Reformation Monday: the devil made me do it

It was Flip Wilson's famous line in the TV show Laugh In.  "The Devil made me do it."  The 'it' was sin....although that is not how most folks would have described 'it'.

There are lots of other names for this phenomena of sin.  In scripture it is called transgression, trespass, iniquity.  These words have underlying meanings of 'missing the mark' or 'crossing a boundary' or 'carrying a stain' or even a sense of being broken and in need of healing.  The Church has condensed these down into one convenient and oft mis-used and misunderstood word: sin.

They say that only death and taxes are certain.  I would add sin to that list.  Sin is not necessary but it is inevitable.  For everyone.  If you are breathing, you have experienced and experimented with sin. Each one of us live separated from the Divine Love and once separated we make choices that cause trouble: we bump into other people, and they bump into us.  The system is not perfect and the folks who have to navigate the system (You and Me) simply cannot remain 'un-dented' by the experience. It is also true that we imperfect people contribute to a share of the bruises out there.

Notice that at its core, this concept of sin is not about intent.....although it doesn't take us long to make intentional choices that benefit us and do harm to others.  And notice that we aren't talking about guilt/ remorse quite yet....although once intent enters our conscious choices, guilt and remorse soon follow. (...or maybe should follow).

Then evil comes into the mix.  Sin grows when it is founded on evil intent.  Evil grows when intent is piled upon intent and becomes the norm for behavior.  I believe at some point, evil causes amnesia: a total loss of any idea of who we are as humans and our common bond with all humanity.  People become things and evil begins to plant itself deep.

John Powell wrote  'we are to love people and use things; instead we use people and love things.' (a loose paraphrase).  This confusion digs a very deep hole for all of humankind.  Sometimes it results in small cracks in our relationships with others.  Sometimes it destroys civilization.

There are some who complain that the church speaks too much of sin.  Yet I would say when you stop speaking the truth about yourself and focus only on those parts of you and your life that hold you in a good light, you build yourself a dungeon to which only you hold the key.

Or, possibly, Jesus the Christ has the key: total, divine, unadulterated, unconditional love that draws us into real life. We call that 'forgiveness'.