How should we live? - Rev Allister Lane
READINGS: PSALM 51:1-5, 15-17 AND 1 JOHN 1:1-10
Sermon on 8 August 2021
Let’s be clear: these two Bible readings address the difficult issue of human sin.
In Psalm 51 David acknowledges human moral failure using words like:
transgression
iniquity
sin
evil
guilty
1 John compares our human condition to God’s:
God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. (v5) whereas, we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true (v6)
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (v8)
Both readings are talking about the problem of being bad.
And the second reading (the NT reading) hints at the problem of being good (by saying there’s a problem if you say you have no sin).
So, this morning (as we seek to hear God’s truth in these readings) we will cover…
The problem of being bad
The problem of being good
How then should we live?
And how do we walk in the light?
Firstly, the problem of being bad.
What is the moral problem in our world? I read an article recently about the problem of human morality. It’s not written with a Christian perspective, but has some intriguing observations about human behaviour. Let’s see what you think.
Chris Paley suggests that most of us are not so interested in being good, as seeming to be good. Perhaps you’ve heard of ‘moral signalling’ or ‘virtue signalling’. He argues that one of the most efficient ways to announce your own virtue is to punish moral transgressors.
And if showing your virtue is done efficiently by punishing moral transgressors, then we have technology to do this even more efficiently: social media.
The strict moral codes surrounding race and gender, that we call ‘woke’ has acquired overwhelming cultural prominence not because there’s anything special about that particular kind of morality, but thanks to the internet no moral system and history has ever had the chance to be ostentatiously enforced by so many people on such a vast scale.
What this highlights is the problem of being good. The biblical understanding recognises: even our attempts to be moral is all screwed up; it is mixed in with the fragmentation of our relationships.
I think of the of the Prodigal son’s older brother who was sure to do the right thing at home, but had become estranged from his brother and father; bitter in his own version of virtuousness.
Sin insinuates itself into all human action, including not only what is widely condemned as evil but also what is commonly praised as good.
This is not to say that distinctions between good and evil are unimportant; instead, it is to emphasise that sin may be most seductively…at work under the guise of doing good. (Migliore p 160)
Perhaps preachers are at more risk of doing this than most! Thumping the pulpit condemning the sinfulness of the congregation is an efficient way of signalling one’s own morality. The Presbyterian General Assembly is coming up soon, and I worry how much ‘virtue signalling’ might be part of the debates.
How then should we live?
For Christian ethics, this is the big question ‘How should I live?’ If you and I ask this question, we will typically do so in regards to a specific issue, context, or relationship.
How should I live …in relation to money?
in relation to politics?
in relation to gender issues?
in relation to hate speech?
in relation to my mother?
And this big question can be broken down into smaller questions:
1) What are the rules?
The comforting thing about reducing morality to rules: things appear to be clear and unambiguous.
2) What are the goals?
What ends/aims/purposes should we seek? Once goals are identified, the moral thing to do is whatever advances us to those goals. This approach suits some moral situations better than a rules approach. For example: “I want to be a loving spouse.” This goal is more meaningful than being guided by a rule.
3) What serves the needs of people and relationships?
This takes the emphasis off abstract rules and goals and focuses on people. This highlights that morality is a social/relational matter.
Our second reading highlights the relational nature of morality:
if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another (v7)
So, how do we do this; How do we ‘walk in the light’? The Moderator of our Presbytery, Rev Diane Gilliam-Weeks, points us to the symbol of our denomination – the burning bush.
nec tamen consumabatur… (it burned but was not consumed)
It reminds us that God is love, and God’s love is like a fire consuming the harm we do. God’s love generates forgiveness – we are not burned up, we are engulfed in love.
It is said that every wrong and evil thing we do, is overcome by God’s powerful loving action.
Only love lasts. Only love burns but doesn't consume – love purifies and illuminates. Love is eternal, a sacred fire that never fails.
Sin is real, but not the most important thing about us as humans. We are made in God’s image, and sin cannot destroy that. Sin does distort, twist, corrupt and contradict this truth of who we are – but sin does not change us into something other than what God created us to be.
Consider how sin is mentioned in the Apostles Creed... (the oldest summary of biblical doctrine). It is only mentioned when we say we believe in the forgiveness of sins.
We must talk about sin in order to understand the forgiveness of sin. Jesus died for our sins: Today’s scripture declares:
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin
This is the good news – that God was at work in the crucifixion of Jesus, and is still at work in the world by His Holy Spirit to overcome and free us from sin.
We walk in the light as we live in the freedom given to us.
Let me conclude with a quote from theologian Daniel Migliore:
Christian freedom is the beginning of a new freedom from the bondage of sin, and for partnership with God and others.
This fresh start has its basis in the forgiving grace of God present in the new humanity of Jesus with whom we are united by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Migliore p163)
Friends, let us hear the biblical witness, which is honest about the reality of sin and the divine promise of redemption.
We recognise
The problem of being bad
The problem of being good
And by asking ‘How then should we live?
As following Jesus – walking with him in the light – and in fellowship with one another, through the forgiveness of the Cross.
Thanks be to God!