Lesson 13: Handling Sin
As I reported last week the Young Adult Reading Group discussed sin for several months. Each meeting they shared their ideas about a topic or two, such as lying on a resume and euthanasia. At the end of the sessions, they wanted to discuss ways for handling sin. My background paper follows. You can check their discussion in the first comment below.
RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT HANDLING SIN
1. Remember righteousness is not so much doing what is right as being in the right relationship with other persons. It is more important to deal appropriately with the person in front of you than in taking a proper position about theoretical issues.
2. Jesus is speaking of this when he says the greatest commandment is really two: love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and your neighbor as yourself. When we say this summarizes all of the law, we are going beyond actions to the underlying relationship. So Jesus can say anger is just as bad in some ways as murder.
3. Notice this relationship involves loving three persons: God, neighbor, and yourself. Handling sin begins with loving yourself. If you love yourself in a healthy manner, you are going to be able to deal appropriately with other people as well.
4. This includes trusting Jesus when he proclaims God loves you. Very often it is harder to accept love than to give it.
5. Remember the New Testament defines love as not insisting on your own way and returning good for evil. It always includes special care for the weak. The Last Judgment is based on giving food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger and clothing the naked, caring for the sick and visiting the imprisoned.
6. Handling sin means accepting forgiveness as an essential part of life. Christian life continually offers second chances. Jesus speaks of forgiveness as seventy times seven times. We always need to recover, so we can continue to live for God. Forgiveness is the way to make an enemy a friend. Again, because accepting God’s forgiveness is often more difficult than offering forgiveness to another, it is wise to remember the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
7. In our affluent society we should always be asking, “How much is enough?” Trusting God means we do not need to be endlessly anxious about tomorrow.
8. And finally, we should remember Jesus was especially disgusted with hypocrites and was constantly accused of spending too much time with sinners.
Lutherans acknowledge we all are saints and sinners who must practice repentance daily. To repent is to change our hearts and minds so we are able to change our actions. The Church has traditionally broken this down into 1) penance- feeling guilt and sorrow, 2) confession- orally acknowledging our sins to another person, 3) absolution- receiving forgiveness from the other person in the name of Jesus, and 4) satisfaction- taking some practical action to express the change.
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Much of the discussion focused on the dynamic nature of forgiveness; how forgiveness frees the victim as well as the sinner. Although some of the young people began by reporting they had a hard time calling anything evil, it did not take long for the group to agree sin is not limited to bad intentions. They were well aware that life in our society involves us all in evil. Much of their discussion dealt with what they could do about this. They did not come to any sure-fire conclusions, except that “it is not easy being good”. They felt the Amish way is not realistic or responsible, because Christians are called to make a better world as best they can.
On “Handling sin”. Sin might need to be redefined in our modern world. I am reminded of the “Screwtape Letters”… for example, anorexia and bulimia could be considered “the other side ” of gluttony, and equally sinful as well as destructive. The seven deadly sins seem to have been reduced by some modern Christians to one: lust (including adultery and fornication). How about Greed, which includes greed, senseless (and ruthless) accumulation of wealth, as well as indifference to poverty in others? How about Wrath, which includes violence, verbal violence, abuse of women and children, rape, and other manifestations? How about Sloth, which could include couch potatoes or using the TV as a child-care substitute? How about “Envy”, whose “other side” could include discrimination, racism and other forms of exclusion? And of course Pride, whose excesses encompass almost all the others? In other words, could we make Sin more about our current lives, including things such as considering carrying (and using) guns a virtue, or putting people to death a matter of pride, and less about (always someone else’s) sexual peccadillos?