Mistreating Others is Evil

11th Sunday after Pentecost  2009         

      (Matthew 18:23-35)

Christ Teaching

At that time, Jesus said to Peter, “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But that same   servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and   besought him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you   besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. So also my    heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

 

 Regarding the Gospel Lesson of the unforgiving servant, St. John Chrysostom wrote:

But see what happens. “On seeing this, however,” the text says, “his fellow servants were upset; they went and brought to the notice of their master all that had happened.” It was not that other servant who grieved (how could he, after all, lying in prison as he was), but his fellow servants, those who, while not being wronged, behaved as though they had been wronged; they were distressed in that way, and went and brought everything out into the open. But now notice the master’s anger: “Then summoning him,” the text goes on, “he said, ‘Wicked servant.’” You can get a true picture here of the extent of the damage wrought by the malicious behavior: the master did not call him evil when he was dishonest about the ten thousand talents, but only at his point, when he proved harsh to his fellow servant. “‘Wicked servant,;” he said. “‘I forgave you all your debt when you begged me…Should you also not have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?’” (St. John Chrysostom)

 “Forgiveness is exactly what it sounds like: to give up the repayment (real or imaginary) due because of an offense.”    (In the Spirit of Happiness, The Monks of New Skete)

The Non-hierarchical Power of the Church

Sermon Notes for the 5th Sunday of Great Lent  1995

As you think about the Orthodox Church, who would you say holds power and authority in the Church?How about in the parish, who has power and authority?

Now who does Christ say should have authority in the Church?

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. “   (Mark 10:42-44)

I want you to note that Jesus did not say, be a lowly servant in order to gain power and authority in the church. All he taught us is that whoever desires greatness in God’s people must humbly serve others, in the same way that the Lord, God and Savior Jesus came and served, by sacrificing his life.

I want now to offer you a few thoughts on humility, so that we might give further reflection to the words of our Lord in today’s Gospel:

Amma Theodora said, “Neither asceticism, nor vigils, nor any kind of suffering are able to save, only genuine humility can do that.” Only humility saves because no other virtue so effectively overcomes the natural human tendency to rely on oneself, to look to one’s own achievements as the reason for one’s happiness and well being. The martyrdom of obedience to serving the desires of another does more to loosening the tenacious grip of one’s own ego than any amount of fasting. Amma Syncletica said, “Obedience is preferable to asceticism. The one teaches pride, the other humility.”

Abba Poemen when asked “What is humility?” said, “It is when your brother sins against you and you forgive him BEFORE he comes to ask for forgiveness.”

Abba Nau told this story about humility: Once there was a monk who was angry at a fellow monk. When the second learned of it, he immediately came to the first monk to ask forgiveness, but that monk refused to forgive. The second monk went to his spiritual father to seek counsel about the matter. The elder monk told him, ‘Look closely at yourself and into your heart. Do you really want to apologize to him, or are ;you in your heart blaming him thinking he really is responsible for the problem. You are only trying to justify yourself, that is why he won’t forgive you. Remember, you must be humble, even if he is the one who sinned, you must settle it in your heart that you are to blame and justify your brother.’ Convinced, the monk returned in true sorrow and humility to the first monk, but before he could say a word, the first monk embraced him and begged forgiveness.

As in the desert, every day there are endless opportunities in the parish community to assert oneself and one’s opinions at the expense of others. There are countless wayss to insist on one’s status, to engage in petty disputes, to hold grudges, to respond to perceived injustices against yourself with righteous indignation. Christ however teaches us that we are not to behave like pagan rulers. We are to overcome our natural tendencies to grasp at rights and privileges by practicing humility. Our relationships within our community of believers is to be on a different footing then human relationships based upon worldly standards. Whoever of us wants to be great must become servant of all.

2nd Sunday of Great Lent 2009

Sermon Notes 2^nd Sunday of Lent 2009         (Mark 2:1-12)

 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were    gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you  question thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your pallet and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” -he said to the paralytic-”I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.” And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out  before them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”  

This is an interesting lesson about the Kingdom of God.  Jesus is “preaching the word” to the crowd which I take to mean he is proclaiming to them the Good News of the Kingdom of God.  He is talking to them about God’s Kingdom, power and glory breaking into the world.  I assume this because so often His preaching consisted of telling parables of the Kingdom.

 Suddenly breaking into his talk are four men who make a hole in the roof to lower their friend into the presence of Christ.   They are seeking this Kingdom which Jesus is talking about, but they don’t want just words they want power.  As St. Paul wrote, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power“  (1 Cor 4:20).  

Jesus sees the faith of these four men.  He sees they want something from that Kingdom of God, and He offers it to them – the forgiveness of the paralyzed man’s sins.   Now we might assume the men were hoping Jesus would heal their friend, but what Jesus “sees” in their faith is the desire to have the paralyzed man’s sins removed. 

Now the scribes apparently are sitting right up front and listening to the preaching about the Kingdom of God immediately take offense at Jesus forgiving the paralyzed man.  The scribes seem interested only in words about the kingdom and not its power (which maybe why they are scribes and not prophets or healers).  They are willing to listen about the Kingdom, but when confronted by the Kingdom of God in its power, they are visible upset.  They deny the very thing Christ was preaching about.  It is possible that what they hoped for was God’s Kingdom making Israel a world class power and when they realized Jesus was saying the power of the Kingdom was to forgive sins not destroy sinners, they are no longer interested. 

Jesus goes on to show them that indeed the Kingdom of God consists of power and not just words, for not only does he proclaim the paralyzed man to be forgiven (words) He heals the man and raises him from his illness restored to health (power). 

The people are amazed for suddenly the Kingdom of God is not simply promise and words and future and hope, but it is imminent life changing power.   They actually see what it means that the Kingdom of God is coming.  They see that in Christ the entire universe is being changed and the meaning of the Kingdom of God is taking shape on earth. 

We too are given opportunity not just to hear about the Kingdom, but to actually taste it – for today we will received the break and wine of this world transformed into the heavenly Body and Blood of Christ.  And our congregation – a mere assembly of people – is transfigured by the Holy Spirit into the very Body of Christ.  The Kingdom of God is in our midst, and we participate in it and experience it, and receive it and become it.

The consecration of the Holy Gifts in the Liturgy is like the men disrupting all the proceedings in Christ’s home, disrupting the mere proclamation of the word by making present to us the power of the Kingdom of God. 

The forgiveness of sins is a transforming power of the Kingdom as is the consecration of the Holy Gifts.  That same power to forgive sins which Christ exhibited before all the assembled people in today’s Gospel event, He gave to His disciples and to His church.   We can receive from Christ this same forgiveness of sins in and through confession.  There is no crowd to keep us away from this healing for Confession of sins is available to all throughout the year in the Church.

Second Sunday of Great Lent 1995

Sermon Notes 2nd Sunday of Great Lent  1995          Mark 2:1-12

Today’s Gospel Lesson offers us an important message about God Himself. That message is that God can and does forgive sin.

The importance of the message that God forgives sin is perhaps lost on us. We seem to expect God to forgive sin. In fact we almost behave as if God has no choice but to forgive sin. It’s almost like God is predestined to forgive and that He is merely a mindless rubber stamping agency of forgiveness who no matter what we do is required by some law of nature to forgive.

And yet, the bible does not teach us this idea. For in the bible what we are taught is that God is the supreme Lord and Master of the universe. It is God who possesses the ultimate free will and choice. God who has absolute power and control over creation and over our lives. God chooses to forgive sin when He wants.

And the message of the New Testament is that while God loves us and want to forgive our sins, something is required of us. The very first message or sermon that the Lord Jesus preached was, “REPENT!” (Mark 1:14)

To repent means to CHANGE our way. In order to change we must have both an awareness of what we are and what we should be. To repent means we must have a sense of right and wrong, good and evil, sin and holiness, and we must choose the good, the right and the holy.

St. Mark’s Gospel begins with the appearance of St. John the Baptizer. This is what is written:

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. {5} Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. (Mark 1:4-5)

Why all the mention of repentance and forgiveness? Why be concerned about repentance and forgiveness if it is all automatic anyway?

The answer is that while God is the God of love and forgiveness, for us to receive that forgiveness He offers, we must in our hearts admit we need His forgiveness, we must acknowledge our sins, and make the change necessary to overcome our sin.

In today’s Gospel lesson, we see a crowd coming to see Jesus. People came to catch a glimpse at this man who was becoming famous. Maybe they were curious, or they needed a break in their difficult day, or they were following the rest of the crowd, or maybe even they came because they were somewhat pious had some sort of belief in God. In the Gospel lesson today, one small group of people stood out. They came to the Lord with a specific reason. They not only wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus or hear what he had to say. They already believed him to have the power of God. We assume since they were bringing a paralytic that they must have come to Jesus for physical healing, but the story does not say this at all. They simply lower the paralyzed man into the presence of Christ, and the Lord sees their faith. What did they have faith in? What was it they believed Jesus could do for their paralyzed friend? Obviously it was the very thing that Jesus did. Seeing their faith, Jesus immediately forgives the sin of the paralyzed man. This is what these people wanted from God, the forgiveness of sin and Christ Jesus has that power to forgive what God alone can forgive.

My friends, if you believe Christ has the power of God to forgive sin, then follow the example of the men of today’s lesson and come to Christ to receive forgiveness. Come to him confessing your sin, not trying to hide it, or minimize it, nor excuse it. Look again at today’s Gospel lesson, in front of a crowd of people these men publically sought God’s forgiveness through Christ. They were not ashamed to admit there was a sin that needed forgiveness. They held their friend up as a public example. Here is a sinner Lord who needs what you alone can give him.

In today’s world the healing of physical disease is available to all, to believers, atheists and the like. When anybody is sick they go to a doctor, no matter what their religious beliefs are. But if we want the forgiveness of sin, then we must turn to God alone. And God offers us the forgiveness of sin through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Come to Christ to receive the forgiveness of your sin. Run to Christ to repent, to confess your sin to receive the healing forgiveness He has to offer. Hiding our sins, denying our sins, ignoring our sins will not bring about the healing, the forgiveness that God freely chooses to offer to us. Only confessing our sin and repenting can do that.

As St. Isaac the Syrian says,

“There is no unpardonable sin except for the unrepented one.”

“And it is not when we commit sin that we are sinners, but when we do not hate sin and when we do not repent of it.”

2nd Sunday of Great Lent 2003

Sermon Notes 2nd Sunday of Great Lent 2003                Mark 2:1-12

2:1 it was reported that Jesus was at home
I have been struck by that sentence. The Son of God who can claim Heaven as His dwelling place, came to earth and here he had a place he called home. He was comfortable enough on earth to feel at home. It does give me hope in this world torn by warfare and hatred, in which even “peace” demonstrations turn violent, that the Son of God felt he could be at home and that He wanted to be at home here.  God so loved the world (John 3:16) is a deep truth.

2:11 Jesus: “go to your home” Jesus tells the young paralyzed man whom he heals. Which is more amazing that the paralyzed man is healed or that he has a home to which he go? He is not homeless and unwanted. Despite his paralysis he has a place where he belongs. His friends had to bring him to Christ, but he is able to go home on his own power. The power of the Kingdom of Heaven is not taking him out of this world, but giving the man his proper place in the world.

Did Jesus come to heal all the sick in the world, or did He come to forgive sins? If to heal the sick, he was only of limited success for illnesses continued throughout His stay on earth.. But no where in the bible does it say that Christ’s main goal was to heal the sick. His curing of those who are ill was rather a sign that there is another reality, another kingdom, another power which we are to seek out. Namely the power, the reality, the kingdom of God.

One can be sick in one’s life, and yet be forgiven and blessed by God and attain heaven.
But one cannot attain heaven if one is not forgiven.

It has been said of neurotics that they sometimes do seek help, but they don’t want healing if the healing will be painful. What they really want is to be comfortable in their neuroses. Or they really want a miracle that will heal them painlessly.

In the Narnia tales, Eustace Scrubbs and Aslan the Lion – Eustace had been turned into a dragon. His healing was accomplished by Aslan using his claws to painfully peel away the useless layers of dragon skin which had enveloped him.

Great Lent: a time to seek God’s forgiveness
Great Fast: the food fasting is about forgiveness not about health. A lot of us are concerned about our health and we need to diet for our physical health. Fasting aims to help us attain the forgiveness of our sins

How do we attain this forgiveness which is necessary for salvation? How do we prepare ourselves to receive the gift of forgiveness?

REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION

Forgiveness Sunday 1995

Sermon notes   Forgiveness Sunday     3/5/1995

We are about to embark on a heroic and noble journey. Our journey which will begin today will end on April 23, some 7 Sundays from now. We will be challenged by many perils, and it is only our faith and hope which will get us through to the end. Our journey is called Great Lent, our duties on this perilous voyage include forgiving, fasting, repenting, praying, maintaining sobriety, being vigilant, and loving. May God help strengthen us on this sojourn with His Holy Spirit, with His Word, with His presence, and be allowing us always to see and move toward the dawning Light of the Resurrection.

Sometimes when we think about this great voyage of Lent, the image which comes to mind is that Pascha is all light, the light at the end of the tunnel, far away. The tunnel full of darkness is in this imagery Great Lent. It is a darkness which we must pass through to get to the Light of Pascha. But that image is not totally correct, for Lent starts with today’s Epistle lesson, which said,

(Romans 13:11-14:4)
Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

The imagery of today’s Epistle lesson, is now is the time to wake up, the dawn is come, the darkness is past.
The darkness is the time before Lent, this is now the dawn, the time to arouse ourselves from sleep and get to work, to wake up because the sunrise/daylight/dawn have arrived!

As one of the hymns we will sing tonight at Vespers says,
The Lenten spring shines forth,
the flower of repentance!
Let us cleanse ourselves from all evil,
crying out to the Giver of Light:
Glory to You, O lover of man!”

The imagery is not at all one of darkness, but of light, lent is said to be spring, not winter, a renewing, life giving season. Darkness and sadness belong to the past, for the Great Fast is here, the time to renew our lives and wake up from the long spiritual hibernation, and with joy and vigor to run into the season of fasting.

One other image to keep in mind. It has been said among drug addicts and alcoholics that a definition of insanity is to do the same things over and over and then expect something to change. Nothing will change unless we do some things differently. Great Lent is the time to stop the insanity and to do some things differently. Repent, forgive, pray, love.

Today, the Lesson of our Savior, to make a change and stop the insanity is:

If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  (Matthew 6:14-15)

Forgive others from your heart. Do not bear grudges against one another. Stop treating people remembering all their past faults. Treat them as if you have forgiven them, not building upon all past bad experiences, but with patience, love, kindness and respect. In doing this, you will bring about a great change in your own life and something new and different will be made possible for you and our parish community this Lent.

May God bless each of you as we embark on this journey. I hope most of you will join us tonight at 7pm when we begin Vespers and the journey of Great Lent.

Going to Hell: The Path of the Prodigal’s Older Brother

The Sunday of the Prodigal Son        Luke 15:11-32

Many commentators have noted that the Parable of Jesus found in Luke 15:11-32 is perhaps mislabeled in focusing on the rebellious and then repentant son when the real lead actor of the story is the Loving and Forgiving Father.  The Father is  loving when the younger son demands his inheritance, while the son is living the prodigal life, and when the son comes back looking for mercy.  He remains loving when the older son angrily accuses the father and when the older brother disowns his prodigal brother.  Archbishop Lazar Puhalo in his book, THE IKON AS SCRIPTURE, draws out attention to the behavior of the older brother who obviously rejects the love of his father and thus creates his own hell. 

Now if anyone is perplexed and does not understand how it is possible for God’s love to render anyone pitifully wretched and miserable and even burning as it were in flames, let him consider the elder brother of the prodigal son. Was he not in his father’s estate? Did not everything in it belong to him? Did he not have his father’s love? Did his father not come himself to entreat and beseech him to come and take part in the joyous banquet? What rendered him miserable and burned him with inner bitterness and hate?… And what was this hell?… Did he not continue to live in his father’s house? What separated him from all the joyous people in the house if not his own hate and bitterness? Did his father, or even his brother, stop loving him? Was it not precisely this very love which hardened his heart more and more? Was it not the joy that made him sad? Was not hatred burning in his heart, hatred for his father and his brother, hatred for the love of his father toward his brother and for the love of his brother toward his father? This is hell: the negation of love; the return of hate for love; bitterness at seeing innocent joy; to be surrounded by love and to have hate in one’s heart.

Lessons from the Publican and Pharisee

Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee        Luke 18:10-14

Then the Lord told this parable: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 

Today, I had two thoughts about the Gospel Lesson: 

• 1) Today there is a lot of ’self-help’ psychology that comments on scriptural themes. One such idea is that forgiveness is done not so much for the person being forgiven as for the person who forgives. The one who forgives is said to gain the benefits of forgiving – release from anger, enslavement to the past, freedom from being controlled by one’s own passions or someone else’s behavior. Yet in this parable all the benefit is for the one being forgiven – being released from his sins. God, the forgiver, receives no benefit from forgiving. The benefit is all received as grace by the one being forgiven. The Publican’s tears and repentance are accepted by God, not the self righteousness of the Pharisee. Although there are great benefits to the one who forgives (Matthew 6:14), being forgiven is a gift to be received by the offender (John 20:23). Forgiveness is a real power in human relationships, it is not meant just to be self therapeutic.
• 2) Though in Christianity today we think a lot in terms of the forgiveness of sins based in a very juridical understanding of justification, it is interesting that in this Gospel Parable neither the Publican nor the Pharisee seeks or receives the forgiveness of sins. The Pharisee asks God to recognize his righteousness – he thanks God for not being like sinners, but being a devoutly observant religious man. He is thankful that God does not look at him as a sinner (and he is sure God is thankful for this as well). He actually needs little from God except for the great reward he feels sure God will give him. Despite Genesis 6:5 and Genesis 8:21, the Pharisee does not believe he needs God’s forgiveness, he believes only that he deserves God’s reward. The Publican, on the other hand, sees himself totally as a sinner. He does not believe himself worthy of God’s favor, and thus can only beg for God’s mercy. He does not ask for the forgiveness of his sins, but only for God’s benevolence. The tax collector understands he is in need of mercy from God because he himself has the sinful heart of Genesis 8:21. He understands that simply observing the Law, does not heal the heart sickened by evil. The Publican knows he is in need of God’s healing salvation to correct and heal his heart. He needs Christ, God’s mercy and salvation. He is dependent on God Himself and not just on God’s rewards, which is why his humility, tears and repentance are recognized by God as righteousness rather than the boasting of the Pharisee. In the Greek of the New Testament, exactly what the Publican seeks from God in Luke 18:13 (Gr: ilastheti: mercy, propitious) is what Christ gives to the world (1 John 2:2, 4:10). Christ died on the cross not merely for the forgiveness of sins, but in order to destroy death – to bring God’s favor to humankind. This is what the Publican understood – one might avoid sin as the Pharisee believed he had, but one cannot escape death, not at least without the Lord’s Messiah.

The ABC’s of Why We Need Christmas: F

The ABC’s of Why We Need Christmas: F
Forgiveness
This is the final in a series of sermons I gave on the Sundays of the Nativity Fast in 1995. You can read the previous sermon at The ABC’s of Why We Need Christmas: E Eve and the Ever-Virgin

There are many popular ideas about how confession and forgiveness of sin works and whether or not we really need to confess to someone at all. In as much as the forgiveness of sins is foundational to the Gospel Lesson of Christ’s Nativity (Matthew 1:21) and since repentance is both an initiating experience into Christianity (“Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”) and at the center of the Christian life (“that we might spend the remaining time of our life in peace and repentance”), it is proper for us to consider the nature of God’s forgiveness, the manner in which we receive it, and its connection to confession.

In the bible, sin is portrayed as a debt that is incurred. A sinner is one who is a debtor to God. Our sin is the action which causes our debt. Debt as portrayed in scripture is not something merely to be repaid. Rather, debt separates the two parties involved from each other. It creates a disruption in relationships. Relationships become abnormal and unhealthy. Sin separates us from the Holy God. It builds a wall of separation between us and God. There is a debt that needs in some manner to be cleared away. Settling a debt is having the debt canceled and forgiven.

Feeling separated or isolated or alienated from God can be a good thing. Only when we experience the alienation, that sense of loss and separation from God, will we begin to seek reconciliation with God, to recover what has been lost, disrupted and diseased in our lives. That feeling of separation from God is a good warning symptom that something is wrong and needs attention. What is wrong is that our sins have made us debtors to God. We are not God’s equals, but rather we are His debtors. We are separated from Him and our debt alienates us from Him.

God in His love for us, His creatures, ends this separation and allows us to return to Him by His gracious, loving forgiveness. The image of the New Testament is that God remits the debt by His pardon. Jesus has made this reunion possible by His own life, death and resurrection. He has pardoned our debt making reconciliation with God possible. So Christmas, the birth of Jesus the Savior is the beginning of God reconciling Himself to us by pardoning our debt of sin. He pardons all of those who readily admit they are sinners, who are sorry for their sin and who beg his pardon by changing their lives (repentance = metanoia = a change of heart/mind). The goal of the Christian life is to enter again into the Divine presence, God’s holiness. We cannot do this on our own, no matter how good we are. We only have to accept the pardon by our own repentance. We demonstrate our own repentance and begin our life of reconciliation with God in Confession.

Let’s consider an example of how this works. King David is considered in one prayer of the Orthodox Church to be a model or image of repentance. He was God’s chosen King, yet he lusted after another man’s wife (Uriah was a loyal soldier of David’s as well as a God fearing man). David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife and she conceived his child. Ultimately David ordered the murder of Uriah so he could take her as his wife and hide his sin. David, however, was confronted with this sin by Nathan the Prophet and admitted his fault and repented. (see Psalm 51) Nathan told Kind David that he deserved to die as a result of his sin, but that God forgave him.

Forgiveness is the opposite of justice. Justice would demand that David die. Kind David betrayed the trust God bestowed upon him as king, he committed adultery and murder. God however does not decree justice but forgiveness. God says he will not die but will continue as King. This forgiveness does not undo the painful and grave consequences of the sin: an illegitimate child was conceived of the adultery, Uriah was dead, the child dies. Forgiveness cancelled the debt which justice demands from David – a life for a life. Thus David really is an important figure to what the Christmas story is all about. And we do remember King David the forgiven sinner on this the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ.

Forgiveness does not undo the painful consequences of sin. Think about Jesus upon the cross – “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” They were forgiven yet the consequence of their act remained, Jesus still died at the hands of his murderers.
Confession is not a garbage can where you can dump your sins and forget about them and assume they have no consequences. I remember when I was a child that milk came in glass bottles which had to be washed and returned to the store. Sometimes those glass bottles were dropped and broken. They were in several ways inconvenient. Then came the plastic milk container. Once you used it, you simply threw it away. And I thought this is great, why would anyone ever use glass bottles again? I thought that plastic was a painless throw-away object. What I did not think about was that all those plastic throw away bottles had to go somewhere. I thought they went into the garbage can and magically vanished. However, there was a consequence of those plastic milk containers. They did not magically disappear. They were still there only now out of my sight. They were gathering in the landfills in my neighbors backyard. Though they were invisible to me, they were still there.

Sin is the same. Confession is not a garbage can which magically carries away sin so it’s consequences disappear. Our lives and the world are covered with the landfills of our sinfulness. The amazing thing about God is that He reaches over all of these landfills filled with our sins and reaches out to touch us, to embrace us and to forgive us. The landfills don’t disappear, God overlooks them to save us. Despite our sins, God forgives. In spite of the consequences of our sins which continue to impact our lives and the world, God forgives. He cancels the debts, doesn’t make us pay for the cleanup of the toxic wastes of our sinful landfills. We only need to accept His forgiveness by repentance. We repent and come to confession to admit our sins, to acknowledge that we created and filled these landfills of our sins.

The gift of God to us at Christmas is His forgiving the grave consequences of our sin. Christ is born! Glorify Him!

The God Who Does Not Despise the Sinner

In a previous blog I mentioned Fr. Theodore Pulcini’s A Brief Guide for Christian-Muslim Dialog.    Fr. Pulcini mentions what can be a basis for a discussion between Christians and Muslims but also notes there are significantly different and even contradictory ideas about sin and salvation which cannot be ignored in any real dialog.    For example, he writes:

Because Muslims do not recognize the universal and corruptive power of sin, unleashed as a result of original sin, they see no need for salvation in the Christian sense. What you should do, according to the Islamic view, is simply live a good life, pleasing God in all that you do. Submit to God and follow his directives. Religion, to the Muslim, does not mean salvation from sin; it means following the right path, or the sharii`a, mapped out by Islamic law. … That difference in emphasis is very important. If one recognizes the pervasive power of sin, salvation is not just an option; it is a necessity. Christians lament the fact that an incomplete understanding of original sin led early Islam to “throw out the baby with the bath water” with regard to their understanding of sin. …  they have missed what Christians consider to be the central truth of human existence: that no matter how hard we try to conform to “right practice,” we will fall short of the goal. We cannot live the kind of life that God wants by our own power. And that is why salvation is necessary.

That difference in understanding is reflected in the Christian emphasis on repentance and receiving God’s forgiveness rather than an emphasis on keeping God’s Law (Torah, Quran) and is a major difference between how Christians understand God as versus how Muslims and Jews view God and humanity’s relationship to Him.   For Christians if strictly and perfectly keeping God’s law was possible and all that was needed, then Christ serves no purpose as we do not need God’s forgiveness and salvation, all we need is more strict observance of the Law.  Christians would say the very revelation of God’s love and mercy is that He forgives sinners who repent, and does not base salvation on our perfectly keeping every detail of the Law.  God’s love and mercy trumps His demands for righteousness, or maybe more correctly His righteousness turns out to be forgiveness, mercy and love not judgment as we sometimes incorrectly ascribe to Him (see Job 42:7-8)

The difference in belief, thinking and emphasis seemed very clear to me in the priest’s prayer of the Divine Liturgy before the Trisagion Hymn (Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal…) when he prays:

Holy God… who does not despise the sinner , but instead has appointed repentance unto salvation…

God is not so rigidly righteous as to condemn His human creatures for their sinful failings, rather in that He is love, He loves us while we are still sinners because He desires our salvation not our condemnation.  He takes into account our weaknesses and provides us a way to the Kingdom of heaven even when we fail to follow or obey His commandments – through forgiveness and love.