Rev. David Holwick ZI Spiritual Recovery series
First Baptist Church Steps 8 & 9
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 18, 2001
Luke 19:1-10
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Step #8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became
willing to make amends to them all.
Step #9: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others.
I. Climbing trees can be expensive.
What do you do when the taxi takes you to your destination, and
you don't have a dime on you?
A passenger in northwestern Poland decided to climb a tree, with
his irate taxi driver in hot pursuit.
The man jumped from branch to branch and hurled bananas from a
shopping bag at a crowd which soon gathered at the scene.
More than a dozen firefighters from two brigades were called in.
They spread out an airbag under the tree as a police psychologist
was sent up in a ladder-bucket to negotiate with the man.
After a two-hour stand-off, he agreed to come down, but may have
to pay many times the original taxi fare he tried to evade.
The radio reported the fire brigade was planning to send him a
18,000-zloty ($4,300) bill for the rescue operation.
Climbing trees can be expensive - and Zacchaeus may have been the
first to find out.
#20796
A. He was a rich tax collector.
1) There was only one way he got like that - corruption.
2) (Ancient people felt taxes were unfair and burdensome.)
a) (We no longer feel this way.)
B. He wanted to see Jesus but was too short.
1) So he did something that's given him lasting fame - he
climbed a sycamore tree.
2) And Jesus said, "Zacchaeus, you come down, for I'm going
to your house today."
3) The crowd mutters but he welcomes Jesus with joy - and
a little more.
C. The dollar signs.
1) Zacchaeus's bold promise - "I give half my possessions to
the poor, and I'll pay four-fold to anyone I've cheated."
a) Typical restitution was the cost plus 20%.
b) Sometimes the fine was four-fold, so he is paying
full-fare for his crimes.
c) But the giving of half his possessions is truly
generous.
2) Can salvation be bought?
a) Jesus announces that salvation had arrived in that
house.
b) Has Jesus been paid off?
1> No, but a Baptist minister can be.
2> Building fund - $1.5 million. Any sinners out there?
c) Salvation cannot be bought, but genuine repentance
goes beyond words.
1> Real repentance results in real changes.
II. The ancient practice of penance.
A. Old Testament practice of restitution. Leviticus 6:5
1) Guilty parties must pay back, plus a penalty.
2) Not enough to say, "I'm sorry."
3) Works reveal true condition of our hearts. Ezekiel 33:16f
B. Later Christians adopted this concept.
1) Instead of restitution, they spoke of "penance."
2) Penance is for Christians only, to show genuine sorrow
for their sins.
a) It reveals the sincerity of their commitment.
b) Give a concrete response to your sins.
1> Penance: Restitution, service, prayer.
2> Indulgences: give money. (no longer practiced)
C. Penance became formalized and stagnant.
Nowhere more than around Marbella, Spain.
The 60 Catholic churches there are inundated with tourists
every summer.
Worship attendance can be up to 20 times higher.
Since many can't speak Spanish, Father Manuel Torres found
it more efficient to pass out penance cards.
Each card lists 19 sins and three acts of penance,
in all the main European languages.
You are all wondering what those 19 sins are.
I was more curious about the acts of penance...
Tourists point to their sin, and the priest holds up either
one finger (three Hail Marys),
two (one Our Father) or
three (one act of charity). #19782
D. Some think we should bring penance back.
1) We are ridiculed for "easy-believism."
A few years ago, columnist Mike Royko discussed David Duke's
supposed conversion to Christianity.
The former K.K.K. leader did not impress him:
"There was a time when sinners who wanted to cast off their
wicked ways really made a project of it.
You just didn't go on a TV show, wave your arms, leap about,
shout "Amen, brother" a few times and come away with a soul
that had gone through the normal soak, rinse and
spin-dry cycles.
For example, when he decided that he didn't want to be
loathsome anymore, he might have entered a remote monastery
or some such place.
That's really the way to do it. ...
"David Duke might have done as some saints did, especially
those who had been youthful playboys and scamps.
They cast aside pleasures of the flesh, wore itchy clothes,
whipped themselves, went to work in leper colonies, washed
the feet of beggars and really tripped out on misery.
Had David Duke done that, then appeared one day and said, 'I
have paid for my sins and want to be governor of
Louisiana,' nobody could have questioned his sincerity."
#1679
a) Methodist professor Stephen Long agrees:
"Without penance, forgiveness is cheap.
And cheap forgiveness is a sign that we have not taken
sin seriously."
Christian Century, 4/7/93, p. 361
b) Thomas Ybarra:
"A Christian is a man who feels repentance on Sunday
for what he did on Saturday, and is going to do on
Monday."
Correct Quotes, "Christianity"
III. Concrete amends has a place.
A. Recovery movement recognizes its power.
1) 8: We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became
willing to make amends to them all.
2) 9: We made direct amends to such people wherever possible,
except when to do so would injure them or others.
B. Bob Smith and the roots of amends.
On the founding day of A.A., alcoholic surgeon Bob Smith
disappeared for several hours.
This really shook up his new friend Bill Wilson.
But as the Oxford Bible study group had taught him, Smith
had gone to make the rounds of people he had harmed.
He asked for their forgiveness, and made amends whenever
possible.
C. Properly understood, making amends is a powerful spiritual tool.
1) Repentance becomes more real to others, and to us.
a) God's forgiveness of us is emphasized. Matt 6:14f
b) Requires deep humility and concern for holiness.
2) Wounded relationships can be healed.
IV. Amending torn relationships.
A. We need amends in the justice system.
1) The American justice system emphasizes punishment.
a) Forgiveness and rehabilitation are lower priorities.
b) Christians are trying to change this.
1> Recognizing that victims have rights and should
be part of the legal process.
2> Emphasizing restitution and healing.
2) For many faiths, making amends directly to the victim is a
key part of recovering from wrongdoing.
a) In Judaism, for example, the principle of "teshuva"
requires a wrongdoer to:
acknowledge his transgression,
make a public confession and express remorse,
resolve never to do it again,
compensate the victim with acts of charity
and ask the victim for forgiveness.
b) A prophet in our midst:
When Judge Walter Williams pronounces sentence, he comes
across as an Old Testament prophet.
He is slender and soft-spoken, but he booms when he is
exhorting wrongdoers to straighten out.
One 18-year-old offender was paddled by the judge in his
chambers; he has turned his life around.
Williams grew up in a housing project and worked his way
through college and lawschool.
He has become a red-hot advocate for self-help and
personal responsibility.
He specializes in requiring public acts of contrition
and restitution.
He says wrongs can't be fully righted without those things.
A youth who broke into Chattanooga's Rock Island Baptist
Church was sentenced to shine the pews.
"I told him if he wanted to get in the church that bad, we'd
certainly make it available to him," recalls Williams.
"You only get real deterrence when people know there's a
price to be paid."
#2975
3) A drunk driver tries to make it right.
The son of a member of my first church was a hard-living
construction worker.
He worked hard and he played hard.
His preference for recreation was alcohol.
He had several drunken accidents.
And then the inevitable happened - he killed a man.
He went to jail for several years.
He found God.
One of the things God told him was he had to do something.
He made peace with the family of his victim.
Then he began going to high schools and giving talks on
how alcohol could ruin their lives.
B. We need amends in our own relationships.
1) Everyone has someone they have hurt.
a) Who is not speaking to you right now?
b) What caused it? Are you at all responsible?
c) What can you do about it?
2) More than a handshake, ask THEM what would be appropriate.
a) Amends should be related to the wrong.
V. We need penitence and not just penance.
A. Can we pay for our sins?
1) We often try.
a) Catholics, walking on knees for miles.
b) Philippines, crucifying themselves.
c) USA, personal emotional punishment and depression.
2) Our sins are too great.
a) Our actions will always fall short.
b) They may give us false pride, but not salvation.
3) Even Purgatory doesn't hack it.
a) Not found in OT or NT, only Apocrypha.
b) If it worked, there would be no need for Jesus.
B. Only Jesus Christ can pay the price of our sins.
1) Ancient rabbi - "One act of kindness can redeem the world."
a) Powerful statement on power of good.
b) But false - only God's act of kindness can redeem us.
2) Jesus paid the price completely, for eternity.
C. Our repentance must be inward and outward.
1) Repentance is not a "work" we do, but an acceptance of
what Jesus has done for us.
2) Any act of contrition must arise from our gratitude to God.
a) These acts do not obligate God to us in any way.
b) But they show our faith is not just empty words.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 1679 "Duke's Fast New Religion," by Mike Royko, Daily Record
newspaper; Parsippany, New Jersey; November 13, 1991,
page A-19.
# 2975 "The Return of Shame," by Jonathan Alter and Pat Wingert,
Newsweek magazine; February 6, 1995; page 22.
#19782 "Assembly-line Penance," by Chuck Shepherd, News of the Weird;
September 2, 2001. He quotes article from the London Daily
Telegraph.
#20796 "Man Climbs Tree To Avoid Taxi Fare," Reuters; November 5, 2001.
These and 18,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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