Word of Salvation – Vol.42 No.29 – August 1997

 

Our Shame Taken

 

Sermon by Rev W J Van Schie on John 19:23-24

Scripture Readings: Gen 2:15-25; John 19:16b-24;

Suggested Hymns:

BoW 32:1-3; 186

 

Dear Congregation,

INTRODUCTION

There is a story of Johnny and his friend walking down the road going home from school.  They decided this day to go a different way home.  They came past this high wall and it intrigued them.  They wanted to know what was on the other side.  They could just spell out the letters that were there, the sign sort of said, “NU.D.I.S.T COL…, but they couldn’t work out the rest of the letters.  It was a nudist colony and they didn’t realise what it was.

Johnny said to his mate, “Let’s have a look over the wall and see what’s there.”  So Johnny lifted his mate up and he looks over the wall and he sees all these people.  Johnny asked him, “What do you see?”  He said, “There are people everywhere!”  “What are they doing,” Johnny asked.  “They’re laying around in the sun, they are doing gardening and relaxing.”  “What are they,” Johnny asked, “men or women?”  His mate answered, “I don’t know, they don’t have any clothes on!”  Such simple innocence!

I.  SHAME-FREE CORRUPTED

SHAME-FREE CREATED

Did you know that there was a time in the human race when people didn’t know what nakedness was?  In Genesis 2 we read, “The man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame.”  Adam and Eve were naked!  They lived naked, they walked and talked naked, they worked naked; there was no problem with nakedness at all.  There was no shame, no feelings of awkwardness or discomfort.

You see Adam and Eve lived in the beautiful relationship with God.  A very open and exposed relationship with God.  Their minds were clean and were in tune with God.  There was a deep love and care coming to them from God and as they experienced that, they in their relationship with one another could be wide open, they could be vulnerable, they could live, walk, and talk naked because there was no corruption at all.  Such was the openness between Adam and Eve.

SHAME-FREE LOST

But then one day God comes for his evening visit and he calls on Adam.  Adam is hiding in the bushes.  Adam says, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid.  I was naked so I hid.”  Something had changed.  Shame had entered into the garden.  They had become aware of their nakedness, they now saw the nakedness in one another and they needed to hide this nakedness from one another and from God.

You see, because Adam and Eve broke their relationship with God, the source of all pure light, their minds became corrupted, their desires became self-centred and their motives were no longer pure.

So they became vulnerable to each other’s wrong thoughts and corrupted desires.  They became ashamed of their wrong thoughts and desires.  They needed to hide their shame; they needed to hide their evil desires and wrong thoughts.  They needed to cover up their shame.  When God came on his visit they also had to hide their shame from Him.

You see, friends, this is more than physical awareness and nakedness.  What happened to Adam and Eve was a great inner change.  It is more than just a loss of innocence that children go through.  There is an inner vulnerability that they now both have.  There is now an inner change as a result of a wrong way of thinking and wrong desires.  There is an embarrassment that needs to be covered up.

II.  SHAME COVER UPS

SHAME COVER UPS IN SOCIETY

And you know what?  Mankind has been covering up shame ever since.  Have you ever asked why people spend so much time in buying the right kinds of clothes?  Why people spend so much time on their looks and hair do’s?  Why?  Because we know deep inside that if people saw us as we see ourselves, they wouldn’t really like us.  We know deep down inside there is something wrong with us.  Something we are ashamed of and we need to physically cover our shame.

Again this is not just physical.  Why is it that people keep themselves at a distance from other people?  Why is it that we always have to present our best face?  Why is it that people build up walls around themselves and keep within themselves?  Many have said that “If you really knew me deep inside, if some of my past came out, you wouldn’t like me.  I feel ashamed of myself and I have to put this wall up so you don’t see that shame!”

Why is it that people say “I don’t believe in God, I don’t want to believe in God, I want very little to do with God.  God doesn’t exist!”  That people brush God away so quickly?  Could it be that they don’t want to deal with their shame, inside?

Why is it that 90 percent of people in Australia believe in God but have nothing to do with Him because the church is full of hypocrites.  My wife and I on our trip around Australia found so many people who would not go to church to worship God because of the in-fighting of the people in the church.  They rejected God because they are disillusioned with the church.  Let’s face it, if we are honest, there can be a lot to be disillusioned about.

But, could it be that they are also using other’s failings as excuses to cover their own inadequacies, to avoid dealing with their own sense of failure before God, to avoid dealing with their own sense of shame by pointing the finger at other’s failures?

SHAME COVER UPS IN CHURCH

We don’t find this covering up of shame only outside the church, we also find it inside the church!  Time and time again ministers and elders come across people who have done something in their youth, done something in the war years or have a broken relationship within their family or they have misused their gift of sexuality, they have done something that they are really ashamed about.

They have dealt with it by wrapping it up in a nice little box and putting it in their past.  “That’s in that year, and I just don’t think about that year anymore.  I will just put it out of my mind.  I will forget about what went wrong with me and my father, all that went wrong with me and my relationship, all that went wrong there in my past.  I will just wrap it up in a box and put a lid on it nice and tight, and I won’t think about it.  I will cover up my shame by ignoring it”.

But that’s like a poison inside us that poisons us with bitterness.  It poisons us with anger, it poisons us with lots of things.  We try to put a lid on it, but we can’t.  How many of us cover up our shame by ignoring it?

Then there are other people who cover up their shame by blaming others for failures in their life.  You know that business deal that went wrong, that’s his fault!”  “My kids went wrong, that’s the teacher’s or the youth leader’s fault!”  “This went wrong in my life and that’s my parents fault!”  They blame everything on everybody else, but really that blaming is just a cover up.  It’s a cover for an inner sense of failure and shame.

And yet there are others who deny they have anything to be ashamed of.  “I’m an upstanding Christian, I keep to the standards of the church and the life I’m supposed to live.  I don’t feel any shame.  I have nothing to be ashamed of.”  That might be true according to the standards you have put on yourself.  It may be true to the standards of the church even.  But what about God’s standards?  Do you know what God says in Psalm 4?

“How long, O men, will you turn my glory to shame?
 How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?”

If we think we have nothing to be ashamed of, then we are deluding ourselves, God says.  If we have nothing to be ashamed of, then we are worshiping other gods.  If we saw ourselves according to God’s standards there is reason for a lot of shame in our lives.

Well, what can we do with our shame, our sense of failure?  Is there no way out?  Yes, there is a way out from our shame, and God has provided it.

III.  SHAME-FREE GIVEN

OUR SHAME TAKEN BY JESUS

I would like you to close your eyes and just imagine a picture of Jesus on the cross.  Just close your eyes and imagine Jesus on the cross!  What do you see?  Do you see Jesus’ arms outstretched, and his legs straight down nailed to a cross?  Do you see the crown of thorns on his head?  Do you see a loin cloth over him falling between the legs?  When you look at children’s Bibles this is the picture that we see.  This is the picture that many have in their minds.

But this is not an accurate picture of Jesus on the cross.  Jesus did not wear a loin cloth!  Jesus hung naked on the cross!  John 19:23 tells us they took his clothes away, even his undergarment.  He was naked on the cross!  Naked shame and humiliation was part of the normal Roman execution.

We read in Psalm 22:16-18,

“…a band of evil men have encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.  I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.  They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

It was prophesied years before that the Messiah was going to die in this shameful, humiliating way.  It was God’s plan that His Son would die this way.

Friends, this is striking!  Jesus who lived in a perfect relationship with the Father, who didn’t have a corrupt thought, an evil desire of any sort; Jesus who had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, dies the most humiliating, shameful death, naked and exposed for others to “gloat over.”  Why did he do that?  Why?  Because He was taking our place, stepping into our shoes.

You see, one day, you and I are all going to appear before God’s judgment seat and we are going to be judged.  All that we have done in our lives, all that we have thought, every word that we have said, it will all be exposed!  Talk about feeling naked, being exposed and feeling vulnerable!

SHAME-FREE GIVEN BY JESUS

But you know what?  Those who know Jesus as Saviour and Lord, they will not feel any shame.  Why not?  Because Jesus on the cross took their shame for them.  He was dying that terrible moment for them!  He was dying that terrible moment of shame before God’s judgment for them.  Look at Jesus naked on the cross, in terrible humiliating shame, taking your shame upon himself so that you today can be shame free.

This is the good news!  Whatever you are ashamed of today He has taken it away to the cross and experienced it.  This means that now, even now, you are shame free!  You can come before God without any shame!  Whatever you have done in your past, whatever you have done that is affecting you in the present, it has been dealt with.

If you feel ashamed about anything, and you know Jesus as Saviour, you don’t need to feel ashamed anymore, because Jesus took that shame on the cross for you.

How can you be sure your shame is completely gone?  As surely as Jesus hung naked on the cross, that’s how sure you can be.  As sure as your faith in Christ, as Saviour!

IV.  SHAME-FREE SIGNIFICANCE

SHAME-FREE STATUS

Some years ago a young girl shared with me that to come into church on Sunday morning was a horrific experience.  Every time she came to church on Sunday she would see all the people of the congregation dressed up nice, neat and clean and she would see them and say, “I’m not worthy to be amongst them.  I’m the least of all of them”.  And she would literally, she said, creep into the back area of the church and hide because she felt so inferior and so inadequate.

I wonder how many people there are here today who feel inferior.  Saying “I’m the least of all the Christians here, I’ve got so many hang-ups.  I’ve got so much from my past.  I’ve got so much strife within my personality.  I’m not educated!  I’m so limited!  Others are much better Christians than I am.  I feel so inferior, so ashamed to be in the company of other people in this church”.

Well, someone told this girl that it’s OK, we are all sinners, we all feel ashamed and this is what makes us all equal.  But do you know what she said to me?  She said, “When I heard that, that didn’t give me any comfort because I knew what I was like on the inside.  I knew that I was worse than the others and if they knew me as I know me then they would feel the same.”

Do you know what the Lord tells us?  In Isaiah 54:4-5 he says,

“Do not be afraid, you will not suffer shame.  Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.  You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.  For your Maker is your husband – the Lord Almighty is his name – the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, he is called the God of all the earth.”

The common denominator between us as Christians is not that we are all sinners.  The common denominator between us as Christians is that we are forgiven, shame free!  Jesus took our shame on the cross and we don’t have anything to be ashamed of anymore!

When we sin again we can come to the Lord, confess it, and that shame is gone again.  We are shame free because Jesus experienced our shame for us.

SHAME-FREE FELLOWSHIP

And you know what?  This has great implications for the way we live today.  This means that you and I can relate openly to one another.  As 1 John 1:7 says,

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

This means that you and I don’t have to keep competing with one another, trying to keep our noses in front of each other.  We don’t have to keep up with the Joneses anymore.  We don’t have to worry about someone else getting a bit more recognition than us.  We don’t have to live up to other peoples’ expectations.  We don’t have to pretend to be better than others.  We can take off our masks!  We can get real with one another because we are real with God.  Our shame has been dealt with by Jesus.  We can be open; we can be honest with one another because we are all shame free.

SHAME FREE SERVICE

It also means that you and I can serve the Lord shame free.  You and I are called to use our gifts for the Lord in His service.  To witness for Him where he has placed us.  With that neighbour, that work mate.  He has called us to use the spiritual gifts he has given to us.

But, isn’t it true that Satan whispers in our ear and tells us, “Listen, you witnessing?  You in a ministry?  You with your past, your limitations?  Come on, get serious, who do you think you are?”  Satan laughs because he makes us feel ashamed of our little-ness and our weakness.  It then is so tempting to give up before we even try.

But God says to us, “I have taken that shame away and instead I’ve poured into your life, into your heart, all sorts of gifts.”  Listen to what He says in Isaiah 61:6-7,

“And you will be called priests of the Lord; you will be named ministers of our God…  Instead of their shame my people receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.”

God has poured out abundant gifts in our lives and in our personalities.  Instead of cringing in shame He is going to free us up to be used by Him in service.

What is your gift, or gifts that God has given you?  All Christians have received spiritual gifts from God.  Maybe your gifts are preaching, teaching or administration or leading, you know, the upfront gifts.  Or maybe your gifts are works of service, encouragement, prayer, working behind the scenes that people don’t see.  All these gifts are equally important and God says to you today “I’ve freed you from your shame, and freed you to relate to one another, and I’ve freed you to serve me with the gifts I’ve given you.”

CONCLUSION

Congregation, just think quietly for a few minutes.  Is there something in your life of which you are still ashamed?  Something you still cover up?  Maybe a shame you have been carrying for too long?  Do you have something in your life, something from way back in your past that you are still ashamed of?

Maybe you have something more recent, something you have done wrong, something that has hurt another.  Maybe you are ashamed that you are not the person the Lord wants you to be, that your relationship with him is not as close as it could be and your service of Him has not been as faithful as it could be.  And this shame is crippling you in your relationship with God.  It is crippling you in your relationship with others.

Well, the Lord invites you today to stop hiding it, stop covering it up, stop pretending to be something you are not.  He challenges you to acknowledge your shame first of all to yourself!  Then, He challenges you to bring it before the Lord and give it to the Lord.  Not just in a general way with a general label, but put a specific name and a specific label on your shame.  Then the Lord promises you that today he will deal with it.

Today Jesus has taken your shame and nailed it to the cross.  Then the Lord says to you, “Claim the promise I make in Romans 10:10-11”,

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Friends, we have a God who offers us freedom from shame, a Son who took our shame on the cross.

We have a God who offers as freedom to relate to one another openly and shame-free.

We have a God who offers us a shame-free ministry, a mission that is useful and a purpose in life that has eternal consequences.

Let’s claim the promise of God that He has dealt with our shame in Jesus

Amen.