Right Public Repentance

Waiting for the Right Moment to Speak

Scott Uselman began by sharing how he had carried this message for a while, sensing a weight in its truth. He described how personal it felt: “I've gotten so much from just reading it for myself and hopefully you will too. But you know, I get up here and I'm like, well, I hope I don't let y'all down. Does that make sense?” The sermon wove in his own story of coming into church as an adult and the challenge it posed for someone known to have a public past.

His own experience returning to his Indiana hometown illustrated the awkwardness and self-consciousness of walking into a church where everybody knew his history: “There was probably one side that was really not happy to see us and then there was another side that was I don't know and that still happens. And… I had sinned publicly. Y'all hear me? I had a known lifestyle. I had a lifestyle that everybody knew about.” This real discomfort put him in the shoes of the woman in Luke’s story.

The Hard Road to Repentance: Pride Must Be Laid Down

Scott Uselman was direct about the courage it takes to seek Jesus when pride and shame threaten to hold us back. “Those who publicly demonstrate right repentance lay down pride and look for Jesus.”

Recalling his reluctance to attend church, he named the internal struggle: “In the moment that I'm reading God's word, I don't want to go to church. ...I think there's a little bit of shame at work in me because I understand who I've been. ...At some point, for me to please the Lord, I knew that I had to look for Jesus. This woman isn't invited to this Pharisee’s house... But you have to go to church. You've got to find Jesus. And you're going to have to lay your pride down.”

Scott pointed out how the woman in Luke’s story entered a space she was not welcome, to find Jesus regardless of judgment. We, too, he said, are responsible for seeking Christ even when shame and pride make it almost unbearable.

Humility and Sorrow: Owning Our Sin

Scott challenged the tendency in churches to make faith a quick fix, especially for youth, by declaring someone saved without teaching repentance. He described altar calls at youth camp as insufficient: “...I'm not sure they've actually ever owned their sin. Y'all hear me? I'm not sure they really understand the magnitude of the sin that they've committed.”

He broke down how the sinful woman’s humility went beyond apology, she gave up everything that marked her old life. Her tears, her hair (which may once have been used to attract customers), and her expensive perfume all became acts of sorrow and repentance: “She wipes his feet with that hair. That very hair that I can't help but think that she used to attract people to her. You know what she's doing? She's laying down that sinful life that she's led and she's doing it publicly.”

Her humility was not about dramatics but about being seen as she truly was and surrendering her need to save face or control her story. “This woman is likely…someone that everyone knew has committed terrible sin. More than likely…we might think she's a prostitute. …Somehow she has heard the message that Jesus is there to forgive sins. …She walked in anyway.”

Transparency in Shame: Moving Through the Gaze of Others

Scott Uselman underscored the courage it requires to be transparent about our failings before others. He noted the natural impulse for someone like Simon the Pharisee to prefer that the woman had just left, shamed by his silent judgment. “He's trying to get in the way of what Jesus is doing by giving this woman grace. He is.”

A critical turning point came as Scott addressed the reality of shame: “It seems to me when I talk about the pastor who sinned, it seems to me that shame is keeping people from coming to that church. Now, the only way for Jesus not to be defeated by the people is for the people to be transparent and say, ‘Yes, it happened.’ But from this day forward, we're going to follow Jesus Christ. Jesus came to save people who are egregious like us. Do y'all hear that? You own it. ...And you know what happens? The devil has no more power over you.”

He stressed that transparency, not perfection, breaks the cycle of shame and isolation. He brought this home with regular, everyday conviction: “What I wouldn't give for people who sin would just be honest. Just be honest. If you're going to commit sin, own it…”

Peace and Salvation: The Gift Only God Can Give

The closing movement lingered on Jesus’s words to the woman: “Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’... Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.’” This was not just about a future hope but the real possibility of peace in our lives, here and now, free from the accusations of others and our own hearts.

“...He's saying to her, ‘All this turmoil that you have in your life right now, all of this stuff...you knew you weren't good enough. You were ashamed. ...You were literally at war with the Lord. ...Let me tell y'all something. When I was not saved, when I wasn't a friend of God's, I was at war with the Lord. I knew I was.’”

He clarified that this peace is not automatic or mechanical: grace is imparted, but we have responsibility to answer, to repent openly and honestly. “For me to be able to lay my head down and get peace in my life, you got to confess it publicly to Jesus. Because you know what? Once I'm comfortable to tell y'all, yes, I've sinned greatly. The devil can't keep me up at night about it.”

Living It Out

Scott Uselman called us to a practical and honest faith: one where we lay down pride, demonstrate real humility, own our shame with transparency, and trust that it is Jesus who brings peace and salvation. We were invited not just to nod in agreement but to live this openness in our church family and beyond. “If you want to receive Christ and you want to publicly confess your sin, come through all these people. Who cares? Come break off that chain that would hold you down.”

May we be a church where it is normal, not strange, to confess freely and receive grace fully, where shame does not send anyone out the back door, and peace reigns as Christ’s promise to us all.

Discussion Questions

1. When have you experienced shame when coming to church, and how did that impact your willingness to seek Jesus?
2. What does it look like in your life to lay down pride and be transparent in front of others about your struggles?
3. How might our church more fully help people move from shame to peace when they repent, the way Jesus welcomed the woman in Luke 7?