Bulletins - Christ Chapel of McMinnville, TN

O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (Azmon)
Gloria Patri
We Fall Down
Doxology
When I was starting out in ministry I attended a retreat with other pastors who were also in the process of going towards ordination. This was a sabbath retreat where we had a little education mixed in with personal time for rest as well as activities to deepen our spiritual growth. One class I attended was on creating stained glass art pieces. I attempted to make a cross using various broken pieces of red, clear, white and purple textured glass. It has not held up very well since then, as was expected actually. The piece I made has fallen apart. Yet, even though it is in pieces, it reminds me of the reason I made it in the first place.
Pray and Read Psalm 51
Psalm 51 NRSV
To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Let me paint the backstory for why this psalm was written. I was written by King David, but not for worship or even public use. This psalm was like a journal entry, a confession from David to his God. David had used his authority to steal another man’s wife, and having that man killed in battle. Yes, this same David of simple origins, called by God to be king of Israel, had been so faithful and kind. The head prophet of the time, Nathan, who had succeeded Samuel after his passing, came to David to “call him out” on what he had done. Nathan, on the behalf of God needed David to see the error of his ways. David did feel bad for what he had done, especially once he realized all he had done and how many people where hurt by his choices. Which makes verse 4 interesting.
Against You Alone My God Have I Sinned!
Why would David say that only against God has he sinned? Isn’t that what sin is really but causes harm to someone or something, including yourself? No, that alone is not the definition of sin. It is broader than that. When we sin, he are going against God’s perfect order, causing harm to His will and His creation.
In the world today, people will argue over what exactly is a sin. Some may say, “I am not hurting anyone by doing this or doing that, so how have I sinned?” With this way of thinking it is hard to see how even our thoughts could be sinful, even what we do in the privacy of our homes could be considered sin in God’s eyes. Jesus said throughout the Beatitudes in Matthew that our very thoughts could lead us in sinning against God. Being angry enough with hatred for someone is the same as murder to God. Sin is serious, and it goes deep into your heart, and into your very soul. No one else may know your sin, but God knows all your thoughts and feelings.
Think about who God is for you, or to you. God is my Friend, my Father, my Creator, my Love, and my Sanctuary. This is who I have sinned against. And God knows my sins against Him. Do you understand the seriousness of sin?
Then David cries out to God in verse 10, Psalm 51:10
Psalm 51:10 NRSV
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
for God to cleanse him, and make him belong to God again. This is confession. It is one thing to know your sin, but to then acknowledge your sin is the next step. But then, by the grace of God, our sins are taken away and we are made new. We are redeemed like we talked about last week. David goes on in verse 15 and talks about making a sacrifice unto God of his own broken spirit and broken heart. Why would such a sacrifice be acceptable to God. Because that is what God does, He restores things that were once broken and makes them all new.
God doesn’t enjoy seeing us broken. It is not like that at all. Instead, when we sin, we break His heart by breaking ours. Christ was broken, his body, his heart, and his spirit so that our sins would be taken away. It was in this that our God became our acceptable sacrifice for our sins. When you hear phrases like, “Jesus did not despise the cross”, that is what it means. God does not despise you in your broken state, but was broken and then made new as an example of what God does with us.
Upon The Cross, Christ was Broken. Upon My Sin was Christ Broken!
The cross represents Sin. Sin, with a capital “S” is the broken nature of this world. When Christ was nailed to the cross, our Sin lost the battle for God’s creation. We now have a way to live without sin causing our eternal demise. We can walk away from our sin and be made new in Christ.
When I look upon the broken pieces of my stained glass creation, i am reminded that I alone cannot wipe away my own brokenness or forget the sins of my past. I cannot, on my own, live life without sin. Yet, I can recognize that I am on my own a sinner. However, through the grace of God that I have accepted in exchange for my sin, I am being made perfect in the eyes of God.
What sins do you need to leave at the altar? Where are you broken? What does God want you to rid yourself of that causes you to live a part from Him and His will for your life? God desires for you to bring it all to Him and be made new.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen
- - Psalm 51:1–12NRSV
- - Psalm 51:10NRSV
Open Our Eyes

Against You Alone My God Have I Sinned!

Upon The Cross, Christ was Broken. Upon My Sin was Christ Broken!

Psalm 51:1–12NRSV

Psalm 51:10NRSV