September 23, 2018 St. Croix Vineyard Karen Petersen Psalm 51 September 23, 2018 St. Croix Vineyard Karen Petersen

1Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.

5For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me 5For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. 7Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me -- now let me rejoice.

9Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt 9Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

13Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. 14Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. 15Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you. 16You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. 17The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

2 Samuel 11 1In the spring of the year,a when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 2Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 3He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 

4Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. 5Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”

22So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. 23“The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate, 24the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.” 25“Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!”

26When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the LORD was displeased with what David had done.

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Fr. Richard Rohr Transformation has little to do with intelligence, willpower, or perfection. It has everything to do with honesty, humility, willingness, and surrender. On the practical (read “transformational”) level, the Gospel message of Jesus is about freedom.  Addiction  can be a metaphor for what the biblical tradition called sin. It is quite helpful to see sin, like addiction, as a destructive  disease  instead of something for which we’re culpable or punishable and that “makes God unhappy.” If sin indeed makes God “unhappy,” it is because  God loves us, desires  nothing more than our happiness, and wills the healing of our disease. 

Romans 7:14-8:2 The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 

19I want to do what is good, but I don’t 19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God’s law with all my heart. 23But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

24Oh, what a miserable person I am 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. 1So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death

Psalm 51:10-12 (to be read in community) 10Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Sin is about a breakdown in relationships - between you and others and between you and God. Psalm 51: 4Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. 11Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit  from me. 17The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.