Eastertide
April 13, 2018
Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:1-7
Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. –1 John 3:4-7
We play with the meaning of sin. Some see sin as being separated from God. Some translate sin as missing the mark. Others cling to following God’s laws as avoiding sin. In all three instances, we hold on to the controls of what it means to be separated from God or missing the mark and determining the laws that count and the ones that do not. What may matter more is our relationship with God in holding ourselves accountable to God for each or all these types of sin, not our definitions.
In my mind, I return again and again to the story of Judgment in Matthew 25 and put myself in the shoes of the one standing before Christ asking the question, “When were you hungry and I fed you?” At what point does our relationship with God become so much a part of our being that mirroring Christ’s behavior has become second nature to us? When dinner with Christ is no different than dinner with our families and we understand completely that all of God’s children are members of our family.
In our practice of the spiritual disciple of self-examination, all three of these meanings of sin are relevant. We need to develop an awareness of when we move away from God and in humility return to God’s presence. We need to develop an objective judgment of our missing the mark and making necessary corrections. God’s laws are shortcuts to guiding daily behavior as we adapt the ancient writings to our time and place when healthy eating is more likely to mean cutting down our intake of salt and sugar than avoiding catfish and shrimp.
Prayer: Lord, we long to sit at your love feast where there is enough food for all your children and all bask in the wonder of your love. Tug us back when we stretch too far from your reach, help us see our love targets more clearly and correct our aim, and make the spirit of your law our guiding light. Amen.