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Psalm 51:1-19 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. 5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. 6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. 17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Hebrews 10:19-23 19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is, through his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.
WHITE AS SNOW
Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, the forty day period when we remember Christ’s journey to the cross and we spend this season in repentance for our sin and seeking renewal for our spirits. The derivation of the word Lent is interesting. We would think it has some religious meaning behind it but it doesn’t. It comes from an Old English word that means “lengthening of days” and refers to Spring since Spring is when the short days of winter begin to lengthen and the warmer weather approaches. Personally, I can’t wait for Spring. This has certainly been a winter for extremely cold weather and snow. I certainly don’t remember a time when we had so many days in the twenties. Also, we ad more snowfall than last year and with the extreme cold it lasted on the ground.
The Bible speaks of snow in a number of places. Job talks of God’s storehouses of snow. In the Bible snow is considered a symbol of something that is pure, clean and righteous. Psalm 51 that we just heard says, “wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Isaiah 1:18 says, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” Being cleansed of our sins results in us being as white as snow.
Have you ever looked at snow close up? Seen individual snowflakes? The crystal formations of snowflakes are beautiful. There are many different shapes and sizes of snowflakes; amazingly, each and every one is individual, one of its kind.
They are so intricate and beautiful. Each one unique. Just like human beings. God makes each of us unique. There are no two of us exactly alike, not even identical twins.
Do you know how snowflakes are formed? A snowflake begins to form when a cold water droplet freezes on a dust particle in the sky. This creates an ice crystal. Because of the shape of water molecules, snowflakes are generally six sided. As the ice crystal falls to the ground water vapor freezes onto the primary crystal building new crystals, creating the six arms of most snowflakes. What makes each snowflake unique is that each one follows a slightly different pattern as it falls, and experiences slightly different temperature and humidity conditions. When we think about it, this is similar to humans. We each encounter different conditions in life, different trials and joys and we are shaped by them and our reactions to them.
Remember what I said is at the heart of each snowflake? A particle of dust, each snowflake has dirt at its heart. Well, human beings have dust in their hearts just like snowflakes. Just like the snowflake we have dirt at our core. We are all born sinners and we cannot get rid of the sin in our lives by ourselves. Oh, we can try, we can dedicate ourselves to living sin free lives but it will never work. The only one who was ever sinless was Jesus Christ. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be made clean and pure. Only through Jesus can the dirt at our core be washed clean. Let’s consider how.
You see, we start with sin in our hearts and over time the sin grows, sin upon sin, just as a snowflake grows, one crystal at a time. This sin makes our hearts harder and harder, our hearts build up layers of ice that keep us separate from God and each other. Hebrews 3:12 says, “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”
We need not live with these hardened frozen hearts. Just as the warmth of the sun melts the snow so does the love of Jesus melt our icy hearts. If we but ask, Jesus will wash away all our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin. In Him, we are cleansed with hyssop, and made clean; and when he washes us, we become whiter than snow. We are whiter than snow because Jesus removes the dirt at the core of our being so we are cleaner than snow.
There is an old praise song that says it best. White as snow, white as snow, Though my sins were as scarlet, Lord I Know, Lord I Know
that I’m clean and forgiven, Through the power of Your blood, Through the wonder of Your love, Through faith in you I know that I can be, White as snow.
We are cleansed from our sin through the power of Christ’s blood, shed on the cross for us and this happens through the wonder of God’s love for us, broken and sinful though we are. As we read from Hebrews, “, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.
May we be reminded of our sin and let us each, like David, ask God to have mercy on us, to blot out our transgressions and to cleanse us from our sins. Let us ask our Lord to create in us a clean heart and put a new and right spirit within us. May Jesus Christ restore in us the joy of our salvation.
Soon, you will be given an opportunity to come forward and partake in Holy Communion. But before you do, examine yourself; before you eat of the bread dipped in the cup. And as you depart forgiven, contemplate throughout the remainder of your day how Christ Jesus has made you clean and washed away the sin that likes to lurk at the center of your soul. Amen.