Sermon: Guilt and Shame
This week was our fifth week of the Recovery series. Jon Ludovina led us through a sermon about Guilt and Shame from Genesis 1-3. Here is a quick recap of this week’s Gathering:
Guilt is pretty straightforward. I did something wrong. I’m guilty of a sin; a crime; a failure of some kind; I’ve broken a relational agreement. For Adam and Eve they ate the fruit. We weren’t supposed to. We did it. We’re guilty. Shame’s a little more complex. It’s this feeling and this sense that I’m wrong. There’s something wrong with me. I feel dirty, I feel stained, I feel broken. There’s an internal and an external aspect of shame.
Guilt and shame naturally produce three sinful and unhelpful responses:
1. Guilt and Shame Lead us to Cover.
Covering is looking to something outside of yourself to try to compensate for what you feel is lacking inside of you. Adam & Eve realized they were naked, and they clothed themselves with fig leaves to tried to cover up. And we do the same.
2. Guilt and Shame lead us into Hiding.
If you look at Adam and Eve’s relationship with God before the fall and after, they go from walking with him in a loving relationship to hiding from him in embarrassment. We often hide by simply refusing to allow people to know the truth about us. Trying to conceal what we really struggle with deep down.
3. Guilt and Shame Lead US to Defend Ourselves.
We get defensive. Adam & Eve get defensive where they blame shift. God lovingly confronts them, so that they might know the truth about themselves and that he might meet them with forgiveness. But instead of taking ownership, Adam points to Eve, Eve points to the serpent. This is what guilt and shame do to us. We cover; we hide; we defend ourselves.
How God responds to you in your Guilt and Shame:
1. God covers us.
2. God clothes us in Jesus’ righteousness.
3. Jesus defends us as our advocate..
So Now, We can bring our sin into the Light.
Songs
All the Poor and Powerless by All Sons and Daughters
Before the Throne by King's Kaleidoscope
Father You are All We Need by Citizens and Saints
In Christ Alone by Passion