Host: What is contrition?
Rev. McCloskey: Have I ever really been sorry about anything? I can probably best answer what contrition is all about by a little story of my life. I was coming down North Capitol street in city in Arizona. I shouldn't be telling this confession where I can be caught up to, but I am just doing at least 60 and it is $10 a mile, for every mile over 60, and there is a police car that's up there. It was 10 o'clock at night and I didn't think that I could take a picture. So I was hurrying to get home because I wanted to get into my own bed and I just give in one of these big retreats and I have no other retreat that had to be at the next day.
The flash light went off or whatever you call it when the cameras takes a shot of the license plate and I knew that I was caught and I slowed down and the next day I was giving a talk and I could see people really went through all and they were really excited about what I was saying. All I was thinking about was how stupid I was the night before to be driving at such a ridiculous speed and I got caught and I heard the voice of my heart saying, "The only reason you are sorry for your sin is because it cost you money."
But I have never seen sorrow in you for all the ways you have offended me and I really did feel sick to my stomach about how dumb I have been, but I never allowed myself to really be that contrived, that sorrow, that sorrowing and to have the sorrow that really expressed, it is my God that i have heard. It is almost like I go through life sometimes without paying any attention to what I am doing and how do I give the gift of really being sorry for my sins. My sorrow was really letting Christ die for my sins, but I don't know if how you feel about letting somebody died for your dumbness.
I imagine that everyone that ever had an accident driving where someone died can never forget and it's that never being able to forget that I have put to death the maker of my universe by my sinfulness. I know how deep is my sorrow. How does that sorrow express itself? Not just something with tears, but with my willingness to make up for what I have done, do I just something like Christ pay the whole price. If he died for my sake, part of my sorrow expresses himself in all the things that I am trying to do in his name because he died for me. Sorrow is how much of myself I am willing to give away for the sake of another. But that's also how much you love. If you love someone so much that you want to behold them as what Christ did by being one of us, then if I love this Christ, then my sorrow is really my willingness to be his forgiveness for the what my country is doing wrong.
So I Colossians Chapter 1 Verse 24. I used to be so annoyed at Paul when he said, "It gives me great joy to fill up what's wanting to the suffering of the Christ's body, his church. How do I offer myself for all the dumb things that have happened in my world for the sake of this church? The church is the people of God and the people of God are every person. He died for everyone. Then raised from the cross, is for everyone then how do I reach out to the people who are not accepting that embraces they are waiting for them.
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