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Sin
President Calvin Coolidge, a New Englander of few words, upon leaving a church service was asked, "What was the sermon about?" The President responded, "Sin." "And what did the preacher have to say about sin, Mr. President?" "He was against it."
That feeling is prevalent. Everyone is against sin. But do we know what sin is? Too many confuse sin with a lack of morality, with breaking rules. You have often heard me quote Soren Kierkegaard. In his short book, The Sickness Unto Death (1849), he writes, "Sin is the despairing refusal to find your deepest identity in your relationship and service to God. Sin is seeking to become oneself, to get an identity, apart from Him."
It is not enough to believe in God. It is not enough to want to follow the example of Jesus. Kierkegaard's insight is that we were created to love God supremely - to center our lives in God - to build the very identify of our lives, the purpose of why were are here on earth, in God.
So, I leave you something to consider on this, the first Monday of February: Every person needs a way to justify their existence; we need to see that our lives have value, and so we justify ourselves by
being a good parent, or being a good contributor to society, or by achieving certain social status. Yet as Simone Weil wrote, "All sins are attempts to fill voids... because we cannot stand the God - shaped hole inside of us, we try stuffing it full of all sorts of things, but only God may fill it."
Only God is God. Only God can meet our deepest needs. I hope to see you Sunday in worship as we seek the One who is the meaning and hope of our lives.
In faith,
Pastor Tim
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