Pentecost 11

Series - If You Can't Stand the Heat - 1

I think my family and I need to learn how to travel light. It has almost always been a temptation for us to pack more than we need, and our last trip was no exception. We just returned from a long trip to South Dakota, and if we learned one lesson, it is that we somehow need to pack lighter in the future.

We thought we would never fill up our large mini-van when we bought it. Well, on this trip, the van’s floor was covered 2 feet high when we left for the trip, and probably about 3 feet high on our way back. I don’t know how stuff kept getting added. We thought we were getting rid of it. But going to a wedding, hiking in the hills, and taking care of children, you feel that you have to be prepared for everything! Suitcases of clothes, baby food, baby wipes, baby carrier, baby crib, baby jumping toy, toys and books for the children, leap-pads to play with. I was also sure we needed soccer balls, footballs, and whiffle bats to help us stretch our legs at rest areas. And don’t forget the camp chairs, for certainly we would need to sit!

And you need shoes – shoes for the wedding, rehearsal, walking, hiking, running, swimming, and sandals too. And how could I leave without my brief case of church work that I knew I would never open but just had to have in the van? And three cases of camera equipment were a necessity – what with all the photo possibilities! But just in case my wife would point out how ridiculous that was, I might have to say something about her separate duffle bag full of toiletries. We endured knees up in the air seeking foot room for no less than 80 hours and 6250 kilometers of driving. We desperately need to learn how to travel light.

The same thing is true for when we go hiking. We set out to hike Harney Peak, the tallest mountain in the Black Hills, and the highest elevation going east until France, at 7240 feet. We were determined to hike it once again as I had in younger years. Even if my leg was hurt. Even if we had 3 young children with us. Even if it was 100 degrees F that day. And so we set out. Baby in the child-carrier. A boy on each pair of shoulders. That should have been enough, right? No, better throw in another backpack with water, snacks, lunch, and a number of other important things like hand sanitizer and bottle openers, baby wipes, and diapers. And of course about 20 pounds of camera gear. Off we went, sweating before our car was even out of sight!

I don’t think we know how to travel light. But we need to learn. And we are committed to do better next time. You might be laughing at how silly we are and wondering why we can’t. You might be thinking, “Loosen up, Pastor, you can’t enjoy a journey carrying so much stuff! Why don’t you just drop all that luggage!”

Funny you should ask. I would like to inquire the same of you. Haven’t you been known to pick up a few bags? Odds are, you did this morning. Somewhere between the time you woke up and the time you left your home, you grabbed some luggage. You pulled out your suitcase and loaded it up. You don’t remember doing that? That’s because you did it without thinking! You don’t remember loading up your vehicle with suitcases this morning? That’s because I’m not talking about the vehicle parked in your garage. And the bags you grabbed aren’t made of leather. They’re made of burdens.

The suitcase of guilt. A sack of discontent. You drape a duffel bag of weariness on one shoulder and a hanging bag of grief on the other. Add on a backpack of doubt, an overnight bag of loneliness, and a trunk of fear. Pretty soon you’re pulling more stuff around than our van was filled with this week! No wonder you’re so tired at the end of the day. Lugging luggage is exhausting. Dealing with guilt is exhausting.

Are you carrying a load of guilt? So many do. What if our spiritual baggage were visible? Imagine if you could actually see people carrying around suitcases of guilt, bags bulging with binges, blowups, and compromises. Look around. The fellow in the gray suit? He’s dragging a decade of regrets. The kid with the baggy jeans and nose ring? He’d give anything to retract the words he said to his mother. But he can’t. So he tows them along. The woman in the business suit who looks as if she could run for Parliament? She’d rather run for help, but she can’t run at all, hauling the bag she is hauling! The weight of weariness pulls you down. Disappointments discourage you. Anxiety plagues you. But guilt? Guilt consumes you!

All of us have made mistakes. All of us have failed. All of us have disappointed God. And when we try to deal with it ourselves, when we refuse to acknowledge it, when we keep silent about it and try hiding it from God, the guilt that our actions brought about is going to consume us! Our Psalm says that GUILT makes our bones waste away as we groan all day long. When we try carrying our guilt alone, God’s hand is heavy upon us, sapping our strength.

Near the top of Harney Peak, there were times we just didn’t feel we were going to make it. The sun was beating down on us, and the loads we were carrying were completely sapping any strength we had left. We felt it in our bones. And it didn’t feel good.

When you try pretending you are doing nothing wrong, when you try hiding your guilt, when you try carrying your guilt by yourself, you are going to get sapped of your physical, mental, and emotional strength. You will feel God’s hand upon you very heavily. That weight that presses down on us, that overwhelming feeling, is what we call pressure. That is what produces stress. Nothing will produce more stress or pressure than guilt.

You have felt it before. That hot flash when you realize your parent caught you doing what you shouldn’t. Or your teacher. Or the policeman. Or your boss. Or your wife. Or your husband. Or your child. Instantly, your body heats up, you may even sweat, and you feel a weight there that you need to get off. Do you like that feeling? Want to live with it? I don’t!

Last Saturday, we were driving across South Dakota. I can hardly describe what a wasteland that is! The picture on our message series promo might give you an idea. Once we crossed a certain horizon, the road stretched out as far as the eye could see. And there wasn’t a tree, animal, human being, another car, a house, or anything else in sight! Added to that, it was 101 degrees F (Almost 40 C), and with the hot humid wind, it felt like 119! We had about five hours of driving in this, and packed a lunch for the middle of the trip. Because I can assure you there was no such thing as a McDonalds or anything like it within hundreds of miles!

So we stopped at a little outpost called Gettysburg, SD, where there was little more than a picnic table and a tree that draped over it. We got out to eat lunch, but let me tell you, the tree did little good. Halfway through, it was so hot, I began to zone out, losing any ambition to do anything. I didn’t feel like moving, talking, or even thinking. It was hard to just pack up and get back in the car. The heat had just completely zapped me. It took my strength, my mental capabilities, my energy. That’s what heat does to me. What about you? Can’t stand the heat?

Guilt does the same thing. David describes well what guilt does: “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” Friends, if you try dealing with your guilt the same way, it will do the same thing to you! You will become the sun’s anvil! So… Can’t Stand the Heat? Of the pressure of Guilt?

Then stop trying to cover up your sins! Stop trying to hide them or keep them secret. Confess them to God. Admit to Him that you’ve failed Him. Stop keeping silent about it. Tell your wife. Ask your friend for forgiveness. Apologize to your boss. Admit it to your children. Speak with your pastor. But most importantly, acknowledge it to God. He wants you to do that.

Here’s why: Go back to history’s most beautiful and most horrible moment. Jesus stood in the tribunal of heaven. Gesturing to all of humanity, He pleaded, “Punish me for their mistakes. See the murderer? Give me his penalty. The adulteress? I’ll take her shame. The bigot, the liar, the thief, the ones with the addictions to sin? Do to me what you would do to them. Treat me as you would a sinner.” And God did. He took out all the heat on Jesus for those sins you committed. He put on Jesus all the weight of your guilt baggage!

Go to Calvary. At the top of the hill is a cross. At the base of the cross are bags. Countless bags full of innumerable sins. Calvary is the compost pile for guilt. Would you like to leave yours there as well? Know that God has provided a way for all your guilt to be removed through Jesus. He got rid of it all with his death and resurrection! Your guilt is gone! Done away with! David rejoices with you: “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” You are blessed! Because you no longer have anything to feel guilty about! Nothing to groan over! No more weight or pressure bearing down! The heat is gone! You can smile again and live life like God intended you to! You don’t have to try hiding anything from God anymore – and that’s a good feeling!

Because of Jesus, the Lord no longer counts your sins against you. He has forgiven the guilt of your sin! After climbing back down from Harney Peak, we finally got to unload our burdens. I can’t tell you how good it felt to ditch our gear, and jump in the cold lake at the bottom of the mountain. We no longer felt the weight pressing down, and the heat was gone! If you think that relief was soothing, consider the relief of having an eternity of separation from God removed from your shoulders! Jesus did that for you! Because He knows you can’t handle the weight! Not on your own! After this trip, my family is now committed to learning how to travel light. Spiritually, God has given us all a way to travel light. He took our baggage away!

As I was driving away from our picnic in Gettysburg, SD, where my strength had been completely sapped in the 120 degree heat, I slowly began to be revived as the air conditioner of our van blasted away at me, and as I drank down a large container of ice-water. I felt my strength and mental capacities return. Then I thought of this text. I thought of how God’s undeserved, loving forgiveness is the only thing that could revive our weary souls and give us what we need to beat the heat of guilt. Will you drink that refreshing water with me? Amen.

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