First Sunday in Lent (5)
“Full Measure” by Susan D. Savage
Psalm 51
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me…
David’s psalm of repentance was
written almost a year after he committed adultery with Uriah’s wife,
Bathsheba. Not only did David commit
adultery but in his attempts to cover up his sinful act, he committed murder
and then attempted to go on with his life as normal. Eventually God sent Nathan the prophet to
confront David about his sin. Helpless
and lost, knowing he had done wrong and not seeing a way forward, David
repented. Psalm 51 is his prayer of
repentance and in it he shows what repentance is and what repentance does.
Repentance is not only turning from our sin. It is turning to God. It is an intentional, directional change in our lives from sin to God. This is foundational to our faith. Like David, the hard part can be finding our way to repentance but when we are ready to repent, our grace-filled and loving God is there for us. He is there to cleanse our hearts, renew our spirits, breathe into us the Holy Spirit, restore our joy, blot out our sins and uphold our lives. In repentance we stand under the grace of God, waiting for him to pour out. I love this image! We are vessels, ready to receive God’s power and love which is greater than any sin. Of the artwork I’ve chosen today, the artist Susan Savage writes, “‘Full Measure’ is an image of sacrifice and redemption. The silver vessel, symbolic of the body, has been tempered by fire. Its material existence stands redeemed. The vessel, designed to receive and to hold, always waiting, always preparing to be used, becomes sanctified.”
Like the vessel changed through tempering, repentance changes and renews us. Our faith joins us with Christ. On the cross we died with him, and in the resurrection, we rose with him. We are redeemed. Our lives are transformed because we can live in the freedom of God’s abundant love. We all know, however, that life has its ups and downs. There is no doubt that we will have need to search our hearts, humble ourselves, and repent throughout our Christian journey. Repentance is ongoing. This might seem discouraging, but our assurance is that when we approach God with our brokenness he will be there for us. David writes, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” As deep as our pit of despair might seem, God’s ocean of love is deeper still. It is as deep as we need it to be, and as we delve deeper into this ocean of love we are changed and renewed.
Our season of Lent occurs during the natural lengthening of days. Just the other day as I was enjoying my routine of quiet reading in the early morning, I noticed that the light outside the window was different than it had been, and then I realized that daylight was approaching earlier than usual. The days were getting longer! It was a moment of clarity of the passage of time and seasons, and the miracle of creation that gave me pause. I pray this season of Lent will be an opportunity for lengthening our own self-examination, repentance, return to God, and the building of his kingdom here on earth.
Dear God, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me.
- Joanne Collier