6th Sunday of Pentecost
1 John 1:5-2:2
Whenever
I hear today’s verses from 1 John, this is what happens in my head, “If we say
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sin, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. We kneel or sit.” My years in churches that knelt or sat
for the time of confession are not any greater in number than the number of
years I’ve been with you, so I’ve never said or heard this phrase in six years.
And yet, there it is. A biblical command and my automatic response…
“If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sin, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. We kneel or sit.”
That
automatic response leapt into my head all week as I thought about the reading
for today. Then the Presiding Bishop sent her letter on Thursday with the
instructions to read to you on Sunday. Furthermore, the plane that was shot
down in Ukraine, the children who have been gathered from the U.S. southern
border, and the violence that continues to escalate in Iraq, Iran, and Syria
all loomed large.
“If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sin, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. We kneel or sit.”
How
could I address all or any of those things in a way that was empathetic,
encouraging, and truthful? Could I deal with one, but not the others? What
about the personal and family crises that have occurred this week? There is
heartbreak here that you know that I know. And some people are gathered here
because of a gorgeous and joyful wedding or other celebrations that have just
past or are scheduled. People with joy in their hearts don’t always skip toward
a hearty discussion of sin in the world.
“If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sin, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. We kneel or sit.”
We
kneel or sit often becomes our default move when we hear about sin. Being
confronted with our own vain, idolatrous, and selfish choices makes most of us
want to turn the other way, much less stay and reflect on them with other
people (who are surely worse sinners!). This is the truth, though:
“If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sin, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.”
Many
of us, maybe most of us, can even accept the idea that we have not always done
the right thing. Even those among us who are sure we’re pretty good have still
failed in many and various ways. The harder thing to acknowledge is that we
also have a hand in the larger sins that are around us. Our national struggle
and missteps in the situation between Israel and Palestine does not occur apart
from us. Decisions about immigration, hope, and welcome affect us all.
The
deaths of three hundred people in an airplane as a political statement and
challenge reflects an overall disregard for human life on earth. That kind of
behavior does not exist in a vacuum. We want to confess to feeling frustrated
with our children or gossiping about our neighbor or fudging some information,
but the extent of sin, within us and without us, spreads.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us. If we confess our sin, God who is faithful and just
will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We kneel or
sit.”
The
writer of 1 John would never want “kneeling or sitting” to be the response to
or the action of confessing. The entirety of the letter calls the Christian,
the person walking in the Way of Jesus, into a community of action, of growth,
of change. With the revelation of the Holy Spirit, we walk, we move from
darkness into light. By confessing our shortcomings, great and small, we are
forgiven and renewed according to the truth of God’s work in Jesus Christ.
Forgiveness
doesn’t happen in just still, quiet moments- when we hold our hands just right,
when we kneel or sit, when we say the right words. The Holy Spirit doesn’t need
us to hold still. The Spirit molds us on the way, washes us on the move, and
makes us whole even as we mess up again. We ask for forgiveness because we know
we need it. God gives it because of God’s very nature.
“If
we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sin, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.”
I
have to put new words at the end of that sentence. You do too. Being cleansed
from unrighteousness, being made right with God, is not for nothing. It is
specifically so that we can continue forward to work for justice, peace,
reconciliation, and to care for creation- all things that are in our baptismal
promises. We pray, we act, we call, we write, we cry out, we point, we
encourage, we rage, we confess, we are forgiven… There is no kneel or sit.
We
are called and pulled into the action of God’s work with our hands, our feet,
our mouths, our time, our possessions.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us. If we confess our sin, God who is faithful and just
will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We work and
pray. We listen and heal. We hope and play. In recognizing the truth of God’s
mercy and grace, we are called to do just about anything and everything,
besides kneel or sit, for the sake of Christ in the world.
Amen.
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