whatever became of sin

From my sermon on 6/26/11 from Romans 6:12-23

The Gospel according to Mayberry…yes, there is a Sunday School curriculum based on the popular TV show where Andy Griffith is the sheriff of Mayberry. He is a single dad raising his son Opie with Aunt Bea’s help. In one episode, Opie falls asleep in church, or is not paying attention, so Andy is quizzing him after the service. “What was the sermon about?” “It was about sin.” “Well, what did the preacher say about it?” “He said that he was ‘against’ it.”

Whatever became of sin? Do we still talk about it? Still deal with it?

I once preached a series of 7 sermons on sin and salvation. Try saying that fast 3 times, “series of 7 sermons on sin and salvation.” People actually came and appreciated it. I didn’t just talk about sin as breaking a law, but more about breaking God’s heart. Sin felt like being far from home, being dirty, feeling defeated. I told the truth about who we are—sinners…who are forgiven, restored by God’s love.

We don’t want to deal with sin. Those in politics use the passive voice, “Mistakes were made.” We are not just people who make mistakes, fudge answers, tell little white lies. We are rebellious, selfish, vindictive, petty persons and communities—less than who God intends for us to be. We can dodge responsibility. When I was growing up, there was a comedian on TV named Flip Wilson. He played a church lady character who would sin from time to time. The excuse was always…”The Devil made me do it.” The story is as old as the garden of Eden where the man blames the woman for eating the forbidden fruit, and the woman blames the snake for its smooth talk. We are prone to point the finger at someone else, not realizing that 3 fingers are pointing back at us.

Paul doesn’t dodge sin. In this short passage the word is mentioned 10 times. Each time the word in Greek is hamartia. It literally means missing the mark, like an arrow that is off, nowhere near the bull’s eye on the target. I know a United Methodist pastor who was on the women’s Olympic archery team. She said this meaning really resonates with her. She said, “Think about it. If you are off just a little when the arrow leaves the bow, how much it will be off when it reaches the target!” Is that what you feel? That you are off just a little bit from what God intends.

Your name is King David, and it is springtime when armies go off to fight, but you are old, and so you stay home. Bored in the palace, you look across the way to the nearby roof top where a beautiful lady is taking a bath. Now you may be old, but you are not dead. You invite her over. How she can say no, you are the king after all. Soon, she is in your arms, and then pregnant. You have to deal with her husband, so you set him up in the front lines of battle where he gets killed. And you see how you can be just a little bit off at the start, and you can totally miss the target.

You see that you can make a lot of money by doing home loans. What if you bundle the loans together, and then come up with a new product, derivatives, and sell them. What if you then make riskier loans, because the more you get on the books, the more money you make. What if you hedge your bets and even take out insurance if they fail. And by the way, you are too big to fail. You will get bailed out. And you can see how you can be a little bit off at the start and you can totally miss the target.

You understand that sin is individual and corporate.

What does it hurt to take just one bite of the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden? You can miss the target, harmatia.

That leads us to another major metaphor for sin in this passage, that of being enslaved. Now that language might not fit our modern context so well. In Paul’s time, it has been estimated that up to 2/3 of the people in Rome would serve as slaves at some time in their lives. People became slaves after being captured in battle. Others would find themselves in debt or be born as a slave. Slaves were in all levels of society and professions, a servant class owing allegiance to their master/patron.

Maybe better language for us today would be feeling trapped or addicted. We get trapped in our overfunctioning, our speed, our pressure.

How dangerous it is to believe that one is free from all rules, all constraints. Paul says the only freedom we have is to choose to what do we want to be enslaved. By what God has done for us in Jesus Christ is it possible for us to be free.

Paul says it is the free gift of God. The word is charisma in Greek. Within charisma is the word for grace, charis. God’s fierce love for, unearned, freely given is the only way out of being trapped in sin.

Even after we are baptized and confirm our faith, we sin. Can I get an amen? An older pastor was telling some of us younger ones about his baptism story. He was 12 or 13 years old. His mom had gotten him a new suit. Many family members made a special effort to come to the worship service. The church family gathered round as he was baptized and professed his faith in Jesus Christ. There was a big dinner at his parents’ house after the worship service. He changed out of his new suit, went outside, and did something he had never done before. He kicked his dog. His friend, his companion, his pet, who had never done anything against him. He kicked his dog. Where did that come from? He thought to himself, “This following Christ thing is harder than it looks.”

It is a lifetime process. It’s like being in AA. When you walk in the door, everybody knows what you are. Hello, my name is Lynn, and I am an alcoholic. Here at church, it is the same way. Hello, my name is Lynn, and I am a sinner. We need to admit we are powerless over sin, and that only Jesus Chris can set us free.

I believe that the life we have in Christ is the only way to sanity. It is why we keep coming back here week after week, to work the steps to wholeness. It is why we read the Bible, pray, worship, find ourselves in accountability groups—to become the people God intends us to be. It is the only way to freedom, by being enslaved to Christ.

Maybe why we have such a problem talking about sin is that we have a problem really believing in the free gift of God’s love. We pastors are the worst. We say that we believe in God’s grace, but they we act like functioning atheists, by thinking if we only work harder or longer, then we can fix the situation. This is sin, thinking we don’t really need God.

The only way to freedom from sin is to be in bondage to Christ, to follow him. The question is: Can we accept this free gift?