By the Rev. Robert Blezard
Revised Common Lectionary reflection for Proper 19, Year C
September 14, 2025
Key text: ‘Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.’ -Psalm 51:7
Clutching tissues wet with her tears, the guilt-stricken woman poured her heart out to the pastor. “God can never forgive me for what I’ve done,” she sobbed. The pastor, a wise friend from years past, nodded sympathetically and thought a moment before he spoke.
“So, you’re more powerful than God?” he said. She looked up, startled and confused. The pastor continued: “You are saying that your sin is beyond God’s capacity to forgive. You’re claiming to be more powerful than God.”
My friend started a compassionate pastoral conversation that ended with the woman shedding even more tears — but now tears of joy and relief. Church leaders play a big role in stewarding the faith and spiritual lives of God’s people. It’s what used to be called “care of souls.”
The pews of our churches as well as the sofas of our homes are filled with people who are paralyzed by guilt from things they did or have left undone. Or, perhaps, what they mistakenly think they have done or left undone! Some of the transgressions might even be serious, but knowing the contours of the human psyche, most of them are likely the garden variety sins we find in every life.
Yet they hold on to the guilt. Sitting in church, they feel the weight on their shoulders of what they are certain is God’s condemnation of them. Or, fearing certain that they are undeserving of God’s mercy and grace, assuming that God wants nothing to do with them, they stay away from church out of shame.
Which is the real shame, for God is always eager to give us humans chance after chance. We need not spend a minute longer than we have to with guilt and shame. When guilt and shame have driven us to our knees at the foot of the cross and compelled us to express sorrow and beg God’s forgiveness, they have done their duties. God’s forgiveness, love and mercy takes over, pouring forgiveness over our wounds of guilt.
Preachers could certainly provide balm for sin-sick souls with a message that focuses on God’s boundless mercy. A pointed message could give reassurance to people who have felt distant from God because of their guilt over their sins. The message could help God open their hearts to receive new life and abundant life.
This Sunday’s lessons are well suited to such a sermon. In Exodus, God has only recently freed God’s people from slavery in Egypt, but there they are worshiping an idol they have made. God is furious, ready to punish them with some unspecified disaster, but Moses succeeds in talking God out of it. Because mercy, it would seem, lies just underneath God’s wrath, we can appeal to God’s forgiving nature.
In the letter from 1 Timothy, Paul effervesces with thanks for God’s grace and mercy. After all, in his previous career as a zealous Pharisee, he persecuted Christ’s church. But that was before he knew Jesus. “The grace of Our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that is in Christ Jesus,” Paul writes, adding, “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance; that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of which I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:14-15). Paul seems to say that if God had mercy (and a special job!) for him, God has mercy for any sinner!
The reading from Psalm 51:1-10 exemplifies the posture of someone with a truly repentant heart. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love,” the reading begins. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (v. 51:2). The plea for God’s forgiveness is followed by acknowledgement of sinfulness and ends with this prayer for not merely forgiveness but permanent transformation: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me” (v. 51:10).
And then, underscoring God’s great delight in lavishing with forgiveness and grace, the lesson from Luke offers us two parables that speak of God’s character. Jesus’ parables tell people who go to great lengths to find something that valuable that they have lost. Upon finding the lost things, they call neighbors and friends in for a celebration. In addition to highlighting God’s joy with a sinner’s repentance, a preacher could emphasize that in both parables, the ones who have lost items do not sit idle but undertake a big search.
Assurance of God’s mercy and love would go a long way to free God’s people who are sitting in spiritual bondage to guilt and shame. As caretakers of souls and stewards of God’s Word, we can give them this assurance.
In worship
Take a collection of pebbles, perhaps having bought them from a garden store, and hand one out to every worshiper. In the sermon, tell worshipers that the pebble represents the “stones” of guilt and shame that we carry around — burdens that hinder the love and mercy of God from reaching us. Remind them that God eagerly desires to free us from the burden of sin. After all, that’s the gift we have from Jesus. Invite worshipers to give God their guilt and shame, freeing them from the burden of carrying them around. They can do this symbolically by placing the pebble in the offering plate. Or, you could put a bucket in the altar area and invite folks to come forward and drop it in.
With children and youth
Talking with young saints, invite them into a conversation about forgiveness by sharing a story of when you messed up as a child or youth and drew the ire of your parents. And you felt really bad about it. Share that your parents may not have been pleased with you, but they forgave you. Why? Because they loved you, and you were sorry. As a result, you didn’t have to feel bad anymore. Ask them if they’ve ever had such an experience. Bring the message to a close by saying that God forgives us because God loves us so much. If we feel bad and sorry for what we’ve done wrong, God forgives us and then we can feel happy again. End with prayer.
Previous reflections for Proper 19C:
2019 – Faith can help you summon the courage to change
2016 – Losing, finding and remembering
2013 – Precious in God’s sight
2010 – Let’s start the party and show a little joy!
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