(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
What is biblical shame?
Intro:
<Monty Python audio quote here — Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!>
In our OT segment today you’ll hear God tell the city of Jerusalem, “Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite/Hethite.” That always makes me think of Monty Python, and I’m pretty sure the rules of Christian podcasting are that you have to play a Monty Python taunt at the beginning of an episode where the Bible is going to otherwise get in your business.
If you’re newer to the show you know that we read the whole Bible, but the focus question usually looks at something from the text that we may or may not hear on Sunday morning…some little nugget that hopefully adds to the richness of our knowledge of, and love for, what Jesus has done for us. And today’s focus question, “What is biblical shame?”, comes from the interesting contrast you’ll hear at the end of our OT segment today
New Testament segment:
If 2 John is the shortest book in the NT (and some would argue 3 John is), 3 John is a scant five words longer.
Passage: 3 John
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 15
Words: ~303
You may remember that in 1 John 3:17 John wrote
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 1 Jn 3:17, ESV
and here John’s commending Gaius for his hospitality. But it’s more than having someone over for dinner. God’s a missional God, He’s called us to be a missional people, and a missional people, broadly speaking, have goers and senders. Both are equally co-workers in the truth. So I say again, with deepest gratitude, thank you sincerely to each of you who make it possible for me to serve you in this way, because in so doing you enable me to serve many others. And I should be better at telling you the stories that result.
Old Testament segment:
Ezekiel 16 is an allegory that is, frankly, graphic. And for good reason — God’s showing us in rather stark terms how it was He who blessed us, gave us all good things, and we cheated on him. Worse than that. And yet He continues to pursue….and to what end?
Remember that Jerusalem was originally Canaanite territory, so in one sense its father and mother were Amorite and Hittites/Hethites. But that imagery is also symbolic of what God rescued us from. Oh, but wait, it gets more graphic. See you on the other side…and don’t miss the beautiful ending.
Passage: Ezekiel 16
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 63
Words: ~1840
The bottom line:
Notice the contrast at the end…in the past I established a covenant with you and you blew it, and in the future
I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord, so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth again because of your disgrace. Ez 16:62–63, CSB
Biblical shame is “An uncomfortable feeling of guilt and humiliation, usually arising from sin or failure.”(1) And let me point out just one from our text today…exposure. Babies left in a field to die. You thought abortion, pre- or post-birth is a modern thing?
To my own shame I was party to an abortion because I was doing at that time what we all have propensity to do…to run from shame. To numb shame. To love the love of people more than the love of God as we say, “I’m pro-life, but I wouldn’t ever vote that way because, well, that’s forcing my view on someone else.” But I imagine many standing before God one day and having to answer the question… “So, the right to life, which precedes and is the basis for all other rights, which I told you to choose, you didn’t choose because you were worried about what people would think of you?”
“Nevertheless, you did vote that way. And while you were at it, you cheated on our marriage, too. You didn’t just whore yourself out, you paid them to take you to the mat. And if you can imagine the shame of being exposed, stripped bare of all you have, publicly humiliated, literally paraded naked in front of all, all while every lie and bit of gossip you’ve ever delivered is recounted…all that shame I’m going to lay on my Son. For you. Because I love you. I love you. I love you.”
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Martin H. Manser, Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies (London: Martin Manser, 2009).