Guilt

He Loves Me. He Loves Me Not.
Guilt
Psalm 32

Last summer I was doing some work in the front yard and the boys were playing around the house. Jaden, who was five at the time, came over and said that it stinks in the back yard. I told him to play somewhere else then. So he played for a while on the drive way and then after a few minutes he came up and said that it stinks on the driveway. I said well just play right here around where I am working and you will be fine. After a few minutes I noticed an unpleasant aroma and I asked Jaden to show me the bottom of his shoe. Jaden had stepped into something that a dog had left in the yard. The lesson we learned that day is that if you notice a really bad smell around you, you need to first determine if it is you.
Sin stinks. Sin is like that horrible smell that you cannot get rid of. The thing about sin that sticks is the guilt that we carry around with us. Unconfessed sin is like the dog poo on the bottom of the shoe. We can change our circumstances and it follows us. We can change our environment and it follows us. We can hang around different people and it follows us. We can make promises and vows to people and say we will never do it again and it continues to follow us.
The other similarity between guilt and dog poo on the bottom of the shoe is that we become identified by it. It takes over our whole personality. The stink of guilt affects our relationships. It robs us of our sense of worth. It takes away our possibility for a future.
There are some people with dog poo on the bottom of their shoe who refuse to acknowledge it. They tell themselves it’s always somebody else’s fault. Never doing anything wrong themselves. They are quick to point out the faults of others. They try to cover up their guilt by attempting to ignore it.
Guilt is the dog poo on the bottom of the shoe. Unless we get rid of it we will be the stink of our own existence and that of everyone else’s. Think of one unconfessed sin in your life right now. Consider that one thing in your life that is stinking up your relationships, your sense of self worth, or limiting the possibility of your future. If you could get rid of that poo on the bottom of the shoe today would you do it? If you could leave here smelling fresh would you do whatever it took?
I would like to invite you to stand with me and read Psalm 32. You can find it in your hymnal on page 766. We will read verses one through five. I will ask you to read the bold print. David says in essence in this psalm that happy people are forgiven people. Happy people are those that have confessed their sins before God and know that they are forgiven. He also teaches us that if we try to conceal our sin from God it will be useless and it affects our wholeness. Unconfessed sin is like the poo on the bottom of the shoe. It affects every aspect of our life: physical, emotional, relational, spiritual. It destroys. David should know this. He is speaking from experience.
Early in his life as he gained power and influence he was one day walking on the roof top of his palace admiring all of his accomplishments. As he walked he noticed a beautiful woman taking a bath. He called for his servants to bring her to him. They had sex. She got pregnant. She also happened to be the wife of one of his top military generals. He tried to cover up the sin and when that didn’t work he had her husband killed. He went without confessing the sin for a while and this created a stink on the bottom of his shoe until the prophet Nathan came and told a story about a wealthy man stealing a sheep of a poor man. The story pierced David’s heart. Later he would pray: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51: 1 – 3). Happy people are not perfect people but people who know they are forgiven. If we want to be happy, guilt-free happy, we must be honest before God and confess.
You have a choice: you don’t have to walk around unforgiven if you don’t want to. The stink of guilt can be removed by confessing sin and claiming God’s forgiveness. The cross is the symbol of our own forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus we capture the depth of God’s love for us. It is not a love that condemns but a love that extends forgiveness but it is up to us to claim that forgiveness, to be freed from our own burden of guilt and to discover the joy of being a forgiven and reconciled people. What is it that is still eating away at your soul? What is still causing your life to stink? Go ahead and name that unforgiven sin. Confess it. And be forgiven by God.
A story is told of a little farm boy called Willie, who lived in the early part of the last century. He was the youngest of a poor sharecropping family, who had no more money than what was absolutely needed for survival. One year finally they had a few dollars left over and sent off to Sears Roebuck for their first “luxury” item: a mirror. When it came, the family passed it around so everybody could see himself for the first time. When it was Willie’s turn, he was shocked. His face was full of scars. No one had ever told him that he had been kicked by a horse when he was an infant. With tears in his eyes, Willie turned to his mother and asked her, “Mom, did you know I looked this way all the time?” “Yes, of course I did.” “And you still loved me?” “Yes, Willie, I still loved you and I do love you. I love you because you’re mine.”
Jesus teaches us that God does not accuse us nor does God shame us. He loves us. He loves us, whatever guilt we are feeling; whatever scars remain from the horrible events of the past. Jesus loves us anyway, because we are his. God’s love is not based on how few scars we have from past failures or how bad we stink from the mess we have made of our lives. Confess your sin. Know that you are forgiven. Leave behind your guilt. Live blessed. Happy people are not perfect people but people who know they are forgiven.