Ash Wednesday – Pr. Anderson sermon
Psalm 51:1-3 “Realizing Our Need for Repentance”
March 5, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lamb of God, pure and holy, Who on the cross didst suffer, Ever patient and lowly, Thyself to scorn didst offer. All sins Thou borest for us, Else had despair reigned o’er us: Have mercy on us, O Jesus! O Jesus! Amen. (ELH #41 v. 1)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
What do you think about when you hear the word, “reflection?” Maybe it is a young woman looking at her reflection in a pond that you read about in a fable. Maybe it is this morning as you looked at your reflection in the mirror. Maybe, you have thought about the events of your life and you are reflecting on your past. What parts of the past are coming up? Is it a reflection of good events, or a reflection of past mistakes and regrets? While we may have joy or sadness in our reflections of the past, there is no escaping this word and concept of “reflection.” We find it in Scripture as one of the key parts of the law is it hangs in front of us like a mirror. As we reflect on our repentance and the repentance we hear in Scripture, every week we will reflect on a different aspect of it. As Lutherans we confess that repentance should happen daily, and this goes to the point of Scripture that we must realize our need for repentance. If we can’t realize the need, then we are in trouble. Before our text David had wrote, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit (Psalm 49:7-9). Realizing our need for repentance allows us to truly see the price of our sins. The price that has already been paid.
With the price being paid, it seems like it should be easy to realize our need for repentance. When we go to the source, we see a different side of the story and one we are familiar with. Now we might not have done what David did. His hidden sins of adultery and murder can seem so large and public compared to something we might commit in closed doors. We see though for David, even with committing such large and very noticeable sins of adultery and murder, he has a hard time realizing his need for repentance. After, the baby is born he hardens his heart, trying to put the events behind him. While we are good at putting our sins to the back of our minds, Isaiah prophesied, “For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities” (Isaiah 59:12). They never leave on their own. As David’s sins were still before him, and even now as he writes this Psalm of repentance, Isaiah many years later still had to try and get his people to realize their need for repentance. He had to point out that as the people were in their sins, those sins are before God.
Many will wonder why this is a topic one needs to do an in-depth study on? Isn’t this something we hear about every week on Sundays? The answer to that question is yes, but again, this is something we should be looking at daily in our lives. It should be looked at daily because we sin daily, and until there is repentance, our sins testify against us. Like David before the Prophet Nathan’s confrontation, it looks as though we can get away with most of our sins. While we can think some are or should be insignificant, in our text we will soon hear, David confesses how his sins have been stacking up against him. As they build up, they only continue to destroy his relationship with God. When sin is made into a friend, they will always lead us away from God as David’s son would later write, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way” (Proverbs 19:2).
When we miss His way for the wide path, there are times it can seem like it is too hard to get off of it. Maybe we realize why Jesus and John preached so much about repentance. We know it is good to get things off of our chest. But then again, what will people think if they knew what we did? David confesses he had these thoughts. His sins festered inside of him and he thought there was no way for him to stand before God. To realize our need for repentance means to acknowledge that when we are in sin, there is no way we can stand in front of God. Our sins always deserve His wrath and punishment. So, in our sins and failings, we realize there is always a need to repent of our sins and this will never change. We confess, “Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt” (Psalm 123:3).
With David realizing his need for repentance when Nathan bore witness against him, the realization points right to God’s abundant mercy. Now truly we haven’t had more than enough
contempt. This is a mercy that no one can afford or deserve. With this realization, David understands he can only appeal to what God can do for him. He appeals to the God who wants the wicked to turn and live. David has realized the importance of repentance. It is the only way for him to see the path he is on and he needs to be brought back by God through the power of His Word spoken by the Prophet Nathan. He confesses in Psalm 32, Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit (Psalm 32:1-2). No deceit is found in the One who would be David’s descendant. The Son of God who reveals God’s undeserved grace and mercy. While David hears this from Nathan, these Words would later come in the flesh and then hang from a cross living them out to completion.
As you come to hear the history of the passion, suffering, and death of your Savior, you see your pleas like David’s, being answered. Our plea from our text is, 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. Realizing the importance of repentance is realizing it doesn’t take place weekly but it takes place daily. Realizing it takes place daily, is realizing daily that your Savior is the only who does wash you, cleanses you, and takes away those sins that lie before you with His death on the cross. You hear this message every time you come here because this is the only message that saves. It is gory, painful, and it hurts. And as you realize it and confess it, you see your Savior taking on the pain, hurt, and punishment for your redemption. God does have mercy and the proof is in the death of Christ.
In realizing your need for repentance, you realize your need and love of your Savior. He forgives the sins that plague you the most. St. Paul puts emphasis in His caring work when he writes, “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith” (Romans 3:22-25a). In the cross you realize the love of God for world. Blood that washes you clean. Body and blood you see with your own eyes in the sacrament.
The church comes together on Ash Wednesday to begin the journey of focus on the redemptive work of Christ. There is no greater gift then reflecting on all the years in church history where through struggles and trials she persevered. She is able to continue because in her reflection she sees her Savior coming to her in the Means of Grace. As the world pushes in, she finds comfort together as St. John writes, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). It is hard to reflect on the past mistakes, but with the realization of repentance, comes the realization of your Savior’s steadfast love and abundant mercy. You are cleansed from sin, and they remain in front of you no longer through your Savior’s death on the cross. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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