Ever sin\u00adce Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the know\u00adledge of good and evil, shame ente\u00adred their lives. To this day, shame domi\u00adna\u00adtes our lives and inter\u00adfe\u00adres with people\u2019s abili\u00adty to rela\u00adte to each other. Just as Adam and Eve made clo\u00adthes out of fig lea\u00adves, we too cover our inner shame in various ways. In doing so, we quick\u00adly fall into a shame-guilt spi\u00adral. But Jesus\u00bb death on the cross has cle\u00adared the way to mys\u00adelf. He wants to free me from shame. Sin\u00adce shame dri\u00adves a wedge bet\u00adween human rela\u00adti\u00adonships, the easie\u00adst and most effec\u00adti\u00adve way to remo\u00adve it is by reve\u00adal\u00ading one\u2019s own shame to other people.<\/p>\n
I still remem\u00adber my godmother\u2019s wed\u00adding very well. I don\u2019t remem\u00adber exact\u00adly what year she got mar\u00adried, but I was around 11 years old. I had a very clo\u00adse rela\u00adti\u00adonship with my god\u00admo\u00adther and enjoy\u00aded spen\u00adding time with her. When I got older, her visit was always a big high\u00adlight for me. I would go all out and help my mother cook. We always had the same menu \u2013 par\u00adty fil\u00adlet. Yes, my Got\u00adti was some\u00adthing spe\u00adcial and so I loo\u00adked for\u00adward to her big day. I did\u00adn\u2019t like to wear shirts at that time, but I remem\u00adber buy\u00ading a shirt espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly for the occasion. \tHow do you react when you feel asha\u00admed? What are your defence mecha\u00adnisms so that other peo\u00adp\u00adle don\u2019t dis\u00adco\u00adver your shame? Ever sin\u00adce Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the know\u00adledge of good and evil, shame ente\u00adred their lives. To this day, shame domi\u00adna\u00adtes our lives and inter\u00adfe\u00adres with people\u2019s abili\u00adty to rela\u00adte to each other. Just as Adam and Eve made clo\u00adthes for them\u00adsel\u00adves out of fig lea\u00adves, we too cover our inner shame in various ways.\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":7036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[79],"wpfc_sermon_series":[81],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-cedric-bruegger","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-creatio","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-3945","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"hentry","11":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nBut on this evening, two things hap\u00adpen\u00aded which were infi\u00adni\u00adte\u00adly embar\u00adras\u00adsing for me and for which I felt very asha\u00admed. The guest gift that evening con\u00adsis\u00adted of small pic\u00adtures I had pain\u00adted mys\u00adelf. Sin\u00adce I loved to paint, I could\u00adn\u2019t resist making my con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adti\u00adon. But it came as it had to and due to my gre\u00adat zeal, a litt\u00adle of this yel\u00adlow acrylic paint lan\u00added on my shirt. I was infi\u00adni\u00adte\u00adly embar\u00adras\u00adsed and unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly it was impos\u00adsi\u00adble to remo\u00adve it com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly that evening. But that was not enough. At this par\u00adty, ever\u00adyo\u00adne had to intro\u00addu\u00adce them\u00adsel\u00adves. At the same time, they had to name their rela\u00adti\u00adonship to the bri\u00adde and groom. I sat tog\u00ade\u00adther with other god\u00adchild\u00adren. I thought about what I wan\u00adted to say. I went up and down the line. Befo\u00adre me was a girl who said some\u00adthing like \u00abMy name is XY<\/span> and I am Mirjam\u2019s Got\u00adti\u00admeit\u00adschi\u00bb. And when it was my turn, I stood up and said \u00abMy name is C\u00e9d\u00adric and I\u2019m Mirjam\u2019s Got\u00adti\u00admeit\u00adschi\u00bb and bang \u2013 all the peo\u00adp\u00adle laug\u00adhed and I almost sank to the ground. I was so embar\u00adras\u00adsed and asha\u00admed that I could\u00adn\u2019t even mana\u00adge this simp\u00adle per\u00adfor\u00admance wit\u00adhout embar\u00adras\u00adsing myself.
\n1. shame \u2013 the invi\u00adsi\u00adble bar\u00adri\u00ader in your life
\nAll things that cau\u00adse shame in life are an invi\u00adsi\u00adble bar\u00adri\u00ader in life. Becau\u00adse you have to sepa\u00adra\u00adte yours\u00adelf from others so that they don\u2019t see the\u00adse are\u00adas. Unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly, it can hap\u00adpen that shame makes us par\u00adti\u00adal\u00adly inca\u00adpa\u00adble of having a rela\u00adti\u00adonship. We are afraid to make this side known. The para\u00addox of the who\u00adle sto\u00adry with shame is that no one likes to feel asha\u00admed, but is wil\u00adling to laugh about it when others are embarrassed.
\nI would like to tell a sto\u00adry about this invi\u00adsi\u00adble bar\u00adri\u00ader that shame can play in our lives. In August 2020, a good fri\u00adend of Andreina\u2019s got mar\u00adried. As she was the maid of honour, I was also invi\u00adted to the who\u00adle par\u00adty and was allo\u00adwed to sit at the same table as the bri\u00adde and groom. Due to the pan\u00adde\u00admic and becau\u00adse I had\u00adn\u2019t known And\u00adrei\u00adna that long, I knew prac\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly no peo\u00adp\u00adle at this wed\u00adding. This is basi\u00adcal\u00adly not a pro\u00adblem for me. When the\u00adre was dancing at a late hour, a col\u00adle\u00adague of Andreina\u2019s approa\u00adched me and chal\u00adlen\u00adged me to a dance batt\u00adle. I can\u2019t dance, but I can always fool around. So I went along with it. As I was about to squat, my trou\u00adsers tore from the back to the midd\u00adle of the seam, reve\u00adal\u00ading my under\u00adwear from behind. Lucki\u00adly And\u00adrei\u00adna had sewing kit from the bri\u00adde. So we retrea\u00adted to an adjoi\u00adning room. So I stood the\u00adre in my boxers and held the trou\u00adsers out to And\u00adrei\u00adna so that she could mend them and just at that moment a wai\u00adter came in.
\nI felt expo\u00adsed at that wed\u00adding. And in the Bible we also encoun\u00adter a sto\u00adry in which the prot\u00adago\u00adnists felt asha\u00admed becau\u00adse of their naked\u00adness. When God crea\u00adted the earth, he made a gar\u00adden and put Adam and Eve in it. They were allo\u00adwed to eat from all the fruits except tho\u00adse from a cer\u00adtain tree. For a long time this went well and they kept to it. But one day the ser\u00adpent came and per\u00adsua\u00added Eve to eat of the fruit. She enti\u00adced her with it by pro\u00admi\u00adsing that they would then be like God and would be able to distin\u00adgu\u00adish good from evil. This argu\u00adment con\u00advin\u00adced her and so Adam and Eve ate of this fruit. \u00abAt that moment their eyes were ope\u00adned and they sud\u00adden\u00adly rea\u00adli\u00adsed that they were naked. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, they wove fig lea\u00adves tog\u00ade\u00adther and made loin\u00adcloths for them\u00adsel\u00adves. When it beca\u00adme cool in the evening, they heard the Lord God wal\u00adking around in the gar\u00adden. So they hid them\u00adsel\u00adves among the trees. The Lord God cal\u00adled out to Adam: \u00abWhe\u00adre are you?\u00bb He ans\u00adwe\u00adred: \u00abWhen I heard your foot\u00ads\u00adteps in the gar\u00adden, I hid. I was afraid becau\u00adse I am naked\u00bb \u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 3:7\u201310 NLB<\/span>). By eating the fruit, the peo\u00adp\u00adle rebel\u00adled against the only com\u00admandment God had given them. And this awa\u00adre\u00adness of vio\u00adla\u00adting a divi\u00adne com\u00admandment led to shame for both of them. This mani\u00adfes\u00adted its\u00adelf in them being asha\u00admed of their naked\u00adness. Until now, peo\u00adp\u00adle lived tog\u00ade\u00adther with God, but now shame came into their lives and put a wedge bet\u00adween them.
\nAdam and Eve\u2019s first reac\u00adtion after eating the fruit was to take fig lea\u00adves and make makes\u00adhift clo\u00adthes out of them. Alt\u00adhough they were only among them\u00adsel\u00adves, they could not bear it and were asha\u00admed of it. Ana\u00adlog\u00adous\u00adly as Adam and Eve cover\u00aded their shame so do we. We let very few peo\u00adp\u00adle in on the are\u00adas in our lives that we are asha\u00admed of. We cover our shame through humour, nar\u00adcis\u00adsism, stu\u00adpid sayings or wha\u00adte\u00adver. So shame is not only a bar\u00adri\u00ader to God, but also to other peo\u00adp\u00adle. So the\u00adre can be a fee\u00adling that says \u00abIf peo\u00adp\u00adle real\u00adly know me, then they don\u2019t love me any\u00admo\u00adre\u00bb. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, it is important to keep a low pro\u00adfi\u00adle. What are you asha\u00admed of in your life? What fact in your life are you so asha\u00admed of that it is a bar\u00adri\u00ader in your life to rela\u00adte to other people?
\n2. shame-guilt spiral
\nBut in our lives the\u00adre is not only shame, which can be an inner bar\u00adri\u00ader. The\u00adre is also guilt. I can be guil\u00adty eit\u00adher of peo\u00adp\u00adle or of God. Often we tend to dis\u00admiss the\u00adse two things as one. But this is not the case. Shame and guilt are rela\u00adted, but they are not iden\u00adti\u00adcal. Shame con\u00adcerns being human and has to do with iden\u00adti\u00adty. Adam and Eve were naked and this led to shame for them. They felt a part of their iden\u00adti\u00adty to be shameful and wan\u00adted to hide it. Guilt, on the other hand, is always acti\u00adve. Eit\u00adher I do some\u00adthing or I don\u2019t do some\u00adthing. Guilt is often con\u00adnec\u00adted to an act. Adam and Eve actively ate from the fruit. This made them guil\u00adty towards God becau\u00adse they ate from the only fruit they were not sup\u00adpo\u00adsed to eat from. God\u2019s reac\u00adtion also shows that the things one is asha\u00admed of are not bad per se. \u00abWho told you that you were naked?\u00bb asked the Lord God. Have you eaten of the for\u00adbidden fruit?\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 3:11 NLB<\/span>). God does not ask the ques\u00adti\u00adon of shame, but of guilt. Adam and Eve hid becau\u00adse they were naked. They felt shame becau\u00adse of their naked\u00adness. When shame is invol\u00adved, you often feel guil\u00adty for some\u00adthing even though you don\u2019t have to. Adam and Eve\u2019s pro\u00adblem is not their naked\u00adness, but what they did.
\nBut shame can quick\u00adly turn into a shame-guilt spi\u00adral. Who has\u00adn\u2019t expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced it? When small child\u00adren have siblings, some\u00adthing very spe\u00adcial sud\u00adden\u00adly hap\u00adpens. The older siblings sud\u00adden\u00adly dis\u00adco\u00adver how prac\u00adti\u00adcal it is in a cer\u00adtain area to have smal\u00adler siblings \u2013 becau\u00adse they can\u00adnot defend them\u00adsel\u00adves. If they do some\u00adthing they should\u00adn\u2019t, it cau\u00adses them to feel asha\u00admed. But this is very dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to hand\u00adle, so they often bla\u00adme it on the youn\u00adger siblings. They can\u2019t defend them\u00adsel\u00adves. And if I am com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly honest, I always have to be careful not to fall back into such a beha\u00adviour pat\u00adtern. Shame is easy to cover up by bla\u00adming someone else or poin\u00adting out their short\u00adco\u00admings. This is whe\u00adre the shame-guilt spi\u00adral beg\u00adins. Shame comes first, but it is har\u00adder to bear than acti\u00adve guilt. So you deli\u00adbera\u00adte\u00adly make yours\u00adelf guil\u00adty, you do or don\u2019t do some\u00adthing. This in turn leads to more shame and one asks ones\u00adelf the ques\u00adti\u00adon \u00abAm I capa\u00adble of such a thing?\u00bb. So that this shame due to guilt is then easier to bear again, one makes ones\u00adelf guil\u00adty again on pur\u00adpo\u00adse. This is how the shame-guilt spi\u00adral continues.
\nThis was also the case with Adam. He was con\u00adfron\u00adted by God. And what was his ans\u00adwer? From my point of view, a deep\u00adly human one. \u00abThe woman, Adam repli\u00aded, whom you set by my side, gave me the fruit. And so I ate of it\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 3:12 NLB<\/span>). Adam talks his way out of it. Yes, Eve gave the fruit to Adam to eat. But he had a choice. He could have said no. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, it is not okay for him to bla\u00adme Eve after\u00adwards. Moreo\u00adver, he still almost bla\u00admes God. The woman you gave me sedu\u00adced me. If you had not given her to me, this would not have hap\u00adpen\u00aded! Adam wan\u00adted to com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly escape respon\u00adsi\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adty. But he has brought guilt upon hims\u00adelf and the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre he must also ans\u00adwer for it. As a con\u00adse\u00adquence for their actions, Adam and Eve must lea\u00adve the Gar\u00adden of Eden. The guilt they had brought upon them\u00adsel\u00adves has sepa\u00adra\u00adted peo\u00adp\u00adle from God sin\u00adce time imme\u00admo\u00adri\u00adal. But God also saw their shame and the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre he made them clo\u00adthes out of a skin.
\nIt is cru\u00adcial to know the dif\u00adfe\u00adrence bet\u00adween shame and guilt. Becau\u00adse with shame, my iden\u00adti\u00adty is affec\u00adted. With shame, the\u00adre are phra\u00adses abo\u00adve life like \u00abI am not wort\u00adhy!\u00bb or \u00abI am not lova\u00adble!\u00bb. The\u00adse have no real anchor point. With guilt, on the other hand, it is my doing or not doing that is affec\u00adted. Here I am very much guil\u00adty, becau\u00adse I could do other\u00adwi\u00adse. The Fall led to shame and guilt coming into people\u2019s lives.
\n3. the curtain of shame is torn apart
\nSin\u00adce shame affects our iden\u00adti\u00adty, it also does some\u00adthing to us. We do not feel com\u00adple\u00adte, not loved. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, we try to shield our inner\u00admost against the out\u00adside. But the\u00adre is a way to regain posi\u00adti\u00adve access to mys\u00adelf. Jesus Christ wants to res\u00adto\u00adre the rela\u00adti\u00adonship with yourself.
\nJesus Christ died on the cross and after three days he rose again from the dead. But the decisi\u00adve thing for res\u00adto\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon to yours\u00adelf hap\u00adpen\u00aded at the moment of his death. Jesus was nai\u00adled to the cross. To his left and right were two other peo\u00adp\u00adle. Death on the cross is one of the most pain\u00adful. By being on the cross, you are slum\u00adped over. But in order to brea\u00adthe, you have to push yours\u00adelf up with your legs. At some point, howe\u00adver, the strength fades and you suf\u00adfo\u00adca\u00adte. The fol\u00adlo\u00adwing is writ\u00adten about Jesus\u00bb last seconds: \u00abThen Jesus cried out loud\u00adly and died. At that moment the curtain in the temp\u00adle was torn in two from top to bot\u00adtom\u00bb (Mark 15:37\u201338 NLB<\/span>). It is easy to read over this note. But the\u00adre is an extre\u00adme\u00adly gre\u00adat sym\u00adbo\u00adlic signi\u00adfi\u00adcan\u00adce in the tearing of the curtain.
\nThe temp\u00adle was the cul\u00adtic cent\u00adre of Jewish reli\u00adgio\u00adsi\u00adty. In sim\u00adpli\u00adfied terms, this was divi\u00added into four are\u00adas. One was an area to which non-Jews also had access. This was fol\u00adlo\u00adwed by a lar\u00adge fore\u00adcourt whe\u00adre sacri\u00adfices were offe\u00adred. In this fore\u00adcourt was the temp\u00adle, which in turn was divi\u00added into two are\u00adas. First came the sanc\u00adtua\u00adry, whe\u00adre the priests were allo\u00adwed to enter regu\u00adlar\u00adly to per\u00adform cer\u00adtain ritu\u00adal acts. Then came the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest was allo\u00adwed to enter the\u00adre once a year. The\u00adre he had to recon\u00adci\u00adle the peo\u00adp\u00adle with God. The sanc\u00adtua\u00adry and the holy of holies were sepa\u00adra\u00adted by a curtain. The way to God was only pos\u00adsi\u00adble through a media\u00adtor, the high priest. The curtain shows the sepa\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon of man and God that took place in the Gar\u00adden of Eden.
\nPre\u00adcis\u00ade\u00adly this curtain was torn at the time of Jesus\u00bb death. This made it visi\u00adble that the sepa\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon of God and man was over\u00adco\u00adme through Jesus Christ. Jesus car\u00adri\u00aded all your shame and guilt with him on the cross and died for it. In doing so, he took away ever\u00ady\u00adthing that sepa\u00adra\u00adted us and ope\u00adned the way to the Father. On the cross, the naked\u00adness of Adam and Eve is over\u00adco\u00adme in a figu\u00adra\u00adti\u00adve sen\u00adse. The fig lea\u00adves and the clo\u00adthes God made for her show\u00aded that she had lost direct access to God. Ins\u00adtead of a life mark\u00aded by the clo\u00adsen\u00adess of God, her life was mark\u00aded by guilt and shame. This is true for all peo\u00adp\u00adle. But through Jesus\u00bb death on the cross, the distance has been over\u00adco\u00adme. The curtain of shame is torn. I can enter ful\u00adly into God\u2019s pre\u00adsence and need not be asha\u00admed. But not only is my iden\u00adti\u00adty res\u00adto\u00adred, ever\u00ady\u00adthing I do or don\u2019t do is for\u00adgi\u00adven through Jesus. Guilt and shame no lon\u00adger have a sepa\u00adra\u00adting func\u00adtion towards God.
\nHowe\u00adver, alt\u00adhough shame no lon\u00adger stands bet\u00adween God and me, unfort\u00adu\u00adna\u00adte\u00adly it can still be an inner bar\u00adri\u00ader to other peo\u00adp\u00adle. One way to over\u00adco\u00adme the power of shame in your own life is by sha\u00adring it with others. Find a per\u00adson you trust and try to break down that curtain of shame by tal\u00adking about your shame. This has an immense\u00adly heal\u00ading effect. Becau\u00adse shame, as I said, is about iden\u00adti\u00adty. As a church we offer two good oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties to do this. One is in pray\u00ader after the ser\u00admon. Ano\u00adther pos\u00adsi\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adty is the small groups. The\u00adre, you walk tog\u00ade\u00adther for a lon\u00adger peri\u00adod of time and exch\u00adan\u00adge ide\u00adas. You have until the end of March to register.
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small group
\nRea\u00adding the Bible text: Gene\u00adsis 3<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat are you asha\u00admed of in your life? What fact in your life are you so asha\u00admed of that it is a bar\u00adri\u00ader in your life to rela\u00adte to other people?
\n\tAre you awa\u00adre of the shame-guilt spi\u00adral in your own life?
\n\tDo you see the dif\u00adfe\u00adrence bet\u00adween shame and guilt? What did you noti\u00adce that was new?
\n\tWhat \u00absen\u00adtence of shame\u00bb is writ\u00adten over your life?
\n\tWhat pre\u00advents you from tal\u00adking open\u00adly about your shame?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"