Sin is a loaded word. For those outside the faith, it’s a funny and dated religious term. For Christians, we repeat it so often that it loses its bite. Scripture reveals that sin is worse than we know. Jesus is so serious about it that he says, “If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out.” What is it about sin that’s so fatal it would require Jesus to go to the cross?
This Lent we do a soul examination, studying all the ways God describes the complex of sin. Lawlessness, adultery, rebellion . . . The cancerous nature of sin means that we need to go deeper than surface confession. The problem is worse than we know, which makes our Savior greater than we can imagine.
Invocation
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, who delivers us from all evil.
Invitation Prayer
Lord Jesus, you suffered evil at the hands of the religious establishment. Priests accused you of blasphemy. In their trial against you, they called the Good Shepherd evil. Forgive your people when we call evil good and good evil. We are sheep easily led astray. Renew us to be your people, clean and holy. Amen.
Word
Hosea 2:23
“I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one. I will say to those called ‘Not my people, ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”
Meditation: Right Side Up by Susan Becher Schultz
Several years ago, there was a podcast created by Elizabeth Gilbert entitled ‘Magic Lessons’ based on her novel ‘Big Magic’. Each episode, Liz would interview a listener who wrote into the show expressing their need for more creative magic in their lives. Many of the people interviewed expressed a similar plea, something along the lines of “I work a soul-sucking 9-5 job, I feel dead inside, and I wish I could connect to my creativity and feel alive again.” Liz would often bring on a creative ‘expert’ who would coach the listener on how to make space for their creative pursuits.
One episode, in particular, comes to mind when I saw this week’s theme of ‘sin as adultery’. Liz encouraged the listener to “have an affair” with their creativity. I don’t remember the exact instruction, but it was meant to ignite a fire in the person to pursue their creativity with a renewed sense of passion. I had only ever thought of affairs before as something icky, something desperate people do in an attempt to feel something. But, this podcast flipped the idea on its head for me. Affairs can also be sexy and mysterious. They bring back a sense, even falsely so, of freedom. They can make you feel young again when you’re tired of the stress adulthood can bring.
I’m not trying to advertise affairs, by any means, but there’s a reason why they are tempting. There are reasons why we crave what we shouldn’t have. Sin can feel really, really good. Even when we know it’s not, sin has a way of turning our sense of what is right and wrong upside down.
“I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one. I will say to those called ‘Not my people, ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”
The Isrealites, time and time again, turn toward sin instead of God. God then punishes the Isrealites, so that they see the error of their ways and return to Him, desperate for the good love he brings. I can’t help but identify with the Isrealites, chasing the things that feel really, really good, only to find they lead to rock bottom.
It’s confusing, when what feels good is actually destructive, and what is destructive feels life-giving. Which is why we have a God who turns things right side up. He pursues us relentlessly, and helps us learn the difference between what feels good and what actually is good.
Dear God, thank you for choosing us over and over and over again. We thank you for the ways you pursue us, even as we actively pursue sin. Amen.
Sending
In the face of evil, may the God of faithfulness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Jesus Christ. Amen.