March 2, 2022 – Ash Wednesday Text: John 1:29-34
Dear Friends in Christ,
Tattoo parlors should have signs saying, “Think Before You Ink.” Do you want your girlfriend’s name on your bicep for the rest of your life? The same girlfriend that will break up with you six months later?
Removing tattoos is becoming a big business. Another fad in life fading away. Think about that when you see what is happening today. Things come and go. It may take up to 12 twelve sessions at $100-400 to remove that snake you thought was so cool the night you drank too much at age 21.
What if our regrets showed up as tattoos? The face of someone we hurt? Money that we wasted? The children we neglected because of our job? Dig around in the basement of our life and what do we find. Wasted years. Anger. Arrogance. Selfishness. Enabling people we love. What can be done with our unwanted marks?
Usually we get defensive. Tell no one. Locked away in our closet. Hide the secret. Cover it up. Whatever we do, never, ever confess it.
When we do that we are defeated. We didn’t just make a mistake, we are a mistake. We are a foul-up. We beat ourselves up with blame and shame. Defensive people hide marks. Defeated people replay marks. Is there a better way? As we begin this Lenten pilgrimage, we will see there is a better way. We can be delivered.
“TAKING AWAY YOUR UGLY MARKS”
Our sermon series is called “Witnesses to Christ.” The first person to help us follow Christ to the cross in John’s Gospel is John – John the Baptist. What does John the Baptist say when we’re defensive about sin or defeated by sin? “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (v. 29) The ugly marks of our sin can be taken away. We can be delivered.
The verb “Behold” is translated as look or gaze or stare. John the Baptist wants us to see the Lamb of God. This is the Passover Lamb of God. John uses the word Passover 11 times in his gospel. He wants us to behold, gaze, and take note of Christ – the Passover Lamb of God.
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away.” The verb takes away is in the present tense. Meaning that Christ still takes away. Today, He takes away. Tomorrow, He takes away. Next week, He takes away.
What does He take away? The world’s sin and your sin. Your haunting sin. Your shameful sin. We all know public shame. Branded by a divorce. Marked by a handicap. Saddled with alcoholic parents. Crushed by your child’s arrest. Or we feel stigmatized by losing our job, or house or savings. We may even stick out because we are a widow or widower. Know everybody knows.
We can suffer in private shame. Pushed to the edge by an abusive spouse, molested by a perverted parent, seduced by a sneaky superior, teased over and over by other kids. No one else knows but we know. We carry the marks.
We scream out. Throw water on our face. Go for a long drive. Cry in the shower. Nothing seems to take away the guilt. End of story?
No. We don’t drink our sin away or work our sin away or eat our sin away or explain our sin away. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world
You’ve carried your marks for so long you can’t think of life without them. But God can. God does. He can give you a life without your ugly marks. The Passover Lamb of God does it all for you. He removes your marks of shame and guilt and evil thoughts. You are not a pock-marked person of the world. You are a baptized Child of God. You have a Father who loves you. You have a Savior who exposes you to His grace.
Make a confession. When you make a confession of your sin you can then be exposed to this amazing grace of Jesus Christ. Oh, the devil works hard to keep you stifled in shame and guilt but you can pray, “Lord, I leave my sin with the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Lent is time for a fresh start and a new beginning. Don’t be defensive or defeated. Today, we are delivered. The marks of Jesus cover our ugly marks. Look at and behold His hands and His side and his feet. Gaze upon the blood mingling down from his face. Don’t turn away. These marks are your marks. He loves you that much. He says in the Psalms, “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Ps. 49:16) Your name is on His bloodstained hands.
If you’ve ever wondered how God reacts when guilt and shame have you cornered or if you ever think what God would do if He ever found out about it all – then frame these words and hang them on your wall. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Trust these words. Believe these words.
Jesus took the nails. On a cross. Taking the nails, Jesus takes away all of our sin and shame. He hung there, for us. Jesus still says, “I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.” In the end, in the end, these are the only marks that matter. These marks on Christ’s hand will never be erased. Ever!
Amen.