A king sized confession 2/2/14

A king sized confession

RUMC 2/2/14

·        There is someone here today who lied this week…is it you?

·        There is someone here today who lusted this week… is it you?

·        There is someone here this week whose conscience is bothering them because they cheated on a test or on their taxes… are you that someone?

·        There is someone here today who received the wrong change this week… you didn’t give it back did you?

·        There is someone here who drinks too much… way too much and your family is suffering… does that sound like you?

·        There is someone here harboring a deep guilt for things long past… things done, things said, people hurt… is it you?

·        There is someone here who is nurturing resentment… no hatred for someone who hurt you. It was a long time ago, but you just can’t let go... Is it you?

·        There is someone here who has said terrible things to their spouse or child. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, maybe depression, but it doesn’t matter when their heart is broken… Is it you?

·        I know there is someone here today who is an addict… they might be addicted to over the counter medication, alcohol, or internet porn, but I know you are out there… Is it you?

·        There is someone here today who is living a lie. They have to live behind a mask of lies and deceit or people would know the kind of person they really are…is that you?

David had a good thing going. He was the king who had defeated the philistines, and the Amalekites. He secured the borders. He consolidated the two nations of Israel and Judah. He consolidated the religious and political power in one capital city; Jerusalem. He had wives, and children, and servants, and a palace, and gardens, and vineyards and cattle and sheep. He had an army with faithful generals, strong horses, and brave warriors. What more could a man need? What more could a man want? He was living the good life!

David wanted more. Specifically Bathsheba. So he took her” To David this was just one of the perks of being king.

But not to God. That is not at all the way God looked at it.

·        If David were sitting here today I would say, "I know there is someone out there who lusted, stole, and committed adultery." And you think you got away with it. Is it you?

But that wasn’t the end of David’s sin. Oh no, as I said last week he had to try to cover it up. He worked so hard to cover it up that the cover up ended in Uriah’s death.

Word came back to David of many deaths among his troops including Uriah, and his reply is something along the lines of,”It’s war. You’ll have that.”

·        If David was sitting here today I would say, “I know that today we have someone in the congregation who not only lusted, stole and committed adultery; not only lied, plotted and murdered; but thinks he got away with it… is that you?

That is essentially what Nathan the prophet did. Except he tricked David into condemning himself. Nathan told David a parable about a Rich man who stole  from a poor man in order to have a party for his guest. David was outraged and sentenced the man to death. That’s when Nathan turns it around and says, “You are the man.”

We all need good friends like Nathan. We all need friends who can be completely honest with us. Who WILL be completely honest with us; even when it is hard? Even when we don’t want to hear it.

Nathan started David on the road to forgiveness by revealing his sin.

David heard it. He listened intently while Nathan delivered a scathing reminder of all the things God has done for him. He listened to the list of sins he had committed. He listened as the consequences were described and he saw himself clearly.

Did he argue back? No. Did he try to stop Nathan? No. Did he make excuses? No. he just listened.

How does God speak to us? None of us has a court prophet to point out our sins. The closest thing we have is me calling you out this morning. I don’t, however, do that every week.

·        So God speaks to us through our conscience; through the knot that sits in the pit of our stomach convicting us of sin.

My observation is at almost always comes from outside me though. I think when I am sinning I am so busy keeping up the walls that hide my sin that I can’t hear the voice inside me  It usually takes someone or something to hold up a mirror so I can see my sin. 

·        God speaks to us through scripture or sometimes a book we read. 

·        Sometimes God uses other people; through a spouse, sometimes through our children, sometimes through a sermon, or small group, or through a stranger. 

I remember a Sunday when I was preaching at Musserville. I had finished the service and was getting ready to run to the Island church for that service when I was met at the door by a dirty, disheveled man. He had obviously been on the street because he was carrying everything he owned on one of those little grocery carts that people sometimes pull behind them. I thought, “Great, just what I need when I am already running late.” I am ashamed to say I wanted to ignore him and blow on past. He would never have known who I was. But I stopped to see what he wanted. I was prepared to give him the $20 bill from my pocket. I started to pull it out and he stopped me saying, I don’t want your money.

I asked what he wanted then. He said, "I just wanted to know what time you have services?”

 Did I feel about 3” tall or what?

God spoke to me that day as I looked into the mirror at my own ugliness. He convicted me of hardheartedness and self-centeredness. How did I know? I got a knot in my stomach. A knot of guilt. A knot of shame. A knot of self-realization.

It took just a minute and one simple question; and it seemed as though my whole sin was laid open where everyone could see it. It was as though he held up a mirror and I saw the beast I had become.

So it was for me. So it was for David. And so it is for you. Sometimes the guilt comes naturally from inside of us, but often times it takes someone else to hold up a mirror to our sin. However it happens we have to face our sin. We have to feel that knot in our stomach when we have been exposed (whether anyone else realizes it or not). We have to look honestly at ourselves and our sin.

The second step on the road to forgiveness is honest confession. David wrote beautiful psalms of confession including psalm 51 which we read today, but when that knot came in his stomach as Nathan held up a mirror to his sin, David’s reply was very simple. “I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD.”

Notice: no excuse,

Notice: no justification

Notice: no explanation

Notice: no rationalization

Just a simple “I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD.”

We have to confess honestly to God before we receive forgiveness. And that’s hard.

Four preachers met for a friendly gathering. During the conversation one preacher said, “Our people come to us and pour out their hears, confess certain sins and needs. Let’s do the same. Confession is good for the soul.” In due time all agree. One of them said that he had a problem with losing his temper on occasion. The second confessed to liking to smoke cigars and the third one confessed to liking golf so much that he would fake being sick so he could play on weekends.. When it came to the fourth one, he wouldn’t confess. The others pressed him saying, “Come now, we confessed ours. What is your secret or vice?” Finally he answered, “It is gossiping and I can hardly wait to get out of here.”

God doesn’t have a gossiping problem, but confession is still hard isn’t it.

To confess “I HAVE SINNED” is really hard.

Frankly, we prefer to make excuses, and rationalize, and explain our behavior and justify what we have done. But that is not what God wants. God wants plain and simple confession. We can build all kinds of walls around us. We can put up all kinds of defenses, but they all have to come down before God. So we can simply be honestly ourselves before the one who knows if we are holding back.

So first, we have to look at ourselves honestly.

Then we have to confess before God.

Finally, we have to accept the forgiveness. That sounds like the easy part. We’ll see.

When we honestly confess and God forgives, that sin is gone. It is as far from us as the east is from the west. It is as though it has been cast into the ocean and sunk to the bottom forever.

I happen to know, however, that many of you spend your lives out on a boat in the middle of the ocean with your fishing poles and nets hanging on the guilt of sin. I know that for a fact because I have done it too. Sometimes it is just hard to leave it alone and believe that we are forgiven.

I think we hold on to our guilt because we have a hard time believing that God can forgive us.

Do me a favor. Grab your pew Bible and turn to Hebrews 11. While you are doing that let me tell you that Hebrews 11 is called the hall of faith. It includes stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the people of Israel in their best times. This is the “who’s who” or “top ten list” of Biblical characters. Look at verse 32. Whose name appears there? David. What is David doing in the hall of faith after this debacle with Bathsheba?

It is simple. He was forgiven. Notice also that Saul is not there because he made excuses. But David the lustful, thieving, adulterer who stooped to murder is right there in verse 32.

If David the formerly lustful, thieving adulterous murderer can make it into the hall of faith so can you. Face it; you can’t top David’s sin. Not because you sin is less, but because all sin is equally bad. You can be forgiven. Accept the forgiveness that is already yours.

Now turn in those Bibles to I John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

·        It doesn’t say if your sin is small

·        It doesn’t say if you will be good

In fact, there are no reservations. Just “He is faithful and just and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

·        It doesn’t say some unrighteousness

·        It doesn’t say most unrighteousness. It says ALL unrighteousness.

God forgives generously and completely.

So first, we have to look at ourselves honestly.

Second, we have to confess before God.

Finally, we have to accept the forgiveness. That might be harder than you think, but you can do it.

·        There is someone here today who lied this week… you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here today who lusted this week…   you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here this week whose conscience is bothering them because they cheated on a test or on their taxes…   you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here today who received the wrong change this week… you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here who drinks too much… way too much and your family is suffering… you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here harboring a deep guilt for things long past… things done, things said, people hurt…   you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here who is harboring a deep resentment… no hatred for someone who hurt you. It was a long time ago, but you just can’t let go...   you can be forgiven. (BY THE SAY, SO CAN THEY)

·        There is someone here who has said terrible things to their spouse or child. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, maybe depression, but it doesn’t matter when their heart is broken…   you can be forgiven.

·        I know there is someone here today who is an addict… they might be addicted to over the counter medication, alcohol, or internet porn, but I know you are out there…   you can be forgiven..

·        There is someone here today who is living a lie. They have to live behind a mask of lies and deceit or people would know the kind of person they really are… you can be forgiven.

Come, confess before God.