Shame and Salvation

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame ... —Hebrews 12:1-2

Now there’s a word we don’t hear often—shame. I’m sorry for that. We’ve confused unhealthy shame that suffocates and holds people back from the healthy shame that enables us to feel pain because we are healthy enough to feel uncomfortable with being less than we ought to be and less than we want to be (Shame and Grace by Lewis B. Smedes).

Unhealthy shame exaggerates our faults. Unhealthy shame is chronic. Unhealthy shame is put on us by others, pervades our whole being, and is unspiritual. Healthy shame is perhaps one of the surest signs of our divine origin and our human dignity. This kind of shame comes on us when our actual self is in conflict with the true self we are meant to be. Our true self is a grateful person, is integrated as a whole, is tuned in to what is really going on around us, and helps us manage our passions.

Shame that is healthy can give us pain, but it can do it in a way that brings about a positive and creative result. The cross was a symbol of suffering and shame, as the old hymn goes. Yet, it had a positive result—resurrection. The author of Hebrews notes that Jesus accepted the shame of the cross as a means of helping us deal with our shame with the balm of grace.

There are some of us who are locked in the throes of unhealthy shame. We have permitted our shame to be chronic such that it continues to make our souls sick. Those who wear their shame in such a way need this week ahead. The week ahead is a vivid reminder that the cross was the way God showed us that he understood the soulful weight shame represents. The resurrection then becomes that act of grace wherein God says I do not hold your sin against you. So get over your shame. To be sure the source of our shame may be a part of our history, and we may still have to work with some of its debris, but it does not have to pervade our whole being. The resurrection offers us grace, but it is not cheap. Grace requires that we trust God and not ourselves to bring us through the turmoil of our sin, shedding its shame, and moving into a new appreciation of what it means to let God love us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, the week ahead offers me the opportunity to remember the road to salvation. May I be faithful in traveling it with you once again that whatever shame now besets me may be set aside that I might serve you with my whole heart through Jesus the Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana