Ash Wednesday - Contrasts of the Cross (Sin and Grace)

Text: Romans 3:23-25a
Series: Contrasts of the Cross
Theme: Sin and Grace
Place: Amazing Grace Lutheran Church, Myrtle Beach, SC
Date: February 17, 2010 (Ash Wednesday)

What are your memories of Lent? Maybe you’re thinking, “Ah, pastor the last thing I want to do at this hour is have to think.” But I’m serious! What are your memories of Lent? Is it that the paraments and the stole change to purple during the season? Is it that maybe in the church where you grew up there was a purple cloth draping the cross and a crown of thorns put over it? Is it that the atmosphere for worship seemed a bit more serious? Or the hymns a bit more solemn as we sing – “Go to dark Gethsemane” or “Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain” or “O Sacred Head Now Wounded?” Whatever your memories are, there are two that we share. Because in a very vivid way Lent teaches us about sin and grace. Lent teaches us to remember our sins. Lent teaches us to remember our Savior.

The apostle’s words are pretty clear: All have sinned. There is a sad tale in those words isn’t there? What a sea of tears – from tears of a mother named Eve for her dead son Abel to the tears of the parents of the 14 and 19 year old who were shot during Sunday worship in California, on Valentines’ Day. What an ocean of blood – the blood of every martyr cries out from the ground – from Abel to the latest victim of religious oppression; the terrible toll of corpses from every war; the victims of every senseless shooting or botched holdup, domestic violence or atrocious abuse. What a flood of filth and ugliness - from the disgusting practices of the Canaanites to the filth that floods our homes on the web pages or emails, on MTV or VH1. What endless murmurs of conscience whispering to those who have wounded a loyal friend or offended a loving companion, disappointed loving parents or demeaned their lifelong spouse, or worst of all, who have betrayed a faithful God. What shame! What disgrace! The stain so deep, so damaging, so undeniable. No bleach can blot it out. No soap can wash it away. What agony to bear. All have sinned.
And the Lord laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all. Is it any wonder his sweat was like drops of blood in the Garden? Is it any wonder why he cried out from the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

It would be great if that was the entire story, right? But it doesn’t say, all of them sinned. No!, it says all have sinned. I cannot escape the painful reality of that little word “all” – it includes me and it includes you, all of you. Imagine every sin you commit is a pebble dropping on your head. Let’s say it’s this size [pebble shown]. Imagine one of these dropping on your head for that hurtful tone and hateful word you used with your spouse. That evil thought towards your classmate or the lie you told to the teacher. That time you fought with your brother or sister. That time you disobeyed your parents or lashed out in anger against your child. That time you were inattentive in worship or half-heartedly read your Bible. That time you shaded the truth to your advantage. That time you were greedy for more or discontent with less. Multiply that steady rain by the days, weeks, months, and years of a lifetime. What a monument of mistakes! A mountain of screw ups! An Everest of sin we’ve heaped up! What a crushing burden of guilt. Multiply that by the billions who have ever breathed the breath of life – stone by stone, what an Everest of sin.
What shame! What disgrace! The pebbles so many! The mountain so tall! The weight so crushing! No bulldozer can remove it! No dynamite can level it! And the Lord laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all. Is it any wonder his sweat was like drops of blood in the Garden? Is it any wonder why he cried out from the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? What verdict has God pronounced on us? It’s sad! It’s scary! It’s shocking! All fall short of the glory of God!

Goodness is glorious. Godly living shines like a beautiful light that brings glory to God and those who follow his way. But there is nothing beautiful and glorious about sin. It makes those who live in it ugly and warped. Sinners fall short of the glory for which God created them.
Those who do glorious things can bask in praise and approval. Heroes and winners receive praise and acclaim. But sinners and villains! There is no praise or approval from God. All he has to say, Depart from me. I never knew you!”

Those who do glorious things receive glorious rewards. But for sinners there is no glory. There is no joy in the light of God’s presence. There is no shining like the sun in the Kingdom of Light, only disgrace and disgust, shame and humiliation in outer darkness.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is a sad tale in those words isn’t there? A depressing story to say the least, right! But there’s the contrast of the cross. We see sin there, but we also see grace. Lent must teach me to remember my sin. But it also teaches me to remember grace, to remember my Savior.

Did you catch what the apostle said? All are justified. That’s a pretty important word, friends! It is a good word to hear for the one who is being prosecuted. When the judge justifies the plaintiff he slams the gavel down and says, “You are innocent! You have done nothing wrong. You can live in freedom.” All are justified! Declared forgiven, friends! Lent doesn’t tell us what to do. Lent tells us what has been done. Lent doesn’t give us a list of instructions to follow. Lent hands us a cancelled bill. Our sins have been forgiven.

And you know what? Listen: All are justified freely by his grace. We did not pay anything for this forgiveness. God doesn’t ask you to swipe your Discover Card or MasterCard, or withdraw cash from the nearest ATM. It was a gift. The apostle is putting before our eyes an important truth. You are declared not guilty freely by grace. Freely means by grace and by grace means freely. You were justified freely by his grace. There was nothing fake or phony about the verdict that you received because it came through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God didn’t ignore the debt of sin. He didn’t turn a blind eye from it. It wasn’t covered up by a dishonest bookkeeper. It was paid in full. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” it was finished.

I suppose someone could say their memories of Lent are filled with abstract church words like justification, grace, and redemption. But Lent is really the story of a person. It is the story of our Savior, God and man, who at a real time and a real place in history had his clothes stripped and ripped off; his face bashed and beaten; blood oozing from his hands and feet; groans of agony and cries of pain under the weight of sin! Cursed! Condemned! Crucified! Killed! So that you can have life and glory. That came by Christ Jesus. That’s grace!

And that’s the whole story of Lent! All have sinned, but are justified freely by his grace. I can’t deny the truth of that little word “all” – it includes me and it includes you! All of you! God made my Savior a sacrifice of atonement, a sacrifice that made peace between sinful me and holy God. This peace is mine, is yours, through faith in his blood. Jesus’ blood covers our sins! That’s grace! Believe it!

That’s what we remember this Lenten season – sin and grace. And if you remember that, the journey will be precious. Precious because we get to go back to Gethesemane to hear Jesus’ prayer and remember Jesus’ willing submission to his Father’s will. Precious because we travel to the judgment hall to remember Jesus’ patient endurance of heartless cruelty. Precious because we come to Calvary’s holy mountain – to the foot of the cross – to remember the wondrous love that enabled Jesus to endure the pain until he could cry, “It is finished.”

The things you need to remember from Lent are not so many – they can be boiled down to two – sin and grace. In fact, you can boil it down to one: You are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that cam by Christ Jesus! That is enough!