Sermon Notes for February 19th
February 19, 2006
“Who Can Forgive Sins?”
Mark 2:1-12
1. Back in the seminary one day we were all listening to our professor go on and on about sin and feelings of guilt and how as ministers we should deal with it.
As the teacher continued on and on I could see that many of my fellow students were getting more and more restless. Finally, one of them raised his hand and asked “What is all this sin and guilt stuff all about – anyway? I can’t really relate to it.” Soon, others chimed in and the professor was forced to depart from his lecture and enter into a general discussion with the class. It was an illuminating moment. This took place, of course, during the 1960’s at a time when many students and adults all over the country were beginning to raise questions about all kinds of things and I am sure the professor was taken a bit by surprise.
What came out of the discussion was not merely that it was just the rebellious 60’s -- but also that the age of the students was a primary factor – itself.
After all, what does guilt really mean to a young person? For, as is the case with many young people even today – if you haven’t lived very long – then you really haven’t done much of anything to really feel guilty about – have you? … Or, at least, you haven’t made any major mistakes for which you have regrets. It is really, isn’t it, only after you have lived a while that you begin to look back and see where you made mistakes in your life which you wish you hadn’t and to see things that weren’t all the way they should have been in your life at times?
Well, in short, what came out in our discussion was that the real issue for many young people is not about sin or guilt but “meaning.” Young people often struggle more with the existential questions: Such as: “What does life mean? Who am I in relation to God? Who is God? And "What can I or should I believe?”
These, then, were the questions we were asking instead of whether God would forgive us of something or other of which we were only vaguely aware back then.
2. And yet now, some 40 years later, I still look back on that event as a kind of revelation about the way things are.
After all, what does sin mean to someone who has not sinned?
And, also, what exactly is sin?
Well, I do know this … there is a difference, in part, between sin as a general human condition and sin or sins – as specific actions of wrongdoing. Often, however, we get them confused.
The first kind of sin as a general condition all got started by St. Augustine back around 400 AD. It goes like this:
Original Sin, in traditional Christian theology, is defined as the universal sinfulness of the human race, traditionally ascribed to the first sin committed by Adam. Theologians advocating original sin argue that the concept is strongly implied by the apostle Paul, the apostle John, and even by Jesus himself. Late Jewish apocalyptic writings attribute the world's corruption to a prehistoric fall of Satan, the temptation of Adam and Eve, and the resulting disorder, disobedience, and pain of human history.
Saint Augustine appealed to the Pauline-apocalyptic understanding of the forgiveness of sin, but he also included the notion that sin is transmitted from generation to generation by the act of procreation. He took this idea from 2nd-century theologian Tertullian, who actually coined the phrase original sin. Medieval theologians retained the idea of original sin, and it was strongly asserted by 16th-century Protestant reformers, primarily Martin Luther and John Calvin. More Liberal Protestant theologians, however, later developed a more optimistic view of human nature which is less compatible with the idea of original sin.
3. Of course, not all young people throughout history have been oblivious to the idea of sin. The idea of the pervasiveness of sin and the resulting fear of eternal judgment and damnation was so dominant in the Catholic Church in the middle ages that one young man – named Martin Luther – grew up in perpetual fear of God’s judgment because of what he believed to be his total sinful depravity.
Yet, later on, it was this same Luther who finally discovered that God, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, forgave him his sins and this act thereby enabled men and women – through faith - to throw off the terrible burden of guilt. Or, at least, to have some hope that all was not lost.
So, of course, what we are talking about here is not guilt or remorse over specific sins or actions … but about the total depravity of human nature going all the way back to Adam.
And, in this view of things – there is nothing anyone can do about it … except believe that God – through Jesus Christ’s sacrificial act of death on the Cross – has revised his prior position and now accepts all those who believe and trust in his mercy.
This is what is called the classical theory of the atonement and I doubt there is anyone here over forty or fifty years old who didn’t grow up being taught this idea in one form or another. It is 100% Mel Gibson and it has been the stock and trade of almost every evangelist in America from Billy Graham to Billy Sunday and finally back to Jonathon Edwards who preached his famous sermon in Puritan New England entitled “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God.”
4. I think it is well worth re-reading that sermon from time to time just to marvel – first of all at the phenomenal literary quality of the writing … for it is very powerfully and moving … and yet also to be reminded of what religion stood for back in Puritan New England. I will read to you a few lines …
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment.
Quite different from the more benign billboard back in the 1970’s said: “I Love you – is that Okay?” Signed God!! Or even some of the more success-oriented feel-good mega-churches today. And, yet, Edwards was no dummy. He graduated from Harvard and is still considered to be one of the most brilliant intellectuals in American History.
5. And yet we have certainly come a long way from those hell fire and brimstone Puritan days … thank goodness … for that! And still today the idea of God as vengeful and judgmental and out for blood remains with us … in many ways.
In fact, recently I got interested in dreams and dream interpretation again – largely through a new book called Dreaming Beyond Death in which the authors explore the apparent widespread prevalence of surprisingly vivid dreams prior to death. One of the authors is a Presbyterian minister who worked for ten years in a hospice program. And she noticed that many dying people are surprised to find themselves still struggling with an image of a harshly judgmental God. Fortunately, she reports that often in such situations a dream or vision comes which helps to transform the dying person’s sense of the divine, eases the guilt-anxiety, and brings new appreciation of God’s presence in the world. It one of the best books on dreaming that I have read in quite a while.
Now at the same time, I must say that if original sin still continues to frighten many people today, on the other hand, for many other people – the idea of original sin has been totally pushed into the background and even out of sight.
In fact, back when I worked for the Red Cross I would often encounter people who complained about their jobs. “Why does work have to be so hard and boring?” And I would tell them “it’s because of sin!” And they would look at me with this look of incomprehension.
Well, of course, I didn’t have a Bible right there with me … but if I had I could have quoted to them the familiar verses in Genesis:
16 To the woman God said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.
17 To Adam he said, “ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
And then, of course, God throws in the real clincher:
Adam and Eve have to get married!
Well, when I would tell people this (many of them younger people) they would stare in disbelief. It was kind of amusing – really. But, of course, the idea of work being difficult because of sin would have been no surprise to our grandparents who grew up knowing the story of Adam and Eve.
6. Now, the other idea about sin … has to do with specific sins … actions against other people … dishonesty…lying … cheating … the kind of stuff that is mentioned in the Ten Commandments.
Or it may be also found in a more sophisticated Catholic version which is contained in the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins – pride, envy, gluttony, Greed, Sloth, lust, and anger.
Well, let’s face it …whatever the case … sin has gotten a bad rap! It has, on the one hand, been overused and abused by too many preachers and also by the Catholic Church as well. As a result lot’s and lots of people aren’t buying it – at least not like they used to…isn’t that right?
More recently, the always controversial Episcopal Bishop Spong (who is not to be confused with the gay Bishop Gene Robinson) challenged the basic atonement theory this way:
All atonement theories begin with a sense of human alienation and a sense of human powerlessness. "Without Thee we can do nothing good!" So we develop a theology about how God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. I am convinced that our basic atonement theology finds its taproot not in the story of the cross but in the liturgy of the synagogue, especially Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. In the Yom Kippur liturgy an innocent lamb was slain and the people were symbolically cleansed by the saving blood of this sacrificed Lamb of God. Jesus was similarly portrayed as the new Lamb of God.
And Spong goes on to say that …
As we Christians tell the story of Jesus' dying for our sins in doctrine, hymns and liturgy, we quite unknowingly turn God into an ogre, a deity who practices child sacrifice and a guilt-producing figure, who tells us that our sinfulness is the cause of the death of Jesus. For, in this account, it is God who punishes Jesus instead of we who really deserve it.
Somehow, in the end, Spong continues… this is supposed to make us all both antiseptic and worthwhile. However, it just doesn't work anymore for most people. I think we can and must break the power of these images, He concludes.
7. And it is, of course, against this whole question of original sin and ultimate forgiveness - on the one hand - and of our individual sins - on the other - that the whole meaning of Jesus life, teaching, and crucifixion is brought into focus – or so we have been taught.
Well, like Spong, I am not so persuaded anymore of the usefulness of value of the original sin idea –primarily because it has been so overused by the church as a means to kind of keep everyone in their place and because it so totally overshadows everything else that is important about who Jesus was and what he taught.
On the other hand, I still would agree with the famous Protestant theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr who said – if you don’t believe in original sin … I suggest you just read the daily newspaper. And he is right, of course.
For it seems that no matter what great new advancement we humans come up with --- sooner or later it gets corrupted by somebody or other. Isn’t that right? For instance, we now have the internet - which is a wonderful tool for communications … and instantly we get spam and all kind of get rich quick scams and worse yet – child pornography. Or, we get great new drugs to treat colds which contain ephedrine or pseudo ephedrine and somebody right away figures out how to make methamphetamine from them – and we now have one of the most powerful and dangerously deadly narcotic drugs ever invented. It seems inevitable that human beings or at least some human beings will find a way to corrupt everything good thing there is. It is sad!
8. So, in the end, there is no getting around the concept and the reality of sin.
But how does it fit in with our understanding of God and what we believe about who Jesus was and how it was possible for him to forgive sins … most particularly in the Gospel story today of the forgiving and healing of the paralyzed man in Capernaum?
Well, the concept which this event is intended to portray is summarized in the silent meditation in your bulletin which says:
That God’s mercy and grace are much larger than our sinfulness and tenacious intransigence, and that God is eager to do whatever it takes to bring us into righteousness.
Sounds good -- but what does intransigence mean? I had to look that one up. It means an unwillingness to come to an agreement or to compromise or to be reconciled.
And what does righteousness mean? It means to act in a proper, moral, and virtuous way.
In other words, God seeks to bring us into line with His will which is that we live the kind of lives that are pleasing to him – namely: “good lives” as we define them according to Jesus teachings.
9. What gets in the way, of course, is our desire to live according to our own will, to take pride in our own success and accomplishments and to somehow keep God in the background or even, for some, out of the picture entirely.
Yet, what often happens is that when God is not in the picture, sooner or later, we get into trouble.
In fact, I once heard a psychologist and chemical dependency counselor give a lecture on sin and addiction.
He said – life is like a road or highway which we are going down and our job is to stay on the main path going in the right direction. But, everyone once in a while, we get off the path and go down in the ditch or even into the woods off to the side of the road.
When this happens, he said, we usually come to our senses and we sooner or later find our way back onto the main road and headed in the right direction again.
This kind of makes sense doesn’t it? … for we all make mistakes, right?
Then – he said – there are, however, some people who can’t find their way back on the main road. They are so lost – or they are so powerless to change their behavior that they need help. And this is one way to look at addiction. Which is what happens when something – money, drugs, anger, sex, gambling, gets such a hold on someone that they can’t stop. Then, he said, these sins become deadly sins for in the face of their power we are literally paralyzed.
10. Now, I ask you, what was wrong with the man who was lowered into the house through the roof where Jesus was in Capernaum? What was wrong with him?
Well, we don’t exactly know do we? Except it says he was paralyzed. Have you ever been paralyzed in some part of your body? Have you ever been paralyzed emotionally by fear or guilt or worry? What was that like? Frightening – no doubt!
Now, back then, the Jews all knew and believed that an illness or condition like this man’s inability to walk (which may have either been physical or emotionally caused – or both) … could only mean that he had committed some kind of sin. The Rabbis actually had a saying that “there is no sick man healed of his sickness until all his sins have been forgiven him.”
Sounds rather primitive doesn’t it? For nowadays we know that many illnesses are biological in origin – and are often genetically inherited and therefore cannot be attributed to some behavior or sin.
But, on the other hand, we also do know that still other modern physical conditions are often greatly caused or strongly affected by our emotions and our moral and psychological behavior.
Well, to the Jews, “a sick man was simply a man with whom God was angry.” William Barclay in his commentary also points out that while some illnesses may be due to sin … often they are caused by the sin of others.
What’s that old line … “I don’t get stressed … I make other people stressed!” We have all met people like that, haven’t we?
11. So, whatever the cause of the paralysis, the Jews correctly understood that there is a relationship between our emotions, our mind, our body and our spirit (or soul). Something that we tend not to understand as well today in our materialistic world.
Therefore, it was not surprising that in order for the man to recover, he had believe that he could be reconciled with God and in order for this to happen he had to believe that his sins were forgiven. No argument about this idea.
However, what surprised and disturbed the scribes was that Jesus had the power and authority to actually do this – to forgive sins in the name of God. For they believed that only God could forgive sins. This was really astounding! Either the spirit of God truly was with Jesus or he was some kind of fake magician or something.
But, wait, Jesus takes it one step further! He actually tells the man to get up and walk. Why did Jesus do this? To show, of course, that while words may be great – action speaks louder than words … and also to prove that he was for real. In this regard, Barclay goes on to note that beginning with this one act of healing … Jesus so totally undermined the existing religious system of his day … and thereby posed such a threat … that it would really only be a matter or time before he would be killed.
Which underlines another most troubling problem which is that it sometimes can often be religious institutions themselves … or individuals in the church … who commit sins -- all in the name of God and Jesus? Apparently, the human tendency to sin includes the church itself. Something we don’t always like to admit.
12. Well, this brings us now to the greater understanding that sin is not just an individual thing -- but also a corporate one … an institutional one … and a community one.
For sins are not only committed by people … they are committed by whole families, organizations and by cultures and by nations.
Sins are seldom committed alone. For example the first thing an alcoholic has to do to quit drinking is to stop hanging out with his old drinking buddies or he will fall back into his addiction.
So, we must realize for instance, that when there is corruption in government or in big business, quite often more than a few people know about it. But quite often no one says anything at least not for a long time – like in the Enron scandal. And what about nations? Was only Hitler responsible for the killing of all the Jews and other victims or were there others? In the Nuremburg trials many of those convicted said “I was only following orders.” Or, how about slavery. For, if only one man owned slaves it would not have gone over very well. But, if everyone owns slaves -- then it must be all right. Isn’t that how it goes sometimes?
God protect us all from ever having to be in situations like this! Where we are forced to go along with things which we know are wrong. Which should bring to our minds Jesus famous words, “lead us not into temptation and protect us from evil.”
13. And that is what God can and will do if we let Him. For the Gospel message for today is that God -- through Jesus Christ has the power to overcome sin … and truly seeks to be reconciled with each and every one of us.
What this means is that is not some judgmental ogre of a God who demands human sacrifice … or seeks some kind of revenge …
No, this is not the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ. This is not why Jesus healed the paralytic and sent him on his way. For he did it to plainly and clearly reveal God’s abundant love, mercy, and grace.
So, let me just say this … regarding the whole sin thing … in true Methodist fashion …
It is kind of like a continuum … on the one end we can obsess about sin …beating ourselves up over and over again … and finally end up reducing God to an ungodly punitive and manipulative force … Or, on the other end, we can try to ignore the idea that sin exists at all … believing that we are somehow above all that … and walk around naively oblivious to all the corruption around us in the word… until it smacks us right in the face - when it may be too late.
Or, as I suggest, we can seek a more balanced understanding … somewhere in the middle…that recognizes that while we have many good and generous qualities we are also vulnerable to failure, misjudgment, and can, at times, get off the right track.
And when we do get off the track … we will know … that through prayer, the help of others, regular worship and learning about Jesus teachings … we can be restored to living a life which is reconciled to God. In other words – we can be forgiven!
In other words – it’s about staying on the main path and not going overboard about sin and ending up in the ditch on the one side or about ignoring sin and going in the ditch on the other side.
14. And even if more difficult things beset us … and we find ourselves paralyzed by fear and uncertainty … we can be certain that God – even then – will not abandon us … even in our darkest hour …
And somehow …through God’s grace we will, in time find a way … to get up and walk again on the right path with God.
So, this morning try to ask yourself a question or two… and also ask God … Is there some thing which you may have done or some mistake you made of which you desire to be forgiven?
Or is it some rejection by others … or some tendency to reject yourself (which happens to a lot of people) … which gets in the way of accepting or being accepted by God and accepting and being accepted by others?
Or is it something else … some hidden hurt … some emotional pain … some scar from childhood or a past relationship that stands in your way of achieving a more whole relationship with God and your fellow man right now today?
Or is it some injustice … done by society … some crime or prejudice or violence committed on you or someone you care about … that raises your hackles … and angers you greatly …
What is it?
What is it that you can bring before God in order that you might be healed?
Now, imagine yourself … this morning … lying on your pallet … feeling alone and hopeless … lowered by your friends through the roof … of a house … to come before Jesus … and finally to hear these wonderful words … “Your sins are forgiven … Now, get up and walk!”
Let us pray…
“Who Can Forgive Sins?”
Mark 2:1-12
1. Back in the seminary one day we were all listening to our professor go on and on about sin and feelings of guilt and how as ministers we should deal with it.
As the teacher continued on and on I could see that many of my fellow students were getting more and more restless. Finally, one of them raised his hand and asked “What is all this sin and guilt stuff all about – anyway? I can’t really relate to it.” Soon, others chimed in and the professor was forced to depart from his lecture and enter into a general discussion with the class. It was an illuminating moment. This took place, of course, during the 1960’s at a time when many students and adults all over the country were beginning to raise questions about all kinds of things and I am sure the professor was taken a bit by surprise.
What came out of the discussion was not merely that it was just the rebellious 60’s -- but also that the age of the students was a primary factor – itself.
After all, what does guilt really mean to a young person? For, as is the case with many young people even today – if you haven’t lived very long – then you really haven’t done much of anything to really feel guilty about – have you? … Or, at least, you haven’t made any major mistakes for which you have regrets. It is really, isn’t it, only after you have lived a while that you begin to look back and see where you made mistakes in your life which you wish you hadn’t and to see things that weren’t all the way they should have been in your life at times?
Well, in short, what came out in our discussion was that the real issue for many young people is not about sin or guilt but “meaning.” Young people often struggle more with the existential questions: Such as: “What does life mean? Who am I in relation to God? Who is God? And "What can I or should I believe?”
These, then, were the questions we were asking instead of whether God would forgive us of something or other of which we were only vaguely aware back then.
2. And yet now, some 40 years later, I still look back on that event as a kind of revelation about the way things are.
After all, what does sin mean to someone who has not sinned?
And, also, what exactly is sin?
Well, I do know this … there is a difference, in part, between sin as a general human condition and sin or sins – as specific actions of wrongdoing. Often, however, we get them confused.
The first kind of sin as a general condition all got started by St. Augustine back around 400 AD. It goes like this:
Original Sin, in traditional Christian theology, is defined as the universal sinfulness of the human race, traditionally ascribed to the first sin committed by Adam. Theologians advocating original sin argue that the concept is strongly implied by the apostle Paul, the apostle John, and even by Jesus himself. Late Jewish apocalyptic writings attribute the world's corruption to a prehistoric fall of Satan, the temptation of Adam and Eve, and the resulting disorder, disobedience, and pain of human history.
Saint Augustine appealed to the Pauline-apocalyptic understanding of the forgiveness of sin, but he also included the notion that sin is transmitted from generation to generation by the act of procreation. He took this idea from 2nd-century theologian Tertullian, who actually coined the phrase original sin. Medieval theologians retained the idea of original sin, and it was strongly asserted by 16th-century Protestant reformers, primarily Martin Luther and John Calvin. More Liberal Protestant theologians, however, later developed a more optimistic view of human nature which is less compatible with the idea of original sin.
3. Of course, not all young people throughout history have been oblivious to the idea of sin. The idea of the pervasiveness of sin and the resulting fear of eternal judgment and damnation was so dominant in the Catholic Church in the middle ages that one young man – named Martin Luther – grew up in perpetual fear of God’s judgment because of what he believed to be his total sinful depravity.
Yet, later on, it was this same Luther who finally discovered that God, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, forgave him his sins and this act thereby enabled men and women – through faith - to throw off the terrible burden of guilt. Or, at least, to have some hope that all was not lost.
So, of course, what we are talking about here is not guilt or remorse over specific sins or actions … but about the total depravity of human nature going all the way back to Adam.
And, in this view of things – there is nothing anyone can do about it … except believe that God – through Jesus Christ’s sacrificial act of death on the Cross – has revised his prior position and now accepts all those who believe and trust in his mercy.
This is what is called the classical theory of the atonement and I doubt there is anyone here over forty or fifty years old who didn’t grow up being taught this idea in one form or another. It is 100% Mel Gibson and it has been the stock and trade of almost every evangelist in America from Billy Graham to Billy Sunday and finally back to Jonathon Edwards who preached his famous sermon in Puritan New England entitled “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God.”
4. I think it is well worth re-reading that sermon from time to time just to marvel – first of all at the phenomenal literary quality of the writing … for it is very powerfully and moving … and yet also to be reminded of what religion stood for back in Puritan New England. I will read to you a few lines …
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment.
Quite different from the more benign billboard back in the 1970’s said: “I Love you – is that Okay?” Signed God!! Or even some of the more success-oriented feel-good mega-churches today. And, yet, Edwards was no dummy. He graduated from Harvard and is still considered to be one of the most brilliant intellectuals in American History.
5. And yet we have certainly come a long way from those hell fire and brimstone Puritan days … thank goodness … for that! And still today the idea of God as vengeful and judgmental and out for blood remains with us … in many ways.
In fact, recently I got interested in dreams and dream interpretation again – largely through a new book called Dreaming Beyond Death in which the authors explore the apparent widespread prevalence of surprisingly vivid dreams prior to death. One of the authors is a Presbyterian minister who worked for ten years in a hospice program. And she noticed that many dying people are surprised to find themselves still struggling with an image of a harshly judgmental God. Fortunately, she reports that often in such situations a dream or vision comes which helps to transform the dying person’s sense of the divine, eases the guilt-anxiety, and brings new appreciation of God’s presence in the world. It one of the best books on dreaming that I have read in quite a while.
Now at the same time, I must say that if original sin still continues to frighten many people today, on the other hand, for many other people – the idea of original sin has been totally pushed into the background and even out of sight.
In fact, back when I worked for the Red Cross I would often encounter people who complained about their jobs. “Why does work have to be so hard and boring?” And I would tell them “it’s because of sin!” And they would look at me with this look of incomprehension.
Well, of course, I didn’t have a Bible right there with me … but if I had I could have quoted to them the familiar verses in Genesis:
16 To the woman God said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.
17 To Adam he said, “ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
And then, of course, God throws in the real clincher:
Adam and Eve have to get married!
Well, when I would tell people this (many of them younger people) they would stare in disbelief. It was kind of amusing – really. But, of course, the idea of work being difficult because of sin would have been no surprise to our grandparents who grew up knowing the story of Adam and Eve.
6. Now, the other idea about sin … has to do with specific sins … actions against other people … dishonesty…lying … cheating … the kind of stuff that is mentioned in the Ten Commandments.
Or it may be also found in a more sophisticated Catholic version which is contained in the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins – pride, envy, gluttony, Greed, Sloth, lust, and anger.
Well, let’s face it …whatever the case … sin has gotten a bad rap! It has, on the one hand, been overused and abused by too many preachers and also by the Catholic Church as well. As a result lot’s and lots of people aren’t buying it – at least not like they used to…isn’t that right?
More recently, the always controversial Episcopal Bishop Spong (who is not to be confused with the gay Bishop Gene Robinson) challenged the basic atonement theory this way:
All atonement theories begin with a sense of human alienation and a sense of human powerlessness. "Without Thee we can do nothing good!" So we develop a theology about how God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. I am convinced that our basic atonement theology finds its taproot not in the story of the cross but in the liturgy of the synagogue, especially Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. In the Yom Kippur liturgy an innocent lamb was slain and the people were symbolically cleansed by the saving blood of this sacrificed Lamb of God. Jesus was similarly portrayed as the new Lamb of God.
And Spong goes on to say that …
As we Christians tell the story of Jesus' dying for our sins in doctrine, hymns and liturgy, we quite unknowingly turn God into an ogre, a deity who practices child sacrifice and a guilt-producing figure, who tells us that our sinfulness is the cause of the death of Jesus. For, in this account, it is God who punishes Jesus instead of we who really deserve it.
Somehow, in the end, Spong continues… this is supposed to make us all both antiseptic and worthwhile. However, it just doesn't work anymore for most people. I think we can and must break the power of these images, He concludes.
7. And it is, of course, against this whole question of original sin and ultimate forgiveness - on the one hand - and of our individual sins - on the other - that the whole meaning of Jesus life, teaching, and crucifixion is brought into focus – or so we have been taught.
Well, like Spong, I am not so persuaded anymore of the usefulness of value of the original sin idea –primarily because it has been so overused by the church as a means to kind of keep everyone in their place and because it so totally overshadows everything else that is important about who Jesus was and what he taught.
On the other hand, I still would agree with the famous Protestant theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr who said – if you don’t believe in original sin … I suggest you just read the daily newspaper. And he is right, of course.
For it seems that no matter what great new advancement we humans come up with --- sooner or later it gets corrupted by somebody or other. Isn’t that right? For instance, we now have the internet - which is a wonderful tool for communications … and instantly we get spam and all kind of get rich quick scams and worse yet – child pornography. Or, we get great new drugs to treat colds which contain ephedrine or pseudo ephedrine and somebody right away figures out how to make methamphetamine from them – and we now have one of the most powerful and dangerously deadly narcotic drugs ever invented. It seems inevitable that human beings or at least some human beings will find a way to corrupt everything good thing there is. It is sad!
8. So, in the end, there is no getting around the concept and the reality of sin.
But how does it fit in with our understanding of God and what we believe about who Jesus was and how it was possible for him to forgive sins … most particularly in the Gospel story today of the forgiving and healing of the paralyzed man in Capernaum?
Well, the concept which this event is intended to portray is summarized in the silent meditation in your bulletin which says:
That God’s mercy and grace are much larger than our sinfulness and tenacious intransigence, and that God is eager to do whatever it takes to bring us into righteousness.
Sounds good -- but what does intransigence mean? I had to look that one up. It means an unwillingness to come to an agreement or to compromise or to be reconciled.
And what does righteousness mean? It means to act in a proper, moral, and virtuous way.
In other words, God seeks to bring us into line with His will which is that we live the kind of lives that are pleasing to him – namely: “good lives” as we define them according to Jesus teachings.
9. What gets in the way, of course, is our desire to live according to our own will, to take pride in our own success and accomplishments and to somehow keep God in the background or even, for some, out of the picture entirely.
Yet, what often happens is that when God is not in the picture, sooner or later, we get into trouble.
In fact, I once heard a psychologist and chemical dependency counselor give a lecture on sin and addiction.
He said – life is like a road or highway which we are going down and our job is to stay on the main path going in the right direction. But, everyone once in a while, we get off the path and go down in the ditch or even into the woods off to the side of the road.
When this happens, he said, we usually come to our senses and we sooner or later find our way back onto the main road and headed in the right direction again.
This kind of makes sense doesn’t it? … for we all make mistakes, right?
Then – he said – there are, however, some people who can’t find their way back on the main road. They are so lost – or they are so powerless to change their behavior that they need help. And this is one way to look at addiction. Which is what happens when something – money, drugs, anger, sex, gambling, gets such a hold on someone that they can’t stop. Then, he said, these sins become deadly sins for in the face of their power we are literally paralyzed.
10. Now, I ask you, what was wrong with the man who was lowered into the house through the roof where Jesus was in Capernaum? What was wrong with him?
Well, we don’t exactly know do we? Except it says he was paralyzed. Have you ever been paralyzed in some part of your body? Have you ever been paralyzed emotionally by fear or guilt or worry? What was that like? Frightening – no doubt!
Now, back then, the Jews all knew and believed that an illness or condition like this man’s inability to walk (which may have either been physical or emotionally caused – or both) … could only mean that he had committed some kind of sin. The Rabbis actually had a saying that “there is no sick man healed of his sickness until all his sins have been forgiven him.”
Sounds rather primitive doesn’t it? For nowadays we know that many illnesses are biological in origin – and are often genetically inherited and therefore cannot be attributed to some behavior or sin.
But, on the other hand, we also do know that still other modern physical conditions are often greatly caused or strongly affected by our emotions and our moral and psychological behavior.
Well, to the Jews, “a sick man was simply a man with whom God was angry.” William Barclay in his commentary also points out that while some illnesses may be due to sin … often they are caused by the sin of others.
What’s that old line … “I don’t get stressed … I make other people stressed!” We have all met people like that, haven’t we?
11. So, whatever the cause of the paralysis, the Jews correctly understood that there is a relationship between our emotions, our mind, our body and our spirit (or soul). Something that we tend not to understand as well today in our materialistic world.
Therefore, it was not surprising that in order for the man to recover, he had believe that he could be reconciled with God and in order for this to happen he had to believe that his sins were forgiven. No argument about this idea.
However, what surprised and disturbed the scribes was that Jesus had the power and authority to actually do this – to forgive sins in the name of God. For they believed that only God could forgive sins. This was really astounding! Either the spirit of God truly was with Jesus or he was some kind of fake magician or something.
But, wait, Jesus takes it one step further! He actually tells the man to get up and walk. Why did Jesus do this? To show, of course, that while words may be great – action speaks louder than words … and also to prove that he was for real. In this regard, Barclay goes on to note that beginning with this one act of healing … Jesus so totally undermined the existing religious system of his day … and thereby posed such a threat … that it would really only be a matter or time before he would be killed.
Which underlines another most troubling problem which is that it sometimes can often be religious institutions themselves … or individuals in the church … who commit sins -- all in the name of God and Jesus? Apparently, the human tendency to sin includes the church itself. Something we don’t always like to admit.
12. Well, this brings us now to the greater understanding that sin is not just an individual thing -- but also a corporate one … an institutional one … and a community one.
For sins are not only committed by people … they are committed by whole families, organizations and by cultures and by nations.
Sins are seldom committed alone. For example the first thing an alcoholic has to do to quit drinking is to stop hanging out with his old drinking buddies or he will fall back into his addiction.
So, we must realize for instance, that when there is corruption in government or in big business, quite often more than a few people know about it. But quite often no one says anything at least not for a long time – like in the Enron scandal. And what about nations? Was only Hitler responsible for the killing of all the Jews and other victims or were there others? In the Nuremburg trials many of those convicted said “I was only following orders.” Or, how about slavery. For, if only one man owned slaves it would not have gone over very well. But, if everyone owns slaves -- then it must be all right. Isn’t that how it goes sometimes?
God protect us all from ever having to be in situations like this! Where we are forced to go along with things which we know are wrong. Which should bring to our minds Jesus famous words, “lead us not into temptation and protect us from evil.”
13. And that is what God can and will do if we let Him. For the Gospel message for today is that God -- through Jesus Christ has the power to overcome sin … and truly seeks to be reconciled with each and every one of us.
What this means is that is not some judgmental ogre of a God who demands human sacrifice … or seeks some kind of revenge …
No, this is not the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ. This is not why Jesus healed the paralytic and sent him on his way. For he did it to plainly and clearly reveal God’s abundant love, mercy, and grace.
So, let me just say this … regarding the whole sin thing … in true Methodist fashion …
It is kind of like a continuum … on the one end we can obsess about sin …beating ourselves up over and over again … and finally end up reducing God to an ungodly punitive and manipulative force … Or, on the other end, we can try to ignore the idea that sin exists at all … believing that we are somehow above all that … and walk around naively oblivious to all the corruption around us in the word… until it smacks us right in the face - when it may be too late.
Or, as I suggest, we can seek a more balanced understanding … somewhere in the middle…that recognizes that while we have many good and generous qualities we are also vulnerable to failure, misjudgment, and can, at times, get off the right track.
And when we do get off the track … we will know … that through prayer, the help of others, regular worship and learning about Jesus teachings … we can be restored to living a life which is reconciled to God. In other words – we can be forgiven!
In other words – it’s about staying on the main path and not going overboard about sin and ending up in the ditch on the one side or about ignoring sin and going in the ditch on the other side.
14. And even if more difficult things beset us … and we find ourselves paralyzed by fear and uncertainty … we can be certain that God – even then – will not abandon us … even in our darkest hour …
And somehow …through God’s grace we will, in time find a way … to get up and walk again on the right path with God.
So, this morning try to ask yourself a question or two… and also ask God … Is there some thing which you may have done or some mistake you made of which you desire to be forgiven?
Or is it some rejection by others … or some tendency to reject yourself (which happens to a lot of people) … which gets in the way of accepting or being accepted by God and accepting and being accepted by others?
Or is it something else … some hidden hurt … some emotional pain … some scar from childhood or a past relationship that stands in your way of achieving a more whole relationship with God and your fellow man right now today?
Or is it some injustice … done by society … some crime or prejudice or violence committed on you or someone you care about … that raises your hackles … and angers you greatly …
What is it?
What is it that you can bring before God in order that you might be healed?
Now, imagine yourself … this morning … lying on your pallet … feeling alone and hopeless … lowered by your friends through the roof … of a house … to come before Jesus … and finally to hear these wonderful words … “Your sins are forgiven … Now, get up and walk!”
Let us pray…
posted by Anonymous at 10:54 AM
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