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Within days after I told Jim I was willing to preach, he called me and had a date but 4 weeks away. Had I known this congregation was this desperate for preachers I would have raved more about music Sunday and silent worship.

Jim told me that the preaching was to be coming from Romans this month. So I started reading Romans. It had been a long time. I was surprised to find a focus on sin that was unpleasant, that made me unhappy, that troubled me and that made me squirm. But it ended well, as you will see.

Reading from the beginning of Romans, the book sounded like some of the unpleasant denunciations of sin I sometimes read in notes posted on the Internet news group called Mennolink.

For example, Paul said in: RO 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

For those of you not familiar with cyberspace, Mennolink is a service that mails announcements, comments, jokes and many other things to a large number of subscribers. It is kind of like a bulletin board, only the postings come into the central computer and get remailed to each persons E-mail address.

According to some discussions in this group, Mennonites at liberal congregations like Germantown do little or nothing about sin. In fact, were we to pay attention to the Mennolink representatives of the Mennonite far right we are at risk of eternal damnation for our positions on all kinds of things. These folks would probably apply these kinds of words to us. To me. Seeing things like this in Romans was disconcerting: RO 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, [19] since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. [20] For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

After an initial barrage of arguments with these representatives of the Mennonite community back in the beginning of my participation on Mennolink, I have mostly ignored their obsessions about toeing the ethical lines. And I have certainly ignored discussions about sin. I am a psychologist. I don't believe in sin. Human suffering and misery are better explained by far more sophisticated concepts regarding human behavior. There are reflections of unconscious desires. The are the results of faulty learning, of childhood trauma, of dependency and codependency. They an example of poor impulse control or perceptual distortions. The cure for sin is not hostile denunciation, it is understanding and uncovering the true motivations and reasons for the offending actions. We need skills in empathy, we need to learn effective communication. We need to encourage appropriate assertiveness. We don't need the concept of sin. It is a dinosaur, of no use, an anachronism.

So imagine my irritation to find that Romans was so full of concern for sin. To check my impression I did a word count using my Bible software. Sin is mentioned 39 times in this book. So Paul really is concerned about sin

There are two directions that I found in my reading of Romans that I think are frequently reflected in the discussions of Christians. On the one hand there is the sometimes obsessive concern about what is and is not sin. On the other hand their is the overwhelming and daunting declaration that we are sinners to the core, rooted in evil and irredeemable.

Lets look at some of Paul concerns about particular sins.

About the Godless and the wicked Paul says: RO 1:28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. [29] They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, [30] slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; [31] they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. [32] Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Berating his fellow Jews, Paul says: RO 2:17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; [18] if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; [19] if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, [20] an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-- [21] you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? [22] You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? [23] You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? [24] As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

Certainly from this reading we can say confidently that Paul, unlike psychologists, believes in sin. If he were here he would be able to tell us what exactly sin is. Stealing, lying, murder, adultery, the list goes on. Of course if we were to add the additional sins discovered and denounced by Christians since Paul time, the list would go on endlessly.

Early Christians picked on Jews for their legalism. But what about Christians since that time? I think that we have matched or even exceeded this legalism. For centuries Catholics didn't eat meat on Fridays, Baptists couldn't dance, early Puritans couldn't laugh. And Mennonites -- boy the things we couldn't do. My father jokes about how when he was a boy the mark of a Christian young man was following the rhyme: Don't drink , smoke or chew or run around with girls that do. Of course the list was much longer than that. He also had to wear a plain coat on Sunday, refrain from TV, radio, work on Sunday and many other things. For women the list was even more confining.

I am reminded of one of the difficulties for some people in passing lie detector tests. As you probably know the technology of the lie detector test requires the administrator to establish an electronic baseline before asking the pertinent questions. He or she asks the subject a series of innocuous questions, interspersed with questions guaranteed to produce a lie and watches the spikes and troughs on the machine while doing so.. I've heard one of these questions is "have you ever stolen anything?" The reasoning goes that since everyone has stolen something, everyone is going to lie. But there are the occasional strait arrows who have actually never stolen anything. When they answer that question truthfully, the baseline is distorted and the eventual results are suspect. Ironically you have to lie to be able to have the lie detector test work. Diogenes wandered the streets of Rome looking for one honest man. Lie detector test administrators hope that they never find one.

There *are people out there who successfully live by "the law" as Paul refers to it. These are people who truly do follow the rules. They don't break the ten commandments. They love their neighbors as themselves. They treat others as they would like to be treated.

Usually these people are women, who live in the Midwest and clerk at greeting card stores part time while raising a family, taking care of their husbands and secretly wishing they could attend the assertiveness training workshop offered at the "Y" only to end up, after timidly registering, stuck with serving coffee and donuts and missing all but the part where the pastors wife says a word no one thought she even knew.

I kid the strait arrows. I know there are many of them here. In fact, I expect we are all observers of the law . We don't steal, we don't lie, we don't cheat on those to whom we have made promises, we don't murder. But this concern for complete freedom from sin can be taken beyond reason. Among Mennonites there are tiny churches that are the result of a series of splits over trifling things that I don't even recall. Closer to home, we have deep disagreements regarding marriage, divorce, abortion and other things that have led to the calling of names and the development of hate and ill will between Christians. These disagreements have one set of Christians calling another set of Christians sinful, wicked, evil and all those things that Paul reserves for the ungodly.

On these issues Paul is very clear. Regarding the two big issues of dissention in his day Paul says: RO 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. [2] One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. [3] The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. [4] Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. RO 14:5 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. [6] He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

I'm not going to list all those issues on which we have dissention. Pick one. Make it one that is as sacred to you as abstaining from work on the Sabbath was to the Jews of Jesus time. Make it one over which you have called names. This is the issue to which Paul says "who are you to call names?"

Because whether you are right or wrong, the value of being so is suspect. Even if we were able to write a perfect law and follow it , we would still sin, says Paul.

RO 3:9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. [10] As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; RO 3:11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. RO 3:12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

Later he says: RO 3: [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We are more then performers of sinful acts, We are also in a state of sin.

Now I know what follows is not exactly what Paul means, but there is nothing more illustrative of this second point about sin then when I think of our complicity in injustice simply by virtue of living in this place in this time.

There was a time in my life when I was very concerned about simple living. I am still concerned about this, but do not feel called to join those dedicated folks who make heroic sacrifices to live simply because I found the goals for me to be beyond achieving and demoralizing.

I looked around us at our society and saw that we are compromised at the very basis of our economic existence. The land we live on was stolen from Indians who could not defend themselves because the were weakened by diseases imported by their European conquerors. We eat from utensils smelted via processes that threaten our air and water. We fill our tables with the products of oppressed migrant workers or underpaid farmers in distant lands whose labors would be better spent growing food for their children, but who must use their land for exports because of international debt. We drive cars or ride busses fueled by oil that has been made available to us because of our support of oppressive governments and our violent actions to maintain this status quo. We sit on furniture, walk on floors or place or books upon things that are made of wood the need of which has driven up demand sufficiently to motivate irresponsible companies to dangerously harvest tropical rain forests, the direct result of which is lethal flooding and mud slides in tropical areas and other less direct losses to our environment.

These examples show my particular bias. We are complicit in many other things: Sexism, racism, poverty, classism, many others. There is no end. Is this what Paul meant when he talked about our inevitable sinfulness? Probably just partly. I think his concerns had to do with a spiritual vision that I find somewhat intangible. Regardless the message is clear. We are compromised. We are painted with the effluent of sin. There is no one righteous, no not one.

Do we sin? Yes. Are we in a state of sin? Yes. Can we avoid some sins? Yes. Are we culpable for what we do? Yes. Do we get the consequences of our actions? Yes.

But is this of any relevance?

No.

And here is the good ending I promised you. Because, according to Paul, sin is made irrelevant by God's love.

RO 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

RO 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. [8] But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

RO 8:[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Even if we avoid doing sinful things, it is not all that relevant, because we are still sinners. It doesn't matter that you are a sinner, God loves you.

God loves you as you are.

God loves you no matter how you look.

God loves you no matter what skills you have.

God loves you if you are rich or poor.

God loves you no matter how smart you are.

God loves you no matter what mistakes you make.

God loves you if you ignore your wife, if you beat your kids, if you cheat on your husband, if you steal a car or shoot up dope or even if you kill another human being. God loves you.

God loves you. God loves you.

So you know what? We can agree with the right wing Mennonites that humankind is laden with sin. We can accept that our world is rife with evil and the consequences of our misdeeds. But we need not acquiesce to this language of condemnation. Because in the end, God's love makes sin irrelevant. Sin doesn't matter.

Of course we should expend efforts at understanding how we offend each other. We should throw all that we know at the problems caused by the many ways we hurt our brothers and sisters. We should articulate solutions that address the versions of sin we have in our time and our place. We should develop communication, we should encourage empathy, we should support simple living in our own lives and the lives of others and we should dig deep into our psyche's to find and battle the evil that we know. We should strive to find ways to protect the powerless and to redress the wrongs in our world.

But we do all these things, not to avoid sin, because we know we can't. We do these things because we know we are loved by God and because we aspire to this same love for others. We do this, aware that our mistakes will be many and our failings uncomfortably evident, but in full confidence that we can always count on God to be behind us.

For as Paul says:

RO 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let us pray together. Almighty, forgiving God we thank you for the gift of your love. We thank you for showing this love to us in the example and sacrifice of your Son. Show us the depth of this love so that we may know it so intimately and trust it so unconditionally that we act upon it daily in our work and our relationships in the world. Amen

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