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Sin ● Ours is a story to be ‘rehearsed’; to be ‘entered’; to be ‘shared. As Christians, it seems that as we participate in the story, our posture is always one of remembrance (looking back for present meaning) and expectation (looking forward for hope); both of which meant to stimulate rightly ordered-living in the present. Meaning, we are called to live in the present as if the future has already arrived. ● This season of Lent seems to evoke a couple of different responses: one being ‘remorse’- the very real sense that all of creation has experienced a crisis of sorts (something’s gone terribly wrong), and yet a profound sense of ‘hope’ for the new life that God has made possible. ● Lent is always inaugurated by Ash Wednesday. In it you sense very solemn overtones and immediately you are struck with the gravity of the human condition as we are called upon to confront our frailty and admit our brokenness. As the leader marks your forehead with ashes (in the sign of a cross) he would traditionally say something like, “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return”. ● I just remember thinking that the whole practice seemed ridiculous; embarrassing. But, maybe embodying/enacting such truths is not such a bad idea. Maybe it would prevent us from walking around through life like ‘nothing’s wrong’- dysfunctional, but with a ‘straight face’; maybe it would allow us to admit some culpability. ● This particular aspect of Lent allows us to focus on (2) concepts/practices which appear to be essential and valuable components of our faith: “confession” and “repentance”. ~ Confession provides the safe confines in which we can honestly confront our brokenness and the inner-turmoil we face as a result. ~ Repentance is the gift that God offers which not only allows us to admit our brokenness, but provides the courage to live differently (to actually choose a less destructive path for our life). ● Historically, people have raised some legitimate concerns about the practice. If it becomes ‘ritualistic’- It’s our “Get Out of Jail Free” card; allows us to do what we were going to do anyway, but now with the assurance that God will somehow ‘look the other way’. ● The story to this point: “Who are you?” God’s unique, image-bearing creation. We are also told in the story that humanity was somehow invested with qualities of their Creator. The word ‘image’ is the Greek ‘eikon’ where we get our English ‘icon’. An icon is an image, a representation; a likeness that stands for an object by representing it. As icons of God, we are representatives. We discover that God creates out of longing; not as a result of some cosmic feud and not longing in the sense of deficiency (as if he needed us to sustain him), but for the sheer joy of relationship. Not out of boredom or obligation, but for the sheer joy of the “shared-life”. “Where are you?” In a beautiful place, perfectly suited for us; for ‘life’, yet a place that’s obviously been blemished (obviously not what it used to be); something of its previous beauty had been diminished. “Why are you here?” To experience… … vital union with God (from whom they would derive their ‘life’), … selfless and fulfilling interaction with each other, … meaningful and loving care of creation. ● In a word, it was “shalom”; a place where everything was functioning properly (working as it should); it’s ‘whole’. God sums it up by saying, “It’s all good!” “What happened?” What we really want to know is, “What went wrong?” Our story must and does address the issue. ● Genesis 2:9 “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. (2) trees representing (2) ways of life: Tree of life- according to God (lasting quality to it) Tree of the knowledge of good and evil- life according to me (it’s where I decide and also deal with the destructive consequences). ● Note that the trees were not off in some remote corner of the garden, but in a place of prominence; they were centralized because they represent the central issue of life [like baking a plate of cookies, setting them in front of the kids and telling them not to eat any!] ● In the Genesis account… What do you think God was feeling toward Adam and Eve as they were crouching in the bushes, scrambling for some leaves? (he was coming for their ‘walk’, but they ‘heard footsteps’!) What was his first question? (“Where are you?”) You can almost hear it in his voice, can’t you; a longing for relationship; for companionship. ● It becomes apparent immediately and observably that… SIN IS A BIG DEAL. So, as I attempt to comment on the subject, what I lack ‘academically’, I more than make up for in ‘experience’! The word ‘sin’ in the Greek (hamartia) means ‘to miss the mark’ or ‘to fall short’, but it’s most often presented to us in metaphorical terms because it can’t really be ‘defined’, only ‘described’. ● In the Bible, sin is described as… rebellion, infidelity (unfaithful), wandering (going astray), getting dirty, disloyalty, trespassing, transgression, failure, just to describe a few. So, to respond to the question, “Sin is _______?” may not easily be reduced to a singular concept. Isaiah 59:12-15 (read) All sin has this in common: It’s idolatrous- giving ourselves to or adopting our sense of identity, worth and fulfillment from anything other than God. “Where are we going for life?” It’s okay for created things to refresh you or bring you pleasure as long as they don’t ‘diminish’ you; reduce you to something/someone other than you were created to be. It’s essentially, mistrust (of God)- sin was not just a ‘really bad choice’ on Adam and Eve’s part, but an affront to the goodness of their Creator-God. Their actions signaled their determination that ‘God cannot be trusted’. It’s alienation- the worst thing about sin? Separation. Since drove us all in the wrong direction: away from God, each other and creation. ● Having been were created for vital union with God, but having determined that God could not be trusted, we decided to ‘go it alone’. That decision put us in direct conflict with his good purposes and it left us “fearful” and “paranoid”. Now we have been so deceived that we actually hide from the very one who can reconnect us and dispel our fears about life. ● Our disconnect with others is also apparent. The Creation story summarizes Adam and Eve’s relationship in this way: “they were naked and they felt no shame” Genesis 2:25. ● The story seems to suggest what we’ll call ‘full disclosure’; nothing to fear, nothing to hide. Imagine, every act, every movement, every conversation taking place within an environment of mutual-acceptability. Now, not only could they not trust God with who they were, they could not trust each other! Now, instead of seeing in each other the ‘imago Dei’, they were more conscious of each other’s faults; now, somehow, their worth seemed to lose its ‘innate’ quality; now, instead of being ‘helpers, suitable for each other’, they became competitors. ● As it relates to Creation itself… instead of lovingly caring for all that God made, it simply becomes a resource to serve our own purposes and fuel our own desires. We are beginning to discover that those resources are not ‘inexhaustible’ and as we abuse them, you can almost hear them ‘groaning’. ● As you now picture humanity standing outside of the garden, having been ‘evicted’ due to their decision for independence, you get the sense that paramount for them is the question: “How do I get back to Eden?” Our determination to ‘go it alone’ placed “us” squarely at the center of our lives (we would refer to that as having a ‘sinful nature’); those determinations will have consequences: we call the life it produces sins (simply manifestations/expressions of a defective heart).
(to be continued) |
