A Short Sermon on Sin

 

A Short Sermon on Sin
Old Christ Episcopal Church, Laurel, DE
Pentecost XV - Proper 17B

When I was planning this sermon and remembering the last time I was here, I recall that it was hotter than the hinges on the gates of hell. Which is a good image for this sermon which I’ve entitled “A Short Sermon on Sin”.

I don’t think I’ve ever preached a sermon on sin. It’s not something Episcopalians do. Oh, we partake in our fair share of sin; we just don’t like to hear about it – especially in church – and never in a sermon, thank you very much.

Might make people uncomfortable. That would be awkward. And, they might not come back to church. Like, ever again. These days, we can’t afford to miss out on one single pledge.

Well, buckle up folks, because whether you want to believe this or not, Jesus just preached a very short sermon about sin. We also heard one in the Epistle of St. James, the son of Joseph and Mary and the presumed brother (Oh, okay, half-brother) of Jesus.  

Here's the difference: the focus of James’ sermon about sin is slightly different from Jesus. James talks about being not only “hearers of the word but doers of the word”.  Jesus is much more concerned about the relationship we have with each other and the world rather than the things we do that are considered sinful.

The religious leaders of his day were horrified that the disciples of Jesus were not strictly following the religious rules of their day. Specifically, they were not ritually washing their hands before they ate. This was not a concern about cleanliness, per se. This was a concern about godliness.

Remember, please the that Levitical Rules that created these cleanliness codes were in reaction to the concern of the Israelites that their time in bondage in Egypt had to have been a punishment from God.

Whatever it was they did, they certainly didn’t want to do it again and make God angry. So, all of these rules were carefully created about what could and couldn’t be eaten, and how they should and shouldn’t be prepared, and what one should and should not do, and all very carefully followed so as not to anger God and find themselves slaves again.

Jesus says, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Bottom line: Jesus is calling us to pay close attention to the content of a one’s character rather than the content of someone else’s purse. Jesus is calling us to open our eyes to our relationships with one another rather than following the law out of blind obedience to it.  Jesus is saying we must honor God not just with our lips but with our lives.

That’s because sin is whatever leads us away from the first and great commandment: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ' And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Now, those commandments from God have been around for centuries and it seems fewer of us in each succeeding generation have been successful in following them. Otherwise, we wouldn’t still have the sins that Jesus names as coming from the human heart: “fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.”

Hear me: I am not an anarchist. Rules are not bad. Rules are good things because they can govern and steer a relationship along a good path. They become bad when they become a narrow gate through which relationships must always past. When this happens, the rules become the basis for the relationship. Sometimes, rules become the substitute for the relationship.

I submit that this is so because, while it may be easy for most of us to love God, and for some of us to love our neighbor, for many of us, it’s the “as yourself” part that we mess up on. It’s so much easier to blame others for what we think we don’t have – enough money, a suitable spouse, a good enough home, a good reputation. And so we steal and commit adultery and envy and slander, and so on.

“As yourself.” Love God, love your neighbor AS YOURSELF. It starts here, in the human heart.

Croatian scholar, theologian, and author of many books on reconciliation, Miroslav Volf, wrote, “Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners.”

Understanding ourselves as humans that have also been broken by sin is the key to opening the door to forgiveness and reconciliation. As a Christian, I cannot talk about sin without talking about forgiveness and reconciliation.

 

It's sort of like the Japanese art of Kintsukuroi, the art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. When we understand that we have all missed the mark, when confess that we have all fallen short, we open ourselves to God’s grace which is like a gold or silver lacquer that makes us even more beautiful for having been broken. That admission, that confession, allows us to see the beauty in other people’s brokenness and find forgiveness and reconciliation and peace.

And, you know, that’s really all I know about sin. Or, all I know to say about sin. And, forgiveness. And, reconciliation. Except, to say this: There is absolutely nothing – no sin of any sort or manner or condition, intentional or not – that can keep you from the love of God. Not even you.

 

Amen.



The Collect

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

 

The Epistle

James 1:17-27

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.



The Gospel Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;

in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”