Second Sunday of Advent, cycle B

MARK 1:1-8
MANY YEARS AGO I WAS VISITING MY GRANDMOTHER ON A SUNDAY. THE TELEVISION WAS ON – IT WAS BLACK AND WHITE, CATCHING A SIGNAL FROM AN ANTENNA, PICKING UP THE ONLY STATION IN HELENA, MONTANA. SHE WAS WATCHING ONE OF THOSE PREACHERS, I DON'T REMEMBER WHICH ONE, BUT I REMEMBER THE MESSAGE. THE THEME OF THE SERMON WAS THAT BECAUSE JESUS HAD DIED FOR OUR SINS, WE WERE FORGIVEN! THAT STRUCK ME AS MILDLY HERETICAL. I DIDN'T DISAGREE WITH THE STATEMENT – JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS, HE'D PAID THE PRICE, BUT AS A STUDENT IN A PRE-VATICAN II CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL, I HAD MEMORIZED A MILLION CATECHISM QUESTIONS, AND WE WENT TO CONFESSION AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH, SOMETIMES MORE OFTEN, AND WE DID OUR PENANCES, AND DURING LENT WE FASTED, AND IT SEEMED TO ME THAT I HAD TO DO SOMETHING TO BE FORGIVEN. WELL, I WAS THE HERETIC. BUT SO WAS THE PREACHER. TODAY, THE GOSPEL TELLS US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT FORGIVENESS. FORGIVENESS REQUIRES REPENTANCE, BEING BAPTIZED INTO GRACE REQUIRES CONFESSION OF SINS. AND ON THIS SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT, PERHAPS WE NEED TO THINK A BIT ABOUT SIN.
FIRST OF ALL, WE ARE ALL SINNERS. MOTHER THERESA CONSIDERED HERSELF A SINNER. SO DID ANY GREAT SAINT YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE YOU ARE A SINNER, YOU ARE EITHER THE VIRGIN MARY OR YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR MIND. WE CAN'T GO THROUGH A DAY, EVEN AN HOUR, WITHOUT COMMITTING SIN, UNLESS WE ARE ASLEEP OR UNDER ANESTHESIA. NOT BIG SINS, NOT MURDER, ADULTERY, THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT LITTLE SINS, SINS THAT WE WOULD HARDLY EVEN CLASSIFY BY THE OLD TERM “VENIAL”. THE CONSTANT SOURCE OF OUR SINS IS OUR PRIDE, OUR SELF-CENTEREDNESS. WE ARE HURT BECAUSE SOMEONE SLIGHTS US; THE PAIN COMES BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS BEING MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT OTHER PERSON SEEMS TO THINK WE ARE. WE HURT OTHERS BECAUSE IN OUR HURRY, WE IGNORE THEM. WE DON'T SEE THEM AS EQUALS, WE DON'T LOVE THEM AS WE LOVE OURSELVES, THEY ARE JUST BUMPS IN OUR ROAD. WE HAVE TASKS TO DO, BUT WE WASTE TIME. WE DON'T NEED TO EAT THAT EXTRA PIECE OF PIE, WE KNOW ITS BAD FOR US, BUT WE EAT IT. WE LIGHT UP ANOTHER CIGARETTE, WE HAVE ANOTHER MARTINI. WE SIT BACK IN THE EVENING AND WATCH SEX IN THE CITY; WE ARE SPORTS JUNKIES, OR NEWS JUNKIES, OR YOU NAME IT. AND YOU SAY, “THOSE AREN'T SERIOUS, THOSE AREN'T IMPORTANT.”
C.S. LEWIS SAID THAT THERE ARE THREE ERRORS PEOPLE MAKE ABOUT SIN. THE FIRST IS THAT A SIN, EVEN A SERIOUS SIN, COMMITTED A LONG TIME AGO ISN'T AS IMPORTANT AS ONE WE COMMIT RIGHT NOW. SOMEHOW, PEOPLE FEEL THAT TIME HAS A WAY OF DIMINISHING A SIN. NOT TRUE. A SIN IS A SIN, AND TIME DOES NOTHING TO DECREASE ITS SERIOUSNESS. THE SECOND IS THAT WE LOOK AT SINS, AND I LISTED MANY ABOVE, AND SAY “THEY AREN'T A BIG DEAL, THEY AREN'T SERIOUS ENOUGH TO MATTER.” NOT TRUE, BECAUSE EVEN A LITTLE SIN, EVEN A LITTLE FAULT, IS A GRAVE OFFENSE AGAINST GOD. EVEN A LITTLE SIN IS A POISON, BECAUSE GOD CREATED US IN THE HOPES THAT WE WOULD FREELY SURRENDER OURSELVES TO HIM, SO THAT HE COULD MAKE US HAPPY, SO THAT HE COULD BUILD UP HIS KINGDOM WITH OUR COOPERATION AND HELP. AND ANYTHING WE DO THAT INTERFERES WITH THIS IS A SLAP IN HIS FACE. THE THIRD MISTAKE IS THAT WE SAY “I'M ONLY HUMAN” -- THAT IS, WE FORGIVE OURSELVES. AND THAT'S NOT TRUE, BECAUSE WE CAN'T FORGIVE OURSELVES FOR AN OFFENSE AGAINST GOD, AND WHEN WE MAKE THE EXCUSE THAT WE ARE ONLY HUMAN, WE ARE BASICALLY SAYING THAT GOD IS NOT GIVING US THE GRACE WE NEED TO OVERCOME SIN – AND THAT'S NOT TRUE. JESUS COMMANDED US TO BE PERFECT.
WELL, SO FAR THAT'S A PRETTY DEPRESSING MESSAGE, AT LEAST TO ME. BUT THAT'S WHERE REPENTANCE, CONFESSING OUR SINS COMES IN. REPENTANCE MEANS TO TURN, TO TURN AWAY FROM SIN, AND TO TURN TO GOD. TO TURN AWAY FROM SIN REQUIRES THAT WE CONFRONT SIN HONESTLY, AND THAT IS WERE CONFESSING COMES IN, BECAUSE TO NAME OUR SINS, ESPECIALLY TO NAME THEM OUT LOUD, TO OUR PRIEST, IS THE FIRST STEP IN KNOWING WHAT TO TURN AWAY FROM. WE HAVE TO CONSIDER ALL OF OUR OWN SINS, EVEN THE LITTLE ONES; WE HAVE TO TRULY SEE THOSE SINS FOR THE SERIOUS THINGS THEY ARE – HOW DO THEY KEEP US FROM LIVING A FULLY HUMAN LIFE, HOW DO THEY HOLD US BACK FROM DOING GOD'S WILL; AND WHEN WE SEE THIS, HOPEFULLY WE WILL FEEL REVULSION, AND PUSH THEM AWAY, AND TURN TOWARDS GOD. AND THEN COMES FORGIVENESS.
GOD'S FORGIVENESS IS LIKE THE SUN; CONSTANTLY BATHING US IN WARMTH AND LIGHT. BUT SIN IS LIKE A ROCK UNDER WHICH WE HIDE. AND WE HAVE TO TURN AWAY FROM THAT COOL DARK AND PROBABLY COMFORTABLE HIDING PLACE AND COME OUT TO RECEIVE FORGIVENESS; SINCE WE ARE FREE, ONLY WE CAN MAKE THAT CHOICE.
MOST OF US SEE OURSELVES AS GOOD PERSONS; BUT WE AREN'T; AND MOST OF US EXCUSE OUR FAILINGS BECAUSE WE ARE ONLY HUMAN, OR BECAUSE THEY AREN'T THAT SERIOUS, OR BECAUSE THEY HAPPENED LONG AGO; BUT THOSE AREN'T EXCUSES, BECAUSE THOSE STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON FANTASY, NOT ON REALITY.
AND WILL WE SIN AGAIN? SURE, UNTIL OUR DYING DAY, BUT SO DID SAINT PAUL, AND MOTHER THERESA, AND YOU NAME THE SAINT. BUT WHAT MAKES A SAINT, PERHAPS, IS TO RECOGNIZE SIN FOR WHAT IT IS, TO CONSTANTLY STRUGGLE TO OVERCOME IT, AND HAVING SEEN IT FOR WHAT IT IS, TO TURN AWAY FROM SIN AND TURN TOWARDS GOD, EVERY DAY, MAYBE EVEN EVERY HOUR, DAY IN AND DAY OUT, FOR THE REST OF ONE'S LIFE. AND THAT SEEMS LIKE A VERY DIFFICULT TASK, BUT EVEN THERE GOD HELPS US. IF WE WANT TO REPENT, IF WE WANT TO CONFESS OUR SINS, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THERE TO SHOW THEM TO US, TO HELP US IDENTIFY THEM, TO PUSH THEM AWAY, AND TO TURN TOWARDS FORGIVENESS. IT'S BEEN SAID THAT HELL IS FULL OF SINNERS WHO DID NOT REPENT, WHILE HEAVEN IS FULL OF SINNERS WHO DID. AND WHAT GREAT JOY THERE WILL BE AS WE GET RID OF ALL THAT CLOUDS OUR VISION, AS WE DETACH OURSELVES FROM ALL THOSE LITTLE THINGS THAT DRAG US DOWN, THAT KEEP US FROM PROGRESSING IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES – AND ENTER INTO THE LIGHT AND WARMTH OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS.
ADVENT IS A TIME FOR EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. WHAT IS HOLDING ME BACK, WHAT ARE THOSE HABITUAL SINS, MAYBE VERY SMALL ONES, WHICH I MUST FIRST IDENTIFY AND THEN TURN AWAY FROM. TOMORROW THERE WILL BE OTHERS, NEXT YEAR, STILL MORE. BUT AS WE REPENT, AS WE RECEIVE FORGIVENESS, WE GET STRONGER AND THE PROCESS BECOMES EASIER, AND FORGIVENESS BECOMES MORE AND MORE DESIRABLE BECAUSE WE COME TO DELIGHT IN GOD'S TOUCH.