LUKE 7:36-8:3
SIN – WHAT IS IT? WE
CAN USE THE LANGUAGE OF THE BALTIMORE CATECHISM AND TALK ABOUT MORTAL
SINS, VENIAL SINS, AND FAULTS – BUT THAT DEFINITION MAKES SIN
SOMETHING OUTSIDE OF YOU, SOMETHING THAT CAN BE COUNTED UP. WE CAN
SAY THAT SIN IS ANYTHING THAT OFFENDS GOD, BUT IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE
THAT A PERFECT, INFINITELY WISE AND INFINITELY POWERFUL BEING CAN BE
OFFENDED BY ANYTHING I CAN DO, AND OF COURSE THE NATURAL CONCLUSION
OF THIS REASONING IS THAT IF GOD IS OFFENDED, THEN HE MIGHT VERY WELL
ZAP US IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER. BUT ALL SIN REALLY REDUCES TO ONE
THING – EVERY SIN COMES FROM ME THINKING AND ACTING AS THOUGH I'M
THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE – SIN COMES FROM LIVING THAT LIE.
THEY SAY THAT ONE OF THE
THINGS THAT DISTINGUISHES OUR SOCIETY FROM PREVIOUS SOCIETIES IS THAT
WE PEOPLE IN THE WESTERN WORLD NO LONGER HAVE A SENSE OF SIN. SOME
PEOPLE THINK THIS IS A GOOD THING. PEOPLE WHO WEAR HAIR SHIRTS AND
BEAT THEMSELVES WITH CORDS AND FAST UNTIL THEY NEARLY DIE AS PENANCE
FOR SIN SEEM TO US TO BE MORBID. AND SOME OF THESE PEOPLE DIDN'T
HAVE MUCH IN THE WAY OF SIN, AT LEAST BY OUR STANDARDS. AND A SENSE
OF SIN CAN BE CARRIED TOO FAR; MARTIN LUTHER, WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG
MONK, PRACTICALLY WENT CRAZY THINKING ABOUT HIS OWN SINFULNESS. HE
USED TO CONFESS HIS SINS NEARLY EVERY DAY TO ANY PRIEST WHO WOULD
LISTEN. ONE TIME A YOUNG PRIEST HEARD HIS CONFESSION, AND NOT
KNOWING WHAT TO SAY, ASKED MARTIN TO SAY THE APOSTLE'S CREED, ONE
LINE AT A TIME. WHEN LUTHER CAME TO THE LINE, “I BELIEVE IN THE
FORGIVENESS OF SINS” HE IS SAID TO HAVE REMARKED, “I WANT TO
BELIEVE THAT!” AND OF COURSE HE WENT ON TO START THE LUTHERAN
CHURCH AND PROTESTANTISM, A CENTRAL IDEA OF WHICH IS THAT IT DIDN'T
MATTER HOW SINFUL YOU WERE, OR WHAT YOU DID AS PENANCE; JESUS HAS
ALREADY TAKEN CARE OF EVERYTHING; OR IF YOU WERE A CALVINIST, YOUR
ETERNAL DESTINY WAS DETERMINED AND THERE WAS NOTHING YOU COULD DO
ABOUT IT. MAYBE THIS THEOLOGY IS ULTIMATELY WHY WE'VE LOST OUR SENSE
OF SIN, AND WHY MOST CATHOLICS DON'T PARTICIPATE IN THE SACRAMENT OF
PENANCE ANYMORE. TO DO SO WOULD BE TO ADMIT TO ONESELF THAT THINGS
ARE NOT ALL RIGHT.
MY THREE YEAR OLD
GRANDSON WAS GETTING PRETTY FRISKY THE OTHER DAY AND HE JUMPED ON MY
CHEST. HE IS NO LIGHTWEIGHT, AND I THOUGHT A RIB HAD BEEN BROKEN.
WHEN HE SAW THAT I WAS IN PAIN HE CRAWLED INTO A CORNER AND WOULDN'T
LOOK AT ME. THE SENSE OF SIN, OF DOING SOMETHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG,
STARTS AT A VERY EARLY AGE.
SO A QUESTION IS WHETHER
THE SENSE OF SIN, WHICH IS REALLY SOMETHING THAT IS BUILT IN TO US,
IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEVELOPED OR SUPPRESSED. IF YOU LOOK AT THE
HEADLINES ON THE MAGAZINES IN THE CHECKOUT LINE OF THE GROCERY STORE,
YOU WILL SEE THAT THERE ARE QUITE A FEW PROMINENT ENTERTAINERS WHO
SEEM TO HAVE COMPLETELY SUPPRESSED ANY SENSE OF SIN; AND AT THE SAME
TIME WE SEE PEOPLE LIKE SAINT JEROME, SAINT ANTHONY OF THE DESERT, OR
SAINT BENEDICT WHO SEEMED TO BE ALMOST ATHLETIC IN THEIR
SELF-PUNISHMENT.
TODAY WE MEET A MAN,
SIMON, WHO SEEMS TO HAVE NO SENSE OF SIN. AND THAT'S NOT SURPRISING;
HE'S A PHARISEE, AND A GOOD PHARISEE KNEW THAT BY FOLLOWING THE LAW
TO THE LETTER, HE HAD NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. AND BECOMING BETTER
AND BETTER AT FOLLOWING THE LAW WAS THE CHIEF AMBITION OF THESE
PEOPLE; SAINT PAUL EVEN BRAGGED THAT HE HAD SURPASSED EVERYONE IN HIS
ZEAL FOR THE LAW. AND WE MEET AN UNNAMED WOMAN, WHOM MANY ASSUME WAS
A PROSTITUTE, ALTHOUGH THE TEXT DOESN'T SAY THAT. BUT MAYBE SHE
WASN'T A PROSTITUTE – MAYBE SHE WAS A SINNER BECAUSE SHE WAS ONE OF
THOSE PEOPLE WHO PREPARED PEOPLE FOR BURIAL – THEY WERE UNCLEAN.
OR, MAYBE SHE WAS MARRIED TO A GENTILE – THAT MADE YOU A SINNER.
MAYBE WE THINK SHE'S A PROSTITUTE BECAUSE WE CAN'T IMAGINE ANYONE
BEING VERY UPSET OVER THOSE OTHER KINDS OF SINS. AND SHE IS VERY
CONSCIOUS OF HER SIN; SHE KNOWS SHE SHOULDN'T EVEN BE THERE, BUT IN
HER DESPERATION SHE HAS BROKEN ONE MORE SOCIAL CONVENTION PERHAPS
BECAUSE SHE HAS HEARD THAT JESUS CAN FORGIVE SIN. AND SHE WEEPS
OVER HER SINS, SHE FEELS HER SINFULNESS DEEPLY.
AND WE REMEMBER THE TAX
COLLECTOR IN THE PARABLE; HE SAID, “LORD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME, A
SINNER.” OR ST PETER, WHO SAID, “DEPART FROM ME, FOR I AM A
SINFUL MAN”. OR SAINT PAUL, WHO SAID, “WRETCHED MAN THAT I AM,
WHO CAN DELIVER ME FROM THIS BODY OF DEATH?” ARE ALL THESE
RHETORICAL STATEMENTS? AND THE APOSTLE JAMES SAID
SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE CONCERN EACH OF US VERY MUCH: WHOEVER KEEPS
THE WHOLE LAW AND YET STUMBLES AT EVEN ONE POINT IS GUILTY OF
BREAKING ALL OF IT”.
A SENSE OF SIN IS
ACTUALLY A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. TODAY JESUS
GIVES US A CLUE AS TO WHY. THE ONE WHO IS FORGIVEN MUCH IS THE ONE
WHO LOVES THE MOST. AND LOVE IS OUR GOAL – TO BURN WITH LOVE FOR
GOD AND FOR OUR NEIGHBOR IS WHERE WE WANT TO BE AS CHRISTIANS. AND
WE GET THERE BY KNOWING OURSELVES TO BE SINNERS, BY FEELING THE
IMMENSE DISTANCE BETWEEN US AND GOD, BY REALIZING THAT WHAT WE SHOULD
BE AND WHAT WE ARE ARE SO FAR APART; WE ARE THE RICH MAN IN HELL,
LOOKING AT ABRAHAM ACROSS THE GAP THAT COULD NOT BE CROSSED.
IF YOU KNOW YOURSELF TO
BE A GOOD PERSON, AND YOU FORGIVE YOURSELF FOR YOUR MINOR
TRANSGRESSIONS, AND YOU REALIZE THAT IF GRADED ON A CURVE, YOU ARE
WAY UP THERE IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION THAN THE PEOPLE ON THE FRONT
OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE, WELL, YOU DON'T NEED MUCH SAVING, DO YOU? AND IF
YOU DON'T NEED MUCH SAVING, YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR;
AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR, YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH IN
THE WAY OF LOVE. BUT IF YOU LOOK AT YOURSELF WITH CLEAR EYES, NOT
EVEN DARING TO COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHER PEOPLE – IF YOU LOOK AT
WHAT YOU ARE VERSUS WHAT YOU COULD BE – IF YOU LOOK AT GOD AND LOOK
AT YOURSELF – THEN YOU ARE DOING WHAT THE GREAT SAINTS DID. YOU
BECOME AWARE THAT NEXT TO GOD YOU ARE NOTHING; JUST BY BEING A HUMAN
BEING YOU PARTAKE OF HUMAN SIN WITH EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE. FOR EVERY
STEP FORWARD THERE SEEMS TO BE TWO STEPS BACK, EVERY TIME YOU GET UP,
YOU FALL AGAIN. YOU BECOME AWARE THAT AS A SON OR DAUGHTER OF GOD
YOU ARE A REAL PRODIGAL SON, EVEN IF YOU ARE A PRIEST OR A POPE. AND
THEN, WHEN YOU ARE AWARE OF YOUR SINS, WHEN YOU ARE DRAWN TO WEEP
OVER THEM, WHEN YOU SEE HOW GOOD GOD IS AND HOW YOU, ON THE OTHER
HAND, ARE A SINNER, UNWORTHY OF EVEN THE LIFE HE HAS GIVEN YOU –
AND THEN YOU REALIZE THAT JESUS CROSSED THAT GAP BETWEEN YOU AND GOD
AND DIED FOR YOU, AND WOULD HAVE DONE SO IF YOU WERE THE ONLY HUMAN
BEING EVER; WHEN YOU'VE REACHED THAT POINT, IT BECOMES POSSIBLE TO
LOVE DEEPLY; AND IN THAT DEEP LOVE, AS JESUS SAYS, LIES THE
FORGIVENESS OF SIN.
SINCE THE THIRD CENTURY,
MONKS HAVE MEDITATED ON THE FOUR LAST THINGS – SIN, DEATH, HEAVEN
AND HELL. WE DON'T WANT TO BE MORBID, BUT WE DO WANT TO FULLY
UNDERSTAND OUR SINFULNESS SO THAT WE CAN LOVE MORE DEEPLY AND SO THAT
WE AN SEE THE DIRECTION IN WHICH WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. OUT OF OUR
REALISTIC VIEW OF OUR OWN SINFULNESS COMES THE POSSIBILITY OF LOVING
AWAY OUR SINS.
