Shame

Shame is a significant weight. Scriptures warn us that failure to feel shame and forgetting how to blush in response to our sin and the sin of our culture can leave us in the path of God's judgment (Jeremiah 8:12). But, if we are not careful, shame can become a crippling response to our failures that can drive us to penance, self-affliction, denial, and unreleased guilt rather than to repentance and trust in the Gospel. In other words, when our response to shame turns us inward rather than trusting in the finished work of Christ for our forgiveness we are subtly seeking a path of self-salvation where we think we are redeemed through the depth of our depression and sadness over failure. What we will find this morning is that our shame is always an invitation to the cross where we can meet grace deeply.