What can be done about sin?

Presented at County Line Brethren Church on November 15, 2009.
Year B, Proper 28
Scripture passages: Hebrews 10:11-25 and 1 Samuel 1:4-20 & 2:1-10

I regularly encounter people who are having a very difficult time figuring out what to do about sin.

For some people, they are not sure what to do about guilt related to past indiscretions, something said or done. Some would classify these as sins of commission. The memories do not ever seem to go away. These brief invasive memories regularly haunt our thoughts, dreams and fantasies. These past acts intrude upon our present, robbing us of peace, joy and intimacy. It may be something as simple as saying the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time. It may be something which caused irreparable harm or damage to another person or an organization. We may have even harmed ourselves in the process.

In the election campaign last year, a couple of very poignant moments occurred when Pastor Rick Warren asked both candidates what they considered to be their greatest moral failure. I shudder to think which of my many failures I would have cited as my greatest moral failure. Obama stated, “"I had a difficult youth. There were times when I experimented with drugs." McCain stated, "My greatest moral failing, and I am a very imperfect person, is the failure of my first marriage." I have to tell you that at this juncture, I was very impressed with both men. That they were willing to share about their failures – those sins, if you will, which still linger in their minds vacillating between the vivid present and the repressed past – is a testament to the quality of their characters. Nevertheless, it is unfortunately part of our humanness that we struggle with our own sins of commission – the harm we have done to ourselves and others. What can we do about these sins that continue to bother us in our present existence? They do not seem to disappear over time. Perhaps if we are fortunate, they tend to bother us less frequently the more time passes.

For other people, it is the guilt about something left undone, which should have been done that feeds the misery. Some would classify this type as a sin of omission. The phrase often heard from these individuals is “if only.” “If only I had been there to help.” “If only I had said something.” “If only I would have been more courageous.” I came across a wonderful poem that describes some examples of things undone.

THE SIN OF OMISSION
Margaret E. Sangster

It isn't the thing you do dear,
It's the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
At setting of the sun.

The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.

The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother's way;
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;

The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle, winning tone
Which you had no time nor thought for
With troubles of your own.

Those little acts of kindness
So easily out of mind,
Those chances to be angels
Which we poor mortals find-

They come in night and silence,
Each sad, reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
And a chill has fallen on faith.

For life is all to short, dear,
And sorrow is all too great,
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too late;

And it isn't the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone
Which gives you heartache
At the setting of the sun.

An interesting admonition regarding the sin of omission is found in Lev. 5:1. “If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible.”

We are told that the Apostle Paul directly and cruelly persecuted believers. This would certainly be the sin of commission. I think of the apostle Paul who held the coats for those who stoned Stephen. By this, he committed the sin of omission. He stood by silent. In a court of law, he would be an accomplice. Thereafter, he referred to himself as the “chiefest of sinner.” Surely he recalled that incident frequently. His past never seemed to leave him though we must assume that he discovered some way to achieve peace and serenity without glossing over his past sin.

Another group of people suffer, upon being pierced and harmed by the sins of others; friends, family and strangers. These individuals are tormented by the insidious acts of others. They wonder why they were singled out as the victim. They relentlessly search or wish for justice in venues established instead for punishment. They often become angry at everything and everybody, both human and divine.

Listen to this account of the execution of D.C. Sniper, John Allen Muhammad, published this week on the CNN web site.

Justice fell short with the execution of Washington-area sniper John Allen Muhammad, one of his victims' survivors said after witnessing his death by lethal injection.
Muhammad died silently Tuesday night in a Virginia prison death chamber filled with lawyers, lawmen and his victims' survivors.
After the execution, Steven Moore said he thought about Muhammad's accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, who received a life sentence for their crimes.
"Well, myself, I wish Malvo was right there beside Muhammad," said Moore, whose sister, FBI analyst Linda Franklin, was gunned down in Virginia. "They both committed the same crimes. No, I don't feel any closure. I mean, it's ... it ... nothing changes."
(“D.C. sniper's execution met with grief, bitterness” by Bill Mears. CNN web site)

Steven Moore has not yet figured out what can be done about sin, especially when you are the recipient of the wrong. What can I do about sin, when I have been victimized by another person's sin? He sought some sort of justice and closure, hoping it would come with the death of the assailant. But peace has not yet come.

So, whether it is a sin of omission, a sin of commission or sin inflicted upon us by another, we are pressed to consider: What Can Be Done About Sin?

In the Old Testament, the prescribed way to deal with sin in a just manner was by means of the sacrificial system, in conjunction with lex talionis (an eye for an eye).

Hebrews 9:9, tells us, “the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.” This basically says that the Old Testament sacrificial system did not ease the conscience or provide the sinner with peace.

In Hebrews 10:1-4, it says,
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

We are told here that the Old Testament sacrificial system could not make anyone perfect. And while it may cleanse the individual from the stain of sin for a moment, the very next hour, the very next day the person offering the sacrifice is stained and dirty and guilty yet again. Indeed, the sacrificial system only served to remind the people of their stainful and sinful existence.

In Hebrews 10:11 we are told, “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” [As an aside, I would like you to note that the priest in this passage is standing. We will come back to this in a moment. For now, just note that the priests are standing up.] In this middle portion of the book of Hebrews, the writer has repeatedly said that the sacrifices did not do away with sin. As indicated in the earlier passage, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to do away with sin. The sin remained.

However, throughout most of the Old Testament, priests would offer sacrifices in the manner prescribed by the law, for “in this way the priest will make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven” (Lev. 4:35). So, in the Old Testament, “atonement” is provided and the one who sinned is “forgiven.” There was forgiveness. However, it must be pointed out that the sin was not done away with.

In Lev. 16, the strict procedures for the Day of Atonement are delineated. The purpose of the sacrifices offered on the Day of Atonement, is to provide a pathway for reconciliation between the Children of Israel and God Almighty. It provides for the forgiveness of sins committed and to cleanse the people, albeit temporarily. Again, it has no effect on future sin, or sin itself. It does not remove sin. Therefore, the relationship between the people and God continues in this state of flux between separation and reconciliation, separation and reconciliation, separation and reconciliation. Because sin remained intact, this vicious cycle between being adversaries and being in communion with God and with one another persisted unabated. We actually see people enslaved in this same cycle today. Perhaps you feel like you are imprisoned in this cycle yourself.

In the Old Testament framework, sin separated us from God as well as God from us. Sin continued to exist and exert its power and influence upon our lives personally and collectively.

Bob Meyers, whose 53-year-old brother, Dean, was shot dead while pumping gas in Virginia, called Tuesday's execution surreal.

"Watching the life be sapped out of somebody intentionally was very different and an experience I'd never had," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

"I'd watched my mother die of natural causes, but that was very different."

He said he might have attained some closure, "but I would say that pretty much was overcome just by the sadness that the whole situation generates in my heart. That he would get to the place where he did what he did, and that it had to come to this."

Meyers said he had forgiven Muhammad for two reasons: "One is that God calls for me to do that in the Bible and the second thing is related to that. If I don't, it rots me from the inside out. It doesn't really hurt John Muhammad or anybody that I have bitterness against." (“D.C. sniper's execution met with grief, bitterness” by Bill Mears. CNN web site)

WOW!! Now that is a person aware of the power of sin. Furthermore, that is a person that has a New Testament orientation.

Look carefully at Hebrews 10:12-14.

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God," and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet." For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

I would like to point out how the stark contrast, as differentiated from the Old Testament perspective on sin. What the writer of Hebrews is saying is that Jesus' single sacrifice took care of sin; past, present and future. Indeed, the writer goes on to say that this one sacrifice by Jesus has made us “perfect.” WOW! Now that's different. AND, did you notice that this priest, Jesus, is now sitting down. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the priest was always up standing, walking around, performing his service to God and the people. But here Jesus is sitting. This small change noticed on the stage of priestly service means that the work of the priest in regards to sin is DONE, IT IS ACCOMPLISHED.

The fact that Jesus has sat down means that sin has been done away with, it is defeated. There is no more work for Jesus to do. Past, present and future, sin has been obliterated. And because sin has been obliterated, we are given the promise in verse 17, “their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” This is a puzzling verse which, from our human vantage point, is impossible to grasp. One way to catch a glimpse of understanding is by stating this sequence clearly.
1. Jesus did away with sin.
2. By doing away with sin, God now views us as perfect.
3. If God views us as perfect, there are no outstanding debts related to sin.

Then, in contrast to the cycle of separation and reconciliation that we find throughout the Old Testament, the writer of Hebrews informs us that we now have confidence to enter the Holy Place (previously reserved only for the High Priest) WITH CONFIDENCE! The reason we can enter the Holy Place, is because we have been thoroughly cleansed – not by anything we have done, or promise to do, but by his sacrifice.

So, because we have been completely cleansed, past, present and future we have also been provided with a clear conscience. This is a most difficult teaching. How is it that we are to have a clear conscience while at the same time express remorse for our hurtful acts.

In other words, how shall we live?

I read an interesting article by Lutheran author, Nadia Bolz-Weber, entitled, “Latin Tattoos and 24 Hours of Televangelism” (published in Sojourners). She wrote this little essay after watching 24 hours straight – of Televangelism. I can't imagine subjecting myself to that. She did it for 24 hours.

During this 24 hour period she heard about “progressive sanctification.” I am not entirely opposed to this idea, but Ms. Bolz-Weber finds it to be distasteful and contrary to a key Lutheran teaching. Here's what she says.

I believe we are all (watch me get all fancy on the Latin here) simul iustus et peccator—simultaneously saint and sinner. (As a matter of fact, I have this tattooed in Latin around my right wrist because I'm just that much of a theological fancy-pants.) While perhaps not perfect, this doctrine is one of the most useful things about my Lutheran theological camp. We hold that we are all 100% sinner AND 100% saint. "But wait, Nadia," you say, "that's 200% percent." Well, yes and no; you see, the two are simultaneous. There is no process of sanctification, good works, prayer, yoga, recycling, Bible study, or holy living that makes us even 99% sinner and 101% saint, much less like 10/190.

The really liberating thing about this is that when we all come to the table fully aware that we are sinners, that we are broken on some level and never perfect, then the temptation to pretend otherwise is greatly diminished. To embrace your sinfulness and saintliness is not the same as being intentionally immoral. It is to be realistic that no one can possibly be 100% honest all the time, to always think of the neighbor before the self, to always honor God in everything you do, to at all times decrease in self so that others may increase. Even if our actions come close to this (they never do, but if they did), we still are stuck with the reality of our minds and the thoughts of our hearts. You see, the spiritual poison of our own righteousness, of saying here are the rules we must follow to please God and to be sanctified, and I follow those rules so I have good reason to be prideful about my sanctification because I earned it is problematic. The moment we try and maintain our holiness, the moment we try to appear to be without sin, that junk just comes out sideways.
These televangelists and mega-church personalities fall hard when they fall. When I fall, which is pretty much every day (including this moment as I write unkind things about these folks), I don't fall too far. Is this because of some sort of reverse righteousness? That could be a fair critique. I just know that people are drawn to me as a Christian leader not because I'm some sort of spiritually arrived person, but because I'm a pretty transparent one. Don't get me wrong: there are some icky parts I keep to myself, but for the most part I don't make too much of an effort to appear a whole lot better that I am. There's not a sin pressure valve that's building up ready to blow into a national crack-smoking, sex-for-money scandal. (Note to self: Avoid national crack-smoking, sex-for-money scandals.)

She's right, you know. When I try to be perfect, my junk really does come out sideways and I eventually fall – HARD! When I acknowledge my sin before God and others without trying to follow all the rules perfectly, I am more at peace. I feel restored to God and friends and family. I am no longer in the yo-yo type cycle of separation and reconciliation with God because I know that I am always accepted by God. I acknowledge that God views me as perfected by his Son. My conscience is clear. I feel forgiven. I am more able to forgive others who have hurt me.