[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage #595, Lent 1, 2/10/08

Sun Feb 3 16:52:54 CST 2008

Lent 1 – February 10, 2008

Genesis 2:15 17; 3:1 7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12 19
Matthew 4:1 11

Whatever Happened to Sin?

"You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  (Genesis 3:4-5)  The serpent invites us to define ourselves and displace God.  Jesus, on the other hand, insists on being defined by God, "It is written,  'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"  (Matthew 4:4)  Paul finds a synthesis of these two positions in the Gospel.  Whereas Adam dared to define himself by transgressing and thus became the archetype of human transgression; and whereas Jesus submitted himself to the cross and thus became the archetype of human righteousness; a new possibility has emerged, Adam justified by the free gift of God's grace.  God has embraced Adam, the one who would define himself, and has redefined him justified.  The existentialists would cheer for Adam.  The tenderhearted would cheer for God.  And, the legalists would stomp off in a huff.  Is that the last word on sin?

"Whatever Happened To Sin" was the title of a book by Carl Menninger.  The answer, not in the book, is "humanism and democracy".   Adam and Eve can out vote God now.   Murder is not a willful breaking of God's commandment.  It is a bad choice some people make because of deficient rearing or insanity.  (This is a secular version of predestination.  Nothing is anyone's fault because everyone responds to stimuli in a predetermined way.)  Humanism and democracy are reigning ideals in our society, but do they apply to the interior life of an individual human being?  Within my own mind there is no democracy, I cannot out vote God.  I only have one vote.  Within my own heart, I cannot eliminate guilt by rationalizing my actions as responses to stimuli.  Rationalizing corrodes my interior life just like my sinful thoughts and acts do.    I can say, "I'm OK," but I can't make it true.  I can make myself the measure of goodness, but that is like drawing the target around the arrow, and I know it.  Down deep, I know it.   "While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long."  (Psalm 32:3)  But, if I let God's law define me, then I am shown up for the sinner I am. If, however, Christ can be my righteousness, then I can cope with the original Adam, strive to live like the new Adam and claim my reconciliation with God, the free gift of God's grace.  If Christ can be my righteousness, I can measure myself against God's law without becoming defensive.  If Christ is my righteousness, then I can strive to live up to his image out of love for God rather than fear of condemnation.  This is the dynamic of the interior life of the Christian.  This is the appropriate spirit for a proper observance of Lent. From this stance I can affirm the human values in both humanism and democracy. 

May these thoughts strengthen you. 

An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors 
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor 
(an e-mail service) 

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