Our Mistaken Notions of Sin

I would like to focus today on the notion of sin.  I have found that many run for the doors when a priest starts talking about sin.  Let’s face it, it's not the most appealing topic for many.  Now, I expect if I decided to categorize our many sins and went into lascivious and graphic details, perhaps that would probably attract listeners.  But I'm just not going to do that.  Instead, I want to talk about this most important Christian doctrine.

I want to talk about sin because it is so misunderstood.  Today, the only place we use the word "sin" is in a church setting.  When you greet your friends, you don't say, "Hey there, you old sinner.  How's it going today?" You don't go up to strangers and start talking about your own sins… or theirs.  We don't use the word, and as a result, it's meaning has drifted far from Jesus' original meaning.  What I mean is that our understanding of sin is radically different from that of our Lord.

Today, if you happen to be in a church where sin is being discussed, or if you tune into a church service being broadcast that talks about sin, the chances are the speaker will refer to sin as something morally repugnant, something disgusting, something that a good Christian wouldn't be caught dead doing.  Especially in public!

I expect that many of you were exposed in your youth to the sermon of that great colonial preacher, Jonathan Edwards, who spoke of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."  In this sermon, Edwards describes our wayward behaviors from God's point of view.  He talks about sinners being suspended over the fires of hell, held by a single strand of spider silk.  Just imagine flames leaping up around the poor tormented sinner – dangling from God's hand over the fires of hell – literally a nanosecond from being released into the flames to a horrid death.

It makes for a great image, doesn't it?  I guess this is what preachers had to do before movies and television – to make things so graphic and horrible that they captured everyone's attention.  But this understanding of sin is as far removed from Christ's understanding of sin as the East is from the West.

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The sad fact is that our understanding of sin has drifted away from its original meaning.  Our present-day understanding of sin is radically different from Jesus's understanding.  So, let's go back in history and find out what Jesus really meant, shall we?

To understand this passage, you need to go back a couple of thousand years.  The term that was translated as sin is the Greek word, hamartia. Hamartia is a military term.  It refers to the distance between the center of the bull's-eye and where your arrow or spear hit.  So that distance was the hamartia.  The best one-word translation for hamartia would be the English word, separation.  But when the original Greek, which was the lingua franca of the day in the Mediterranean world, was translated into Latin, it came out as sin.  In the early 1500s, the word sin was lifted straightaway and plopped down into English.  So now we have sin as an English word.

What happened next is quite fascinating.  The meaning of sin in English began to drift.  A word keeps its original meaning when it's used in multiple contexts.  But when it's only used in one context, that meaning can drift – and that's what happened to sin. 

For example, the word chair is used in multiple contexts, so it’s meaning stays fairly constant.  There is the dining room chair, the living room chair, the dentist’s chair, and so on.  The idea of chair is pretty constant throughout.  Even when we refer to the chair of a meeting, it refers back to the special chair that the chairperson is sitting in.

In contrast, because it is only used in church settings, the word sin has drifted from meaning separation to mean something morally reprehensible, even despicable.  Contrast these two flavors in your own mind:  separation versus something vile and despicable.

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So, let's go to a gospel story and see if this understanding of sin holds up.  Let’s use the story of the woman caught in adultery.  The scribes and Pharisees bring her to the town square and get ready to stone her.  Then they remember that the weirdo prophet Jesus is in town, so they send someone to fetch him.  Jesus arrives, and there are all the men standing around the accused woman with big rocks in their hands.  The Pharisees then say to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  Now, the law of Moses commanded us to stone such women.  What do you say?" 

Instead of responding immediately, Jesus bends down and begins writing with his finger on the ground.  The scribes and Pharisees kept questioning, and finally, he straightens up and says, "Let the one among you without sin cast the first stone." When they heard this, the crowd slowly melts away, one by one, beginning with the elders.  Jesus was left alone with the woman.  He asks, "Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you.  Go and sin no more."

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There are two important transitions here.  The first is Jesus' comment to the scribes and Pharisees.  You'll notice he doesn't accuse them of sin.  He doesn't accuse them of being sexist creeps.  He makes a simple declarative statement – "Let the one among you without sin cast the first stone." What a simple and elegant way to handle these judgmental and bloodthirsty guys.

The second important transition occurs when he speaks to the accused woman.  He asks, "Is anyone here to accuse you?  If not, then go your way and sin no more." Let's drop our new English translation into his comments: "If no one is here to accuse you, then go your own way and be separated no more."

I find his restraint here amazing!  At the very least, I would have excoriated this woman – "Don't be stupid!  This is a small town, and everybody knows everybody else's business!" I would have lectured and gone on and on… and Jesus doesn't do that.  He didn't shame her.  He didn't excoriate her.  He simply said, "Go and sin no more."

Go, and don't be separated like this from your husband.  Don't be separated from your community by violating the rules and standards because it hurts the community.  It damages the fabric of agreement – that we act in these ways and not in those other ways.  And ultimately, "Don't be separated from your Father in heaven.  He constantly extends himself to you.  He invites you to participate in the riches of the world around you and the riches within yourself – the riches involved in that profoundly deep connection you already have with the Divine."

You see the vast difference between our current understanding of sin and the sin that Jesus spoke of.  He didn't speak to condemn sinners.  He doesn't speak to condemn you or me.  His admonitions, if you can even call them that, are to return to our relationship with God, our connection with the Divine.  He calls us with the deepest love to remember our true nature – to remember that Christ, the son of God, lives within us.  To remember that we, too, are his children.  His beloved children!

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Again, let's put a point on all of this.  Take a moment and reflect on your own sense of separation.  How do you find yourself separated from those closest to you?  Let me give you an example from my own life.  I'm married to a wonderful woman who, in my view, talks too much.  Checking in with my male friends, I find this is a common problem for us guys.  The women in our lives often chatter on and on and, "Frankly Scarlet, we just don't want to listen to all that!"  – at least most of the time.  I find my wife's constant chatter rather irritating.  What I mean by this is that I complain to myself that she's all the time blah blah blah.  Look at what I have done by means of my thoughts:  I have literally separated myself from the woman who loves me most in all the world.  Can you think of anything crazier than that?  Anything stupider than that?

When I reflect for a moment, I catch myself in my own stupid, grumpy thoughts.  And I remember, "She loves me more than anyone else in the world." And the irritation melts away.  The separation that I have put up – evaporates.  

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We find ourselves separated from our neighbors.  We find ourselves separated even from ourselves.  How many times have you caught yourself saying, "Maybe I should do this, but on the other hand, maybe I should do that." That's separation, isn't it?  So, we are separated not only from the people around us – we also separate ourselves from our very own selves.

And, of course, the most horrendous separation is our separation from God – our Father in heaven.  We forget that we are God's children.  We're like the Prodigal Son, wandering the world trying to find satisfaction and fulfillment – but no matter where we go, that fulfillment always seems to elude us.

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Here's an example of how it works for me.  I think I need to do something to please God, so I say to myself, "I need to be a better Ken.  I need to be a better psychologist.  I need to be a better writer.  I need to be a better husband.  I need to be more compassionate." You get the idea. 

I'm forgetting that our Lord loves us just as we are.  Instead, of being who God created us to be, we actively separate ourselves from ourselves.  We literally tear ourselves apart trying to be acceptable.

And in the process, we forget that Jesus is already dwelling in our hearts.  In the process, we forget that we are already home.  And if we're already home – if you and I are already home – then there is nothing we need to do to return home, is there?

As Christ uses the word, sin is not a condemnation.  He never says that we are despicable or awful or bad or any of the other things that we tell ourselves and each other.  When he uses the word sin, it's an invitation to attend to the multiple ways we have separated ourselves.  

It's an invitation to let loose of these separations and return home.  

It is an invitation to open our hearts in love – love for our broken, torn-apart selves, love for each other, and love for our Father in heaven.

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So, if I may be so bold to say, here at the end of our newsletter today, 'Go and sin no more.'  And take a moment to remember that you are deeply and truly held in the love of Jesus Christ, our Lord!

With love,

P.S.  Several of you have expressed the desire for an online meditation class.  If there is enough interest, I will try to figure out how to hold a group class on the web.  If you have an interest, please write me at [email protected]. 

Humility as a Tool  → Letting go → Fear → Openness →  Acceptance & Growth

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