My December Bible reading included the Old Testament book of Isaiah.  Much of the beloved imagery of Christmas comes straight from Isaiah.  Look at chapter 9, starting at verse 6:  

For unto us a child is born, a son is given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

When Nancy shared this vision of the Peaceable Kingdom, everybody getting along…peaceably, the portrait was based on scripture from Isaiah.   But there are 66 chapters in Isaiah all told; and most of it not nearly so peaceable….

The morning after digging out from the big mid-December snow storm, (not to be confused with the huge Christmas Eve snowstorm) back in my booth at Panera’s, I opened my Bible to Isaiah 14 and it was like the Lord was saying:  Here, Bruce, I want you to hear this.  It’s an oracle spoken by the prophet against the King of Babylon.  Call it a cautionary tale for any who think they’re too big to fail:

How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!  How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!  You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God….   But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit.  Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, and would not let the prisoners go home?’ All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; but you are cast out, away from your grave, like loathsome carrion, clothed with the dead, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the Pit, like a corpse trampled underfoot.  (14:12-19)
 

You think you’re too big to fail, Mr. Royal King of Babylon? 
Think again! 

Now, let’s hear some Brenda Lee.   When I was putting together my 5 Hours of Essential Pop Songs, 1939-1969, for the 9th Annual St. Andrew’s Dinner/Dance/Auction, among the easy calls was I’M SORRY.  Fun Brenda Lee Fact, that might come in handy on Trivia Night:  Her biggest selling record was ROCKING AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE, recorded in 1958.      

PLAY CD
00:-1:37

Two years later came I’M SORRY:

I’m sorry, so sorry
That I was such a fool
But/ I didn’t know that love could be so cruel
Oh yeah

You tell me mistakes
Are part of being young
But/ That don’t right the wrong that I’ve done

I’m sorry, so sorry
Please accept my apology
But love is blind
And I was too blind to see….
 

 I have a confession to make, something I’m sorry about.  I spent what was probably an unhealthy amount of time following the Tiger Woods scandal.   Particularly on the big mid-December snow day.   I’d Google in Tiger Woods every couple of hours, yelling up to Nancy:  Here’s another one!  This one’s a nightclub hostess.   This one’s a (cough) actress.  Of course, with each new woman, I had to hit Google images and see what she looked like.   At some point, however, I remembered Jesus warning against looking at women with less-than-pure thoughts; he used the word “lust”—equating the very thought with adultery.  To which I said, “Jesus, this isn’t lust.  I’m just curious.”  To which Jesus said, “Really?”  
 I confess this only to assure you I never confuse myself with Isaiah.  I’m no prophet.  I’m not interested in judging Tiger Woods, or anyone else.  Jesus had harsh things to say to those who presume to judge.  To quote The Drive By Truckers, I’m not going to climb up on my high horse, because I’ve been thrown off there before.  But I do find the golfer’s story illustrative.  There are lessons to be learned.

 On the snow day, I was remote controlling through various talk networks.   It was pretty much all-Tiger, all-the-time--wherever you turned really.  Sports Center.  The Entertainment Gossip Channels.  News talk.  One of the news hosts was interviewing a public relations expert who specializes in guiding celebrity clients through scandal.   Is America a land of opportunity, or what!   Imagine this as a career day ambition:  I want to grow up to guide celebrities through scandal!  
This was the question posed by the moderator, “What does Tiger Woods need to do to rehabilitate his image?”   The image that has sold automobiles, watches, golf clubs; the image that is seen across the world, peddling many and various upscale products.  What does Tiger Woods need to do to rehabilitate his image?

The expert answer went something like this:  He needs to go on television, make a tearful statement, admit his mistakes.  The American public, being forgiving people, will understand.  The scandal specialist suggested Oprah Winfrey’s couch would be a particularly appropriate venue.
 

 This struck me as curious.  It’s interesting to think that our culture has developed a public ritual of rehabilitation, tears being a required accessory.  This is mandatory:  Admit your mistake.   Interesting word:  Mistake.   Adding a column of numbers, getting the math wrong, that’s a mistake.   Thinking the state capital of Oregon is Portland, that’s a mistake.   A quarterback overthrowing a receiver, that’s a mistake.  
Being sexually involved with a string of women who are not your wife, to the point where, by some accounts, you have a woman acting as sexual secretary, lining up trysts for you at each stop in the PGA tour, including places like Dubai, seems to strain the meaning of the word mistake.    

The golfer released a public statement saying he had not been true to his “values.”  Another interesting word:  Values.   I keep thinking one of these days we’ll see a disgraced preacher or politician or celebrity or financier with the integrity to get up and say, “I did it and kept on doing it because I liked it,” which is another way of saying, it had “value” for me.   Let’s cut to the chase:   What you do and keep on doing ARE your values.   Maybe not the values you started with, but they are your values now.   A person who stood up and said that, with this addendum:  But I’m really going to try to change—would impress me.       

 Perhaps most jarring of all, however, was the overriding concern for the golfer’s image.   Heard that a lot.  What must Tiger Woods do to rehabilitate his “image”?  The Tiger “brand.” 

Count me among the legion of Tiger Woods fans.  I’m not a golfer myself, but I appreciate the drama of watching PGA heavyweights dueling in the final holes of a major tournament.   I’m much more likely to watch if Tiger’s in the hunt.  He’ll be in a final pairing with somebody I never heard of; this may be the no-names’ only shot at major glory, and I know it’s silly to root for the billionaire, but I still do.  You watch Tiger in a major and know you’re witnessing something exceptional, a slice of sports history unfolding with each swing.   
 

But it has crossed my mind before, seeing his endorsements—and the man is everywhere (I’ll visit my daughter in France and Tiger’s in the in-flight magazine, Tiger’s on the tunnel walls of the Paris airport, Tigers on the posters on the subway):  How much money and public exposure does one man need?   
Please, if you don’t like this sermon, that’s okay.  But don’t tell me we need to respect Tiger’s privacy.  Nobody who has sold himself the way Tiger has retains any claim on “privacy” when the image he’s so lucratively presented is punctured.  

I’ve been reading a book on basketball that talks about the “disease of more,” and in retrospect now, it’s easy to diagnose that the golfer suffered from an extreme case of the Disease of More.  Enough is never enough.  We applaud the drive for more tournament victories, but there also seems to have been an insatiable need for more endorsements, more money, more women…   Being linked now to a trainer who has in turn been linked to Human Growth Hormone--as in Performance Enhancing Drugs--the “image” is beginning to take on the stink of what Isaiah described as loathsome carrion.  

From a Christian point of view, the appropriate, pressing question, it seems to me, is not “What can Tiger Woods do to save his image,” or even “What can Tiger Woods do to save his career,” but rather “What can Tiger Woods do to save his soul?”  
Of course, Tiger Woods’ soul is between him and God and whatever spiritual advisors are involved.  I’m supposed to be spiritually advising you.  And caring for my own soul.  Jesus had things to say about those who are so focused on seeing the issues in their neighbor’s life, that they were blind to their own failures…. So the questions I pose as we begin a new year have to do with the state of our souls, yours and mine…  
 

 Another tune, this one originally recorded by country legend Roy Acuff in 1951.   It’s been a while since I’ve picked up the six string and sang a little song for you.  If you’re new around here, you’ll soon be thinking to yourself, He can’t sing a lick.  I am well aware of that.  But it makes me happy, and I don’t have much of an image to protect, so here goes…

Who did you say it was brother?
Who was it fell by the way?
When whiskey and blood run together
Did you hear anyone pray?

I didn't hear nobody pray, dear brother
I didn't hear nobody pray
I heard the crash on the highway
But, I didn't hear nobody pray.

When I heard the crash on the highway
I knew what it was from the start
I went to the scene of destruction
And a picture was stamped on my heart.

There was whiskey and blood all together
Mixed with glass where they lay
Death played her hand in destruction
But I didn't hear nobody pray.

I didn't hear nobody pray, dear brother
I didn't hear nobody pray
I heard the crash on the highway
But, I didn't hear nobody pray.

I wish I could change this sad story
That I am now telling you
But there is no way I can change it
For somebody's life is now through.

Their soul has been called by the Master
They died in a crash on the way
And I heard the groans of the dying
But, I didn't hear nobody pray.

I didn't hear nobody pray, dear brother
I didn't hear nobody pray
I heard the crash on the highway
But, I didn't hear nobody pray.

Turn now to the Book of Proverbs.  Read a commentary recently suggesting Proverbs was originally intended as a moral textbook for young men.  Think Wisdom 101.  Chapter 7 is of particular interest.  The wise teacher looks out his window and sees a wreck about to happen….

For at the window of my house, I looked out through my lattice, and I saw among the simples ones, I observed among the youths, a young man without sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight , in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.
Then a woman comes toward him, decked out like a prostitute, wily of heart.  She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home; now in the streets, now in the squares, and at every corner she lies in wait.  She seizes him and kisses him, and with impudent face she says to him:  ‘I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; so now  I have come out to meet you, to see you eagerly, and I have found you!   I have decked my couch with coverings, colored spreads of Egyptian linen; I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.  Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with love.  For my husband is not home; he has gone on a long journey.  He took a bag of money with him; he will not come home until full moon.’

With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.  Right away he follows her, and goes like an ox to the slaughter, or bounds like a stag toward the trap until an arrow pierces its entrails.  He is like a bird rushing into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life.
And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.  Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many are those she has laid low, and numerous are her victims.  Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

The teacher sees this wreck in progress and is overcome by
sadness.  There’s another one walking into the snare of self-destruction.  And it’s so unnecessary.   Wisdom posts all sorts of warning signs about the way that leads to destruction:  Don’t go there!  But we do. 

But I’m here today to share good news for all who’ve fallen into a snare; good news for those who have steered into the wrong lane and had our lives wrecked beyond recognition; good news for all who want to change our direction in the new year:  Christians believe in life after death, including life after moral death.   We don’t need high-priced public relations experts, either; we’ve been specializing in redemption for two thousand years.

 There are four gospels/biographies of the life of Jesus.  We spent much of December working with three of the four.  To quickly recap:  Matthew tells us of angels appearing to Joseph, and Wise Men following a star.   Luke’s account is of angels appearing to Mary and to shepherds, and good news of a child to be born.   On Christmas Eve, we read John’s testimony of the Word of God become flesh in Jesus, light shining in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  
 

 On the first weekend of a new year, a new decade, we turn to Mark’s account.   Mark’s doesn’t have any Christmas stories.   He begins with a wild man in the desert calling to all who would hear.  REPENT.   Reading from chapter 1, starting at verse 4,

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
 
Let’s turn then to a Christian liturgy of rehabilitation.   For Methodists repentance and communion are closely linked together, so this will double as preparation for the sacrament.   First step:  intentional confession of sin.   The preacher starts:

You that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking henceforth in his holy ways: 

You that do truly and earnestly repent.  We’re not talking about
concern for image now, or a cosmetic makeover.  We’re talking genuine regret for sin, the wrong we’ve done, and the damage that comes with it. 
Who intend to lead a new life.  No point in repenting if you have no intention of changing.   Let’s repeat that:  There’s no point in repenting if you have no intention of changing.   No one’s forcing you or anyone else to lead a new life, but if you intend to stay in the old one, there’s no point in pretending otherwise, at least so far as the liturgy is concerned.   And, friends, God knows the secrets of our hearts, anyway….  We continue:
 

 Draw near with faith, and take this Holy Sacrament to your comfort, and make your confession to almighty God.

Now it’s the congregation’s turn.  Will you read with me?

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all people: 

We’re talking to the one who in the beginning made all that is,
author of the moral universe, who has the power to create, the power to judge—and, yes, the power to forgive.

We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine majesty.

Christian repentance is not about “rehabilitating our image.” 
It’s not being sorry we’ve been caught/found out.   In fact, getting caught/found out may be a great blessing, if it motivates us to change.   And you’ll hear people say this:  “I’m sorry, but….”  There’s no “but” in Christian repentance.   Christian repentance is about genuine, heartfelt sorrow for our sins against God’s majesty and the other people in our lives.

We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us.

One of the obstructions to repentance is that remembrance
of sin is painful, and since we’d rather not think about it, we never really deal with it.   I invite us to take a few moments to think about it.   If you were in one-on-one with John the Baptizer, and he looked at you with eyes piercing the soul, telling you that the only way you could be whole again was to repent—what would you repent of?

LET’S TAKE SOME TIME HERE….

Then the congregation prays:

Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father.  For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please you in newness of life, to the honor and glory of your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Next up in the liturgy:  the preacher is to share the following:

Hear what comfortable words the Scriptures say to all that truly turn to the Lord: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

On more than one occasion last year, we lifted up John 3:17. 
Most all of us know John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.” 
I’m equally inspired by what comes next, John 3:17, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”   Let’s be clear about this:  Your Heavenly Father wants only good things for you.  God wants you to be saved from the wreckage.  And it’s not too late. 

But we need to ask this, also--call this the Elin portion of the sermon:  What if we’re the ones who have been sinned against?   The Bible is big on forgiveness.  I’ll be the first to admit, though, that’s easier said than done.  

I’ll have Christian people come to me, frustrated with the behaviors of a loved one, wanting to talk about their own responsibility to forgive.  The first question I ask is:  Has the other person asked your forgiveness?  Are they sorry for the wrong that’s been done?   Do they seem sincere in their willingness to change?  Or are you talking about someone who has no intention of changing and the expectation is that you’re going to keep putting up with all this in the name of “forgiveness.”  
 
Folks, whatever you want to call overlooking destructive behavior, it’s not forgiveness unless it’s linked with repentance and a desire to change.  Where this is lacking, the more appropriate term might be “enabling.”  The more appropriate scriptural prescription might be Jesus telling his apostles to shake the dust off their sandals and put some distance between yourself and the situation.  

Of course, it’s one thing to the sinner to apologize.  Another for the one sinned against to be reconciled.  I’ve been reading a wonderful book from Gallup Press on partnerships, THE POWER OF TWO.  There’s a whole chapter on forgiveness.   I underlined this paragraph:

The more intriguing question is what to do if you were the one betrayed.  You need a tremendous amount of discernment, self-control, ability to give your counterpart the benefit of the doubt, and desire for a better outcome to turn a vicious circle into a virtuous one.

A virtuous circle does not include constant recrimination. 
For healing to happen, there needs to be genuine repentance, forgiveness, and moving forward.  Only in this way can we be made whole.

As already confessed, I’m not a person who finds it easy to forgive and I’m not about to tell any of you what to do.  Every situation is different.   What I will say is this:  When you’ve been involved in a wreck on life’s highway, whether you were driving, or someone else slid into you, in the midst of the pain and the confusion and the anger, take time to pray.   Ask God for healing:  Healing for you and others in the wreckage, and that God will show you what to do next.   

Finally, I was reading in the newspaper about Ted Haggard, who was a mega-church preacher in Colorado, before suffering Tiger-like disgrace, getting fired from the church Haggard himself had started.  According to the article, on this side of disgrace, Haggard had recently put out a few chairs in his barn and started preaching again.  About a hundred people are showing up for the service. 
        The journalist wondered if Haggard could reach the heights he’d known before.  My immediate thought:  I hope not.  Not because I would begrudge him the return to ministry.   But because I would want for Ted Haggard what I want for Tiger Woods and what I want for me and what I want for you:  That we find the place of maximum spiritual health.   And that may be preaching to a hundred people in a barn.   I don’t know. 

Here’s what I do know, because the Bible tells me so:  At the judgment, the Lord’s not going to ask how many people we preached to, or how many tournaments we’ve won, or how many products we’ve sold.  The Lord’s going to judge us by the state of our soul.    How is it with your soul?  And what do you need to change?

BRD