Lectionary Year A, Proper 18: September 8, 2002

Have you ever been in one of those uncomfortable situations where you see and hear two people arguing in public? The type of altercation where they act as if they are alone, yet they are surrounded by a host of witnesses to their discord? Or have you been privy to one half of a private cell phone conversation where the person on the phone seems oblivious that he or she is revealing all sorts of personal and intimate details? Sometimes these overheard conversations reveal how human relationships break down and lead to separation of one person from another. Not long ago I was in a toy store, and saw a little boy about eight or nine years old shopping with his mother for a birthday gift for another child. Mom apparently knew what she wanted, and where to find it. She kept glancing at her watch, indicating that this trip to the toy store was a small part of the day's activities. Her son, on the other hand, was bouncing off the walls. He was looking at everything, walking – no, running – down the aisles, keeping up a non-stop chatter with his Mom about this toy he had seen on T.V., and how much he really needed this other action figure for his collection.

Mom kept calling her son to follow her, but aisle after aisle of treasured toys was too much for the boy. He dallied here and there and eventually became separated from her. Exasperated, Mom came back, found her son holding yet another toy in his hands, and before the boy could say anything, in a flash of anger, she swung her arm back and landed a swat on the boy's backside. "I told you to stop fooling around. Now let's get going!" The boy dropped what he was holding, and looked at his mother, his face showing nothing but bewilderment. He went limp. I don't think he had ever been hurt by his mother in quite that way before. Their primal bond was ruptured in that moment, and their relationship was forever altered. The child had lost his innocence.

The Bible of course tells us about the first great loss of innocence: the Fall of Adam and Eve from the grace of God, and their subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden. [1] One thing that makes this story great is that it tells the truth about the way things are. For one, the story tells us that we are free to make choices, and that we have to live with them. For another, it tells us that we have an inborn tendency to choose to do stupid, selfish things that are ruinous for us and for creation. Some people label this tendency "sin." St. Augustine certainly believed that the human tendency to choose evil instead of good was "sin," and his account of the Fall has become the principal western Christian explanation of sin as an act of individual disobedience to God's will. But this view of sin is not supported by the Biblical record. Indeed, there are three different words to describe sin in the Hebrew Bible that deal with everything from falling short or missing the mark, to breaking the commandments, to outright rebellion against God. But all three of the Hebrew words refer to actions that go against God's will. They refer to events that lead to our separation from God. [2]

If we define sin as something that separates us from God, and if we believe that all of us are God's children, then sin is also something that separates us from one another. Today's Gospel lesson is about the identification of sin, and how we are accountable to each other when we sin.

In her book, Speaking of Sin, Barbara Brown Taylor makes the case that the idea of "sin" has lost its importance to us. She notes that preaching against sin has little impact, because many of the things we point to as sinful are too distant or inane to have meaning. Worthy things such as the stoning of women in Afghanistan and the deforestation of the rain forests of Brazil are just too distant to grasp as sinful. Barbara Taylor feels that it is difficult for us to get worked up about these things as sinful is because we have sanitized sin. "Sin" has no meaning for us anymore. For example, some claim that the basic human problems of self-centeredness and willful disobedience are not sins, but sickness. But "when sickness is substituted for sin, then we are given license to shift the blame from ourselves to something else. This is not to say that there are not biological causes of selfish behavior or that traumatic events from childhood do not affect us. But over application of the medical metaphor of sin lets us off the hook of accountability. The implication is that God will not judge us too harshly because nothing we do is really our fault.

Another approach to the basic human problem of self-centeredness and willful disobedience is a legal one. In this case, the human problem is a crime instead of a sickness. In the legal system, there are rules that govern all human behavior, and we are responsible for our actions. Regardless of whether we had a traumatic childhood or have a brain chemical imbalance, we are expected to avoid lives of crime. We are not to sin. And if we fail, and do commit the sin or crime, we will face the consequences. In this model, sin is understood as willful misbehavior, and no situation is considered extenuating. You are either a sheep or a goat.

But the fact is that sin is neither a sickness nor a crime. What it is is a wrecked relationship with our spouses, our children, our friends, our lovers, the world around us, and with God. But the important thing about sin is that no matter how we cause or get trapped in the wreckage, we are not doomed by it. We can choose to respond to what has happened to us. We might "learn how to live with tragedy or spend our lives dying from them … [We might] decide to forgive our enemies or let our hatred of them continue to run our lives." Basically, the choice to remain in a wrecked relationship with each other or with God is what I would call "sin." It is not a violation of laws, but rather it is a violation of relationship. Sin is a way of life in relationship that is unhealthy. It needs to be exposed and changed. The process of repairing the wrecked relationship is what repentance is all about. In a very real sense, sin can be our ally. Sin is the sensory organ that helps us recognize when something is wrong in our relationship. If we are willing to own our sin, and not place the blame elsewhere, then we have taken the first step toward setting the relationship right again.

The passage from Matthew describes a three step process for repentance, and it begins with confrontation. Matthew does not espouse the kind of phony harmony that leaves wounds untended or sweeps abuse under the carpet in the name of Christian (or domestic) peace. We Christians are particularly good at replacing honest open love with being nice. Rather Matthew recognizes that to initiate the process of reconciliation, direct confrontation is required. By implication, Matthew argues against the strategy of gossiping to someone else about some offense. Every community in every generation needs to learn to deal with the issue where it belongs. Although there may be occasions when one must go directly to the authorities instead of acting directly, it is never right to engage in self indulgent gossip.

In the next two steps, the process of repentance increasingly involves the community to work out a solution. Quiet diplomacy is used to heal wounds in the community before they caused public scandal.

In the third step, Jesus tells is that if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be as a Gentile and a tax collector. This sounds harsh doesn't it? It doesn't sound very reconciling. But wait a minute! Is this not the same person who ate with Gentiles, and welcomed a tax collector as a disciple? It is clear from the whole Gospel that Jesus is saying that even though a sinner may have cut him or herself off from the community and made him or herself into an outsider, the community is to offer them the same kind of relationship that Jesus offered to outsiders. Jesus invited outsiders, outcasts, and sinners to eat with Him, to sit with Him, to learn from Him.

The Rev. Professor William R. G. Loader, Professor of New Testament at Murdoch University in Australia calls this text from Matthew "first century conflict management." It is certainly a text that has obvious application at the international level, and is something that we ought to ponder on the eve of the first anniversary of September 11. We ought not rush to saber rattling, but we should negotiate instead. We need to remember that "there is no repair for those who insist that nothing is broken, and there is no hope of transformation for a world whose inhabitants accept that it is sadly but irreversibly wrecked." [3] Countries should seek to achieve settlement by meeting and talking, by seeking to appreciate why unacceptable responses to specific requests have arisen. At the same time, we cannot pretend there is no danger. Intervention by force to prevent violation of others is sometimes necessary, and may be the ethical and just course of action, but it should come only as a last resort. Much more can usually be achieved through honest negotiation than is usually assumed.

Insult and injury demand justice. But how do we obtain justice in a way that respects the sinner? It begins when we use our sin sensory organ to recognize the need for repentance and reconciliation. It begins with our decision to return to relationship. It begins with an understanding that we are called to do that which increases life for all members of our community. This will involve painful, but life-transforming change. Sin therefore is not the enemy. Sin becomes our hope. It becomes the alarm that sounds when we have separated ourselves from each other and from God. It calls us back to the possibility of true repentance.

[The word of the LORD came to me: O Mortal, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one of their number as their sentinel; and if the sentinel sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people; then if any who hear the sound of the trumpet do not take warning, and the sword comes and takes them away, their blood shall be upon their own heads. They heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; their blood shall be upon themselves. But if they had taken warning, they would have saved their lives. But if the sentinel sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any of them, they are taken away in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at the sentinel's hand.]

So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, "O wicked ones, you shall surely die," and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: "Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?" Say to them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes, *
and I shall keep it to the end.

34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law; *
I shall keep it with all my heart.

38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, *
which you make to those who fear you.

40 Behold, I long for your commandments; *
in your righteousness preserve my life.

41 Let your loving-kindness come to me, O LORD, *
and your salvation, according to your promise.

42 Then shall I have a word for those who taunt me, *
because I trust in your words.

43 Do not take the word of truth out of my mouth, *
for my hope is in your judgments.

48 I will lift up my hands to your commandments, *
and I will meditate on your statutes.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Jesus said, "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

[1] I am indebted to the work of Barbara Brown Taylor. Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation. (Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 2000) 41-67.

[2] The three words are chatah, avah, and pasha. Chatah is the most often used and refers to missing the moral mark or going astray. Avah refers to violations of the commandments. Pasha refers to open rebellion against God. See Barbara Brown Taylor. Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation. (Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 2000) , 48-49.

[3] Barbara Brown Taylor. Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation. (Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 2000) 59.

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