Thursday, August 11, 2011

Psalm 51.10-13, 1 Samuel 26.1-25, 1 Corinthians 5.1-13 - Lectionary for 8/11/11

Today's readings are Psalm 51.10-13, 1 Samuel 26.1-25, and 1 Corinthians 5.1-13.

Repentance. It's a difficult thing. Or at least it should be. Like Saul in today's reading, we are often confronted with our sin. We see our need to repent. And once in a while we are moved to sorrow and repentance. What do we do then? It's as likely as not that we turn around and enter into sin again. It may not be precisely the same sin. We may wait a while. It may not be immediate. But, as I frequently observe to people I'm visiting or counseling, we confess we are sinners, and sinners sin against God and other people. That's just what we do. We're good at it.

Like Saul, we are confronted with our sin. Like the Corinthians in today's reading we are told to cleanse ourselves from sin. But why? Because Christ the Passover has been sacrificed for us. At the Passover the Israelites purged their houses of leaven, eating only unleavened bread. This leaven, almost always a biblical symbol of sin, is to be removed and be replaced with Christ, the Paschal Lamb, the one sinless substitute for us.

Are we moved to repentance? Let us then be filled with Christ, who has given himself for us.

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