The Sorrow That Leads to Freedom

Psalm 51:1-17
(shared with the people of Friendship Church, February 9, 2005)

I read a story earlier today about Frederick the Great. He was a king of Prussia, the nation that formed the core of what later became Germany, back in the eighteenth century. The story, which may or may not be true, says that Frederick was inspecting a prison in Berlin. Most of the prisoners, as prisoners usually will do, told him that they were innocent and begged to be released.

One man though, was silent. Frederick asked the man what crime he had been accused of and if he was guilty of it. "Yes, your majesty," the prisoner replied, "I deserve my punishment."

Frederick called for the warden and ordered the immediate release of that man. "I will not have him kept in prison," he said, "where he will corrupt all of its innocent occupants." You and I can only be free from our prisons when we confess that we too are guilt and deserve our punishment.

Ash Wednesday, which today begins the season of spiritual renewal called Lent, is an artificial holiday, just as Lent is an artificial season. God didn’t invent either of them; human beings did. There’s nothing saying that we have to mark them. But they can be helpful to us.

Ash Wednesday in particular, is a day devoted to repentance. When we repent, we confess our sin and own up to our lack of innocence to God so that we can be freed from the prisons of sin and death.

These days, I’ve read, insurance companies are offering counseling to doctors on how to apologize to patients they may have mistreated. (Can you imagine a class on How to Apologize?) Apology is seen as a good strategy for avoiding malpractice law suits. And evidently, there are statistics to back that up. But the questions I have are these: Do the doctors who've been schooled in apologizing mean it when they say they're sorry? Do they truly regret their actions? And most important of all: Are they intent on doing differently in the future?

I'm not picking on doctors. The fact is that God asks similar questions when it comes to our repentance. In the psalm that ancient King David wrote after he had committed both adultery and murder, which we read at the beginning of our worship, he tells God, "Sincerity and truth are what You require..." Then he implores God, "Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me."

David doesn’t just want off the hook. He’s asking God to help him to avoid ever getting hooked by sin again. And in this very request, David demonstrates that his heart and spirit already have been made new.

You see, in the Bible, talk about the heart and the spirit of a person usually has little to do with emotions. The heart of a person is the seat of their will. Genuine repentance, telling God that we are sorry and meaning it, isn’t measured by the fervor with which we pray. God can spot a phony. Genuine repentance happens when we ask God to make war on our selfish wills and to conform them to His will.

Jesus has done everything necessary for us to be reconciled with God, to have our sins forgiven, and to live with God forever. They are free gifts granted to those who believe in Jesus.

But just because they’re free doesn’t mean they come cheap.

The only person who grabs these free gifts are those willing to let go of their sin.

One of my brother’s and sister-in-law's neighbors is a homosexual. In his mind, that’s his orientation, although he has renounced the homosexual life style. He’s living celibately. That’s because he’s also a Christian. He knows that God’s Word forbids the practice of homosexuality. He may not understand that, but he accepts it because he would rather be right with God than follow his own selfish impulses. That is what repentance looks like.

The Christian life is not easy. Each day, God asks us to forgo our selfish impulses, whatever they may be, and to ask God to graciously make His will, our will. We do that for a simple reason, one that we sometimes sing about here at Friendship, paraphrasing a Bible passage: One day with God is better than thousands elsewhere. (Psalm 84:10)

In repentance, tell God that you want this to be that one day. Then, tell Him the same thing again tomorrow. Let God’s will infect your will and you will be free forever!

[The story of Frederick the Great as well as the information on insurance companies counseling doctors on how to apologize come from www.homileticsonline.com.

[The quotation citing Psalm 51 is taken from the Good News Bible, Today's English Version .]