2023-1-16 "Sin is so personal!"

 2023-1-16 Vespers Ezekiel 38:1-23 Romans 7:1-20

In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

During the 1990's I read a number of Fr. Andrew Greeley’s novels.  And, eventually I wanted to learn more about the priest behind the novels so I also read his autobiography Confessions of a Parish Priest. His family was conscientiously Irish and Roman Catholic.  One of the concerns his immediate family had was that they did not succumb to the abuse of alcohol that many of their relatives suffered from.  Within the family, they referred to alcohol as “The Creature.” If alcohol was used during family celebrations, it was tightly controlled.  In general, I recall Fr. Greeley stating that he simply abstained.  He did not allow any leeway with “the Creature.” Examples from family and friends show that the Creature is all consuming and destroy lives. The best way to avoid a ruinous end is simply not to start in the first place. 

I thought of that revelation from Fr. Greeley’s autobiography when I read through Romans 7, especially when I reached verse 11. “For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” 

Not only is the Apostle Paul teaching about the role of God’s Law in the life of a Christian and how the Law reveals sin, but we can tell that this is something the Apostle wrestles with personally.  Law and Sin are not intellectual categories or some distant theological statement. Faith in Christ, the reality of being human, sin, law: All of these things are deeply personal.  The way that the Apostle speaks of sin, in particular, it is like a creature that lurks in the shadows waiting for its opportunity to wreak confusion and destruction upon its victim.  

But, unlike Greeley’s creature, Paul cannot elude the presence of sin.  Sin is part of the human condition. Each of us, as baptized Christians, are a walking paradox. We are wonderfully made by God.  Our creation is good. We are precious in God’s sight.  God makes covenants with people - men and women.  Yet, at the same time, Adam’s disobedience is a part of our human experience.  We, created in the Image of God are permanently damaged. Sin, the ever lurking creature, is the enemy within. 

We would not even know that the creature is there if it were not for God’s Law.  God’s Law is God’s no.  God’s law says no to certain behaviors and modes of thinking.  The Apostle Paul uses the example of coveting.  He would not have known what coveting was or that it was wrong, except that God says clearly, “Thou shall not covet.” Well, that knowledge, that statement of “no” amplifies the urge to covet.  Before he can finish saying the word covet, there is a war on within himself as he tries to control the coveting.  On his own, he can’t win.  He can never master the creature known as coveting. Every time he thinks he has it under control, something happens and he learns that he has been fooled again and that he is the pawn of Sin.  The creature dominates him. How can he ever keep the Law perfectly as the LORD expects, if sin is so pervasive? 

In the midst of this losing battle with Sin, herein steps our Savior Jesus Christ.  Jesus did keep the Law perfectly.  Jesus is truly righteous.  As the righteous one, Jesus suffers and dies on the cross so that he can exchange our sin for his righteousness.  Jesus takes our sin and give us forgiveness. When our heavenly Father looks upon us, He sees the cross of His Son, not our sin.  The wrath of the Father which we so justly deserve passes over us on account of the cross of Christ. Just as the angel of death passed over the Israelite homes marked with the blood of the Lamb, so the Father’s wrath passes over us, because of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

I am grateful that the Apostle Paul does not end his letter at the end of chapter 7. If he had, we would be left with a life of constant struggle with sin.  Where is the joy in that?  Where is the love that makes life such a delight? Well, the joy and love that Christ brings comes in chapter 8 as Paul describes the freedom that Christ brings.  The Holy Spirit creates faith within to receive the good news of the cross.  The Holy Spirit also leads us into a joy-filled life.  The Holy Spirit does its work of sanctifying us. The Holy Spirit leads us into God’s freedom and God’s future for us. 

In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.