"The Journey from Shame to Hope"

"To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me."

Psalm 25 is written in the form of an acrostic. Each verse begins with a character in the Hebrew alphabet. This form made it easier to memorize. It also means that each verse tends to stand alone. Each verse tells the whole story. So it is not a Psalm that moves from problem to resolution. It is not a journeying Psalm; rather, it is a kind of awakening to the Journey. It is much like looking carefully at the map before you begin a long car trip. The Psalmist clearly tells us where he is in his spiritual life, and where he expects to go, as God answers the requests of his heart. This is not the writing of a person who is lost, or confused. It is more the cry of one who is waking up, and asking for healing and guidance on the path to salvation.

As such, it is a great Psalm with which to begin Advent. In Advent we often use the images of darkness and light. In this Psalm we are helped to name the darkness within us, and then to see the light. In Advent we know ahead of time where we are headed. We are moving to the birth of Christ. But we must journey there; we must be alert, awake, renewed to experience the salvation of God. This is a Psalm that calls us to that journey. This is a Psalm that helps us to confess our need for a Savior.

The Psalmist views the spiritual map of his life, before he begins his journey. He identifies three areas of need, three types of darkness in his soul:

• He is afraid of coming to public shame.
• He is haunted by the memory of his youthful sins.
• He is in a state of worry, keenly aware of his loneliness and of various troubles that surround him.

From those starting points in his heart, he reaches out to God as teacher, the one who will guide him into paths of truth. He calls upon God his counselor, the one who will free him from the snare of sin. He looks to God his savior, his refuge, the one who will give him hope.

We notice that the Psalmist describes ways of thinking that are common to us all. Shame, guilt and worry shape our thinking, our actions and our relationships. They cause us to hide, to cover up, to try to make sure that no one will know who we really are, for surely that would lead to rejection. So this type of thinking brings us to feel isolated, alone. It causes us to walk in darkness, presenting an outward image of competence and integrity, while feeling lost inside.

This is the map of the journey of faith. It is to abandon the attempt to hide from God, and rather seek God who will lead us to walk in the light. The Psalm begins with the fear of shame. Lewis Smedes wrote a book entitled "Shame and Grace." He says that shame is "having a nagging feeling that you do not measure up to the person you ought to be. We have shame when we persistently feel we are not acceptable." He says that shame is a vague feeling, an undefined heaviness of spirit. "It dampens our gratitude for the goodness of life, and slackens the free flow of joy." Sometimes we feel it as guilt. But while guilt is what we feel for what we do, shame is what we feel for what we are. "A person feels guilty because he did something wrong. A person feels shame because he is something wrong."

Gerald Wilson points out that, in Psalm 25, the meaning of shame is not just an inward feeling, but it signifies an outward experience of public embarrassment. The Psalmist is concerned that his enemies will triumph and he will be brought to public humiliation. Everyone will see his defeat, his shame. That is what he most fears.

The way out of the fear of shame is to call on God, who is your teacher and guide. God, like the best of human teachers, does not just impart information, but leads the student to paths of truth, to discovering what it is to walk in the light. When you open your heart to God as your teacher, His Word shows you what to do. The Psalm says, "Teach me your paths." That means, wherever you are in life, whatever your fear or your struggle, there is a path of truth nearby that leads to salvation. The Word is near you. The Holy Spirit will bring it to life, will instruct you, so you can live without fear of shame. Your do not have to hide and cover-up, you do not have to live a double life, but God will teach you a single –hearted life that honors him, and is upheld. By his grace you are accepted.

Open your heart to God. Ask him to be your teacher.

The next issue is that of being caught in youthful sin. What had been done in rebelling or wandering, became a habit, took away freedom, self-control. The Psalmist came to a point of recognizing there was something he could not manage in his life. He reached out to God as counselor. Verse 14: "The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them." God not only teaches us his ways, but confides in us. He draws close to us and opens his heart to the struggles that are uniquely and personally ours. It is not "one size fits all," it is not broad advice that can be put on a bumper sticker. This is God, the wise counselor, who draws close to us, and listens to our whispered prayers, and is able to understand the nature of the snare that has us, and gently removes it, and we are free.

When we humbly listen to the Spirit, it is not always what we want to hear; but when we listen and agree that is where we find life. This is the fear of the Lord. Gerald Wilson writes, "The fear of the Lord is an attitude that acknowledges our absolute dependence on the Lord for mercy, forgiveness and continued existence." You will always resist the counsel of God initially. You will be defensive. You will be sure your way will eventually work. You will insist that the real problem is with others and not yourself. But there is a point of surrender.

The young people have picked up an old chorus, "I Surrender All." Its words are not easy to sing. "All to Jesus I surrender. All to him I freely give." But there is a point in singing it when you start listening to God and believing what he is saying to your soul. In that surrender, the snare is released. The Lord confides in those who fear him.

Finally, our worries and troubles and loneliness can lead us to call out for God to be our Savior. You really do not think you need a Savior until you are able to own up to the troubles in your life. We want too much to be self-sufficient. We think we can be good people. Somehow, we have come to the place where we cannot bear the thought of our own weakness. So we worry a lot, and try to carry multiplied troubles in our hearts. Maybe we need a Savior.

There are experiences along the way where we come to realize that we cannot fix our lives, or others. We come to realize that we cannot control what will happen. We come to understand that sin is much more than just the bad choices we make along the way, things we can easily do better next time. It is when we allow ourselves to feel that sense of deep inadequacy, and understand that indeed there is nothing we can do, that we can move from worry to trust in the savior.

That is when we can truly come to the manger, and see the gift of God.

That is when we can truly stand at the foot of the cross, and say "I need a Savior." And that is where the journey begins.

Amen.