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Exodus 32:1, 7-14, I Timothy 1:12-17, Luke 15:1-10
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev'd W. Lee Shaw
This week saw the beginning of major holy days for our Jewish and Moslem brothers and sisters. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and marks 10 days of repentance in preparation for the high holy day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Ramadan begins a 30-day period of fasting and repentance in Islam. All three of the world's religions, which see Abraham as their spiritual father mark specific days of repentance and fasting for personal and spiritual growth. As Christians, we observe Lent each spring.
I mention this since today all three of our readings including our psalm point to the need for repentance and amendment of life. I don't think you could miss that theme this morning. Interestingly, in our reading from Exodus, it is God who changes his mind and decides he has made a bad decision about planning to destroy Israel. Here we have a type of divine repentance, divine role modeling.
There are few pieces of Scripture more moving than Psalm 51.
We read this entire Psalm on Ash Wednesday as we begin our own
period of fasting and repentance for Lent. It calls us to look
humbly and honestly at our relationship with God and dependence
on God's mercy and grace. Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Paul writes to Timothy of his own weaknesses and sins in stark
detail. You may remember that in Rite I, one of the sets of
comfortable words following the absolution comes from
this passage: This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be
received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
The compilers of the Prayer Book, however, left off the most powerful
statement of Paul's: ...of whom I am the foremost.
Paul's
honesty and humility are touchstones for us to remember and model.
But you notice Paul does not wallow in guilt, self-pity, remorse
or self- deprecation. He moves immediately to, But for that
very reason I received mercy...
We have much to learn about
our own sense of honesty in looking into our heart and soul and
then turning immediately to God in repentance and for renewal.
Paul teaches by word and by example the promise and the power of
God's grace and mercy.
Few Gospel stories are as well known as the parable of the lost sheep. The sense of vulnerability of the lost sheep, the shepherd's complete commitment to finding this lost one and of restoring him—or her—to the sheep fold is powerfully stated. How many depictions have you seen of Jesus with a single lamb over his shoulder carrying the lost lamb back home?
And then there is the very energetic housewife who cleans and cleans
until her lost coin is found. (House cleaning does not seem to
find itself as often on church stained glass windows as lost lambs.)
These parables end with such a note of hope and promise from Jesus,
...there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents.
What a wonderful image of the celestial
joy our repentance brings to the angels of heaven when we repent,
when we experience metanoia: the turning around, the change of
direction, repentance/conversion.
But now, what about those most personal and intimate aspects of our inner life, those things we do not often share with even those closest to us. What of those things so close, that we are even hesitate to name them for ourselves, if we even can name them at all?
Now, I really wish I was a mind reader just to have a sense of where all of your imaginations are going right now! But I can tell you out right that it is none of what you are thinking about!
Rather, I am speaking of those pieces of the inner you that have been lost. As the woman lost a coin, what are the pieces of you that you have lost over time, which once were an important part of who you were and which now is missing.
These stories of repentance do not only deal with those things
done and left undone,
but also point to those pieces of each
of us that we have let slip away and lost and thus we are now the
poorer because of it.
Such as: maybe a deeper connection with those around you and dear to you; regularly reading a good book (or the Good Book); a feeling of hope and anticipation each morning with a grateful heart each evening; making a regular offering to the church and charities; re-discovering a past hobby or passion that once really excited or fed you; a more active—or even present—daily prayer life; a more generous spirit in our views of others who may differ from us; a more playful approach to daily life (more laughter every day!); reconnecting with a friend you have lost track of after too many years; reclaiming the dreams you had for your future life—even now for today and beyond. There are more, there is always more, and you know better than anyone else what they are for you.
I invite you to take some time, as did the energetic housewife, and do some inner sweeping and moving of inner furniture to find what has been lost in your life, to find what you may have forgotten about that once was a rich and important piece of who you were. Seek it. Search for it. Claim it again for you.
Do so knowing that God will be with you just as Jesus was with
that lost sheep. You are not alone in your search for what
has been lost within you. We heard clearly in the Psalm today,
For behold, you look for truth deep within me, and will make me
understand wisdom secretly."