What Went Shamefully Wrong?

What Went Shamefully Wrong?

Pathway: From sin to shame…
From shame to Guilt…
From Guilt to freedom

I. Sin…that awful word
a. Let’s define sin: anything that puts me in the place of God.
Genesis 3:1 ¶ Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
Gen. 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
Gen. 3:3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”
Gen. 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
Gen. 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Gen. 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Gen. 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
i. God wanted for Eve what Eve wanted for herself.
Eve desired it.
It was beautiful for the eyes.
She wanted wisdom.
ii. The serpent challenged Eve to think that God did NOT want her to have what was good for her, beautiful and satisfying.

Is. 14:13 “But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
Is. 14:14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’

Sin is putting myself in the place reserved for God alone.

b. Sin affects me:
1John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

c. Sin impacts every culture.
1John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

d. The culture of sin impacts me by…
i. Persuading me that I know what is best for me; God cannot be trusted.

From sin to shame…
II. Shame:
a. Shame is an emotion: …we are NOT what we are supposed to be. If allowed to soak in, it dyes the soul a dull gray.

Gen. 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

Andrew Zantingh (7 excellent sermons on Shame vs. Grace) www.firsthamilton.ca
I am unworthy and unacceptable, I am inferior and inadequate.
I am seriously flawed, a fake and phony. I feel naked and ugly and vulnerable.

b. Shame leads me to compare myself with others.
i. Comparison with others leads me to feel shame.
ii. Shame is a never-ending cycle.
Lewis Smedes: “Compulsive Comparers.” Feelings of shame cause us to compare ourselves with others—to see how we measure up.

1. Positive comparison leads me to PRIDE.
If we compare ourselves with unsuccessful or insignificant people—it has a way of alleviating our shame for a moment. Bolstering some pride.

2. Negative comparison leads me to a sense of FAILURE.

If we compare ourselves with successful and significant people—it has a way of making us feel like failures. Everyone else’s sun darkens our day.

iii. Shame is relational.
Andrew Z.:
I raise this issue of comparison—because it puts us in touch with the relational character of shame.
Our sense of identity is formed in relationship. Who we are and how we feel about our-selves is shape, molded and influenced by the messages other people send. By their word, their faces, their gestures, their presence or their absence.
Other people are significant in instilling in us a sense of self-worth at our center.
Other people (parents/pastors/peers) are often the source of our healthy or unhealthy feelings of shame.
Conclusion: Indeed---People are Big factors in our shame---inevitably we compare ourselves to others (at times---compulsively so).

c. Our culture of shame impacts me.
i. Intrinsically—no one told Adam & Eve to hide.
ii. Extrinsically—I have no other model, so…
A world—according to Rom 12—is constantly seeking to
conform us to its ideal—its likeness
“squeeze us into its mold”—its mold of what it means to be acceptable
iii. Spiritually—Easter sermon!
There is the unhealthy shame that is shared in shame-based religions.

TRANSITION:
Romans: the world is trying to squeeze us into its mold: Compare ourselves to one another!
Comparison to others heightens my shame.
I need a different mold, THE ONE THAT GOD INTENDED:

Comparison to Christ lets me see what I AM SUPPOSED TO BE, that leaves me with NO HOPE!!!!
Comparison with Christ CAN lead me to faith…


From Shame to Guilt…
III. Guilt is that state of mind and heart where I KNOW that I cannot be what I am supposed to be.
a. Shame deceives me into thinking that if only…
i. If I only try harder.
ii. If I only had a little more time.
iii. If I only had better friends.
iv. If I only had had better parents.

b. Guilt convinces me that…My status before God is hopeless because I am helpless.
I CAN NEVER attain to Christ’s righteous despite more time, better friends, better family, etc.
COUNTERCULTURAL: HELPLESSNESS IS BLASPHEMY IN A SELF-HELP SOCIETY

Therefore, only God can intervene.

2. A Culture of true Guilt is a transparent one.
a. False Guilt is actually SHAME.
b. Shame avoids/Guilt confesses.
c. Shame denies/Guilt agrees.

3. Shame provides false hope/Guilt leads to true hope.
a. Forgiveness is available.
b. Humility is required.
c. Confession is essential.
d. Restoration is real.
i. Shame is a feeling; nothing can be done about it.
ii. Guilt is a status, which can be changed by divine decree.

Andrew Z.:
He took responsibility for our guilt. He bore the weight upon himself through his Son.
We read in Isaiah 53 that he made his Son to be a public guilt offering:
• Like a priest--God placed his Hand upon his Son.
• God put his hand upon his son—transferred our guilt on him
• God’s will was to crush him upon the cross for our cleansing.
• In order to make a sacrifice—that does satisfaction.
• In order to make reparation—to repair the relationship
• In order to make guilty people----ghost free!

Conclusion: But in order to becoming guilt free there is a high cost!
The pain of moving from avoidance to admission.
The price of going from private to public.







Psalm 130:1-8
Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
If You, LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD;
For with the LORD there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.


Setting Things Right (Easter) 3/23
Text: Divine solutions to the problem of evil.