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March 01, 2009

An Invitation to Inward Reflection

Lent 1: March 1, 2009 An Invitation to Inward Reflection
Mark 1:9-15

John the Baptist was a prophet who baptized with the water of repentance in preparation for the coming Messiah. He was the messenger who announced the time is now. Repent and be baptized. If people confessed their sin and sought God’s forgiveness, then John would baptize them in the Jordan River. In this morning’s text, Jesus comes to John and is baptized. As Jesus is coming up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descends onto him claiming him as God’s beloved son.

The Holy Spirit Jesus received at his baptism compels him into the wilderness. While there, Jesus is tempted to sin and turn from God. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke outline the three temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness. However, Mark leaves out the particulars, except to say Jesus was out there for 40 days and was tempted by Satan. Maybe our gospel writer leaves out the particulars of Jesus’ temptation so we can imagine Jesus not succumbing to those temptations that haunt us.

No matter whose account of these events you read Jesus perseveres. He does not sin. About this time, John the Baptist is arrested by Herod Antipas because John has been publically calling Herod to repent for marrying his brother’s wife. When John is arrested, Jesus takes up John’s call—Repent—turn back to God.

It is appropriate for this scripture reading to begin Lent, a time of reflection and re-examination of our relationship with God. There is a striking theme throughout—one that makes most preachers and lay people equally nervous. Words associated with it include repent, confess, forgive, temptation, and turn to God. The theme is sin.

Sin is a big word, loaded with all kinds of images and baggage. I can see some of you already looking down and thinking to yourself, “She knew I’d be here today and now she’s going to nail me.” Before you shut your ears and your mind, try to be open for a few minutes. Hear me out…

Your pastoral leaders feel strongly about addressing this human condition called sin. We think Lent is a perfect time to explore the subject. But how to do it? We didn’t want to stand up here shaking our collective fingers at you. Besides, how do we really know where you have sinned? It’s not something we discuss during fellowship time or even during a pastoral visit. “Oh by the way, Pastor, I sinned yesterday when I …”

It also occurred to us that much like our recent sermon series on simplicity, the language of sin is a part of our Christian heritage but we aren’t necessarily comfortable or familiar with it. As Christians we cannot stand off to the side and allow other people to set the tone for this discussion. Make no mistake, the discussion is being had, whether we participate or not. If we, your pastoral leaders, don’t talk about it or give you language to speak about the sin you experience in your own life, we are not being faithful, spiritual leaders. Still with me?...

Six months ago, a clergy colleague of mine recommended a renowned pastor’s book, “Speaking of Sin.” In this book, I discovered beliefs I have carried but could not express. Barbara Brown Taylor’s book has provided the backbone to the sermon that I preach this morning.

Now, there is no way I can address the complex reality of sin in 10 minutes. Here’s what I’d like to do:
1. Offer three definitions of personal sin. 2. Give some examples from my life that might connect with experiences you have had. 3. Explore current methods of evaluating sin. 4. Offer a new approach to sin and repentance.

What is sin? The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) provides three definitions of personal sin. One is to miss the mark or go astray. Another is to act wrongly or violate a rule or law. The third variation is to revolt or rebel against God. While the actions themselves differ, they all do the same thing, the separate us from God. Or to put it another way, they break down our relationship with God.

These definitions of sins that we commit against God also translate to our relationship with each other. In some circles, this would be the place where I would begin to list the sins that the Church and that I as your pastor, want you to refrain from doing. Instead let me share with you an example of how these three definitions of sin look in my life.

To miss the mark—When I am frustrated by a situation, I can react by saying something I regret the minute it leaves my mouth.
To violate a rule—I’ve driven over the speed limit, missed curfew. But one thing I’ve done that hurts me and others and falls under this category is…I’ve lied.

To rebel—I rebelled against organized religion in my 20’s and I rebelled against God.

My husband and my father are sitting in the pews. They can attest that these are just a few examples from a long, long list. But really, they can’t name my personal sins for me, anymore than I can name your personal sins for you. Individual sin will not look the same to each of us. What is sin to me might not be sin for you and vice versa—especially on the less egregious sins. How then do we know when we’ve sinned? The recognition will come when we acknowledge a loss because of our actions. Maybe we are experiencing an ache or disconnect from God, others or ourselves. This is one of the byproducts of sin. Jesus often referred to sin as darkness. That’s a good image. Light is life and darkness is sin. When we have sinned, we want to hide our behavior, and sometimes ourselves, in the shadows.

My personal definition of sin is anything I’ve done that sticks in my mind for an extended period of time. That’s a red flag for me, and it helps me recognize sin in my own life. And to recognize when we’ve sin is a good first step. Taking responsibility for our lives and our relationships is a good thing. It’s often painful and humbling to admit mistakes, but it is this admitting that turns us back to God and to others in our life. It is the first step to restoring our relationships.

New life is possible when our self-defense mechanisms are turned down. Once we can acknowledge that as human beings we do sin, the next step is to find a way to deal with the situation. Maybe one of the reasons we don’t talk about sin so much anymore is that the Christian methods in place to deal with sin seem broken or unable to speak to our reality. We’ve all heard the preacher rail against a particular sin on Sunday only to be found engaging in that exact sin on Tuesday night. What are we to do?

Barbara Brown Taylor offers an assessment of two current methods used to evaluate sin. The first uses a medical model. In the medical model, “sickness is substituted for sin, and illness becomes the metaphor for human failing.”(1) Since we don’t have any control over many of the diseases that we are afflicted with, we aren’t responsible for bringing about the cure. For example, she grew up in an abusive family. She does what was done to her. He isn’t at fault because he didn’t have anyone to teach him right from wrong.

In the illness model, we can’t penalize people for their circumstances. What they need is compassion and forgiveness. And this is good to a point. But how many of us find ourselves stuck doing the same things over and over and expecting different results? As the saying goes, if nothing changes, nothing changes. Where the medical model fails is that it doesn’t hold us accountable for our actions. At some point, “the patient” needs to take responsibility for their part in their “reoccurring illness.”

The other method we have for assessing sin is a legal model. In the legal model, “crime is substituted for sin, and lawlessness becomes the metaphor for human failing.”(2) This model assumes each person has the ability to choose to do the right thing. When we don’t do the right thing, we pay the consequences. We are all familiar with the legal model. The line between good and bad are strictly enforced. The issues are black and white. There is no gray. The emphasis is on the individual’s ability to choose good over sin.

One of the problems with this model is that the laws and rules feel forced on us by people we don’t trust or respect. And ultimately, according to Taylor, this model fails us because “…the essence of sin is not the violation of laws but the violation of relationships. Punishment is not paramount. Restoration of relationship is paramount.”(3) Both the medical model and the legal model fall short in their ability to describe our reality of sin in the 21st century.

Incorporating her idea that restoration of relationship is paramount, Taylor offers us a method with roots in the early Christian Church. Her method of repentance includes confession, forgiveness, penance, that result in restoration of community.(4) It begins with confession. A type of confession that is more than “I’m sorry.” This confession is the radical act of self-disclosure often found in 12-step programs. In 12-step programs, the “I’m sorry” has been replaced with “I was wrong.”

Notice the difference. I’m sorry does not acknowledge my behavior as breaking our relationship. I could be sorry for a number of things. If I find myself in a legalized model of addressing sin, maybe I am sorry I got caught. So the words, “I was wrong” do a better job of capturing my desire to take responsibility for my actions.

Forgiveness comes second. Forgiveness is the starting point of our return to right relationship, not the stopping point.(5) I don’t have to tell any of you how difficult it is to forgive. But God forgives the person who truly want to start another chance. Once I offer a heartfelt, “I was wrong when I…” the forgiveness begins.

The third movement is penance. You may recognize penance from the Catholic Church. Before Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church had taken the system of penance and made it into a money maker for the church. People bought and paid for forgiveness without any change of heart or behavior. Rich people were able to pay for forgiveness while the poor had to serve time, give up their freedom or possessions to pay for their sins. Martin Luther rebelled against this and so the Protestant church lost the act of penance. What Taylor reminds us is that penance can be embraced as repair not punishment.(6)

The penance involved depends on the events of the break in relationship. Sometimes there seems to be no apparent relationship. This is part of what penance is trying to repair. One example that works with this idea is a movement called restorative justice. This movement encourages victim and perpetrator for minor crimes to sit down with a moderator and come up with a way to restore their relationship or community. A good example comes from the most recent Clint Eastwood movie entitled, Grand Torino.

Clint’s an old white man living next to a family of Hmong—an ethnic group from Asia. One night the teenage son was bullied by his cousin to steal Clint’s Ford El Camino. The young man attempts it but he doesn’t get the car out of the garage. But this sin was he tried to steal it. His mother makes the teenager go to Clint and offer to work for him to set the relationship right. At first Clint refused, but they end up getting to know each other. The stereotypes that each side had about the other came down. Over time their relationship changed. They became not only neighbors, but good friends.

For our intimate personal relationship, this idea of penance would become evident in our behavior. If we want forgiveness and restored relationship, then we will need to work on our actions. For we all know, actions speak louder, much louder, than words.

In his book, Three Simple Rules, Bishop Rueben Job reminds us that following Jesus is no easy task. We begin with good intentions and then we miss the mark. Bishop Job affirms Taylor’s assessment of our times. And he suggests that John Wesley anticipated times like these, because it’s typically human. “Wesley knew that everyone needs help to live a holy and good life in a world like ours…He was fully aware that one could have all of the structures and systems right but could lose the power of God that translates into a Christ-like life. We need help at this way of holy living. Holy living that is constantly reforming and renewing the individual and the community. (7)

And so Bishop Job took John Wesley’s General Rules and put them into a short booklet he entitled, Three Simple Rules. The rules are, Do No Harm, Do Good, and Stay in Love with God.

The fact of the matter is that we do harm others and ourselves. It is my hope that you will take time during the season of Lent to reflect on your life and your relationships with God and others. Maybe you will even try this idea of confessing, forgiveness, penance, and experienced restored or repaired relationships. It may seem like a lot to do, but it has been my experience that the more we practice repentance the more we appreciate and thus work to keep our relationships in good repair.

(1) Speaking of Sin by Barbara Brown Taylor, page 38. ©2000 BB Taylor. Published by Crowley Publishing.
(2) Ibid, page 39.
(3) Ibid, page 41.
(4) Ibid, page 61.
5)Ibid, page 63.
(6)Ibid, page 64.
(7) Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living by Rueben P. Job, page 17. © 2007 Abingdon Press.

Posted by vickie at 10:00 AM