Psalm 139:1-18

September 13, 1998

It was Thomas Paine, the provocative American thinker and writer who, looking out upon the twisted, confused and worrisome cultural landscape of the Revolutionary War, observed in a piece called The American Crisis that "These are the times that try men's souls."

And these powerful words have been echoing in my own mind over the course of the last many months as I - like you - have been trying to come to grips with the tragic scandal involving our President and Monica Lewinsky, and now not only them, but the entire nation as the lurid details of the matter become public.

Now Thomas Paine, in writing these words in 1780, did not mean simply to suggest that the fledgling America, then locked in conflict with Great Britain, was facing trying times - as in difficult times - or complicated and challenging times. Of course, the hour was dark and the task was daunting.

But what Paine was getting at was that times of crisis place our very souls on trial. They expose us for who and what we truly are. In the context of Paine's article, the rough periods of life are times that clearly reveal both the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot who shrink from the service of their country. And, according to Tom Paine, the rough periods also reveal the ones who will stand up and be counted.

And I dare say that this current moment, filled as it is with crisis, puts on trial not only the souls of the President and Ms. Lewinsky, but indeed, exposes the soul of us all. I don't know how you see it, but it strikes me that one of the things this whole process has done is to reveal parts of the soft underbelly of the American people as a whole. Every day, we are learning an awful lot about who we are, and what are values are, and what we truly believe in. And some of the things are good and noble, but others are dark and fearful.

Now, it seems to me that the nation in general - and this congregation in particular- probably do not need me to add my voice to the endless political analysis of the scandal. To be frank with you, I believe people need a pastoral, not a political voice from the church, and I, for one, am extremely leery about sermons that are no more than newspaper editorial pages sprinkled with a few Scripture passages to make them seem to be what they are surely not.

The nation, I believe, needs the voice of Christ in this hour. No one else is able to bring wholeness to both sinner and sinned against. No one else is able to take this terrible time and these very sad events and mold them anew into life and grace. You know, Scott Peck, the best-selling author/psychiatrist, whose book The Road Less Traveled and its sequels have helped so many people, says he became a Christian because only Christianity truly deals head-on with the issue of sin. The meaning of the Cross, and the process of forgiveness that flows from it, can truly set people free, and bring healing to the broken.

My prayer is that both the President and we the people will take up the way of the Cross in finding our way through these times that truly try men's souls.

And it is good to remind each other that the way of Christian forgiveness will require three important responses. First, the President must turn to God, and trusting God, sincerely and genuinely confess what he has done wrong, take full responsibility for his actions, seek to make amends and provide restitution where possible, turn from his sins by seeking help and change, and be willing to suffer the consequences for what he has done. Forgiveness begins with complete surrender both to God and those you've hurt. If you are dealing with an issue of forgiveness in your own life, you would do well to heed these words.

Second, we Christians especially, must take the lead by responding to this kind of genuine repentance by offering the hand of Christ. As His representatives, you see, we hold out the hope of forgiveness and healing and redemption to the world. We are examples of what God is like, and people see Christ in how we face times like these. We teach that light can shine in the darkness; that what is evil can be transformed into good; that God's grace is so amazing that what once was lost can now be found, and what was blind can be helped to see. We teach that God sent Jesus into the world to take upon himself the sins of the world so that sinners might be saved and not condemned. We teach redemption, and grace and salvation. We are stewards of God's gift of forgiveness. And we must be faithful in sharing the gift.

Thirdly, we the people must ultimately decide what consequences must result in order for healing to be complete, and what protections must be established to guard against it happening again. This is the part of forgiveness we often omit, and is why abused people sometimes think that forgiveness means staying in a destructive relationship. It does not. Christian forgiveness requires protection of those who've been harmed. You see, even forgiven sin has consequences.

Now that's all I want to say about the President's situation because otherwise we might think that this is just about him. And its not. For these are times that try all our souls.

I was watching one of those cable news programs the other night, before the Starr report came out. One of the people on the program was saying that the report should not be made public because it would be full of salacious (that's become the buzz word through all this, hasn't it?) and lurid sexual details of the affair. The commentator boldly declared, "The public doesn't want to read about this stuff!"

Well, I found myself just about jumping up and down in front of the TV, waving my hand as if I could get the attention of the commentator and say, "I do!!! I want to read the report! I want to read all of it! Every juicy -salacious - tidbit of it!"

And then I sat down and wondered where that came from!

And, of course, I guess I know where that comes from. For to be honest with you, dear friends, as deeply as I believe in the grace of God, and as much as I have personally received the gift of forgiveness from God and from others, there is still something that lurks deep within me that takes some strange kind of delight in the sins of others, and in looking through other peoples' dirty laundry.

In the trial of my own soul during these challenging days, I find a great need to confront my own sin, and to grow as a Christian person. And as I hear people expressing equally as fallen sentiments during the challenge of these days - like the notion that morality doesn't matter so long as the economy is good (I wonder if you'll take some time to think about that notion from a Christian perspective?) - or that the President is no good and can never change (I wonder if you'll examine that idea from a Christian perspective?)- or that its okay to lie about some things under oath (will you consider that idea from a Christian perspective?)- or that a person's accomplishments count for nothing if he's found to be a sinner (spend some moments mulling over that idea from a Christian perspective) - as I hear people expressing these kinds of thoughts that seem to be so far removed from the teachings of Jesus, I wonder if part of what's going on these days is that the Holy Spirit is in the land, showing us how deeply we need to change. These are the times that try men's souls.

Today's Scripture lesson from Psalm 139 teaches a powerful lesson that we Christians need to hear. It describes a God who constantly plumbs the depths of our lives, illuminating things within us that are harmful, hurtful, sinful. The passage infers that to be a person of faith is more than coming forward in a church service, and giving your life to God. To be a person of faith is about what happens after you do that. It is about participating with God in this deep examination of your life and letting God re-create you - your thoughts, your values, your deepest beliefs, your behavior, the way you relate with others - changing you from a person oriented around sin to a person rooted in Christ. This is something theologians call sanctification. We in the church don't talk about that as much as we should. It is the process of you and me being made into Christ's image.

And Psalm 139 describes this process of sanctification - of change - as an ongoing process of discovering who we are and what we are like. It is a never-ending process of God-guided self-examination, exposing to us what needs to be changed in order to find the new life that Christ promises.

The text I want to give you from the Psalm- to take with you into the week - is a simple prayer found in verses 23 and 24:

Last Sunday, I told you about my friend Kim who God brought out from the prison of alcoholism and deep personal darkness to the bright life of sobriety and joy and significance. Before her sudden death a short while ago at the age of 35, Kim was transformed into a person who touched the world with grace. She helped hundreds of other people. She redeemed the unredeemable. She found a quality of life that I wish everyone could find. She became Christ-like. You could see Jesus in her.

On the day that we prayed together, many years ago. Kim not only gave her life to Christ, but reached out for strength to engage the fourth step of the 12-Steps of AA. She asked God to help her to make a searching and fearless moral inventory of her life. It was what Kim learned about herself in that process and the real changes she made with God's help that formed the core of the miracle that happened over the ensuing eight years.

To be a Christian is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you make a searching and fearless moral inventory of your own life. It is in this process - of confronting our own sins - that God promises to help us become new people.

One way can begin this process with God is to carefully look at how we respond to the current national crisis. What is going on with you as you think about it? What are you learning about yourself?

Another way of walking with God toward self-discovery and change is to take a careful look at the life and teachings of Jesus. When we examine Him, we learn just how unlike Him we are, and discover the changes we need to make to be happy and whole people. I might challenge you to take the remainder of the Fall season, the nearly four months between now and the end of the year, to carefully read the four Gospels. See who Jesus is and what he is like. Set him as the standard for your life and measure yourself against him. Let Jesus' life and teachings search you and know you.

These are times that try men's souls.

And because God loves us, they are times through which we can be lifted, and touched by grace.

Amen.