Sin: Brokenness in Creation

    There is a line in the play Steel Magnolias that states that the only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize. While I am not sure exactly how true that is (there may be come mammals which decorate themselves) the one thing I am sure of that separates us from the animals is our ability to fundamentally alter the face of this planet. While there are animals such as beavers which can and do alter the landscape, their global impact is minimal. The impact we have on this planet is much more significant and much more long lasting.

    Prior to the industrial revolution the impact of human beings on the environment was relatively small. Civilizations would come and go and nature would cover over their very existence. But as the world began to industrialize the questions became how do we get what we need to run our factories and what do we do with the leftovers? How do we retrieve the natural resources necessary for the industrialized world to continue operating? What do we do with the areas from which we have finished extracting materials? What do we do with the smoke from the coal or oil fired plants? What do we do with the industrial waste that our processes create? What do we do with the ever increasing number of chemicals used in industrial production which once used are worthless but still toxic? What do we do with the human waste from larger and larger cities? What do we do with animal waste from larger and larger commercial farms?

    The answer for a couple of hundred years was, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how or what we do. From a theological point of view this made sense. After all God has given humanity dominance over creation so it is our right to do what we want. It made short term economic sense. The fewer dollars spent on taking care of our waste meant more dollars that could be spent on plant, equipment, salaries and profits. It made sense socially. The less money we spent on taking care of our waste the more people we could employ. Unfortunately as we have discovered not only was our theological perspective skewed, but our short term economic perspective led to long term economic damage (deforestation leading to mudslides and the loss of life, property and agricultural land; illnesses cause by air and water born contaminants thus driving up health care costs; early death because of the same factors thus hurting productivity; and overall disintegration of our quality of life).

    From a theological perspective (going back to last week's article) we as human beings "missed the mark" of what God would have for us in this creation. In other words God's creation suffered because of our sin (lack of knowledge, greed, misuse of scripture, expediency, and abuse of power among others sins). God's desire for creation was that creation would be a place in which all creatures could live and work together in order to maximize our corporate existence. Each of us would play our roles in this amazing world. The role of human beings was to care for and to steward creation. We were to be the "gardeners" who carefully and lovingly trimmed and pruned what God had given in order that all human beings shared in the bounty of this creation and that all other creatures were properly treated. As our history shows us however we missed the mark of that calling and the negative consequences have been extraordinary.

    The gift of God however is that the future offers hope. Over the last several decades the church has begun to reclaim its voice as regards environmental issues. We have done so out of our scriptural and theological heritage, not simply to be trendy. Over the last several decades much of the world has begun to see the horrific social and economic effects of pollution and has worked to clean up the creation in which we live. Needless to say we have a long way to go, yet as long as we continue to remind ourselves of our stewardship responsibilities then we are on our way.

    

Sin: Brokenness in the World

    It shows up over 387 times. It shows up even more frequently in its derivative forms. The word sin (or sinner, sins, etc.) is one of the most frequently used words in all of scripture. It even outpaces love (314 occurrences) in frequency of use. Little wonder then that much of the preaching and teaching within our Protestant tradition has been focused on sin. In fact some of the most famous sermons in American history have sin as their main theme (check out the text of Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" http://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/je-sinners.htm). Edwards uses sin and by extension God's wrath against sin as the backdrop for scaring people into believing in Jesus. This focus on sin raises a couple of questions which we will examine together.

    Our first question is what does the word sin actually mean? In Hebrew there are several words for sin, each carrying a slightly different connotation. However the most frequently used word translated as sin, is "het." The most basic meaning of "het" is to "go astray." Needless to say that image of "going astray" would not be one most people would associate with the word sin. We would normally think of images like rule breaking, moral failing or offending God (and there are minor uses of words describing these actions which are translated as sin). What we need to understand about the Old Testament however is that metaphor is one of the primary ways in which meaning is transmitted. Thus in the Old Testament the metaphor used to describe how one ought to live, is "walking in God's paths." Sin then is any action which leads one astray from "walking the path" God wants us to walk.

    The same use of metaphor is found in the New Testament. While 1 John describes sin as lawlessness, the Greek word most often used for sin is "hamartia," who's actually meaning is "to miss the mark" (imagine an archer missing the target with an arrow). Again notice how the metaphor is used to describe someone who has missed the goal which God has set. Looking directly at the actual meaning of the word changes our understanding of sin. Sin is not longer restricted to either breaking the rules or doing bad things, but can be seen as a way of life which leads people away from the life giving ways God desires of us and toward death dealing ways which rob us of our very humanity.

    Our second question is, why such a focus on sin? My answer begins with, read the newspaper or turn on the television. From suicide bombers in Iraq, to parents who become angry and kill their children, to drug wars in Mexico which leave countless dead, to the greed of those who led the housing market into the tank (and this includes everyone from lenders, to borrowers, congress) much of our world is not moving in the right direction. In fact much of the world is moving in the opposite direction from the life giving ways of God. And this is nothing new. The Bible is replete with examples of those who have chosen to turn their backs on God's good ways and walked down another path…the end of which was pain and heartache.

    My answer continues with the fact that God wants the best for creation and for humanity. You and I were created to be those who were made to love God, neighbor and creation. If we love the way we are capable of loving then this world begins to look like God's kingdom…a place of joy, hope and love. That is God's goal. Sin interferes with this goal. Sin (going astray or missing the mark) sends people off in the wrong direction thus causing pain and suffering which is not God's intent. This is why sin matters to God. Sin interferes with God's good plans for God's good creation by breaking the good relationships God intends. This is one of the reasons we confess our sins every week. We do so to remind ourselves that we need to be conscious of the path we are traveling so that we might draw closer to God's desire…that we might stay on the right path.

    

Discovering God: God’s Bias for the Weak

    Only the strong survive. This appears to be one of the givens of life. From the daily competition of species for territory and food, to the power play of nations for economic and military dominance, to the competitive nature of the business world (just ask K-Mart and American Motors) there is a struggle for survival…and the strong always seem to come out on top. This understanding is part of the ebb and flow of the Biblical story. As we read the Bible there is the constant turnover of kingdoms (Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans) each overcoming and annihilating their predecessor. Even the kingdoms of Judah and Israel (the two kingdoms which came into being with the division of the kingdom founded by David) were constantly striving to dominate the other as well as the minor kingdoms around them.

    We might assume then that this is how God works. God favors the strong. If we made this assumption we would not be the first to do so. There has been a strong bias within Judaism, Christianity and Islam that has equated victory (military and economic) with God's favor and blessing. We can see this in the Islamic conquests, the Christian Crusades and the belief of kings like David and Solomon that their success was purely God's doing. This tradition continues in prayers of believers for God to grant them victory in everything from sports to war. Jesus was constantly coming up against this in his ministry where people were looking for a messiah who would defeat the Romans through military power.

    What is interesting about this view of God and power is that it actually runs counter to scriptural teachings. How so? To begin with God's plan for the world was a creation in which each portion of that creation worked cooperatively with all other parts of creation in order to maximize the enjoyment of life. In other words all human beings, having been created in the image of God, were to share their God given gifts and talents in such a way that each maximized their human potential for the benefit of not only self but community. This kind of cooperation was to be made possible by the realization that God was in charge…not kings, princes or presidents. Human life was to be organized around God's plan and not the dominance of one group over another (Jesus makes this clear when he tells his disciples that they are not to "lord" it one over the other). Cooperation and not competition was to be the order of God's world.

    This view of maximizing the gifts of all for the benefit of all is made clear throughout the Bible as God commands God's people to make sure and care for the powerless and vulnerable. This orientation first appears in Genesis where God places a mark on Cain in order that no one should kill him. This orientation continues as God commands God's people to care for the widow, the orphan and the sojourner (meaning immigrants who have no kin to protect them). God's people were to do this because there was a time when they were vulnerable (in Egypt) and God protected them. The Bible is replete with examples of how this concern for the most vulnerable was to be carried out. Farmers were to leave grain at the edge of their fields for the poor to gather. Those with olive groves were not to gather all of the olives from the trees but leave some for the neediest. Jesus commands his followers to give to all who beg.

    I realize that this kind of language (insuring the needs of all are met) makes some of us nervous. After all it might allow some people to not do their fair share and live off of the beneficence of others. Let me be clear that this attitude of just taking is not Biblical either. Scripture sees work as good and necessary. God's bias for the weak is based on God's desire that all have an opportunity to participate in the bounty of creation knowing that the economic and power structures of the real world seldom if ever make such participation possible. So as we go about our life together let's look for those ways in which we might assist the weak that they might enjoy the benefits of creation even as have we.

 

Discovering God: God and Creation

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth." With those words the epic story we know as the Bible begins. Over the next two chapters we witness the unfolding of God's creative activity as God (in and through two different accounts) molds, shapes and fashions creation. As I noted in a previous article, most of us Presbyterians, understand these accounts to be more theological than literal. We understand that the earth is billions of years old and that its formation, along with the formation of the rest of the universe, was an evolutionary process that took place over a mind-boggling amount of time. So, while we believe that God was intimately involved with this creative process, we do not take literally the six, 24 hour days of creation, as do many more Biblically conservative Christians. While these differences might appear to be inconsequential (what difference does it make what we believe about the length of the creation period?) interestingly enough the way these stories are read (literally or theologically) directly impacts our lives in the United States and around the world.

Here is what I mean. Many of the churches and Christian communities that profess a belief in God as literally creating in seven days do not believe that creation is an object to be used (and sometimes abused) for the needs, wants and desires of humanity. This view comes out of a belief that humans were to subject creation to humanities will (see Genesis 1:26 in which human beings are given dominion over creation). In this view humanity was the highest end of all that God did and everything else was merely the "stage" upon which we were to play; a set for us to change at our will. This is why many conservative churches see the entire ecological movement as suspect and even sometime Satanic; because it appears to say the rest of creation is as important at humanity.

    On the other hand the churches (I believe including ours) which see the epic narratives of Creation in the opening of Genesis as more theological than literal hold a much different view of our relationship with creation. Instead of subjecting creation to our whims and desires, we are to "steward" creation; caring for it as God's possession (see Genesis 2:15 where Adam is to keep creation as a gardener). This orientation brings about a completely different way of looking at our world. We see the world as belonging to God, not to us. We see that our task is to take care of this world in the same way a hired gardener would careful care for the garden of their employer. Humanity, while being very different from the rest of creation (we are those created in the image of God) is not "better" than everything else around us. We are simply different; different because of the role (stewards) that we have been assigned. Thus we generally support the ecological movement because it encourages us to care for God's creation.

    So which of these views ought we to choose? I believe that the second view is appropriate for two reasons. First it affirms the Biblical assertion that this world is God's and not ours. The Psalmist tells us that "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness there of." (Psalm 24:1) The scriptures constantly remind us that God is the owner and we are the caretakers of this amazing blue-green planet. Second I believe this view is appropriate because God's plan is to renew this world. In Revelation 21:1 we read of a new heaven and a new earth (meaning not a new planet to replace the old one, but the renewal of the planet on which we live). This means for me is that since God loves this planet enough to renew it, we ought to love it that much as well. It means we ought to be working for the renewal of creation while we are here. My hope then is that we as a Christ centered community will care for creation not because it is the latest fad, but because the God who made us calls upon us to so do.

    

Discovering God 8 - God as Forgiving

    "I don't get mad. I get even." I don't remember the first time that I heard someone utter those words, but unfortunately it was not the last time...or even close to the last time. Over my years of ministry I have watched some of the most loving, considerate, self-sacrificing people be eaten up by anger over some past injustice. They have never been able to let go of some hurt that has been done to them. This causes them to obsess over ways to get even...to make the other person hurt as much as they have been hurt.

    This sense of getting revenge, of getting even, is a particularly human trait. Animals don't get even. A lion comes and eats a young gazelle...the other gazelles don't come together, form a lynch mob and go after the lion. That kind of life and death is simply part of the way the lion-gazelle world works. Humans on the other hand have this amazing ability to take everything personally, hold grudges and desire revenge. There are places in the world (Balkans, Middle East, and Northern Ireland for example) where grudges have been maintained for hundreds of years and are ready to explode into ethnic violence at a moment's notice. What people seem to have failed to notice however is that the revenge of one person or one ethnic group upon another never accomplishes anything. It only engenders more anger and hate. It destroys rather than heals.

    As we consider God as forgiving this may be a good place to begin. It is a good place to begin because it will allow us to see the purposes behind God's forgiveness. One of the concepts that I have been presenting from the outset of these articles is that God has a plan for the world. The plan is that human beings will become capable of loving God, loving one another and caring for creation. Sin (meaning choices and actions which lead away from loving) tears at the heart of God's plan. Sin breaks relationships and distorts them in ways that do not allow for loving relationships between persons and between persons and God. Sin runs counter to God's plan. Somehow then sin needs to be dealt with.

    Many of us assume that the way God dealt with sin varied between the Old Testament and the New Testament (sort of pre and post Jesus). In the Old Testament God dealt with sin through punishment (fire and brimstone kind of stuff). In the New Testament God dealt with sin by sending Jesus who offered us forgiveness. While that is the assumption of many, even a cursory glance at the Old Testament will show that forgiveness has always been God's modus operandi. We can see this clearly even in Genesis. Adam and Eve disobey God. They sin. So how does God deal with this sin? God makes them suffer the consequences of their actions, but then God forgives them. We see this in the fact that even after expulsion from the garden God makes them clothes and cares for them. The same is true of Cain and Able. Cain slays Able and lies to God. God does not zap Cain with a bolt of lightning or turn him into a newt. God forgives Cain and protects him. While I can only speculate as to why God would do this (other than it is the very nature of God to forgive) I will do so anyway.

    First God's forgiveness allows for restored relationships. As I mentioned above, God desires to be in right relationship with us. If God cannot forgive then our relationship with God will always be broken. We, as sinful human beings, do not have the capacity to be "good enough" to maintain our relationship with God (or with anyone else for that matter). God's forgiveness allows our relationship with God to be renewed and restored. Second God's forgiveness allows us to make new beginnings. Consider for a moment what it would be like to be in a relationship with God (or again with anyone else) where there was no forgiveness; where God always brought up the things we had done wrong. The only way in which we would see ourselves then would be as losers; as those who could do no right. Thus we would be trapped in our old sinful way of living life. Forgiveness, however allows us to leave behind our past and start over. Forgiveness gives us the chance to love God and others more fully this time than last. Thus we become more like the people God wants us to become.

    We are fortunate that the God of this universe is one who forgives. We are fortunate that God forgives not only one time, but an inexhaustible number of times. We are fortunate that forgiveness is at the very heart of God. The challenge for us then is to believe that this forgiveness is real and allow it to set us free to daily live new and loving lives.

    Next week: God and Creation

Discovering God 7 - God as Judging

    Once upon a time the Bible and all that is in it was considered to be absolutely true in every respect (as history, geology and biology). Then Western Europe moved into the Enlightenment. The world moved into an era of reason and science. As scientific discovery accelerated people began to question many of the most reverently held beliefs of the scriptures. Could there really have been miracles that violated the rules of Newtonian physics? Could Mary really have been a virgin after conception and after giving birth? Could the world really have been created in six days (and be only 10,000 years old) when we can see layers and layers of fossils stretching back over millions of years? Christians had their faith in and understanding of scripture put to the test, as many of us still do as we struggle with some of these same questions.

    Along this enlightenment path we have also struggled with our image of God. We have moved away from a God who is very "Old Testament", meaning angry and vindictive and have moved to a kinder, gentler God. We have imaged a God who is completely tolerant, who loves the sinner, but not the sin, and who opens God's arms to all regardless of who they are and what they have believed or done. This image of God then has put into question one of the most widely used (in both the Old and New Testaments) images of God; that of judge.

    God as judge is part of the language of the prophets, the psalms, the teachings of Jesus, the letters of Paul and the Book of Revelation. It has a long history of usage within the Christian tradition in which God is portrayed as the wise old man, sitting on a throne, who judges each person either according to their deeds (Old Testament) or their faith in Jesus (New Testament) and then makes a decision about their ultimate destiny. If you are faithful the judge sends you to heaven. If you are not faithful God sends you to hell. We can see this image in Jesus' language about separating the sheep and the goats (one of my son's once favorite songs had a line, "Sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell."). This image makes us nervous because God is supposed to be nice and kind. God is supposed to look at all of our sins and the world's ills and like a loving aunt say, "It's OK, you really didn't mean it. Here, have a cookie." God is not supposed to hold us accountable for our actions.

    While we may wish God were so, there is a significant problem with casting aside the image of God as judge; and that is how then will God be able to recreate the world as a place where justice is done? As we consider the image of judge let us remember what God's saving plan is all about. God's saving plan is not simply getting people into heaven; it is about redeeming this world and everything in it. God is about recreating this world as a place where we love God, one another and care appropriately for creation. This being the case then, God must make first make some decisions about what conduct brings this about (life giving ways of being) and what conduct does not bring this about (death dealing ways of being). This is the first part of God as judge. God judges which ways are proper for restoration.

    God then must also decide if our actions (both as individuals and as societies) help to establish this new creation or diminish its restoration. God must judge whether we are being partners with God or standing in opposition to God and God's work. God must make a judgment. If there is no judgment, if God merely allows everything regardless of whether it enhances God's rule and reign or restricts it, then injustice, pain, death and destruction will be the final outcome of this world. There will be no new creation and new world in which there is neither, death, mourning or crying. God must ultimately hold us accountable for our choices and beliefs or we will never become the people God wants us to be. God will judge because God desires us to become fully human and fully alive and not crippled by the evil we have created. God as judge leads to life and hope.

    Next week: God as Forgiving

Discovering God 6 - God as purposeful

Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Those were the words one of my former church members used one day to describe the Bible. We were in a Wednesday morning men's Bible study and the discussion had wandered away from the text and on to a more general discussion of why we ought to study the scriptures. It was in that context that the person at the table said we study the scriptures because they are God's Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth (BIBLE…if you had not connected the letters). I asked him what he meant. He replied that his understanding of the Bible was that it was a compendium of ethical instructions (some straight forwardly delivered (the Ten Commandments), some we had to figure out (Jesus' parables), and some that were theologically driven (Paul's letters)). The scriptures were offered to us as a way to help us live rightly and well before we are taken into heaven to live there eternally.

The bottom line for my friend and many in our society (and perhaps many of you) is that all 66 books the scripture can be reduced to an efficient and useful set of rules and regulations. In other words scripture is a practical self-help book intended to teach us morality, which would then imply that God's ultimate purpose is simply making us more moral people.

    As you can probably tell by the tone of my writing I do not agree with that analysis of scripture or God's purpose. So you might ask, if this is not what scripture and God's purpose is about how would I describe them? I would describe scripture as the story of God, humanity and creation and God's purpose as working to restore the right relationship between each. I realize that this is not nearly as catchy as "basic instructions before leaving earth", but I believe it is far more accurate. Let's begin by unpacking my definition.

The Bible is the story of God, humanity and creation. The Bible is a story. It is a seamless story that has a beginning (creation), a middle (the life, death and resurrection of Jesus) and an end (the renewal of creation as described in Revelation). Everything in between "In the beginning" of Genesis and "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all, Amen" at the end of Revelation is part of this ongoing saga of God's interaction with the world. While there are some "instructions" contained within the story, they are not the purpose of the story or the story itself.

God's purpose as expressed in the scriptures is to restore the right relationship between God, humanity and creation. The scriptures are the story of God renewing creation in such a way as to make this world a place where people find joy, justice and peace. From the giving of the Law in Exodus, to the sending of the Prophets, to the coming of Jesus, to the creation of the church the scriptures tell the story of God working in a purposeful way to renew and recreate the world.

This is a reminder to us that God is purposeful. God is not merely a remote spirit who desires that we be nice. God is on a mission. God is on a mission to change who we are, how we live, how we relate to God's self, one another and the world. God is on a universal mission to reshape all of us. This is more than basic instructions before leaving earth. This is a plan for a seismic shift in human nature that would allow this creation to be "be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14. In other words the purpose of God is a complete transformation in the here (this world) and now (in real time).

Next Week: God as judging