Have You No Shame?

Imagine what happened to Judas after he kissed the face of Jesus in the garden. What did he do then? Did he follow along with the soldiers? Did he walk nearby, watching, saying nothing? Did he maybe look at Jesus, and Jesus at him? Judas KNEW that Jesus knew what he had done, yet he was walking along and perhaps looking like a concerned follower: “Who me?” What was Judas feeling? I hope he was feeling shame.

I remember a line from many books, and indeed just this weekend from the movie Stagecoach, which I watched with mom. When the bad guys on the coach argued loudly and pulled out their guns, ready to kill one another – suddenly a baby started crying, and another passenger on the stagecoach said: “There! Now see what you’ve done. You’ve made the baby cry. Have you no shame?” And the guns were put away and there was no more arguing. Even the evil guys could feel shame.

Webster defines shame as “A painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt; something to be regretted.” I think our “modern” society has lost much of that meaning of shame, and has replaced it with the word “embarrass.” Webster defines embarrass as “Distress caused by confusion; influence which impedes thought, speech, or action.” Shame includes a consciousness of guilt and we want to hide, but embarrassment only causes confusion, as we stammer for an excuse. I think people today often feel embarrassed by their sins, not shamed, particularly if they are seen by others. Confronted as on the Stagecoach above, they would be seeking to voice excuses for their actions, and not be shamefully quiet.

Shame knows we are guilty of a wrong, but in a relativistic society, there is no wrong, only opinions about wrong. So shame is almost disappearing, and that is sad. We need shame to understand sin. We need shame to understand and accept obligations. We need shame to really know what honor is, so we can define those without honor. We need more shame in our society. We need news items which point out the evils of sinners, and unduly not look to find excuses for their behavior. Someone who slaughters 100 people in a store is not good because “he only wanted to get milk for his baby”. The ends do not justify the means. We need to believe that not everyone who wants to do good, IS good – actions, not intents, define the person.

Lent is a time to grow in holiness. It is a time to focus on Jesus and the actions he took leading up to Calvary. People lived in His time, as they do now, doing many evils, and justifying every one. They wanted to debate Jesus on why the excuses they had were just. In part, they believed their actions were just because by their actions they were pleasing themselves, and they understood no other obligation than themselves, so they knew no guilt. Jesus explained to them WHY were created, and WHAT was expected of them. They had obligations to their creator, who he called their Father. In the end, few understood and so he assumed their shame for them, and died the shameful death on the cross. Lent is a time to remember and learn WHY and WHAT Jesus did; what he did for us, and now what we must do for him.

We need to grow in holiness, and recognize and begin to live our obligations to God – and they ARE obligations. If we don’t fulfill them, we should feel guilt, we should feel shame. Like the returning prodigal son, we need to recognize the selfishness of many of our actions and return humbly to work for our Father. Jesus gave us the example of a son who would do ANYTHING for his father, even die. We can’t follow Jesus perfectly in everything he did, but we can try. Lent is a time to start (any maybe confession is a good place). We may have made New Year’s resolutions, but Lent is a time for action. Lent is a time to look at what He did and start acting as Jesus showed us how to act. Can’t you stop with the excuses already! Surely you can stop worrying about yourself for a little while and do something for others, can’t you? I mean, look what He did!

Have you no shame?