Peter addressed the people…

“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.” (Acts 3: 19)

There has always been something satisfactory about wiping something clean. Messy mirrors with water spots are no match for Windex and paper towels. All the dust that shows up in the afternoon sun on all my wood tables and shelves disappears in one pass of a Swiffer duster or a matchless sock. Toothpaste wipes satisfactorily from the sink’s edge, and disappears down the drain. 

My favorite “wiped clean” habit is the kitchen blackboard on the side of my refrigerator where I write my long list of “To Dos” in yellow chalk. It is one of my favorite things to take a damp cloth to, once everything on my list has been checked off. Yes, it might take a few weeks to get to that point, but each day I can see the board when I go into and out of the kitchen. I cannot forget the things I need to attend to in order for life to run more smoothly. 

To be “wiped out,” like Peter says, is a much stronger expression that usually means that something is completely gone. A wave wipes out kids’ writing on a beach so it is smooth sand again with no trace of what words or names had been drawn. A tornado can wipe out a whole house, neighborhood or town—scattering all traces of belongings so far away they are never found, families must rebuild from scratch. And God wiped out humanity during the great flood to start afresh.

When Peter tells us to turn to God so that our sins may be “wiped out”, there is strength in the action of God. There is a bit of my chalk board and a bit of a flood, or an ocean wave in the mix. We are called to repent—take stock and be honest in the “list” of our sins; profess (like in the creeds we speak in church on Sunday) asking forgiveness for what we have done and what we have left undone. And God, through Jesus, comes like an ocean wave over the sand’s list of transgressions (not a wet rag that can leave traces of chalk and writing smeared and still visible on the blackboard surface) —and our sins are wiped out without a trace. 

This is good news! And, there is a caveat. Not on God’s end, but ours. The without a trace is true, but the permanency may not be so permanent. 

We are human, and even though we may repent, and our sins are mercifully wiped clean, we still may sin again. Sometimes, even the same sins that had been wiped out. And the cycle of our humanity and God’s forgiveness continues. But, if we truly know our sin, acknowledge it to the core, and truly ask for God’s forgiveness, and truly believe in God’s grace through Jesus, the cycle can weaken and eventually we might sin no more. Oh, let this be true! This is our hope in Christ. This is our strive as Christians who love our Lord. We long to keep the slate clean because we love God, and Jesus, and those around us (and even ourselves who are hurt from our sins) as much as we are grateful that God generously wipes it clean.

As a parent, I think of the times my children have said they are sorry, how I’ve watched them struggle to not repeat that which they are sorry for, praying on their behalf that they learn different behaviors. And as a child (even an adult child), I remember my parents doing the same for me: “As long as you’ve learned from your mistake and try not to repeat it,” is all they wanted (embedded in their unconditional forgiveness). God, like a parent longs for us to repent of our sins and have it stick, to wipe the slate clean just that once. But also, in faithfulness through Christ, will walk with us and be at the ready if we fail, if we seek forgiveness, again, ever hoping we will eventually learn. 



The Messiah struggled on the cross for our sins and to conquer death for us. We wisely need to heed Peter’s words, rise from ignorance and actively repent, turning to God, faithfully and respectfully, so we can experience the unconditional loving kindness and the true healing of our hearts, wiped clean and our sins wiped out, for good.

Amen.