The Divine Crash

Today was a tough topic for a sermon, how do we discuss Penance as part of the process for forgiveness from a Protestant perspective. I am not sure if I did a good job of it but it was still a good sermon.  You can listen to it at the bottom of my notes or on iTunes as a podcast. Enjoy!

 

Scripture: Ephesians 2:13-18

Prayer: “Dear Jesus, today is Palm Sunday, you came marching into town on a Donkey.  You didn’t come with violence or force, you cam humbly.  You came knowing what was going to happen and how it all would end.  As we draw close to you remind us the cost you paid so we could be forgiven.” – Amen.

 

Today, as we continue to look at forgiveness in light of the passion events we step outside of holy week and a few years into the future when Paul is writing to Ephesus and telling them what the cross means in terms of forgiveness.  During this letter Paul is probably in jail in Rome somewhere around 62 CE and is writing the people to tell them about their union with Christ and that they who believe in jesus have joined with them.

 

For those of you who are parents let me ask you a question: If your child hits a sibling/friend and they get caught do you make them do something to make it “all better?”  Or if your child breaks your vase because they wanted to play catch with it or they break your wind while throw a ball around do you take money from their allowance to make them pay for it?

 

If you said yes, then you get the basic idea of Penance.  Penance is this ancient Christian idea that if you hurt someone you need to do certain things to make it better.  We still see this idea today in the court system.  If a person steals and gets caught they need to do community service to make it right the community they harmed.  The idea of Penance is that, after getting forgiveness, there is something we need to do to make it right.

 

Don’t misunderstand me, you are not forgiven because of Penance.  You are forgiven because of the cross, through no works of your own. However, because you are forgiven you do things as a response to your forgiveness.

 

 

In today’s scripture Paul is telling them that through the cross they are now close to God.  That they were once far away from God but that through the blood of Jesus they are now close to God because Jesus fixed the problem of sin and death.

 

For us, this means that at the cross our forgiveness is assured but so is our Penance.  there is nothing we can do to make it right or go back to the way it was before.  Jesus already did that on the cross.

 

For us, it also means that after all those steps in forgiveness we don’t have to work at them to prove just how sorry we are.

 

However, in the church sense the Penance is acts to show we are grateful to God.  Sometimes, while not required, there is a sense that if we have harmed someone else or ourselves that we can still make things right for what happened.  That, in the light of the forgiveness we have received, we need to make it right.  This idea is still used in Alcoholics Anonymous, it is step 9, to make amends whenever possible and step 12 to help others.

 

This is the idea of Penance.  We want to fix what has happened.  Sometimes this is not possible.  Sometimes the person has moved on, died, or will not listen.  But sometimes we can talk to them and do things that will not make the past acceptable but will make the future brighter for both people.

 

It means that because you are forgiven you pay back the money.

It means that because you are forgiven you don’t do it again.

It means that because you are forgiven you make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to other people.

 

So then, you have examined your self and found places you have harmed others and been harmed by others.  You have declared that those things are wrong and should not have happened.  You have declared forgiveness to those that hurt you, including yourself.

 

Now, you have the option of directly participating in your forgiveness.  Sometimes this isn’t possible but sometimes it means that you do what is best for the person you hurt.

 

Sometimes it isn’t smart or even possible.  But sometimes it is.  We hear stories of rapists giving their kidney to their victim.  We hear of recovering alcoholics confessing to rape 20 years later so that their victims can find closure.  While it isn’t always that huge, sometimes it is simply going out and buying yourself some new clothes as a way of making yourself feel better for all those times you thought you were fat.

 

Penance can be hard and not fun, but it is a tangible way to acknowledge your forgiveness and to make better the life of those who were harmed.

 

Let’s acknowledge some things here.  First, Penance is not earning your salvation or your forgiveness. That was already done by Jesus on the cross.  Second, sometimes Penance isn’t possible. Third, Penance does not make it okay to do what you did in the first place. Last, Penance can only be done by the offender to the offended.

 

So then, as we close in prayer, remember how far we have come in just 5 short weeks.  We went from holding on to our hurt and letting it define us to acknowledging it and declaring that it hurt us and declaring forgiveness and now we are trying to express that forgiveness in tangible terms.

 

Think about those hurts and think about how much you have been forgiven and how you can make it right again.  Maybe the best Penance you can do is teach men how to behave around women so that they do not do what you did and rape someone.  Or maybe it is about going to a school to teach people the dangers of alcohol.  These are not bad ideas, and you know deep in your soul if this is something you should be doing.

 

Let us pray:  “Dear Jesus, we know that you did our penance for us and there is nothing we can do , but God, if there is someway to use our past to make the future better, as an expression of or forgiven nature, then show us that.  Show us how we can make this world better.” – Amen

Sermon Audio

 

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Sermon by RevBT