Sin and Death

For the wages of sin is death.

- Romans 6:23

So, did my title grab you? There are many religious topics that are intriguing. There are many that are comforting. There are even many that are inspirational. But then there are those that are downright frightening - or off-putting - or both - at least to people in New England mainline churches like ours. We’re not much for talking about fire and brimstone, sin and punishment. And this well known verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans, is not exactly the topic of light coffee hour conversation. But you know me. I like to dive right into difficult passages, so, here we go.

Paul’s letter to the Romans is considered one of the finest Christian theological treatises ever written. And like most fine theological treatises, it is dense, and requires a lot of unpacking. In this particular passage, Paul is saying that even though God, through Christ, has once and for all granted us full and lasting forgiveness for our inevitable human mess ups and sins, that does not by any means excuse us from making continued efforts to do what is right. It’s not like we can do whatever we feel like doing, even if it is hurtful to ourselves, others or God’s creation, assuming God will overlook it. Just because we’ve been forgiven, we need to avoid putting God’s forgiveness to the test. Paul is reflecting Jesus’ own words in this passage when he said, “I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.”

Paul knows that when people of faith really, deeply understand how much God loves us and forgives us, we will then feel the need to humbly follow Christ and share in his ministry as an expression of our love, respect and gratitude. In other words, if you just say you believe in God just to get the perks of easy forgiveness and don’t actually walk the walk of justice and love, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

And if you persist in sin - meaning, if you don’t practice turning full-heartedly toward God and allow other things to take the place of God in your life (things like self image, personal gain, power, money, fame, comfort, etc - then you simply are not participating in the full life Christ continually offers. You’re forfeiting that eternal and abundant life that comes with the vulnerable, humble and committed life of a Jesus follower.

There is a both/and here, both in this passage and in our faith. On the one hand, you reap what you sow. If you turn your back on God, you simply will not benefit from God’s harvest. Instead you are reaping a kind of shallow living, which really is a kind of death. On the other hand, God forgives you completely for being human and not always being able to follow very well. You’re always given the opportunity to pick yourself up and follow better whenever you go off track. (“repent” in religious language.)

God’s forgiveness is not a magic potion of protection granted to us once and for all by Jesus’ sacrifice. God’s forgiveness is a way of life that we are called to enter into and then reflect out toward others. We grow more deeply into this way of life by following Jesus. And as we practice this way, little by little we wake up more and more to those places in us that turn toward death instead of life. And we can turn back to Christ again.

Some of the “examen” questions I ask myself at the end of each day is “When today did I feel most alive?” and “When today did I feel least alive?” Taking time to notice these things is one way to practice waking up to the life God always offers. Thank God that through our faith, we’re always given the opportunity to repent and live more fully into the eternal life Jesus is always waiting to show us.

The ‘scary words’ of Christianity like sin, punishment, hell, eternity, repentance, etc are easy to avoid in comfortable times. Who really needs to think about life and death, unanswerable questions when everything feels fine and under control? I suspect that as we watch the increasing chaos of our political and societal lives and experience the anxiety of the pandemic and taste the fear of death a little more often, these ‘scary words’ might paradoxically actually bring us some deep comfort.

Religion, the communal practice of our spirituality, doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff. It’s managed to carry generations of people through untold tragedies and hardships without losing hope. Religious traditions know well how to poke on the most sorest parts of this human life, while at the same time, offering the peace that passes all understanding nonetheless. I hope we never shy away from the tough passages of our Scriptures. Though sometimes they are profoundly challenging, in their depth there is profound freedom.

Our readings for the Sunday are HERE. Ordinary time offers many readings to contemplate each Sunday. Track 1 will lead you through certain Old Testament books week by week more in depth. Track 2 provides an Old Testament text that is meant to compliment the Gospel of the week.