“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)
If there is one sentence in the Bible that expresses an absolute universal truth it is in this third chapter of Romans. "All have sinned," and "All have fallen short of God's glory." The writer of Matthew's Gospel underscores Paul's sentiments when he writes that, "(God) makes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust" (Matt. 5:45), reminding us that while no one has been born perfect or has lived a perfect life God's love for all abounds. Those claiming to have lived a righteous life deceive themselves and their deception of self-righteousness is, itself, a sin.
Each of us has experienced the tugs of the temptation to lust after another, to covet what others have, to lie, to be dishonest, and to dishonor ourselves and our parents. Each of us has grown angry, hateful, revengeful, argumentative even toward those whom we love. We may pat ourselves on the back and say there are things we have not participated in -- the "there but for the Grace of God, go I" -- moment. And while we may not have participated in any particular act there are moments in each of our lives when we are not walking with God. Theologian Paul Tillich (1883-1965) referred to this as, estrangement. To be estranged is to be cut off, separated from that to which we essentially belong. Thus, to not walk with God is to be separated from God. Echoing the words of Isaiah that headline this post, Tillich reminds us that "separation" from God is the very definition of "sin."
All of us were born a perfect human child. However, each of us have our own unique story to tell regarding our growth and the physical, cultural and emotional environment in which we were raised. Too much discipline, or the lack of it; love, or the lack of it; a value system that included a cultural emersion in politics or religion, or the lack of it, produced certain character traits that influenced who we would become as adolescents that would carry over into adulthood. The intense influence of "peer pressure" from those whose upbringing may have been totally different from our own cannot be discounted. For example, I gave up smoking when my children were very young. I did not want that to be an influence on them. Yet, by the time they were teenagers, all of their friends smoked. The result was that they, too, were smoking by the time they became young adults.
I've known people who never allowed alcohol into their homes, yet their children grew up to become alcoholics or drug addicts. No one is immune from heartache and tragedy. And that includes families of faith who have known the heartbreak of their teenage daughter telling them that she is pregnant, or a son calling from a jail cell after having been arrested some heinous crime. How many wives or husbands suffer under the heartache of a spouse who left them for another? How many of us have been the source of such pain? In the midst of such turmoil and darkness parents, children and spouses cry out, "Where did I go wrong?" All of these very human encounters with the world serve to illustrate how truly imperfect we humans are. Nothing can be made right unless something has been made wrong.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death," (Proverbs14:12). Self-destructive behavior is the major sign of our estrangement from our selves and from other. "We, like sheep, have all gone astray; we have turned -- every one -- to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all," the Prophet Isiah reminds us (53:6).
I once met a man who made the amazing claim that he had "never done a wrong thing in his entire life." I have heard preachers declare that they have "always walked in righteousness," and, and then, we read in the papers of their misconduct. And then, there are those whose lies are so clearly evident and, yet, they are steadfast in their claim that they are telling the truth. Mark Twain once remarked that, "Fiction is stranger than truth, because fiction has to make sense."
All of us, you and me, are perfectly born but we develop imperfectly. Whether it's biological, sociological or psychological, the vagaries of this life lead us astray and, yet, it is those same vagaraies that help us to find our way back. Once cast out of the metaphorical "Garden of Eden," humankind has spent eons trying to find its way back. Strangely, it is my opinion that that is precisely how our God, who is the very Ground of our Being, planned it. I mean, seriously, how can we find our way back to God if we are not at first lost or separated? How can there be redemption if there is nothing to be redeemed from?
"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own" (Phil. 3:22)
I confess that I am not much of a fan of the Apostle Paul, although he intrigues me greatly; mostly because of his forthrightness. Paul is a sinner. He makes no bones of it. He freely admits that he has sinned and that he continues to sin. What that sin is, is never made clear, and has been the source of specultation for two-thousand years. He says, that "the good I wish to do I don't do, but the bad that I do not wish to do, I do" (Romans 7:19). To me, speculation on what the "bad" is, is irrelevant and a waste of time. The important thing is Paul presses on in his quest for righteousness in Christ, continually fighting against whatever demons plagued his soul in order to bring his message of the risen Christ to the world. Scripture, and modern psychology, tell us that without struggle there can be no revival. Without imperfection there can be no redemption.
And, where do we find such redemption? In church? Certainly the church should provide a nurturing environment for such redemption. Yet, I have known churches that have cast out, or excommunicated someone whose sins have become public. Other churches disallow participation in communion unless you are a member of that particular congregation, and now we hear of some faith communities rejecting Christ's teachings as, "too woke."
What about the community, can we find redemption there? Perhaps, however many communities across America have placed those convicted of certain felonies (and misdemeanors) on registries that ban them from housing or living in certain areas and from even going to church without announcing their registered status, and even then they must receive the church's permission before they can worship. Separating people out, putting them in niches to be watched, prohibiting them from freely participating hardly seems the way to any kind of redemption. Finger pointing is our way of feeling good about ourselves without having to address the fact that we are all sinners should give us all pause to rethink our belief and our relationship with our Lord.
My maternal grandfather often said that redemption "is found on our knees." It is there, on our knees that we confess our wrongs, our mistakes, our sin. It is on our knees, where we are forgiven and where we promise to try -- and I emphasize 'try' -- to go forward and live a sin-free life through a reunion with our God.
Jesus said to the crowd about to stone the woman taken in adultery, "Let you who is without sin, cast the first stone" (John 7:53), and after the crowd had left, he said to the woman, "Go, and sin no more." What happened to her after that we do not know. But, I can tell you what will happen to the woman if she commits adultery again and, when brought to the stoning ground, finds that Jesus isn't there.
Once redeemed from our sins we must not return to our sinful ways. We have been given a great gift when Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you." It is this totality of love for the other that flows from God through Christ that restores us. This is what is at the core of the redemptive possibilities of imperfection.
