This is the second sermon in Advent for Year A.  This sermon was preached at St. Thoms Parish, Croom (Diocese of Washington (DC)) in 1998.  Perren


Advent 2, 1998, Series, Croom, A
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

Last week we began this series of Advent Sermons with a discussion of Creation.  If one does not understand the Biblical concept of Creation, the one cannot understand the Biblical concept of sin.  These two things are so intertwined, that it is difficult to separate them: if indeed they should be separated.  Let me try to clarify somewhat.

Whether you believe that the universe was created in a literal six days or you accept the current theory of the “big bang” and a gradual evolution is not a valid issue when discussing the Bible teaching about creation.  The Bible is concerned to make it clear that however it was created, it was created by God and by God  alone, and creation was created by God alone, from nothing apart from God.  When we understand that fact, then we will see that everything that is created, everything that exists or that can exist, in fact flows from the very essence of God.  Because everything that exists flows from the essence of God, that same everything participates in the nature of God; and because it participates in the nature of God, it shares in the underlying spirituality which God is.  Thus, everything that exists is of God, is good, and shares in the purpose or will of God.  To live in terms of reality means to live in terms of this fact about God and creation.  And, in fact, all of Creation – with one outstanding exception – lives automatically in terms of reality.  Plants, animals, land- and sea- scape, planets, galaxies; electrical charges: all of these things do the will of God, because they do exactly what they were made to do: they cannot do other.
To the best of our current knowledge, only human beings have an option.  The Bible tells this in the story of the Man and his Wife in the Garden of Eden.  (Again, whether you see them as actual people or as part of a story that explains a truth, is not important.)  This story tells us about sin.  And the way it tells about sin is to show that sin means living out of touch with reality – separated from God.

God made all creation – the Garden – and created humans to be the administrators, the stewards, the caretakers, of the creation.  Humans were to be able to do this because they reflected God himself; they were God’s own image, so to speak.  Among the great multitude of things that means, is that humans can see God’s purpose, and live in accord with that purpose.  But if the image of God is complete, it also includes freedom.  In a perfect love relationship, each does the will, or shares the life of, the other by actual free choice.  That is the meaning of the command not to eat the fruit of the tree in the midst of the Garden.  God intends humans to love just as God loves: a continual outpouring of love – the essence of life: for, remember, God is love.

But humans are able to choose what they do.  Humans don’t do things automatically; as a seed, when watered and placed in the sun, grows automatically.  And the story tells us that humans, when allowed this freedom, this choice, humans can and often do, choose to place self in that place in their relationship to reality where God belongs.  And when humans replace God with their own will, what they have done is to move away from reality: they have separated themselves from God.   Thus sin is living outside the realm of reality; sin is separation from God; sin is placing self where God belongs in life.  It is as simple – and as complex – as that.

Life apart from God is as painful as being hungry; it is as distressful as being thirsty; it makes one a stranger among your own; it makes one blind to creation;  it makes one unable to hear the truth; it places one in prison; it makes one naked, exposing foolishness for all to see.  Above all, sin makes one assume God’s greatest prerogative: sin makes humans presume to judge the motives and actions of others.  Sin is the root of all broken relationships; sin is the root of all harm; sin is the root of whatever places humans against each other or against creation; sin is so powerful that it can convince one that sin is not involved in any painful situation.

When you see this Bible approach to sin, you will see that sin is NOT a list of wrong actions.  Sin is an attitude of mind; sin is the real motivation behind any action or event in our life.  It is NOT what you do so much as it is WHY you do it.

It is in this matter that we Anglicans are very different in our approach than Roman Catholics and the Reformation Churches.  Often you have heard of “Mortal Sin” and “Venial Sin.”  You have heard it said that “such and such” is a sin.  Actually, that is NOT the case.  The thing “done or not done” is not in itself sin – what is sin, is the motive.  When you don’t sin because it’s on a list; or when you confess a sin that is chosen from a list; someone else has made your decision for you: - your are one step back from personal responsibility.  Not so with Anglicans.   We speak of “Sins of Malice,” not Mortal Sins; we speak of “Sins of Infirmity,” not Venial sins.  “Malice” means deliberate personal choice; “infirmity” means a weakness in resolve.  The only sin that is unforgivable is the Sin against the Holy Spirit: that is  the sin that says “I have done nothing wrong:- it is all the other party’s fault.”

In essence, sin is the failure to use our minds to interpret our perceptions of God’s world.  We allow our feelings or emotions to overrun our wisdom.  We make all our judgments based on our own perceptions.
Repent/change your ways: the kingdom of God has come near.