Dealing with our sin

Preached at the 11am Eucharist at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 8th June 2008
3rd Sunday after Trinity, Proper 5 – Year A

Readings: Hosea 5:15 – 6:6 Romans 4:13-25 Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26



Our gospel reading today tells us a great deal about Jesus’ approach to sin and sinners. To understand it properly we need to understand the role of tax collectors in the society in which Jesus lived. Tax collectors were considered to be very public sinners. They were key collaborators with the Roman army of occupation. The occupying Roman powers gave to the tax collectors both right and the obligation to collect taxes from the local people. Most of the taxes went straight to the Romans, increasing the strength and resilience of their occupation. However the tax collectors were entitled to collect slightly more than they handed over to the Romans in order to cover their own living expenses. Of course some tax collectors had grand ideas about their own living expenses and became very rich at other people’s expense. To collect taxes effectively the tax collectors needed information about people, income and wealth so they would always be prying people for information. Nobody would voluntarily speak to a tax collector. The tax collectors were outcasts, treated with the utmost suspicion and often deeply hated.
And yet, most surprisingly, Jesus calls a tax collector, Matthew, to be one his disciples. Mathew becomes one of the 12 chosen by Jesus as apostles. He also becomes the writer of one of the gospels. The choice of Matthew can only have been damaging to Jesus’ reputation as a religious leader. How would we feel nowadays about a religious leader who chose a terrorist or paedophile to be one of his closest followers? Clearly Matthew must have left behind his tax collecting ways in order to follow Jesus, but it is still rather shocking. Clearly, in the mind of Jesus, sin, even very serious public sin, does not disqualify a person from being called by God. Coming from a background of sin does not prevent someone from eventually becoming absolutely central to the life and ministry of the Church. This is not saying that sin does not matter or is not a problem, but it is giving the most categorical assurance that, in relationship with Jesus, the problem of sin can and will be overcome. Through a relationship with Jesus, even the worst sinners can and will be made good.
And the gospel reading goes on to reinforce this by telling us about Jesus and his disciples eating with tax collectors and sinners. In those times, sharing food with someone was seen as a very intimate act of sharing. Eating food with tax collectors and sinners could easily be interpreted as condoning their sin. For the Pharisees this is a scandal, and they ask why Jesus does it. In his answer Jesus’ compares himself to a doctor, whose role is to heal the sick. He is not pretending that the sinners are righteous, but rather he is recognising that they need help and that he has come to give them help. “I have come to call not for the righteous, but sinners,” he said.
We all like to think of ourselves as righteous. We, none of us, like to think of ourselves as sinners. And yet we know that all of us are both saints and sinners at the same time. Particularly through our baptism, we all have the new life of Christ somewhere within us. Hopefully it is being well looked after, well nurtured and we are steadily growing up into the full stature of Christ. However we also know that sin, that is rebellion against God, is also present in each one of us, causing problems for ourselves and for others, and seeking to stop us growing up into Christ. And it is very important to be honest with ourselves about sin, otherwise we do ourselves a great disfavour and sell ourselves far short of what we are called to be.
Suppose (although it is quite impossible) that there was a scale for measuring how good or bad a person is, and suppose we are quite a good person, say plus seven or plus eight! This might sound quite good, but we must realise that this plus eight is actually made up of a plus 80 for our saintly part, and a -72 for our sinful part. Further we have the opportunity to make the 80 grow by choosing always to live in our saint, and we can reduce the effect of the -72, by recognising our sin, commending it to God’s mercy and asking for his help in overcoming it. Being honest before God about our sin is the really important first step towards its being healed. It is all too easy to say, “Well that’s not sin because everyone does it. It’s beyond my control. I can’t help it that I hate that person. I can’t hep it that I have this greed, this resentment, this disordered desire.” And often this is true, often our sin is not directly “our fault”. Often our sin arises from hurts and pains that we have received from other people. Often it arises because we have not been loved as we need to be loved. Often it arises because of the culture we live in. It can arise from adverts that teach us to want things that we do not need. It can arise from TV and films that fill our mind with sex and with selfish ideas of fulfilment. It can arise from newspapers that teach us to have fear; to fear bird flu or teenagers or other faith groups. And it may well be that much of this is not “our fault” as individuals. Much of it is not our personal rebellion against God. We may not be culpable, but this sin is still our problem. It is still limiting our development as human beings. It is still down to us to do something about it.
So what do we do about our sin. Well, as I have said, the first step is to honestly acknowledge our sin before God, without pretending its not there, or pretending it is not sin, or that it is not our responsibility. The second step is to continue loving ourselves, despite our sin, as God continues to loves us. We need to love ourselves with the same love that Jesus had for the tax collectors and sinners that he eat with. As we become aware of our sin we might be tempted towards self hatred, but this is quite wrong. We have to learn to forgive ourselves and believe in God’s love for us. Often this means accepting some pain associated with our sin, just as Jesus on the cross accepted the pain of human sin. Jesus, suffering for the sin of others, is the ultimate model here. We need to grow in love, honour and respect for Jesus in his suffering, and this will help us to approach our own sufferings with the right mindset.
Above let’s remember Jesus, quoting our first reading from Hosea, “I desire mercy not sacrifice.” We can’t buy our way out of sin with the blood of lambs or with burnt offerings, still less with money. Rather sin is overcome by mercy, that quality of love which has compassion on those in difficulty. Let’s pray that God will fill our hearts with mercy for our own sins and the sins of the people around us. Amen.