Written by professors, graduates, and others in
the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary community, these reflections, prayers, and spiritual practices will take you along the journey with Jesus through the cross toward resurrection.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Lent is a time to reflect on how we live, including how we do not meet God’s expectations. Psalm 32 asks us to think about sin.
Sin can refer to a specific deed that is against God’s intention for us. For instance, stealing a car goes against God’s command “Thou shalt not steal.” Sin also can mean a nagging feeling that we are not in a right relationship with a holy God, even though we do our best to follow the Ten Commandments and Jesus’s command to love one another. Sin can mean our separation from God.
Forty years ago, a book was published called Whatever Became of Sin? The book noted that speaking about sin can make people feel ashamed or guilty, so Christians talk about sin less than they used to. Does God want us to feel bad for breaking God’s law? As St. Augustine noted, while it is possible for Christians to avoid a given sin, experience shows that it is impossible to avoid sinning throughout life. The ancient Hebrews believed that the purpose of the Torah, or God’s law, was to reveal to people God’s vision for living well. When we fall short of what God expects—when we commit sins—God is eager to forgive us, our psalm says. God is our “hiding place” (v.7). God’s love is unfailing (v.10). So, sin and forgiveness belong together.
The author writes about experiencing forgiveness in the second part of the psalm. The author owns up to sin, or confesses it. The psalmist says matter-of-factly that God “forgave the guilt of my sin” (v.5). What happened here? How does the psalmist know that sin is forgiven? The text does not say.
What is clear, though, is that the psalmist is confident of God’s forgiveness. This confidence has two consequences. One is grateful rejoicing in God’s gift of forgiveness (v.11). The second is the author’s eagerness to teach others about God’s law (vv.8–10).
Laws sometimes seem senseless, unreasonably limiting what we can do. Our psalm teaches that God’s rules are for our own good. They teach “the way that you should go” (v.8) to live a good life. Yes, we live in a world of sin. But it is also a world where our holy God moves to forgive our sins.
O God, throughout these forty days of Lent, make us aware of how we fail to live up to your vision for our lives. And make us even more aware of your forgiveness, shown most clearly in Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
– The Reverend Dr. Timothy Lincoln
Associate Dean for Seminary Effectiveness
and Director, Stitt Library
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.
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