Wednesday, April 1, 2026 – Holy Week
“Let us go right
into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty
consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our
bodies have been washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22, New Living Translation)
Guilty - that is a terrible judgment to lay on
anyone shoulders, least of all Jesus. Our faith asserts that Jesus was innocent,
without sin, yet the world in which he lived in judged him, condemned him and
punished him severely for his “guilt”. It could be said that all Jesus was guilty
about was telling the truth, showing compassion to one and all and revealing
the pomposity of these same religious hypocrites who were now judging him. Who
was really guilty here?
Guilt is not a particularly fashionable word in our modern culture, sort
of like the word ‘sin’. Outside of our country’s courtrooms and its legal
verdicts, words like sin and guilt make us feel very uncomfortable and unpleasant.
They are words that bite and take chunks
out of our souls, so best left alone. Nobody is perfect, we get that. But most prefer to avoid feeling guilty. Back in
the day, it was popular to note that the Greek word for sin literally meant “to
miss the mark.” That is a much softer landing spot for acknowledging our
mistakes and blunders of behaviour, words and deeds. So we goofed, we’ll do
better next time. Sorry about that. Forget
about it. Bad things happen. Let’s move on, shall we? To err is human; to
forgive is divine. Nobody, myself
included, wants to feel guilty. It’s like a death verdict on our psyches.
Psychologist, Chris Moore, argues that “guilt is not simply an unpleasant
emotional burden – it can be a powerful force that helps repair our relationships.”
(Gayle MacDonald, Globe and Mail) He points out that guilt is comprised of
three things. “There’s fear or anxiety about the damage that might have been done
to a relationship. There’s compassion for the person who has been hurt. And there’s
self- directed anger about what you did.” This sounds to me all too neat and tidy,
very clinical. Even he still back-pedals on the power of guilt, “If you feel
guilt, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It usually means you care about
other people.” Not sure what world he lives in, because the world that I live
in largely feels no guilt about much of anything, even the most egregious
behaviour, and feels no spirit of remorse or any desire for reconciliation. But I do resonate with his theory that “The
most powerful antidote to guilt is forgiveness.” But that is not an easy road
to travel.
I am the last person on earth
who should be counselling about guilt. If I, reluctantly, stop to think about
my own life, I have plenty to be guilty about. Relationships have been broken. People
have left my churches because of my leadership. I have failed at times in parenting.
The list goes on. You can stop me any time. In the midst of a lot of good and
many blessings, I feel badly and guilty about my failures. “My guilt
overwhelms me— it is a burden too heavy to bear.” (Psalm 38:4)
The one thing that the good psychologist
does not bring up is that we never bear our guilt alone. If we are willing to
confess and open up to our failures, then, at least, God is on our side. “Finally, I confessed
all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I
will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is
gone.” (Psalm 32:5) It is rightly said that confession is good for the soul.
Confession is about total honesty and
truth about ourselves; no pussy-footing around, no excuses, no alibis, no avoidance
of the ugly truth. We begin by confessing to God, then mustering up the courage
to fess up to the people we have hurt, ignored or harmed. I am still working on
that last part. “Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared
of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!” (Psalm 32:2)
Our text from Hebrews reminds us
that we can bring our guilty consciences into the presence of God. It affirms
that Jesus’ Crucifixion was the remedy for our guilt and sin, “but God’s
free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of
many sins. but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even
though we are guilty of many sins.” (Romans 5:16) This ultimate act of forgiveness
by the way of the Cross is once and for all. Our guilt has been removed. Our shame has been
erased. We are given a New Life. Let’s make the best and the most of it, to forgive
as we have been forgiven, to love as we have been loved, to be reconcilers as we
have been reconciled.
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.” (`1 John 18 -20)
Our loving and forgiving God, it is hard to confess all the mistakes and blunders
that have tripped us up in our lives. But we very grateful that you pick us up
with forgiveness in Jesus Christ. He paid such a horrific price to lead us back
into your Presence and Love. In his
death, we have had our sins and guilt washed away and we have been made clean. May we abide in your generous Love and show
that Love to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
