Pentecost 6                           Rom. 6:12-23                                6/26/05

                                                   "SIN"

Today I’d like to talk with you about sin. Oh, I know that you know what sin is. We all do it every day. Sometimes we may even enjoy it. Eww, just offer to share with me that latest bit of gossip! Yeaaaaah, just give me a chance to get back at that person who hurt me! Oh boy, just tell me about how I can put something over on that oil company that will get me some free gas...after all, we all know they’re gouging consumers with that $2.13/gal. And Oh dear Lord, how I’d love to stay up to watch Saturday Night Live and sleep in on Sunday morning, if I could just get away with it! Yes, we all know what sin is and we all do it ever-y-day.

People tend quite often to go to one of two extremes regarding sin. On the one hand, some people psychologize, rationalize and dismiss sin. The people at this extreme, don’t really believe that sin is a reality. People do wrong, even great wrong, because of a misplaced gene, or because mommy denied them something they wanted at a vulnerable age, or because of the social environment in which they were raised or currently live. Whatever the sin, something outside the person made the person do it.

At the other extreme, are the people who just can’t get past their sins. In a perverse way, these people seem to enjoy their sins. Even more, they enjoy other people’s sins. These are people who just can’t forgive themselves for being human...and thus they can’t forgive anyone else either. In fact, judging others gives them what little relief they get from a deep sense of shame and guilt. People at this extreme desperately need to receive grace, but they’re scared to death of it. Ultimately, their greatest sin is the sin of Adam and Eve. They insist on somehow making up for their own sin, and failing to do so fear they are condemned.

Most of us, most of the time, can be placed somewhere on a continuum between these two extremes. We may not give much thought to what we do and how God might feel about it, or we acknowledge our sin but sort of dismiss it by saying it’s not as bad as someone else’s.

The other day, I got into a theological discussion with Vicki when she was here to practice. We started off talking about the difference between St. Paul’s and another larger church. (And BTW, forgive me Vicki, you were right I shouldn’t be so closed minded and judgmental about them)

Anyway, trying to show that all that money I spent on a theological education was worth something, I started propounding on Luther’s two uses of the law and how that fits with our grace based theology. (Ah yes, I committed the sin of pride too) Most Lutherans believe that Luther taught that there are just two uses of the Law. The first is to bring a person to the knowledge of their sin so they can be converted to Christ and be baptized. The second use of the Law is to control civil behavior. For instance, "thou shalt not steal" keeps at least most of us from cheating on our income tax. Otherwise, there would be no way to support the government.

There is a great debate between Lutheran theologians though as to whether Luther acknowledged a third use of the Law - one that applies to us and effects us as saved Christians. The third use of the Law reminds us of our sin after we have been baptized. It drives us back to our baptisms to seek assurance that we are saved. It motivates us to sincerely repent at confession and draw strengthen from the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as we try to amend our sinful lives - not in order to save ourselves, but because we don’t take sin lightly and do desire to please God.

I tend to lean toward there being a third use of the Law. Life experience warns me of the danger related to putting the whole question of sin behind us after baptism. It seems to me that that path leads to cheap grace - the attitude that I can do whatever I please because I’m saved. Could that also lead to a slippery slope that ultimately rejects a need for Christ?

So, we are to take sin seriously. We can’t dismiss it. And we’d better not excuse ourselves by judging the sin of others as greater than ours. For Paul wrote just a few chapters earlier that "ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Therefore, no one - not the not the Sunday school teacher, not the saintliest member of the church, not the pastor better look down his/her nose at the drug addict, the convict or the person down the pew. We are all in this mess together and just as likely to drown in our sin without the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Yes, without Christ we are dead...dead as last year’s corn stalks...dead in our sin (in other words, damned and without hope). That is what that last verse of our second reading is all about: "For the wages of sin is death," Just one teensy tiny little sin earns us a place outside God’s presence - and that is hell. And there is nothing we can do to undo that sin because before we’ve even thought about it we’ve committed more sin. We are dead!

Thankfully though, there is a comma after "The wages of sin is death," - a comma and the most beautiful words in any language: "but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God looked at humanity’s sin - it’s basic compulsion to sin - and its inability to save one’s self and had pity on us. He could have wiped out the human race and started over. He could have let us go our merry way right into hell. He didn’t/doesn’t need us to be God or to give Him praise. He could have set up a different system where we could ultimately after a millennia of suffering worked our way out of hell. But, God didn’t. God chose to send His Son to suffer and die for us, so that we could have eternal life. He did it this way so that salvation could be an entirely free gift to us.

And this is why we need a third use of the Law. We need to stop regularly and look in a mirror at our true selves. We need to measure our goodness, not against others, but against God’s Law. Then in deep humility and gratitude we confess our sin and open our hand to receive the great gift of God’s forgiveness once again. Then in true, profound humility and gratitude we can thank God for this gift and seek ways to show our thanks in service to God.

This is what Paul means when he speaks of our being made free. Christ’s death makes us free from sin and its ultimate penalty. Christ’s death also then makes us free to do what is right and good. With thankful hearts cleansed of sin, guilt and shame we seek to live out our salvation by growing in grace, witnessing to the faith and giving of all that we have (time, talents and treasure)

in God’s service. We become agents of God or little Christ’s to each other, to the unchurched and to the world.

So, that’s it - that’s what I have to say about sin. You are free now to go out there and do your own thing. You may - you most surely will sin - but just remember to let the Law drive you back to God for forgiveness, and then in that freedom God gives you through Christ, Go in peace. Serve the Lord! Amen