Chris (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} randomchris) wrote,@ 2003-06-05 23:09:00 |
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Time for another sermon, I think.
This was brought on by some comments insummer_night's journal (waves to new friend.) See userinfo for links to earlier sermons. This one includes a new feature - questions for the audience.
The definition of sin is difficult to begin with. A sin in the biblical sense is something that contravenes God's law - but should we be taking the letter of that law as expressed in the Bible (including stoning adulterers, not suffering witches to live, etc.) or the spirit of the law as expressed in the New Testament (love God with all your being, love thy neighbour as thyself)? I use the latter definition.
A sin for me is anything that causes harm (spiritual harm, that is) to someone else, or that reduces our love for God. Every action we take that affects others involves a choice - and taking a choice that causes more distress and harm to other people than another is a sin. There are some times when harm can't be avoided. Imagine a judge, sentencing a criminal - should the criminal go to an overcrowded prison with little chance of improving his life there or afterwards, or be set free (community service order or similar) to the distress of his victims who wish to see justice done? There's no way to avoid harm to someone in that situation, and neither choice would necessarily be the "wrong" one. Failure to do good things when we have the opportunity is a sin (again, there's a choice between doing something and doing nothing.)
A sin against God is harder to define - I'm fairly sure that anything that causes unnecessary suffering to a human being is something that God would disapprove of. Recently, I've also become involved with the "eco-congregation" project in Scottish churches, and I would now include damage to God's earth as a sin against God - disrespect for God's creation.
What could reduce our love for God? That's a bit more difficult. My love of God is expressed in the way I treat other human beings and the planet. Worshipping other gods might be a sin - it certainly is if it causes you to behave worse towards others. Any sin against God which didn't come under the categories above would be something that took place entirely within our own minds and bodies and had no effect upon the people and world around us. Does what you think really make a difference, or is it only what you do that matters? God does know our thoughts, after all.
It's partly a question of who we are and what we would do, given the chance. If our mindset is such that, in a particular situation, we would make a sinful choice that affects others (even if we are never placed in that situation), then having that mindset is a sin against God.
Audience question #1: can anyone suggest any other examples of sins that don't cause spiritual harm to others? My mind is blank on that one.
If a sin has been committed, then there are consequences to be faced. Does God punish us (or intend to) when we sin? Does it reduce our chance of being saved? And can God forgive us for it?
Sin is not the worst thing you can do in God's eyes. The worst thing you can do is repeat it, with the knowledge that it's the wrong thing to do. Repentance isn't just about regretting what you did - it's about changing yourself, and knowing in your heart that you would not do the same thing again. And in that change, I believe we can earn God's forgiveness (and, often, the forgiveness of those who we have sinned against).
As for punishment... well, as I've said in an earlier sermon, I really dislike the idea that God draws a line somewhere and saves some people, but not others who only differ from them by a miniscule amount in terms of what they've done on this earth. Perhaps everybody is saved - perhaps there is a sliding scale of salvation. However, I also quite like the idea of "purgatory" - not as a place where we have to undergo some kind of punishment for our sins, but as a place where we have the opportunity to consider what we have done or failed to do, and where we can grow and change before entering into heaven. (Of course, some would stay there longer than others, and those who could see their actions laid out before them and refuse to change would never leave.)
Audience question #2: how do you think we will answer for our sins?
Sin is a concept that appears to be very important to the church. We ask God regularly to "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" and "lead us not into temptation". But perhaps sin is not the most important thing that we should be considering. God may be offended by the sins that we commit, but that's not because of the sin itself - it's because we could and should have done something else, and it is the good things we have not done that offend him more than the sin itself. Christianity is not just about avoiding sin - it's about doing good instead.
This was brought on by some comments in
summer_night's journal (waves to new friend.) See userinfo for links to earlier sermons. This one includes a new feature - questions for the audience.The definition of sin is difficult to begin with. A sin in the biblical sense is something that contravenes God's law - but should we be taking the letter of that law as expressed in the Bible (including stoning adulterers, not suffering witches to live, etc.) or the spirit of the law as expressed in the New Testament (love God with all your being, love thy neighbour as thyself)? I use the latter definition.
A sin for me is anything that causes harm (spiritual harm, that is) to someone else, or that reduces our love for God. Every action we take that affects others involves a choice - and taking a choice that causes more distress and harm to other people than another is a sin. There are some times when harm can't be avoided. Imagine a judge, sentencing a criminal - should the criminal go to an overcrowded prison with little chance of improving his life there or afterwards, or be set free (community service order or similar) to the distress of his victims who wish to see justice done? There's no way to avoid harm to someone in that situation, and neither choice would necessarily be the "wrong" one. Failure to do good things when we have the opportunity is a sin (again, there's a choice between doing something and doing nothing.)
A sin against God is harder to define - I'm fairly sure that anything that causes unnecessary suffering to a human being is something that God would disapprove of. Recently, I've also become involved with the "eco-congregation" project in Scottish churches, and I would now include damage to God's earth as a sin against God - disrespect for God's creation.
What could reduce our love for God? That's a bit more difficult. My love of God is expressed in the way I treat other human beings and the planet. Worshipping other gods might be a sin - it certainly is if it causes you to behave worse towards others. Any sin against God which didn't come under the categories above would be something that took place entirely within our own minds and bodies and had no effect upon the people and world around us. Does what you think really make a difference, or is it only what you do that matters? God does know our thoughts, after all.
It's partly a question of who we are and what we would do, given the chance. If our mindset is such that, in a particular situation, we would make a sinful choice that affects others (even if we are never placed in that situation), then having that mindset is a sin against God.
Audience question #1: can anyone suggest any other examples of sins that don't cause spiritual harm to others? My mind is blank on that one.
If a sin has been committed, then there are consequences to be faced. Does God punish us (or intend to) when we sin? Does it reduce our chance of being saved? And can God forgive us for it?
Sin is not the worst thing you can do in God's eyes. The worst thing you can do is repeat it, with the knowledge that it's the wrong thing to do. Repentance isn't just about regretting what you did - it's about changing yourself, and knowing in your heart that you would not do the same thing again. And in that change, I believe we can earn God's forgiveness (and, often, the forgiveness of those who we have sinned against).
As for punishment... well, as I've said in an earlier sermon, I really dislike the idea that God draws a line somewhere and saves some people, but not others who only differ from them by a miniscule amount in terms of what they've done on this earth. Perhaps everybody is saved - perhaps there is a sliding scale of salvation. However, I also quite like the idea of "purgatory" - not as a place where we have to undergo some kind of punishment for our sins, but as a place where we have the opportunity to consider what we have done or failed to do, and where we can grow and change before entering into heaven. (Of course, some would stay there longer than others, and those who could see their actions laid out before them and refuse to change would never leave.)
Audience question #2: how do you think we will answer for our sins?
Sin is a concept that appears to be very important to the church. We ask God regularly to "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" and "lead us not into temptation". But perhaps sin is not the most important thing that we should be considering. God may be offended by the sins that we commit, but that's not because of the sin itself - it's because we could and should have done something else, and it is the good things we have not done that offend him more than the sin itself. Christianity is not just about avoiding sin - it's about doing good instead.
