The Depth of Sin and the Depth of Mercy

Part of what it means to have "Gospel-centered worship" is that we take our sin seriously.  Why do we take time each week to focus on our sin?  One reason is because God takes sin seriously.  Another reason is because it is only when we see the depth of our sin and what we have been rescued from, that we fully appreciate the grace and wonder of the gospel.  Simply put, to the extent that we minimize or sanitize our sin, we rob the gospel of its richness.  Grace is really amazing because our sin is atrocious.

One of the most common ways that the Bible describes our sinful rebellion against God is through the metaphor of sexual immorality.  God is the faithful husband to His people, and the people of God are depicted as an unfaithful spouse who has run after other lovers.  As we heard in Rev. Shaynor Newsome's recent sermon from Hosea, God in His mercy receives back His adulteress people who have been unfaithful.  That is amazing grace.

Another metaphor of our sinful rebellion is that of the prodigal son from Luke 15 who loves the father's possessions but wants nothing to do with the father.  In fact, he wishes the father dead.  After the son wastes away his share of his father's inheritance, he tries to work his way back into the father's favor as a slave.  But the father runs to the son, throws his arms around his neck, puts a robe around him, a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet.  The father will not welcome him back as a slave, but as a son.

These are two beautiful metaphors that should melt our hearts as we see the mercy of God toward sinners like us.  But part of believing the gospel means that we identify ourselves as both the unfaithful bride and the prodigal son.  We must admit the radical nature of our sin to experience the radical nature of God's grace.

This Sunday, during our time of confession, we will be singing a new song by Derek Webb called Wedding Dress.  This song highlights these two metaphors of the gospel and calls us to identify with the unfaithful wife and the prodigal son.

For some of us, this song may be a bit shocking because it calls us to confess that we are a "whore".  That is a strong term that is often used with evil and hurtful intent.  It is an uncomfortable term in social settings and not one we are excited to hear on the lips of our children.  And yet, before we take a pietistic stance toward such language, we must remember something.  This word is used by God countless times throughout the Bible.  You cannot read through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Hosea without encountering it numerous times.  And God expects that we preach these texts and read them in church and in our families.  And as we do so, we explain to our children why God levels the charge of whoredom against us - because He has loved us as a husband, but we have run after other lovers.  And God, in His infinite mercy, welcomes us back.

Are we singing this song for shock value?  Not in the sense that we think it is hip and edgy to use vulgar language in church.  (But remember, if we think we should avoid the term to maintain some sense of holiness, we are claiming a higher morality than the God who gave us His Word.)  In another sense, yes, we are singing it for shock value.  The term "whore" is shocking.  And that is why God uses it.  He wants us to be shocked by the nature of our sin.  He wants us to see how unbelievably awful it is that we have abandoned our spouse in search of other lovers.  He wants it to appear astonishingly wicked to us.  Only then will we apprehend the depth of His mercy to us in Christ Jesus.  Only then will the full force of the gospel penetrate our hearts and melt us with His love.

Another word that appears in this song is the word "bastard".  This too is a word that can be used in a vulgar manner to bring hurt to others.  But we are not using a cuss word in church.  The term is a technical term that refers to an illegitimate child - one born out of wedlock.  Believing the gospel means acknowledging that we were born in sin (Psalm 51).  But the amazing grace of the gospel is that it is illegitimate children like us whom God the Father welcomes as sons and daughters, putting a ring on our finger.

The only way we will become a community of people who are "unshockable" and ready to welcome sinners of every hue just as Jesus did, is if we are shocked by OUR OWN sin.  When we see the depth of our own sin, we will not be surprised by the nature of anyone else's sin.  And when we apprehend the depth of the mercy of God necessary to restore us as His bride and sons and daughters . . . then, and only then will we believe that the gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16) - including the worst of sinners.