Ashamed and Alone

We are all familiar with two powerful emotions – guilt and shame. Guilt serves us well when we do wrong because it motivates us to seek change, to make things right. Shame, on the other hand, is generally a terribly destructive emotion that causes us to hide, to feel worthless. It can become a root cause of all kinds of self-destructive behaviors. Guilt says, “I did something wrong.” Shame says “There is something wrong with me.”

After the glorious story of God and Creation, Genesis shifts to failure, doubt, and disobedience. In a few lines, the inspired text provides deep insight for us about the human condition when sin comes to us.  "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” (Genesis 3:7-10, NIV)

Adam and Eve, who enjoyed the love of their Creator and one another, who were innocent, made a choice to disobey and, in that moment, suddenly became vulnerable, self-aware, and guilty. Guilt morphed into shame and tragedy overtook them – ‘they hid from the Lord.’ The One with Whom they knew sweet fellowship became a fearful Presence to them. In language rich with symbolism, we are told that they ‘sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.’  Their relationship, once open, is now complicated by covering. But, God is there!

This story lays the groundwork for the redemptive story that is revealed in the rest of the Bible. God does not abandon us to our shame, leaving us to struggle alone with our shame while we desperately try to keep all our fig leaves in place. He pursues us, loves us, and offers restoration of the life that sin stole from us. We devise all manner of mechanisms to try to regain what we know is lost - hard work, achievement, fancier ‘fig leaves,’ status, religiosity – to name a few.  Some of us just collapse under the weight of our sense of ‘wrongness’ and develop behaviors like addictions and compulsions in a downward spiral.  

The answer to our guilt is not shame, it is salvation!  He holds out the offer of reconciliation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ and invites us to accept what we cannot find anywhere else. Paul’s words are compelling.  In this world, where the sinful nature makes failure inevitable, there is this promise of healing.  "We all did … what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!" (Ephesians 2:3-8, The Message)

Are you living ashamed and alone?  

You can attempt to excuse yourself or explain away that which creates guilt. You can retreat into shame’s isolation but your conscience will not be easily stilled. Take your guilt to Him. Don’t hide! Prayerfully, in a quiet place, let the Spirit find you and open up to Him, with honest confession – about your confusion, about your guilt, about that shame that makes you feel so worthless. Then, by faith, accept the grace that makes you new and whole! Discard the ‘fig leaves’ and put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness (right standing with God) that He gives to us, freely in Christ Jesus.

Here is a word from the Word. May it be living truth and reason to be ashamed and alone no more. "Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness—righteous, holy, and true." (Ephesians 4:21-24, NLT)  “Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. … So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you.” The Message (Col 3:10-12)

________

No Longer Slaves

(worship at this link)

You unravel me with a melody

You surround me with a song

Of deliverance from my enemies

Till all my fears are gone

I'm no longer a slave to fear

I am a child of God

I'm no longer a slave to fear

I am a child of God

From my Mother's womb

You have chosen me

Love has called my name

I've been born again into Your family

Your blood flows through my veins

You split the sea so I could walk right through it

My fears were drowned in perfect love

You rescued me so I could stand and sing

I am a child of God

Brian Johnson | Joel Case | Jonathan David Helser

© 2014 Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

He Lies!

We all deal with those sales calls that plague us. Most of us hang up, but on occasion I engage the person who is doing the call. I find it fascinating to observe how the best of them will they bait their hook and then manipulate words to attempt to draw me into some scheme to relieve me of my money. Then, too, who has not had the unfortunate experience of a sales experience with a person that is willing to say anything to close the deal?  Even more tragic are those occasions where someone is sweet-talked into a relationship with another who they discover, too late, is just a beautiful liar.

In Genesis 3, where the story of sin is tragically unfolded for us, we meet a Beautiful Liar who twists the words of the Lord and invites humanity to the ‘delights’ of disobedience. When he came to Eve, he suggested that God was keeping the best from her, that she should exercise her will, choose to disobey and seek an alternate way to be full!  His very first tactic was to introduce doubt – “Did God really say… “?  When Eve clarified the directive of the Lord, he lied again - “You won’t die! … God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves." (Genesis 3:4-7, NLT)  I want to scream- ‘He lies!’ as I read that, until I remember that he is still doing it. The Genesis story of sin is repeated millions of times every day when people decide to ignore God and do their own thing.

Are you listening to the seductions of the serpent? 

Is he suggesting that your emptiness can be filled with another car, a new house, a new pair of shoes?

Is he pointing out a ‘short cut’ to success if only you are willing to sell your integrity or compromise your convictions?

Is he tempting you with comparison of your marriage to another, inviting you to go ahead and love another so you will feel less alone, more alive?  

HE LIES!

Luke tells of Jesus’ encounter with the Devil.  In the wilds of Judea, He was fasting, praying, alone.  There "the Devil tempted him for forty days. He ate nothing all that time and was very hungry. Then the Devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, change this stone into a loaf of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People need more than bread for their life.’ ” (Luke 4:2-4, NLT)  Jesus met the lie with Truth! He quoted Moses who urged the people of the Lord to remember their experience of God’s full provision. "He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." (Deuteronomy 8:3, NIV)   Each lie Satan told Jesus that awful day was met with the Truth of the Word.

One day when some people were asking about following Him, Jesus told them this: “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, NLT)  Truth is sometimes hard but always liberating.

Meditate on the Word. Take it into your heart, your mind and let the Spirit use it to shape what you believe about God, about the world in which you live, about yourself – and the Truth will set you free.

Need a place to start? Here are some facts about you, declarations of your Father.

            You are more than a conqueror. (Romans 8:37)

            You are the apple of God's eye. (Psalm 17:8)

            You are a joint heir with Christ of eternal glory. (Romans 8:17)

            You are a beloved child of God. (1 John 3:1)

Here’s the word from the Word.
"How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart (banked the Truth!)

that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119:8-11, NIV)

________________

Build My Life

(a favorite new song of mine, a commitment to His call)

Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

Jesus the name above ev’ry other name

Jesus the only one who could ever save

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

We live for You

Holy there is no one like You

There is none besides You

Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Elizabeth Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett

© 2016 Martin, Karl Andrew (Admin. by Arkyard Music Services Limited)

Kaple Music (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

Loving

God brought Bev and me together, taught us about love, and gave us 42 years before taking her home. Was our marriage heaven on earth? No. We had our fair share of disappointments and difference. But, we were instructed by the Word, led by the Spirit, and found grace to become the best of friends and inseparable partners. Contemporary American culture is confused in many areas but none more than understanding what God intends in the establishment of marriage.

Sin has so marred our grasp of love that it is next to impossible for us to accept what God says about forming a life-long partnership with another. We have entangled lust with love. Sexuality has become a kind of god and, in that disordered place, skews our sense of identity.

Here are the first words in the Word about this. "But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." (Genesis 2:20 NIV)

We need to read those words with Spirit-opened eyes. The truth here is about man and woman before sin messed it all up, before power became an issue, before exploitation was a factor. And, it is beautiful!

From inspired Word we learn that marriage is a natural and desirable state. (Just to be clear, no one is less because they are single! If that is the choice and/or calling of an individual, we should honor that decision.) There are so many who refuse marriage or enter into it with all kinds of clauses and reservations because they do not understand that kind of selfless love, inspired by God, that makes a true marriage. Eve was the creation of God to be Adam’s complement.  (And, he was hers.)  Marriage is not just about legalizing sex or making children.  It is a state where the individual can find a completely new way of being;  the ‘me’ eclipsed by the ‘we.’

Adam’s delight in Eve is obvious. To cheapen his response to her, as is often done, as merely a leering, lustful thing is a terrible abuse of the text. He saw, in her, the same essence, the ‘bone of my bone,’ that would allow a whole new kind of existence for both of them.  They would be ‘one flesh.’  Does that allude to the sexual union? It does, and so much more. God created the possibility of man and woman joining together in a new way that redefines both of them.  It is the essence of holy marriage and increasingly rare in our culture where we defend our individuality so strenuously, where we fear surrender of ourselves to another so much as to make true marriage of mutual benefit just about impossible.

I love that phrase “they felt no shame.”  There was no concealing of themselves, no reluctance to share every part of themselves.

There is a great need in our time to recover a sound understanding of sacred marriage. God does not just invite us to form a contract with another. He invites us to become one in covenant before Him. It is not a ‘law’ thing, it is a love matter, shaped by the example of His love for us. Paul is explicit about that in the 5^th chapter of his letter to the Ephesians where he weaves the narrative of the relationship of husband and wife around the sacrificial love of Jesus for His Bride, the Church.

• Do you love your spouse in a God-honoring way?
• Is Christ invited to teach you about entering into a selfless love that serves?
• Do you protect that relationship with prayer, seeking the enablement of the Spirit to become a true ‘one flesh’ couple?

Marriage can be hell on earth when it is about being first, about protecting our individual rights.  It can be the most enriching experience where there is a mutual love of Jesus, where growing is ongoing, where the love of Christ teaches love for each other.  God teach us of holy matrimony, allowing us to model the kind of intimacy and love that reveals You in us. Amen.

Here is a word from the Word. "My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality." (1 John 3:18-19, The Message)

The Sacred Trust

 

 

Our Heavenly Father teaches us of the sacred trust of life, too. From the opening page of the revelation of Holy Scripture, we learn that He made us, not just to gather a few crumbs to eat, not just to propagate our DNA in an instinctive drive for survival, but rather to live for Him, which is a noble purpose! "Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:26-27, NIV)  What is He saying?

Some take that paragraph and turn it into a reason to exploit the earth and all living things. “After all,” they say, “God put us at the top of the pile, didn’t He?” It is true that humanity is distinct from the rest of Creation. In the story that the Spirit tells in Genesis, He "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7, NIV) He made us eternal, like He is! Our dusty bodies are decaying and eventually will return to the elements, but that ‘breath of life’ that gives us ‘soul’ lives on. However, that distinction of being, and that offer to ‘rule,’ does not give us unrestricted rights to selfishly use up our earth’s resources. Why? Because our life and place in His Creation order is a sacred trust!

Rachel Held Evans is eloquent about this.  “But to be “created in the image of God” carries significant leadership implications as well. In the ancient Near Eastern world, kings were considered divine image-bearers, appointed representatives of God on earth. Kings would often place images of themselves, usually statues, in distant parts of their kingdoms to remind their subjects of their sovereignty over the land. So for man and woman to be God’s image-bearers in this context, means that God has entrusted both men and women with ruling the world on God’s behalf.  “Let us make humankind in our image,” God says, “according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish,...birds, cattle,...all the wild animals...every creeping thing.” 

We ‘rule’ in the sense that we bring His kingdom of Light and Love to the places where we work, play, serve, and worship. We push back the darkness of hatred. We work to build relationships. Our lives reveal Eternity to those who live just to serve their appetites. Yes, we are ‘more than conquerors’ through Christ, bearers of the image of our Creator.

Think about that deeply this morning.  You might be tempted to say, “Oh, Pastor Jerry, that’s just philosophy that does not really concern me.” Ah, but it does.  All of Scripture is given for our instruction, to make us wise, to point us to the best life. These words in the opening book of the Bible are more than a simple story and certainly beyond mere myth. They are there to shape our understanding and identity, so that we will live for His glory and enjoy the richest kind of life possible.

Live this day, make each choice, as the image-bearer of your Heavenly Father. Reflect His Presence into the world in which you live. Live in the sacred trust.

Here is a word from the Word. "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life." (Philippians 2:12-16, NIV)

________

Lord Reign In Me

Over all the earth You reign on high

Every mountain stream every sunset sky

But my one request Lord my only aim

Is that You'd reign in me again

Lord reign in me reign in Your pow'r

Over all my dreams in my darkest hour

You are the Lord of all I am

So won't You reign in me again

Over every thought over every word

May my life reflect the beauty of my Lord

'Cause You mean more to me

Than any earthly thing

So won't You reign in me again

Brenton Brown

© 1998 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire) (Vineyard Music UK)

CCLI License # 810055

Even in my 6^th decade of life, a full 10 years after my father’s voice was stilled by death, I feel the weight of his words that laid a sense of family, legacy, and responsibility on me from my earliest years. He instilled the truth in me that life is a sacred trust. He taught me that I am connected to ancestors past and generations future therefore, every choice, each act, should be considered the light of how it uses the investment of those who went before and how it prepares for those coming after for life.