 he became the sacrificial representative for human sin. 00:27:55.360 --> 00:27:57.740 And he gave his life for you. 00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:00.259 And so the invitation is this. 00:28:00.460 --> 00:28:01.539 Come to Jesus Christ, 00:28:02.340 --> 00:28:03.420 confess your sin, 00:28:03.420 --> 00:28:06.000 and find freedom for your soul. 00:28:07.100 --> 00:28:07.860 Let's pray. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:10.680 Lord, we thank you for your word, 00:28:10.860 --> 00:28:12.180 and we thank you for the cross. 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:15.799 And we pray that as we begin to look at 00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:19.460 what a lifestyle of confession and repentance 00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:21.259 and true change look like, Lord, 00:28:21.460 --> 00:28:24.620 we pray that you would not just make this an intellectual exercise, 00:28:24.620 --> 00:28:27.740 but this would be a deep heart-level work 00:28:27.740 --> 00:28:30.080 that you're doing in us in the power of your Holy Spirit. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:31.119 And Lord, 00:28:31.179 --> 00:28:34.579 we pray this because we do desire to be healed and to be set free, 00:28:34.679 --> 00:28:37.279 and we desire that for our society as well, Lord. 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:39.119 We pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:39.839 Amen.