Ash
Wednesday 2016 (February 10, 2016)
“Our ‘I Am’:
I Am a Poor Miserable Sinner” (Psalm 51)
Our sermon series for Lent this year is entitled, “The
I AMs of Jesus.” Throughout the Gospel
of John, there are seven declarations where Jesus says “I AM.” For example, Jesus says “I am the door” … “I
am the light of the world” … “I am the Good Shepherd” … and others. We’ll talk more about this next week when we
hear our first message about one of Jesus “I AM” statements.
But before we go any farther, it’s appropriate for
Ash Wednesday to go in a different direction.
At the beginning of Lent, we need to start with a different “I am”
declaration. One that starts with us. Before we can hear any of the I AM statements
of Jesus, before hear them in faith and learn from them, we need to consider an
“I Am” declaration of our own … one we all need to make …
“I am a poor miserable sinner.”
Those words are taken from the
confession of sins in Setting Three of the Divine Service. There at the beginning of the service, we
acknowledge our unworthiness to be in God’s presence and say: “I, a poor, miserable
sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever
offended you and justly deserved your temporal and eternal punishment.”
There was a time when what we now know as Setting
Three was the only setting of the Divine Service we had in our hymnals. We said those words of confession more often
than we do now. I can still say them by
heart. I grew up in church saying these
words practically every Sunday, except when we used Matins.
I also used to be confused when we got to the part
that says “I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them.” In my youthful naiveté, I thought that we were
talking about someone else who was a sinner.
“I am heartily sorry for THEM and sincerely repent of THEM!”
Back to “I, a poor, miserable sinner.” People are often confused by these
words. More likely, they are offended by
these words. “I am NOT a poor, miserable
sinner!” they insist. “You Lutherans are
awful! Why would you make someone say
something like that! Church should be a
place where you go to feel good, not be told how rotten you are!”
Here’s the thing.
The Bible makes it clear that “all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And sin is
not simply making mistakes or having simple shortcomings.
It is rebellion against God. It
is a hereditary condition, but one for which we cannot blame our fathers or
mothers. David wrote Psalm 51 after he
was confronted with his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and his murderous plan
to get her husband Uriah out of the way.
“I was brought forth in iniquity” … wickedness … “and in sin did my
mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:5). Here he
acknowledges his sinful condition that led to his sinful actions. But he refuses to pass the blame onto his
parents. “For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me,” David says (Ps. 51:3). And then this: “Against you, you only, have I
sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Ps. 51:4). Ultimately, no matter what we have done to
hurt others, offend others, sin against others … in the end it is an offense
and rebellion against God and his will and his ways.
And this may indeed make us miserable. “My sin is ever before me.” You can’t get it out of your head. It haunts you. It eats at you. It keeps you awake at night. It’s like Psalm 32, where David describes the
results of unconfessed sin. He says, “when
I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long … day and
night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of
summer” (Ps. 32:3-4). Sometimes sin
results in more than psychological effects.
Think of those who have become addicted to drugs or alcohol. Think of those whose families have been
destroyed because of infidelity. Think
of those who end up in jail or prison because of their sinful choices. Sin may at first be enjoyable, but in the end
it makes us miserable … wretchedly unhappy.
But this is
not what miserable means in the words of the confession. Here the word miserable is related to the
Latin version of Psalm 51:1 … “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your
steadfast love; according to your
abundant mercy blot out my transgressions” (Ps. 51:1). The Latin of Psalm 51:1 uses forms of the
word miserari several times. It means “to pity.” The original Hebrew uses several different words
here that mean “to show favor” or “to have compassion.” And why does God do this? Because of his “steadfast love” and “abundant
mercy.” Here, the Hebrew words mean “grace,
goodness, faithfulness,” and “love, sympathy, or compassion.” I’m not a big fan of the old King James
Version because it has so many words that people just don’t understand
anymore, but I do love its translation here: “according to the multitude of your
tender mercies.” That’s such a wonderful
description of God’s love for us sinners.
So, to admit you are miserable is
not to admit you are a worm, not to consider yourself a despicable person. It’s simply to admit that because of your
sinful condition, you are desperately in need of mercy, compassion, God’s grace. You may not feel very miserable. In fact, you may feel quite comfortable with
your life at the moment. Nevertheless,
believe what God’s Word says about you.
Confess it. “I am a poor,
miserable sinner.” Although you deserve
his wrath, you desire his compassion.
“I, a poor, miserable sinner.” You are not a worm, but Jesus became a “worm”
for you when he was crucified, cursed with the sin of the world, and suffered
an agonizing death for you. In fact, Psalm
22:6 puts these words in the mouth of the Suffering Servant as he hung upon the
cross: “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the
people” (Ps. 22:6). We pray this psalm
at the end of every Maundy Thursday service as the altar is stripped as a
reminder how Jesus was stripped bare and given over into the hands of his
executioners. We pray the words that
Jesus prayed, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1).
But remember … Jesus was no helpless victim. He was a willing participant. He could have put a stop to all of it in a
split second. During his earthly
ministry, he told the wind and the waves to “Be silent!” He told unclean spirits to “Be quiet!” At his arrest, he said, “Do you think that I
cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send more than twelve legions
of angels? … But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might
be fulfilled” (Matt. 26:53, 56). And in
John 10, Jesus said, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my
own accord” (Jn. 10:18).
Forgiveness is not free. There is a price to be paid. There has to be justice. Jesus endured God’s justice over the sins of
the world. He suffered God’s wrath so
that you and I can have God’s favor, grace, mercy, pity, compassion. Jesus became poor and miserable for us so
that you and I would have the riches of heaven and the tender mercies of God
bestowed upon us.
Therefore, in our confession of sin
to the Lord, we can admit to being a “poor, miserable sinner” – one in need of his
mercy – and say, “I pray you of your boundless mercy, and for the sake of the
holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son Jesus Christ, to
be gracious and merciful to me, a poor sinful being.”
And then, we hear those precious
words of grace from the one called to be God’s mouthpiece of absolution for
you, “I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word,
announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command
of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
And they ARE forgiven. YOU are forgiven. God no longer sees you as a poor, miserable
sinner … but as a baptized, beloved, mercy-laden child of God.
Amen.
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