The GOOD NEWS: “I am too far gone…”
Read Genesis 3:7–10, 21; Luke 15:11–32; and Romans 8:38–39.
Last week, we talked about the voice of guilt that says: “I messed up...” However, the voice of shame takes that further and says, “There’s something wrong with me. I’m too far gone…”
Part of this is true. There is something wrong with us because the reality is that we are broken. Sin has damaged the humanity God created good—our relationship with him, with one another, and even with ourselves. We cannot make ourselves whole. But shame whispers additional conclusion that just isn’t true… “You’re beyond repair. God wouldn’t want someone like you.”
We need a Redeemer who can restore what we cannot repair.
We see shame at work in the garden in Genesis 3. After Adam and Eve sin, they cover themselves and hide from God. We do the same. We conceal the parts of our story we fear would make someone reject us. That’s shame! Sometimes we withdraw; sometimes we pretend we have everything together. But God comes looking for Adam and Eve. He confronts their sin, promises victory over the serpent, and clothes them. Even in the wreckage of their disobedience, God begins revealing his answer to their brokenness.
The younger son in Jesus’ story also knows shame. He starts by wanting his inheritance (basically wishing his father was dead so he can have the money). Then he takes the money and squanders it. When he hits rock bottom it occurs to him that his fathers servants have it better back home so he heads home believing he is no longer worthy to be called a son, fully ready to own the life of a servant instead. But while he is still far away, his father sees him and runs to embrace him. Then come the robe, the ring, the sandals, and the feast. His father restores his place in the family. Jesus shows us the heart of the Father who out of mercy and love redeems us. God sent His son Jesus. At the cross, Jesus carried our sin and shame. In His resurrection, He opened the way to new life.
How does God do this for us? He does this through our baptism! In baptism, God brings that saving work to us personally. Through water and His Word, he washes away our sins, gives us His Spirit, creates faith, and welcomes us into His family by placing His name on us: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As Titus 3:4–7 reminds us, God saves us because of his mercy. We bring nothing that can earn these gifts. God gives them because of Jesus. The remedy to shame is redemption and restoration that only God himself gives.
Your shame will always tell you that you aren’t good enough, that you are too far gone, there is nothing you can do about it, and that you are unlovable. But here’s the truth:
You don’t hold God up. He holds you up.
Your salvation rests upon Jesus holding onto you, rather than the strength of your grip. When you fall, you can return to your baptism in repentance and faith: “God has put his name on me. I belong to him.” Romans 8 reminds us that neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus. He is renewing you now and will make you whole in the resurrection.
Shame wants you to hide and say “I’m too far gone.”
Your Redeemer calls you to you and says “I love you and I never left your side.”
So come to Him, bringing the very brokenness He came to heal, and let Jesus do the work only He can do.
Pray “Jesus, when shame makes me want to hide, remind me that you came to redeem me. Help me trust your promise, remember my baptism, and rest in your love. You have put your name on me, and I belong to you. Amen.”
Say it simply “I cannot make myself whole. Jesus redeems me, and in baptism he gives me forgiveness, new life, and a place in his family.”
Written by Pastor Daniel Brummet
