+I am a sinner. A big ol’ sinner. I miss the mark all the time. Sometime I don’t even try to do the right thing. Sometimes I know what the right thing is and I simply don’t do it. Maybe because the right thing to do, the Godly thing to do is more difficult and I simply don’t have the energy to tackle the more correct, the better yet more difficult path. Other times I really think I’m doing what’s right, what’s of God, only to realize later that I’ve made a mistake, I’ve missed the mark, I’ve moved farther away from God. Yes, in various and sundry ways, I’m a sinner.
I don’t tell you this because I decided to make today’s sermon a confession, I tell you this because sin is one of those words that’s been hijacked by the fundamentalists of the world. It’s not a bad word—it’s a good word—a word that accurately describes a good deal of the human condition.
Sin doesn’t mean we’re bad.
Sin means we’re human.
Jesus was human in all ways EXCEPT he was without sin.
Sin means we’re not God.
PHEW, cause that’s one job I do not want!
Our readings today talk a lot about sin.
In the Second Book of Samuel we enter the story of King David about halfway through. David, being greatly blessed by God, has replaced the old evil Saul as King and David’s appetites, as is very common with people elevated to positions of great power, continue to grow and expand. Kind David sees what he wants and he takes it, no matter the cost. He saw Uriah’s beautiful wife Bathsheba and decided he wanted her. So, after getting her pregnant, David sees to it that Uriah meets an untimely death and Bathsheba is suddenly part of David’s household. I know this sounds like a bad soap opera but really it’s sacred scripture!
Now, obviously, David’s behavior is sinful—he committed adultery and he had another man killed…no two ways around it. Most of us haven’t sinned to the extent of David, but we’ve all sinned, we’ve all blown it many times, that’s for sure. But as with so much of life, it’s not so much the mistakes which define us it’s what we do about the mistakes that makes us who we are.
David, in the annals of Judea-Christian history, is a well beloved and respected man….Jesus himself is described as being “of the House of David” in the
nativity narratives….so just how did such a screw up of a king, such a sinner of somewhat epic proportions…get to be so honored and loved? How did David become a paragon of a Godly man?
He repented. After Nathan, toward the end of today’s reading, points out the error of his ways, David gets it, he admits his mistakes, he confesses his sin and God, we’re told, puts away his sin. David approached God in repentance and humility and God forgave him.
[sidebar: while David’s sin is put away we do get these unfortunate last couple of lines in this reading where David is told that as punishment for his sins, the baby he and Bathsheba conceived will be killed—these lines are clearly the additions of later editors who were making a whole other point about the evil of the monarchy, It’s not germane to our focus this morning, but I didn’t want to ignore it—my understanding of God is the God who, when David repents, puts away, that is, forgives him his sin. The God of my understanding does not kill innocent children because of the mistakes made by that child’s parents. It just doesn’t jibe. And so we take these last lines with a GIGANCTIC grain of salt.]
The important message from Samuel is that David becomes aware of his mistakes and makes amends, makes restitution, he repents, and in the eyes of God he returns to a position of grace.
It’s actually quite remarkable—our God is so loving and so engaged with us that, regardless of our mistakes, regardless of our sins, if we own them, take responsibility for them and ask God to forgive us we are forgiven. We’re healed. Our lives are renewed. It absolutely stunning.
And really hard to accept.
Which brings us to today’s Gospel. That Pharisee just couldn’t deal with the “woman of notorious sin” bathing Jesus in her tears and oil, could he? Her sins were so numerous this man of great position and honor couldn’t fathom how or why Jesus would give her a second look let alone allow her to touch him! Confident of his position of disgust, he confronts Jesus and, as always, Jesus turns the tables on him and within a few verses this man of high cultural and political standing is put firmly in his place. Jesus tells him what I believe we all need to hear---
the sin isn’t the issue, the repentance is.
So many people I know won’t set foot in a church because they’re afraid of hearing how “bad” they’ve been ---they assume that because we actually utter the word sin, because we actually confess our sins we’re all about blaming and accusing, that we’re all about seeing the speck in our neighbor’s eye, ignoring the log in our own. These people view us all—the church---like a whole community of Pharisees. How I wish I could convince them that instead of a church full of Pharisees we’re a church full of “notorious sinners.”
That what separates us from other people isn’t our lack of sin, what separates us from other people is our abundance of repentance.
It’s the beauty of our faith: we make mistakes, and when we humbly acknowledge them, God forgives.
Sin is part of the human condition and forgiveness? Forgiveness is part of the Divine condition. We will make mistakes, we will miss the mark, we will sin. And when we do, God is ready to put away our sin and send us on our way: forgiven, healed and renewed.
Amen. +
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