| Poor, Miserable Sinner - article by Joel Hempel
Are you a poor, miserable sinner? Normally, once each month, we use the liturgy that includes the confession of sins which starts with, I, a poor miserable sinner. As you know, Lent is traditionally the time for focusing on ourselves as sinners.
There was a period of my life when I refused to confess these words. I thought to myself, Scripture is clear, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). And from 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation.” I’m a new creation in Christ, I would say to myself. I am not condemned; I don’t feel miserable, and I’m not poor. God’s grace has saved me, I would declare to myself!
But, in time and with further study, I concluded I was right and wrong. Everything I said to myself in the above paragraph is true and applies to all Christians. But it is also true that you and I are poor, miserable sinners – whether we feel like it or not.
We Christians live in an already – not yet state of being. We are already saved by grace and not yet wholly living by God’s will. The truth is – and we all know it - too often, we screw up miserably! We deeply offend or hurt someone we love, treat another person like they are nobody, give into temptation repeatedly, and on countless occasions fail to love as God has called us to love. And if we dare to peer deeply into the pain we have caused, we will experience our misery and poverty of spirit.
Jesus once said, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened.” Our eternal salvation and the way of our Lord are planted deep within us. But like leaven introduced to dough, it takes time for the leaven to do its job. The Spirit of Christ within us is at work transforming us. But unlike dough, we can resist the spiritual leavening the Holy Spirit seeks to complete.
Anytime is the right time, but especially during Lent, we are invited to open our eyes wide to those places in our life where we are holding out on God and refusing the light of Christ to clear out the corners of darkness from within us.
Do you want more joy in your life, more peace of mind? Do the work of Lent! Then, let God turn your misery into dancing and spiritual poverty into the wealth of God’s all-encompassing grace. It gives God great pleasure to know we are bathing in his mercy and showering in his love. | 
