Sirach 41:17-24: a reflection

17Be ashamed of sexual immorality before father and mother, of a lie before a prince and a mighty man, 18of an offense before a judge and ruler, of iniquity before the congregation and the people, of unjust dealing before a partner and friend, 19and of theft in the place where you sojourn. Be ashamed in regard of the truth of God and his covenant, of leaning on your elbow at dinner, of contemptuous behavior in the matter of giving and taking, 20of silence before those who greet you, of looking at a woman who is a prostitute, 21of turning away your face from a kinsman, of taking away a portion or a gift, of gazing at a woman who has a husband, 22of meddling with his maid—and don’t come near her bed, of abusive speech to friends—and after you have given, don’t insult, 23of repeating and speaking what you have heard, and of revealing of secrets. 24So you will be ashamed of the right things and find favor in the sight of every man.

Sirach gives a long list of things a person should be ashamed of: immorality, lying, injustice, theft, contemptuous behavior, revealing secrets, and more. And he concludes with a striking summary: So you will be ashamed of the right things and find favor in the sight of every man. Shame, rightly directed, is a good thing; the point is to be ashamed of the right things, of genuine wrongs, of what truly deserves shame. A rightly ordered sense of shame, ashamed of real wrongs rather than of good or neutral things, guards our conduct and leads to favor; it is a healthy conscience directed at what genuinely deserves it.

Notice the goal: to be ashamed of the right things. Shame can be misdirected, felt over things that are not wrong, or absent where it should be present; but Sirach directs it rightly, listing genuine wrongs, real faults, that ought to bring shame. A rightly ordered sense of shame is ashamed of what truly deserves it, of real wrong, and not of what is good or innocent. Such rightly directed shame is not a burden but a guard; it keeps us from genuine wrongs and leads to a good standing. To be ashamed of the right things, of real faults and wrongs, is a healthy conscience at work, guarding our conduct. The point is not to abolish shame but to direct it rightly, at what genuinely deserves it.

That is worth taking to heart, for a rightly directed sense of shame, ashamed of the right things, guards our conduct. We can have a misdirected shame, ashamed of things that are not wrong, or a numbed conscience that feels no shame where it should; but Sirach directs shame rightly, toward genuine wrongs, real faults. A healthy conscience is ashamed of the right things, and this guards us from doing them. Cultivate a rightly directed sense of shame, ashamed of genuine wrongs rather than of what is good or neutral, and let it guard your conduct, as Sirach directs. Let your sense of shame be rightly directed, ashamed of genuine wrongs and real faults rather than of what is good or innocent, as Sirach counsels us to be ashamed of the right things; for a rightly ordered conscience, ashamed of what truly deserves it, is a guard to our conduct, and it is good to feel shame over real wrong rather than over what is innocent or good.

Lord, Sirach gives a long list of things a person should be ashamed of: immorality, lying, injustice, theft, contemptuous behavior, revealing secrets, and more. And he concludes with a striking summary: so you will be ashamed of the right things and find favor in the sight of every man. Shame, rightly directed, is a good thing; the point is to be ashamed of the right things, of genuine wrongs, of what truly deserves shame. A rightly ordered sense of shame guards our conduct and leads to favor. Show me the goal: to be ashamed of the right things. Shame can be misdirected, felt over things that are not wrong, or absent where it should be present; but Sirach directs it rightly, listing genuine wrongs that ought to bring shame. A rightly ordered sense of shame is ashamed of what truly deserves it, and not of what is good or innocent. Such rightly directed shame is not a burden but a guard; it keeps us from genuine wrongs. To be ashamed of the right things is a healthy conscience at work. Take that to my heart, for a rightly directed sense of shame, ashamed of the right things, guards my conduct. I can have a misdirected shame, ashamed of things that are not wrong, or a numbed conscience that feels no shame where it should; but Sirach directs shame rightly, toward genuine wrongs. A healthy conscience is ashamed of the right things, and this guards me from doing them. Help me cultivate a rightly directed sense of shame, Lord, ashamed of genuine wrongs rather than of what is good or neutral, and let it guard my conduct, as Sirach counsels us to be ashamed of the right things.