Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,

            May I have the verdict from the jury?  How do you find the defendant?  We find him guilty, your honor?  What does it mean to be found guilty?  What is guilt?  Guilt is the responsibility for having done wrong.  Though some people may never experience a court room scene here in this life, we will all face the court room of God.  There will be a trial to determine our innocents or our guilt.  Our society that just wants the pursuit of happiness and feel good all the time does not want to deal with the question of guilt.  In fact there are Christians who do not like a certain part of our worship service.  They don’t like the confession of sins.  Why?  It is too negative! People want to have a feel good, a happy type message today.  Yet through the pages of Scripture the courtroom scene is a reminder of our relationship to God.  This is the serious side of Christianity.  Since not all people are hearing or applying the truth of Scripture to their lives, we ask today, What Ever Happened to Guilt?

I. Of what can we be guilty?

            Our text states Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.  Each of those words has quite a picture built in. 

            SIN: This word has the picture of misstep, a slip of the foot, a missing of the mark.  It can include the idea of a habitual sin, including a hatred and rebellion against laws themselves.  Let’s take the Third Commandment: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Are people rebelling against that law?  Do people realize that they are guilty of sin by skipping church?  Why should I have to do that?  Why do I have to go to church?  I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian? 

            INIQUITY:  Is the picture standing at a road with two choices, which direction should I go?  There is the right way and there is the wrong way.  Iniquity is purposefully choosing the wrong way even when you know which is the correct answer.  Taking the crooked way, rather than the straight path, you have sinned. 

            TRANSGRESSION:  This word has the picture of Rebellion against the law giver.  Add to the picture, the traitor, the rebel.  In the army the traitor is hung or shot.  Do you remember the words of Pharaoh of old,  (Exo 5:2 NIV)  Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go?"

            Parents have you ever had a child who rebels and just doesn’t want to do what you have said?  Have you had a child that has chosen to do just the opposite of what you have said?  Have you ever had a child that questions your right to tell them what to do or not to do?  Who are you?  Welcome to God’s world!  As the heavenly Father he has experienced all this and just down right evil.  The Lord makes it clear using the courtroom scene, (James 2:10 NIV)  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.   In God’s eyes we do not even come close to being the people we should be. 

            II. How do some people handle the question of guilt today? 

            A. Have you noticed how many people in the public eye when it comes to “moral slips,” do not head to a pastor, priest or even a rabbi?  Rather we see them checking themselves into hospitals…to hide their moral responsibilities under the disguise of sickness.  If every thing I do is just a sickness, then there is not the question of moral responsibility or accountability.  The truth is they made a wrong choice and they are guilty of sin in God’s eyes.

            B. Another approach is that there are no moral absolutes.  Sin, oh, that’s just your opinion.  Who are you to determine what I can or cannot do?  Today people will argue that they are the ones to determine what they can or cannot do, that there is no other higher authority.  Church, clergy, doctrines, that just somebody else opinion, but it is not binding on me.   

            C. Sins forgiven, but the responsibility is still yours to work out.  Some churches teach that God forgives the sin, but not the guilt of it.  Therefore you have to take special efforts on your part to deal with your own guilt.  When you never know if you have done enough frustration and despair can set it.  Here is where Luther was in life at one time.  He figured it was up to him to do something so that God would love him more.

            D. Despair – the responsibility of having done wrong can become overwhelming.  Remember Judas when he saw Jesus had been convicted and ready to be crucified.  He came back to the church of his day.  He confessed his sins, remember those words: (Mat 27:4 NIV)  "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."   With guilt solidly on his mind, Judas finding no recourse, chose a permanent answer for a temporary problem.  Suicide can be the result of overwhelming guilt in some people’s lives or an escape from facing the responsibilities of their immoral actions.    

III. How does the Lord handle the question of guilt?

            This Psalm is a beautiful example of God’s answer to the guilty conscious.  (Psa 32:1-2 NIV)  Of David. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. {2} Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.             When God deals with sin, he has to be fair and just at the same time.  God could not simply say, your sins are forgiven and let a person off.  How could the Lord make everything fair and just?  When the jury comes back with a guilty verdict, there has to be justice.  There has to be a punishment for the crime.  What would happen to accountability and responsibility for having sinned?  Guilt requires justice even for the sake of the person wronged. 

            God is fair.  For every sinned done in the world, there would have to be a punishment. Otherwise God would not be just and fair. In our courts today there are sentencing guidelines.  Judges are given directions on what kind of punishment can be given for a certain crime.  What are the sentencing guidelines for sin, iniquity and transgression?  (Ezek 18:4 NIV)  The soul who sins is the one who will die.  (Rom 6:23 NIV)  For the wages of sin is death...  So for every sin, God promised a punishment, but he punished Jesus. (Isa 53:6 NIV)  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (1 Pet 3:18 NIV)  For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  The Father knew what the Son had done for all the sinners. 

            But how do we know that God did this for us?  Until we know the need of a Savior, we will never turn to God’s answer.  So the Lord works through his word, bringing to our hearts and minds a conscious reality of our sins.  David, when he tried to ignore the power of the Spirit working on his heart, confessed, When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.  Remember the story of the Prodigal Son.  Only when he returned home did he realize what love the father had for him.  He returning confessing, I have sinned against heaven and you.  Our heavenly Father knows what Jesus did, but not until we come back to him with the words of the confession of sins on our lips will we truly understand and appreciate the forgiveness we have been given.  (1 John 1:8-9 NIV)  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. {9} If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  The Psalmist writes, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

            Now we can be ready to stand before our Lord and Maker.  Watch out there is still one danger.  The Devil, whose name mean accuser, cannot let the peace and joy of forgiveness rest in our hearts.  He will try to bring up our past sins even though they have been totally, fully and freely forgiven.  He will try to haunt us.  When that does not work, he will try to make us feel guilty about things God isn’t even upset with us.  He is vicious.  He is the devil, the accuser.  Whether it is the Devil or our sinful flesh, flee to the cross of Jesus and be at peace. Amen.