The Sin Problem (2
Corinthians 5:20-21)
“Sin.” What
comes to mind? Sin sounds dirty, filthy,
unsavory; it is just bad.
At the same time, darker parts of ourselves
think of something enticing, alluring.
“Naughty,” comes to mind; naughty in a way that is immoral, but at the
same time feel sensually pleasurable.
The forbidden fruit always looks good, even when it is known to be
harmful. Erotica; drugs; money acquired
dishonestly; how many rationalizations can we come up with to make it sound
like what we are doing or what we are thinking isn’t really sinful.
Sin can be reactionary, a sharp word thrown like
a poisonous dart. We know the damage our
words do, but still, we rationalize.
I was
forced. He had it coming. I am not normally like that. If we ever doubt humanity’s ability to think
creatively, all we need to do is ask someone to explain his clearly sinful
behavior. We don’t want darkness in us. But it is in us. Underneath the impatience, the foul language,
the judgmental heart, lurking below the prejudice, the grudge-holding, the
sloth, down deep, there is darkness in all of us. We have a sin problem.
The worst effect of sin, and there are many ways
sins injure and destroy us, but the worst is that sin cuts us off from
God. Justification is us – humanity and
individual humans – declared innocent of sin before God because of what Jesus
did on the cross. We are justified
because of Jesus and justification takes effect for each one of us when we put
our faith in Him. Before God we are innocent. Jesus has accomplished this.
Still, sin weakens our relationship with God and
with one another. Even after we are
saved, sin continues to vie for mastery in our lives. The more we fall under sin’s control, the
less developed our relationship with God is, the farther it is from what it
could be. We slip away into waste
places. Relationship with God is not
rich, not a daily present reality, not a source of abundant joy, not as full,
not as deep as it could be; as it should be; as God wants it to be; as we need
it to be.
We name our sins. But then what?
We sin.
We confess. We are forgiven. Repeat the cycle. No! Life
in Christ is exciting, full of purpose and growth. It is the life of joy God desires for us. He longs for the fellowship he had with Adam
and Eve before they brought sin into the world.
He wants that fellowship with us.
The issue is how do we get past our sins so that we have life in Christ growing in holiness and
relationship with God instead of life under sin?
Theologian James McClendon wrote, “Authentic
knowledge of my sin, clear awareness that I am a sinner, comes only when and as
I am saved from it” (Systematic Theology:
Doctrine, p.122). McClendon offers two categories which help us
see sin beyond simply misdeeds, disobedience, and bad behavior. He describes sin as refusal and as rupture.
“God is making all things new,” he writes. And then he refers to 2nd
Corinthians 5:17 which says that in Christ, there is a new creation. Thus for McClendon, sin is whatever “opposes
entry” into the new world Jesus creates (130).
We refuse to receive the new life he offers, drink the new wine he
produces. We willfully resist becoming
the new creations he desires to make of us.
It’s not always that we intend to refuse God’s
good. We simply don’t seek it. The implication is when we turn to things –
relationships, possessions, professional success – for the satisfaction that
only God can give, we are actually sinning.
This sounds extreme, but the reality of God is extreme. We either live with God or we live under the
evil of sin. Even people who have
confessed sin and expressed full belief in Jesus, his crucifixion and
resurrection, in daily life settle for the world’s pleasures while neglecting
God’s blessings. We marginalize the
place God has in our lives and thus reduce His impact while at the same
maximizing our own vulnerability to sin’s devastating consequences for us.
Sin as rupture is McClendon’s second
category. This is essentially social
sin, a direct violation of Jesus’ second great command to love our neighbors as
ourselves. Divorce; bigotry; verbal
abuse; deceit; gossip; do we honestly need a list? Again, this is not headline-making type stuff
like terrorism or school shootings. Here
we are talking about everyday relationship failures that 21st
century American culture considers normal in the course of human life.
God is not happy with the state of affairs. Disciples – and all who follow Jesus are
disciples just as Peter, John and the rest were disciples – disciples are
called into a body. In his great prayer
in the Gospel of John, chapter 17, Jesus asks that the same unity that exists
in the trinity would exist in his followers (v.22-23). The Apostle Paul says all Christ-followers
are baptized into one-body (1 Corinthians 12:13). To be Christian is to be unified with other
Christians. Yet, as Ron Sider points out
in Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience
the social ills that make the world a broken place exist in the lives of people
in the church almost as frequently as they do in the lives of the
unchurched. Based on divorce rates,
spousal abuse statistics, and a number of other categories, it would be hard to
tell between two groups of people which was the church and which was a
gathering of strangers in a restaurant. How
can the body of Christ show the world the way to the Kingdom of God when our
own relationships are so broken?
Sin as refusal is a rejection of God’s
blessings. It is an unwillingness to
trust God with our desires, our quest for happiness. This lack of trust is a lack of love. Sin as refusal is violation of what Jesus
called the greatest command – to love the Lord our God with all the heart,
soul, strength, and mind.
Sin as rupture is a clear violation of the
second great command, the command to love our neighbor as ourselves. We treat people with contempt, not grace, and
the world is marked by hatred and death.
We have a sin problem.
I propose, as a spiritual discipline or
spiritual practice and I use the terms ‘discipline’ and ‘practice’
interchangeably, each one of us this Lent acknowledge our sin problem. This will include individuals making
confession. That is very important. Write down specific sins. Confess them and receive God’s
forgiveness.
Also meditate on the way sin rejects the vision
Jesus has for the Kingdom of God. Think
prayerfully about Biblical characters: David; Peter; the Pharisees; Judas
Iscariot. In each case, how does sin
invade the story God is writing? In a
big picture way of seeing things, how does sin distort the picture God wants to
pain of your life? This in and of itself
is a discipline for each of us to practice over the next week. Commit time for prayer and in your prayer,
consider your life and all the ways your life is darkened by sin. Sit before God, hands and heart toward
Heaven, and acknowledge the sin problem.
Ask God to shine His light on the darkness that has invaded your soul. This is important work for all of us.
Throughout Lent this year, we will set spiritual
goals. We will cite things God has done
to make it possible for us to attain those goals. And we will name spiritual practices we can
do to positions our hearts so that we are ready to receive what God wants to
give, which is blessing and hope and peace and life.
Our overarching spiritual goal is a relationship
of intimacy and love and communication with God in Jesus through the Holy
Spirit. This relationship can be at the
heart of life – all arenas of life; every nook and cranny of your life and
mine. But sin refuses it and ruptures
it.
God though, is bigger than sin. Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake,
God made to be sin him who knew no sin” – Jesus – “so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.” Jesus’
action on the cross deals with sin completely.
It as if as when he died, sin died.
Yet, sin dies slowly. It holds on
in our sinful choices. That’s why Paul
so urgently says, “We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God”
(5:20). He has made the way. Jesus came so that believing in Him we can be
adopted as sons and daughters of God.
He’s
even taken care of the stumbling block – sin.
But we have a part to play. Jesus
has done it all in the sense that sin is rendered powerless. Yet, we have to acknowledge that He is the
one who conquers sin. We are slaves to sin.
That’s why I think the best place for us to
start this Lent, our first spiritual practice, is confession. Ask God to meet you where you are an utter
failure. Each one of us has that
place. This is not a time for you to
hate yourself and envy the person next to you because you’re sure he has it all
together. He doesn’t. This is a time to meet with the God who loves
you in the place you least want to go; the place in our own hearts where we are
powerless before sin. God will meet us
there with love we cannot imagine.
That meeting is the starting point of us walking
in the light and living in the relationship God wants with us. There is some urgency. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6, “Now is the
favorable time. Now is the day of
salvation” (v.2).
I don’t know if you normally practice
disciplines; if you give something up for Lent.
This year, I am going to suggest some spiritual practices that if done
in earnest will take us face to face with God.
We begin with sin problem because we can’t get past it until we
acknowledge it. Naming it with honesty
that is undecorated and is invasively bold frees us to receive forgiveness and
to invite God in to begin making us wholly new.
Now is the day of salvation because now is the day to begin living the
Kingdom reality Jesus introduced.
Each week, we will continue suggesting spiritual
practices designed to draw us closer and closer to God. In Christ, your life and mine is made the
righteousness of God. The sin problem is
covered. We walk in light as God shines the
light in us.
AMEN
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