Readings for today: Genesis 3-4, Matthew 2:13-3:6, Psalms 2, Proverbs 1:7-9
Do you remember the first time you experienced shame? Psychologists consider it one of our deepest, most primal emotions. It arises internally and is reinforced externally from the time we are very young. It is an important emotion. Those who are incapable of experiencing shame are often socio or psychopathic. Their inability to feel this emotion cripples them in significant ways. On the flip side, many experience excessive feelings of shame which can be just as crippling. How have you dealt with shame? Do you bury it? Deny it? Medicate it? Try to find ways to numb it? This, of course, forms the bedrock of the research Brene Brown has become famous for. Her initial TED talk on shame went viral and still remains one of the most popular. She’s written several New York Times’ bestsellers on the subject as well so clearly there is a hunger in our culture for healthy ways of dealing with our deep-seated shame.
Where does shame come from? Psychologists have puzzled over this for decades. The Bible, however, is clear. Shame is the first emotion human beings feel in the wake of their sin. Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. They break God’s command. They disobey and rebel, all in an attempt to become like God. What initially tastes so sweet turns bitter in the stomach as their eyes are opened to what they have just done. They experience shame and their first instinct is to cover up. Hide their nakedness. From each other. From God. “Where are you?” God calls out. As if He doesn’t already know. Adam and Eve feel exposed. They don’t feel safe. So they play the blame game. The woman caused me to eat! The serpent tricked me! Careful readers will take note how they try to turn this back on God. As if it were His fault for creating woman and the serpent or even putting the tree there in the first place.
God is gracious, however. He doesn’t want them to live forever in their shame. So He makes them clothes to cover their nakedness and He banishes them from paradise lest they stretch out their hand and eat of the Tree of Life. But the cycle of shame continues. Cain’s “face falls” when his offering is not accepted. This is a very Middle Eastern way of saying Cain was ashamed. His shame eventually led to violence as he kills his own brother in cold blood. The murder of his brother leads to more shame when he’s confronted by God. “My punishment is greater than I can bear...” Once again, God is gracious and places a special mark on Cain to protect him. Shame is not just an Old Testament idea. It was shame that caused Herod to lash out and kill all the infants in and around Bethlehem. Embarrassed by the betrayal of the wise men, he commits infanticide. It was shame that drove the people to John the Baptist where they repented and confessed their sins and were baptized. It is the lack of shame on the part of the nations that the Psalmist calling attention to when he encourages them serve the Lord with fear and trembling. Thankfully, God extends grace once again as the nations are encouraged to find refuge in Him.
“Where are you?” The question God first asked Adam and Eve in the Garden persists to this day. It comes to each of us and meets us right where we are in life. It comes as an invitation. A scary one to be sure! It is the invitation to be vulnerable. Exposed. Naked before the Lord. To confess our sins and let Him into the deepest recesses of our being. The dark places we all have in our hearts where we bury those things that cause us the greatest shame. God wants into those places. He wants to shed the light of His grace into the darkness of our hearts so that we may finally experience true healing. True peace. And rest securely in His unconditional love. He wants us to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is nothing that can separate us from Him which is why He sent His only Son into the world. On the cross, Jesus bore not just our sin but our shame as well. He endured utter and complete humilitation so we would not have to. This, friends, is the great news of the gospel! The good news that was preached to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and all their descendents even to you and me today. Believe it! Embrace it! Accept God’s invitation! Kiss the Son and be set free from your shame!
Readings for tomorrow: Genesis 5-7, Matthew 3:7-4:11, Psalms 3, Proverbs 1:10-19