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A Journey Through Lent: Penitence

  • Every week so far in Lent, starting in Ash Wednesday, you've heard this beautiful gospel setting of Psalm 51 by Dr. Margaret Douroux - the first song she ever composed back in 1970. Ps 51 is the Psalm we hear every Ash Wednesday...
    • In the Chorus we hear: "Give me a clean heart, so I may serve thee / Lord, fix my heart, so that I may be used by thee / For I'm not worthy of all these blessings / Give me a clean heart, Lord, and I'll follow thee."
    • This sentiment flows throughout the period of Lent - again, we don't walk thorough this period looking down at our shoes or making some kind of performance, but instead we're trying to prepare ourselves in a wilderness time to continue to live faithfully.
    • Dourourx paraphrases Ps 51 and connects a clean heart with service in God's Commonwealth.
    • On Ash Wednesday, that is mentioned through "penitence."
      • Want to discuss real quick penitence vs. repentance.
      • At one time, it seems like the words meant something different
        • Penitence = transactional
        • Repentance = transformational
      • However, over time, the words seemed to merge into each other
      • I would argue that both of them, especially in the context of lent, lead to the root word that we've discussed before - metanoia...
        • Metanoia has two movements to it:
          • an acknowledgement of past brokenness
          • and an exposure of the heart to God and to change
  • THE TEXTS
    • Acknowledgement
      • It's not always easy to see our brokenness, even if it seems really clear laid out before us
      • Look at David:
        • It's a tale as old as time, but we see how power and authority can blind us from brokenness
          • He committed adultery
          • He attempted to hide his adultery through deception and inviting Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba
          • And then, he committed murder through state sanctioned actions
        • From the outside, should we not have the benefit of the narrative eye, it would be hard to see anything wrong.
        • And, even in this story, it seems like David was deceived.
      • It took the a trusted community - in this case, Nathan - to speak truth into David and help him recognize he has done a grievous series of actions.
      • And, without doubt, the consequences are severe - the whole narrative ends with the child dying seven days after birth.
        • For a while, I contemplated not digging into this part, because it arouses complexities that we just don't have enough time for in a sermon.
        • But, for now, it's worth noting that David attempted to hide this child through his deception with Uriah; attempting to pawn him off in order to hide his own indiscretion. It seems like David did not value this child very highly.
        • The complexities of consequence stop us from reptentance.
        • Our broken nature breaks nature, and the work of repair is at times too much to bear.
        • So not only do we avoid our own metanoia unless within community, but we also can project that onto others - especially when they're exposed
    • Exposure of the heart
      • This gospel passage only comes up semi-regularly in the lectionary, depending on where Easter falls.
      • We hear echoes of this story elsewhere in the gospel, and there's debate about wether it's the same story or not - it wouldn't change the heart of the story either way.
      • Here, we have a woman who heard about Jesus' dinner and comes to see him
        • She is known euphemistically and also judgmentally as a prostitute
        • And the Pharisee's comments to himself are equally parts familiar and grotesque - both downplaying Jesus and denigrating the woman: this Pharisee acts as nearly the opposite of Nathan to David
        • In her vulnerability, she is exposed, and the religious leaders of the day self-righteously mocked her for it - sound familiar?
        • Jesus responds in this fascinating way:
          • First, he acknowledges the brokenness of all, and that everyone is forgiven - all debts need repaid no matter their size. Those with the greater debt feel its lifting more.
          • In acknowledging both debts, and that there is forgiveness, he sets up a contrast: the woman is exposed, and she offers herself to Jesus fully - her actions speak "Give me a clean heart, so I may serve thee," and meanwhile, Simon the Pharisee has done little, arguing that it is the vulnerability and the openness to repair that gives each of us a wellspring of love to work from.
          • And so we are cutting ourselves off from deeper love simply because we are fearful of the consequences of consequences... yet the action of penitence here is to go in peace.
  • While I wish it was always that case, most of our penitential moments fall somewhere in between the woman and David.
    • However, there does seem to be one that that rings true - Jesus meets our hearts and is offering love.
    • When we call out in Lent "Give me a clean heart," we will always hear an affirmative response - yes, I will.
    • As we offer more, we desire more, Jesus responds in equal measure.