Tag Archives: sin

Living Love

Lent

March 3, 2020

Scripture Reading: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” ’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. –Genesis 3:1-7

I was struck when I looked this scripture up on an online bible source that the heading above this scripture inserted by the publisher is The First Sin and Its Punishment. The word “sin” is not included in the scripture. Granted I cannot remember when I was first taught that this scripture described the first incidence of sin, but I was very young. I even checked my Strong’s Concordance and did not find it there. The first use of the word sin in the bible is in Genesis 4:7 in the story of Cain and Abel. Clearly Adam and Eve missed the mark in this story so perhaps the word “sin” itself is not required.

We followers of Christ have invested a lot of time and energy in trying to define sin to exact measures. Perhaps we work so hard at it because we want to know how close to the line, we can get without crossing it. Therein lies the problem with trying to master the meaning of “sin.”

I prefer to live under the positive commandments Jesus gave us to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves*. It is much less complicated. It does demand closely linked communion with God to help us live in God’s love rather in what humans distill as love and sometimes we still need to have our eyes opened in recognizing what is good and what is evil and choosing the good.

Prayer: God who is Love, teach us in every encounter with every neighbor near and far the essence of your love as we attempt to live in the light of your love. Amen.

*Matthew 22:36-40

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Faith and Politics

Epiphany

January 10, 2020

Scripture Reading:
Acts 10:34-43

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’ –Acts 39b-43

What happens after we are forgiven of our sins?

I split the above Scripture reading between yesterday and today in the middle of verse 39. It made sense when I did it but when I saw that choice resulted in the pronoun “They” as the start of the first sentence, I thought I needed to add back in the people it was describing. The “they” has no named people. The Greek referring to the land of the Jews* is translated Judea by the New Revised Standard Version. Whether the “they” is referring to the Jews is not clear. Who killed Jesus in the final analysis is a political question. The Romans tried him, found him guilty, and hung him on the cross. The Jewish faith leaders instigated the process. The ambiguous “they” in both the English and the Greek walks the tightrope of political correctness to get to the gist of the message. Whoever sins can and will receive forgiveness through the name of Jesus Christ.

The news reported this week that the USA killed an Iranian general we considered a terrorist. The Iranian army retaliated by shooting several missiles onto two USA military bases in Iraq that did not hurt or kill anyone but did some damage to equipment. The Iranians reported to their own people that there were multiple casualties. The USA claimed we knew the missiles were coming and took the precautions needed to keep soldiers and others out of harms way. The possibility exists that Iran pick targets sans people. We probably will never be able to fully trust anything regarding this situation. In the meantime, a passenger plane flying from Iran to Ukraine was apparently hit by something, crashed and all 176 persons aboard were killed. I am sure that both the USA and Iran will say they had nothing to do with the crash. Our sins impact innocent people.

God does forgive us of sins. Our response, in lasting appreciation, must be to change our behavior and never return to the behavior again.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for forgiving us repeatedly for the same and different sins. We pray for your guidance and support in learning from our mistakes and remaking our lives like yours. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/10-39.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Living Justice

Preparing for Advent

November 25, 2019

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come
   the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
   and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
   Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
   to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
   and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
   and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
   neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob,
   come, let us walk
   in the light of the Lord!

I watched a car ad on TV recently that showed a child blackmailing Santa so the child could get Santa’s sleigh which was of course a fancy car. I shuddered. What on earth are we doing? Selling the idea that wrong is not just OK but preferred behavior for children? Getting caught seems to have become the worst sin one can commit.

Isaiah writes hope in the above scripture as he describes a world where the Lord’s ways are lived as the right way.  As we begin the season of Advent, let us dedicate ourselves to looking inward to discern how much our lives are caught up in the ways of the world. Let us expose to God that we realize we need to turn around and return to God’s ways. Let us set forth our plans to live in justice and righteousness. Indeed, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, open our hearts and minds to the truth of the way we are living, cleanse us of those things drawing us away from you, and show us how to live in your light. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Accepting Responsibility

Kingdom Building

September 18, 2019

Scripture Reading:  Psalm 79:1-9

How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
   Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
Pour out your anger on the nations
   that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
   that do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob
   and laid waste his habitation.

Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
   let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
   for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation,
   for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and forgive our sins,
   for your name’s sake. –Psalm 79:5-9

I read these two stanzas of a poem and decided they reflect a good grasp of humans. The first of the two expresses some amount of guilt saying will you be angry forever. Of course, I am assuming the person praying is assuming God is angry at them. Perhaps the person is also assuming that God is angry because the person is guilty of turning to other gods. Will your jealous wrath burn like fire? Then it takes a common human turn, get angry at all those other nations that do not even follow you. He or she then prays for God to not blame us for what our ancestors did. We struggle with that even today trying to deal with slavery and the massacre of indigenous peoples among other things.

Finally, like Jacob wrestling with God*, the author of the poem recognizes that we, too, like our ancestors and all other people are sinners. We are responsible for our sins. When we take responsibility for our sins and work to change our behaviors and bring reconciliation and restoration to correct any fallout from our sins, we are doing our part as a member of God’s kingdom of love. Even better when we learn to work together in love bringing about reconciliation and restoration, we further the development of God’s Kingdom in our world.

Prayer:    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and forgive our sins,
   for your name’s sake. Amen.
*See Genesis 32:22-32

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

What is Sin?

Kingdom Building

September 13, 2019

Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. –1 Timothy 1:15-17

The Greek word translated above as sinners is hamartōlós (a substantival adjective, derived from 264 /hamartánō, “to forfeit by missing the mark”) – properly, loss from falling short of what God approves, i.e. what is “wide of the mark”*. According to the above scripture Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We all meet the definitions of sinners whether falling short of what God approves or to forfeit by missing the mark. The first definition demands that we take the time to know God well enough to learn what God approves. The second seems to indicate giving up when we do not attain a goal. When I read that definition, I thought of someone competing with another to see who could shoot the most free-throws and forfeiting the win when he or she missed the first shot. I can see where the One who commanded us to forgive not seven times, but seventy-seven times might not be too impressed with us giving up doing what is right easily. (Matthew 18:22)

My mother shared that when she was a little girl, her family used an outhouse for the restroom. Making the trek several yards behind her home was no problem in the daytime but it was scary at night. Her concept of sin assumed that the devil would get her if she ever broke one of God’s laws. Since she was never sure what they all were she lived in fear that the devil would grab her and pull her down into hell in the dark as she made her way to the outhouse. She ran as fast as she could in the dark to that outhouse and back. Later she learned that God is a God of love and wants all of us to thrive in the abundance of that love.

Neither of these definitions fit my Mother’s understanding of sin from her childhood. To her sin was breaking God’s laws which is not the same as falling short of what God approves. Certainly, God gave us laws to guide our way, but what God approves cannot be contained in ten or 613 rules. We must discern how, when, and whether to apply the laws within the boundaries of our relationship with God. Christ Jesus came into the world to demonstrate how that works and ultimately gave his life to show us the full measure of God’s love for us.

Prayer: God of Love, thank you for blessing us with the life and love of Christ Jesus and help us as we struggle to learn your ways and give us the tenacity necessary to live your ways. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/268.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Missing the Mark

Lent
April 15, 2019

Scripture Reading: Acts 10:34-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

 Sin: missing the mark; hence: (a) guilt, sin, (b) a fault, failure (in an ethical sense), sinful deed*. Also Hebrew to go astray

How many of us were raised to think that the definition of sin is breaking God’s laws? Perhaps breaking God’s laws could be a part of missing the mark, but that definition certainly has a broader meaning. Laws of any kind are basically shortcuts to order. Traffic laws are designed to help transportation move smoothly and limit accidents. God’s laws, too, are shortcuts to the order of our behavior. Shortcuts once know and understood allow us to function without having to take the time to figure out the best way to deal with a given situation. Thou shall not lie has saved a lot of children from a lot of trouble. Ditto for adults and the law to not commit adultery. Break them and we face the consequences of our actions. Indeed, breaking a law may be manifested in sinning but the breaking of a law is not included in the definition of sin.

The definitions of sin quoted above is based in activities of living going astray, missing the mark, failing to be ethical in all we do, a sinful deed implies doing something that hurts another or others. The problem with sin is that it interferes with our fulfilling our call to be the image of God to one another, loving one another. Living our lives in sin can impede the lives of others. The more we get caught in the web of sin the more it steals our gifts from being used to fulfill our calling.

God created restorative justice. God’s forgiveness of our sins frees us to continue our tasks toward creating a world ruled by love. It is certainly important that we learn from the times we have missed the mark or gone astray but being weighted down by guilt and shame limits our ability to make a positive contribution to God’s vision of God’s Kingdom. Through forgiveness God removes that weight for the betterment of all.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for forgiving our sins and restoring our role in building a loving world. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/266.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Exercise for the Soul

Living in the Spirit
November 28, 2018

Scripture Reading: Psalm 25:1-10

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long. 

Good and upright is the Lord;
   therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
   and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
   for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. –Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10

The NRSV uses the word “make” in the scripture above to describe the action we are asking of the Lord. Other translations use the word “teach”. The Hebrew word used is a root word and means to exercise in, learn*. I am not sure that making anyone do anything ever works in the long term and may actually create a negative experience. I get the idea of exercising until something becomes routine. My first session of physical therapy following knee replacement surgery began with riding a recumbent bike. My therapist did not force me to turn those pedals but matter-of-factly assured me that it was the best and quickest way for me to return to walking normally. I did make myself pedal with those first few rotations coming very slowly and painfully. The motion resulted in the pain easing and my speed increasing. That was my norm for several sessions as the pain decreased and my speed increased until eventually the pain was gone. I now sound like a broken record when people facing knee replacement ask me for advice regarding how to deal with the surgery when I always say, “Do the therapy.”

Facing our sins, our missing the mark, our separation from God, whatever we want to call it can be painful. I think what the psalmist is trying to say is that dealing with our sin heals the wounds that prevent us from walking the paths that God lays out for us to a fuller and richer life. None of this recovery happens by accident. We must be intentional about our efforts first to identify the issues and then to reshape our lives to avoid their traps. God shows us the way through scripture and prayer and the presence of the Holy Spirit and we exercise within God’s guidelines until we have turned away from that which holds us back from our full potential as children of God.

Prayer: Walk with me, O Lord, as I work to grow in truth and in grace in your service. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3925.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Falling into Sin

Living in the Spirit
July 24, 2018

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 11:1-15

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.’ –2 Samuel 11:13-14

If committing adultery was not enough, David multiplied his wrongdoing by arranging to have his lover’s husband killed.

O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive! (Walter Scott) *

Sin begets more sin and eventually backs us into a corner where we see sin as our only choice. By that time, it may not seem like sin at all. We live in a society caught in that corner where I think some begin to justify their actions as right just because they were the ones doing it. I sat alone in a cubical at my dentist’s office recently waiting for the Novocain to work and could not help but overhear the conversation from the next cubical. I first heard the dentist explain that two teeth on one side were rotten to the bone and would have to come out but he thought one tooth on the other side of the patient’s mouth could be saved with a root canal.  In the conversation, the patient asked why the dentist had not caught the damage earlier. After a few seconds, the dentist said, “You have not been here for a checkup for four years.” A few minutes later I heard a woman’s voice explaining how much the treatment was going to cost. We get so caught up in life that we do not take the time to do the preventive care necessary to remain as healthy as possible as we age. The same thing could be said for the care of our souls.

Routine self-examination of our relationship with God and following God’s way is important. Daily review of our thoughts and actions is helpful. Journaling what we identify is a good idea. Taking the time to review one’s journal to look for patterns of behavior, good or bad, that are impacting our lives is useful. More than anything else, confession to God in prayer of anything we do that separates us from God is imperative.

Prayer: Holy One, rest heavy on my conscience when I am tempted to pull away from you. When I feel lost, help me find a right path, when I am bored or disillusioned with my life, shine a light on something needing my touch. Amen.

*See at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/walter_scott_118003

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Sin’s Definitions

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.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

What to do about sin?

Lent
March 8, 2018

 Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved
                                                                                                                                    Ephesians 2:1-5

What is sin?  A fault, an evil deed, missing the mark, and being estranged from God are some of the possible definitions.  The scripture above seems to imply that sins separate us from living life fully and acceptable within the framework of God’s love. What holds us back from being ourselves?

We hear a lot about background checks these days. I had one when I worked at a church because it operated a child care facility and everyone who had even incidental contact with the children were checked for police records. Our national security requirements apparently require discloser of anything that might result in a person being blackmailed.  Such safety precautions are necessary, and I support there use. They, however, serve as an example of our relationship with God. Christ came to free us from all that holds us back from living in the fullness of God’s love frees us as we live in and through Christ.

I have noted a trend in the USA, at least, that what we identify as “bad” sins are usually only done by others and often small populations that do not include the ones doing the identifying. Voices loudly condemn homosexuality, but we hold in esteem people who lust for power or are greedy. We want to emulate them. According to Gallup Polls about 3.8%* of the population identify as LGBT while in my experience we all suffer from a touch of greed. We identify scapegoats to justify our own estrangement from God. We seem to believe that if we can identify someone we deem to be worst than ourselves it somehow justifies our behaviors.

All people, all of God’s children are invited to be alive together in Christ. (Emphasis added). We are not called to examine each other regarding what is separating us from that reality. We are to examine ourselves and support one another in our journeys toward wholeness.

Prayer: Lord, help me first take the log out of my own eye so that l can see clearly to take the speck out of my neighbor’s eye when and if they need and want my help. ** Amen

*http://news.gallup.com/poll/183383/americans-greatly-overestimate-percent-gay-lesbian.aspx
**Derived from Matthew 7:5

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.