Epiphany 3 January 21, 2007

“From Broke to Oak”

Isaiah 61:1-3

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning; and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

Every now and then, I’ll have an eleventh-hour change of heart regarding my sermon theme for Sunday morning. Today is one of those days. The new sermon theme for this morning is “From Broke to Oak.” You’ll understand why as we near the end of the sermon.

Have you ever seen the movie “The Mission?” I have not seen it myself but I’ve heard enough about it that I feel like I’ve seen it. It’s a movie made about 20 years ago. In that movie Robert DeNiro plays the part of a slave trader/mercenary. He felt horrible about the cruel things he had done during his days as a slave trader and soldier. In an attempt to find some peace of mind to erase the bad things he had done, he became a monk. But he hardly found peace there. If anything, his tension increased. He was told that before he could be truly assured of forgiveness for all the evil he had done, first he needed to show he was truly sorry. He was instructed to pack up all the things that had made him do evil and pull them through the South American jungle. So DeNiro packed his armor and sword into a bag and lugged it up hills, heaved it through rivers, and dragged it down into valleys. His bag of guilt went wherever he went. It was terribly hard work – how would you like to lug a 200-pound bag of armor through the jungle!

As hard as it would be to drag a 200-pound bag of armor through the jungle – it is even harder to drag your guilty conscience through life. Our real sins weigh us down. We lose our temper. We make mistakes in dealing with our family. Others were mean to us or belittled us or hurt us and we responded not in love but in anger. If we could, we’d go back and undo what we did and unsay what we said but we can’t, and the guilt is powerful. It’s a heavy load to carry. Dragging your guilt with you wherever you go is difficult work. It’s more like dragging a 2,000 pound bag, not 200 pounds. Dragging your guilt makes you frustrated – it’s an impossible task to undo what you have done! Dragging your guilt holds you captive – you really can’t appreciate anything else as long as this guilt issue remains. Dragging your guilt brings tension into your life, not peace. Dragging your guilt makes you feel worthless and unloved. Dragging your guilt deflates your spirit and makes you droop.

There are any number of ways you might try to escape from dragging your guilt everywhere you go. You might ignore the full problem and smile, pretending that your heavy guilt is just a little light-as-a-feather backpack and call your sins of the past “no big deal.” But that doesn’t do any good – you know they are a big deal. You might try to escape guilt by blaming the system – they made me do it and I had no choice! Or, perhaps the most common, you might blame someone else for your problems – if only so-and-so would change the way they are, than this bag wouldn’t be so heavy and I wouldn’t feel so guilty! That only piles more guilt on top of the guilt that is already there. And then God says, “You can act independently of others – you can be loving even when they are awful to you. You are the one that needs to change – NOW!” we say, “But I can’t. Worse yet - I don’t want to.” And as we defy God the sins pile higher and higher. The guilt burden becomes heavier and not lighter.

Do you ever feel like you are dragging your guilt around through a jungle? Do you find yourself blaming someone else for the guilt that weighs you down? It’s time for repentance. Stop ignoring the problem; stop blaming your guilt on someone else, stop thinking that things will only be better when someone else does the changing. You are the one who needs to change. Admit your heavy guilt exists and don’t make it smaller than what it is. Admit it is your fault that it is there and don’t blame others. Then listen. Listen clearly to God’s Word today – relief for your heavy, guilty soul has arrived. Listen to God’s amazing promise from Isaiah 61. (read text)

These Scriptures are one example of many that show how the Old Testament is one big arrow saying “Jesus is coming.” Why did Jesus come into the world? God set him apart to complete a specific mission. That’s what the word “anointed” indicates. It means to be set apart for a specific job. Jesus came into the world specifically for one reason – to bring good news for the afflicted soul. Jesus came to give up his life and win total forgiveness. Jesus came to cut us loose from our burden of guilt.

Here’s a picture of being rescued from the burden of guilt. As Robert DeNiro was struggling up the mountain with the 200-pound bundle of guilt fastened to his back, a native saw him. The native was one of the people DeNiro had enslaved years before. He quickly ran over, cut the bundle free and threw it over the edge of the cliff. The bundle never grew legs and climbed back up the mountain. The bundle never came back to haunt him anymore. It was gone for good and it would never burden DeNiro or anyone else ever again. In the same way, Jesus has rushed to your side and cut your guilt loose. He disconnected you from your sin and guilt when he cried out, “It is finished!” Just like the burden of guilt was finished from weighing down the ex-slave trader, so also our burden of guilt is finished from weighing down our souls. That bundle will never grow legs. It will never come back. It is gone for good.

Listen to these words from Isaiah again and notice our new status in forgiveness. (read text) No more affliction from sins. No more broken heart. No more being captive to the burden. No more worry. No more grieving or mourning. No more sitting in the ashes. No more drooping spirit. Now we are free; comforted and wearing a crown of beauty.

When we know we’ve been set free, all that is left for us to do is say thank you with our lives. Now wouldn’t it have been strange if after the burden had been cut loose, DeNiro had run down the mountain, re-strapped the heavy load and insisted, “I must carry this until the day I die!” If he truly believed what the monastery had told him – that assurance for forgiveness was impossible without carrying guilt to show you are sorry – that’s probably what he would have done. But it would not have made sense. It would have been rejecting the gift of forgiveness if he had refused to say, “Thank you for cutting that loose” and declared, “I’d rather struggle than be free?”

We all know Jesus died for our sins. We all know he won heaven for us and set us free from guilt and it cost us nothing. Why do we insist on struggling with guilt day after day? Why do we insist on carrying that burden wherever we go? Don’t run down that mountain and re-attach the guilt. Don’t re-harness the burden that Jesus has thrown over the cliff. Realize the full extent of the power of forgiveness. Listen closely to what Jesus has lived and died to provide for you when he tells you that you have been cut loose from your sins.

When you listen closely to what Jesus has done for you, you will never conclude that you are still a poor, miserable peasant dragging a bag of guilt through the jungle. Instead you have become an oak of righteousness. You have gone from broke to oak. There’s the new sermon theme I was telling you about. You used to be a straggler but now you are strong. You are comforted, not in mourning; you are encouraged, not deflated; you are free from your burdens and not captive; you have been clothed in a garment of praise and thrown away your garment of despair.

You are an oak! You are sturdy and confident and relaxed, not volatile and unpredictable. You are an oak who has been planted for one reason and one reason only – to display the LORD’s splendor with your life. And notice it is the LORD’s splendor and not your splendor. And what is the LORD’s splendor? The LORD’s splendor is anyone who says, “I had a huge burden of guilt and it was all cut loose by Christ’s forgiveness. Praise be to Him for all he has done!

Listen one more time to the Scripture verses for today from Isaiah, words which describe how in Christ we have gone from broke to oak. (read text again)

That is the Word of the LORD – he has caused us to go from broke to oak. Amen.