Someone noted that, if we want to find a person’s god, we should follow the money- their checkbook will
tell us whom they are worshiping. But it’s not all about the love of money, we
can also find our god... when we find what or whom we turn to for comfort, whom we
run to when we’re scared, that person or thing that most fulfills us, or gives
us the greatest joy! There was a time when I couldn’t conceive of a “good time”
without alcohol. Other people don’t feel complete unless they’re “in love” with
something, and still others hoard stuff to feel complete.
Who or what… makes life worth
living? Who or what “turns you on”? In whom or what do you trust? This question
is at the core of God’s case in the 2nd chapter of Jeremiah, where
God indicts Israel for two interrelated sins: 1) replacing a loving and living
God with lesser gods who cannot love, respond, or save; and 2)
trusting in broken cisterns for the water of life. Trusting in something or
someone else as our source of fulfillment and joy… is the source of our sins…
and it is a shame because God is so very near to us.
Chances are you haven’t
thought much about sin lately because it’s a term that seems outdated. It's passe. Biblically speaking it means “missing the mark,” which includes sins of
commission and sins of omission. In practice, however, we don’t count the
things we didn’t do- like welcoming strangers, feeding the hungry, sharing our talent and
treasure- as sin because our focus is on specific behaviors that we did do. In recent poll of
Christians, 81% said that adultery a sin, and it was followed by racism,
hard drugs, keeping the money when a cashier gives us too much change,
abortion, homosexuality, falsifying income tax returns, pornography, gossip,
and swearing. In contrast, 100% of Evangelical Christians considered adultery to be a sin, and that was followed by: gossip, swearing, racism,
income tax evasion, keep excess change, abortion, porn, pre-marital sex,
getting drunk, having sexual thoughts (other than spouse), marijuana, having
homosexual thoughts, telling white lies, harming the environment,
smoking, R-rated movies, playing the lottery, not attending church…. spanking
children, dancing, and being rich!
Well, what do you think? Has
the "net of sins" gathered you in as a sinner yet? If not, we could add, not worshiping
God with all of your heart, not honoring our mother and father, stealing, coveting,
pride, anger, judging others, envy, sloth, and many more. We love to list and prioritize sin, but listing sins in
this way is just a way of judging others and ourselves. It is also a way of
getting well off track because our traditional list of sins is not accurate,
complete, or definable. What does it mean, for instance, to honor our mother
and father? What can we do about sexual thoughts, other than not acting on
them? Getting drunk and telling white lies would pretty much guarantee
that we are a gathering of sinners here today, as would going to R-rated
movies, playing the lottery, not attending church (every Sunday), and dancing.
Yes, it’s true, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is
not in us. We are a gathering of sinners… who have been forgiven and renewed in
Christ! We are a gathering of forgiven sinners who are living in community as a
people who know themselves to be forgiven!
We should quit obsessing on the sins of others and live each day as a glorious opportunity for ministry. We should have mile-wide
smiles and boundless energy to love one another, welcome strangers, and serve
Christ in our community… because He has given us new life. We are new creations
in Christ and, with that in mind, we are encouraged to throw our scorecards away and to
love others in the same way and to the same degree that we love ourselves. Our
fundamental sin is our inability (and unwillingness) to let go and trust God. We are tempted to
talk about grace, transformation, and acceptance on Sundays, knowing that we
will be trusting in our nest eggs and our connections… come Monday. This doesn’t
make us bad people, only good people who are unable (or unwilling) to let God make us better and more fulfilled. Coming and going to church, without surrendering to
God, is not the worse thing in the world, but it’s not the best either because
we can trust God and embrace each day without worry or fear.
We can live and love as a
carefree Christian community and we can do so in many ways. But today, rather than dwelling on sin, I will
conclude by lifting up the ways that we can please God, which the author of the book of Hebrews noted centuries ago.
Instead of focusing on a list of sins, let us claim our baptisms. Let us trust God and live as God's people. Let us continue to love one another as brothers
and sisters, as a chosen family, because in Christ, that’s what we are; 2) let
us continue to show hospitality to strangers- to those who are new to us and
not like us, and as a More Light church, we’ve already taken a stand; 3) let us
identify with those who are imprisoned (in all the ways we get chained) and
with those who are suffering… in a deep and powerful way, as if we are
suffering ourselves; 4) loving God and God’s
people is enough. Let us pray that we will never fall in love with our money; 5) let
us be content with what God has given us. There’s nothing out there or across
the road that going to make us any happier than serving God; 6) Ideas change
over time. We know that the color of our skin and the people we choose to love
are gifts from God, for instance. But God does not change- so let us resist
the temptation to chase every fad that comes our way; 7) Life is short.
Tomorrow is not ours. So, let us seize the moments that are given to us in
which we can do good and share what we have with others.
Let us rejoice in our forgiveness and meet each day with courage, contentment and grace. May we live as if we live in Christ. May we love, welcome, forgive, and serve others. As the good Book says,
God is pleased with sacrifices such as these! Amen!
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