Seeing Sin

Scriptures for Sunday, August 5th


2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a


Psalm 51


Sermon


Francine is a beautiful young lady with a soft spoken voice and a shy smile from the Walungu territory in eastern Congo...Francine begins her story by saying, “Sometimes when I think of these things, it makes me sad in my heart.” One night, Francine’s husband went to bed while she stayed up to bathe her sick baby girl— the youngest of four— when she heard a knock on the door.

Eight men entered, and they asked where her husband was. She claimed he was traveling, but they quickly found him under the bed. They lined them up against the wall and had them remove their clothes. The invaders told them to look at each other, and they said this is the last time you will ever consider her your wife because she will now become our wife.

Francine’s husband begged for mercy and asked what they could give as a bribe. The men said, “Give us two picks, a radio, and clothes,” and then they went through the house looting, ultimately demanding a further $100.

“We don’t have $100, only $5,” Francine told them. They told her it was not enough and asked her to lay down.  She refused and her husband said he wouldn’t abandon her even if she were raped. But one of the men forced her down and raped her.  (Reporting from the Enough Project)

The part of the Congo Francine is from is considered by some to be the rape capital of the world.  Bordered by the countries of Rawanda and Uganda, the people who live in the Northeast portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffer under brutal oppression due to the competing militias of this region.  When a militia moves into an area, they intimidate the villagers through violence that often includes rape.  This violence can be meant to punish the villagers from providing harbor to a different militia, to extract cooperation or food, to encourage villagers to flee, or simply because they can. 

So why do these people suffer?  Why are the women here so unlucky to live in the rape capital of the world?  Its because they happen to live near one of the worlds largest deposits of Coltan- a black tar like mineral found in the region.  Over 80% of the Coltan in the world is found in this small region. (Read more about Colton)

“You’d think that having such a rare, expensive and plentiful mineral deposit would be a wonderful find for a poor country. But what if your neighbors, who are also poor and desperate, also knew of this mineral and wanted to profit from it also?” (Source)

And what if international companies were willing to look the other way when it comes to buying Coltan?  What if it didn’t seem to bother them that militias in Rawanda sell Colton by the ton even though the country has no known reserves of the mineral?  And, what if consumers didn’t seem to care about where the mineral came from?  What if they just wanted more and more of it while paying less and less for it?

The net result- rape, pillage, murder.  Who could let this happen?  Who could look the other way when it comes to rape and murder?  What kind of just people would let a thing go on day after day?

You are the people.  Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel:  I have placed you in a prosperous country.  Given you wealth beyond much of the worlds wildest dreams.  I have largely shielded you from violence and despair.  You eat and drink everyday with ease.  And yet, each and everyone one of you with a cell phone, with a lap top, GPS, playstation, hearing aid and more exploit these poor people.  You take their minerals, but don’t seem to care where they come from.  Sure, some company does it on your behalf, you never see it, but it is you, wealthy in technology and gizmos, who cause these peoples pain.

*******

Yea, I bet it was a really long pause after Nathan said something similar to David too.  Perhaps the worlds longest pause in scripture.  David is caught dead to rights.  He can’t deny it. There is no question that he slept with a married woman.  No reasonable doubt that he had a man murdered.  And in fact, David in his indignation has already declared what should be done-  “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die” David’s righteous anger has to be hanging in the air.  The death sentence he proclaims rebounds on him.  Suddenly the anger drains from David’s face.  The burning red checks fade to a pallid white; his indignant posture becomes hunched over in grief.  

Nathan the preacher has delivered one heck of a sermon- a Gospel message designed to incite the listener to get out of his seat and work for God’s justice in the world.  That message was perfect, that message is always perfect, so long as its about somebody else.

In the book Leap Over the Wall, Eugene Peterson writes- ““The gospel is never about somebody else; it’s always about you, about me...It’s both easy and common to lose this focus, to let the gospel blur into generalized pronouncements, boozy cosmic opinions, religious indignation.  That’s what David is doing in this story, listening to his pastor preach a sermon about somebody else and getting all worked up about this someone else’s sin, this someone else’s plight...With each additional word in Nathan’s sermon, David becomes more religious- feeling sorry for the poor man who lost his pet lamb, seething with indignation over the rich man who stole the lamb...And then the sudden, clear gospel focus:  you are the one- you!”

I can’t say I’m the preacher Nathan is.  Unlike David, many of you probably saw the twist coming.  And admittedly, the sin proclaimed today is a little more indirect.  But what was your reaction?  When I rose up and declared full throated that it was you who sinned, you who exploited, you who condoned rape and murder (of course, its also me who does and has done all of these things), how did you respond?  With anger?  Denial?  Indignation?  Rejection?

How many of us could honestly respond like David-  by saying “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Its a simple sentence.  But it requires something profound.  It requires us to look our sin full in our face.  And lets be frank- we have designed our society so we can be blind to as little of our sin as possible.  We move from the cities to the suburbs to avoid poverty and violence.  We move into suburbs where a legacy of discrimination means that most people are of the same race and religious affiliation.  We buy our products prepackaged with our eyes closed to all that goes into making it.  Are the people who pick our vegetables paid a fair days wage?  Are the animals we eat treated humanely?  Are the products we buy the product of human slavery?  Who knows?  Who wants to know?  Don’t we just want to buy some stuff and not worry about it?  That’s certainly easier.  Can’t we just live in our city and let some other city worry about itself?  That seems more peaceful.

Seeing sin, our sin, is painful, ugly and raw.  It cuts us to the core.  And really and truly seeing our sin requires something-  it requires our acknowledgement.  It requires us to ask forgiveness.  And, most importantly, it requires us to do something to change.

Our God is such a gracious God.  Some might even say too gracious.  God forgives the murderer and adulterer David.  But David’s remorse appears genuine.  David takes steps to bring what justice he can do the equation.

Our gracious God waits for you.  Our loving Lord is ready to scrub away your guilt, to soak you in laundry till you come out clean, to set your broken bones to dancing.

God has taken the first step.  God’s grace allows your eyes to be open.  God’s grace gives you the strength to come clean.  But you have to accept the challenge.  You have to come forward and be open to that grace and forgiveness.  

That’s what this table is for.  That’s why we come forward and eat and drink of the bread and juice, the body and blood, the grace and forgiveness of our lord.  We come because our eyes have been open to sin.  We see it now Lord.  We want forgiveness.  We want to be made new.

Today.  

Like David, you’ve been asked to confront your sin.  You even get a pause to give an offering. 

But after that pause will be a chance to take and eat of God’s grace.  

However the gospel has called to you today, seek God’s forgiveness in communion today.  Be washed clean.  And take from it the strength to change.  Amen.

Sue Kertianis- Reaction to Yom Kippur Service

The Yom Kippur service was a good idea to experience something different in our worship service. As we moved along through the service you could really feel the passion in the music and sense the congregation’s anticipation as we started different sections.

I personally felt as one link in an unending circle – we were all connected in this service. Yet we were all individually asking for God’s forgiveness. During the confession part – the outward tapping on your chest – I strongly felt God’s presence … the responses were genuinely heartfelt.

Immediately following the service, I did follow Pastor Jared’s suggestion and asked someone to forgive me, not so much that I had sinned again that person, but that I was not doing enough for them and prayed that I would be a better person.

I think this service brought home the fact that we need to be quick to ask for forgiveness and more aware of God’s direction in our lives.

Cathrine Stadulis- Reaction to a Service in Honor of Yom Kippur

When Pastor Jared asked if I would be willing to write a reflection on this Sunday’s service, and that said service would focus on Yom Kippur and atonement, I had to laugh to myself.

As a former Catholic, raised in a very Catholic family and having two strict Polish-Catholic grandparents (I still feel slightly guilty about eating meat on Fridays,) the concept of sinning and asking for forgiveness for one’s sins is hardly a new concept for me. I remember vividly going through my first Rite of Reconciliation in grade school – attending special meetings at the church with other kids in my class and trying to figure out, along with my friends, what exactly qualified as a sin and whether I needed to confess it or not. Did fighting with my brothers make it on the list as a sin? Should I confess to thinking mean thoughts about certain kids in my class?

So, writing about a Yom Kippur service, where the entire focus is on sinning and atoning for one’s sins, I thought, would be an easy task. And yet, three days later, I still find it hard to write out exactly how Sunday’s service affected me.

Some things are easy to write down. For example, after attending this Sunday’s service, it would seem that the Jewish and Catholic/Christian faiths don’t stray too far from each other when it comes to defining sin. Both faiths have quite a list of both major and minor transgressions. I always liked the Catholic "I have sinned in what I have done and in what I have failed to do," and I liked the Jewish "we have acted presumptuously… we have been stiff-necked… we have gone astray."

On the more difficult side of things, I still have very divided feelings about sin and atonement, and Sunday’s service was, at times, hard for me.

Growing up, my parish priest would state "arrogant are we to think that there is any sin we can commit that God will not forgive." As a young adult, I remember standing in church next to my father and rolling my eyes as he would beat his fist on his breast during the confession of sin portion of the Mass. All I could think was, "What’s the point?" For years, that portion of the Catholic Mass was merely lip service to me; a time to make a statement but not really think about or intend the words I was saying.

After all, God has assured his forgiveness of us on many occasions. Why must we list out what we have done; why must we beat our breast? God knows what we did and if we are truly sorry for it. Why must we ask?

These are still questions I struggle with now as an older adult. To stand with my new congregation in the Methodist faith and to say words and perform acts that I have always associated with "silly" Catholicism and to see that they are, in fact, part of the original Jewish faith, was very difficult. To beat my breast in public, something I always thought of as an over-the-top and melodramatic action, and to try to mean it was extremely hard to do. To speak out the list of 15 sins, both major and minor, even with all the others of the congregation, was also extremely difficult.

Why so difficult? I’m still not sure. Perhaps now, as someone who is trying to really live my faith and have true intent behind my words, it is harder to admit my sins, both to others and to myself. Perhaps, after several very emotionally hard years, I feel that I truly need to ask God for forgiveness. Perhaps because there have been times when I felt that God has never forgiven me my transgressions, as I did not truly mean my words before.

Despite all of these questions and difficulties, though, I left Sunday’s service feeling forgiven, if still filled with questions. But I am grateful, very grateful, that Pastor Jared and IUMC gave me the opportunity to experience an abbreviated Yom Kippur.

One of the reasons I chose to join IUMC is that I have left more services thinking, and feeling, like someone who has really heard the word of God. And this past Sunday, I feel like I truly received some of God’s forgiveness. And for that I am truly thankful.

A service in honor of Yom Kippur

Normally on Mondays, I like to post the sermon from the previous day's worship.  However, this last week we did not have a sermon!  Instead, we read and prayed and sung together liturgy from Park Synagogue's Yom Kippur service.  I have the privilege of singing in the High Holy Day choir and thus, even as a gentile, have a bit of insight into the vast spirituality contained in the service.  (For more of a primer, check out this introduction by Rabbi Jonathan Kraus.)  Thus, I wanted to bring a little taste of that moving religious experience to our congregation.  However, I'm not comfortable reprinting the prayers in this forum as I am sure their are copyright implications.  Instead, here are a few bits of information to give you a feel.


The Yom Kippur service comes to us from the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus.  As part of the Torah, this is of course revered scripture that is shared by Jews and Christians.  However, we at times fail to appreciate the depth of spirituality in our Hebrew Bible (which is often referred to as the Old Testament).  


The actual Yom Kippur services at Park Synagogue take place over 2 days and last for approximately 13 hours.  We had about 20 minutes!  So we spent the bulk of the time going over what I consider to be the spiritual high point of the service- the confession of the sins that take place during the Avodah service.  I do want to include two quotes from the prayer book ( The New Mahzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Pg. 637) to give you a sense of its meaning:

The Avodah

For our ancestors in ancient days, the Temple in Jerusalem was the symbol of God’s presence.  In the Temple sacrifices were offered daily on behalf of the entire nation.  On the Sabbath and Festivals, special sacrifices marked the holiness of the day.  Thus did the Temple bear testimony to Israel’s consecration to God.
The Temple has long since been destroyed; yet, the remembrance of it lives on in the heart of our people.  
When we recall the ancient Temple, we link ourselves to our past; we sense again that we are part of one people, dedicated to the service of God and God’s Torah of righteousness and truth.
Today our worship is one of prayer and praise.  But when we think of the piety of our ancestors, who from their meager supply of cattle and grain, offered their best possessions in the service of God, we feel called upon to devote not only our words but also our substance to God’s service.
Milton Steinberg (adapted) 

The Ritual of Confession

On Yom Kippur, the sacrificial rites in the ancient Temple, highlighted by the ritual confession, were conducted by the High Priest.   On this day, and on it alone, he entered the Holy of Holies, entry to which was denied to all others.  On this day he made confession three times, humbling himself before God and seeking forgiveness for his own sins and those of his household, for the sins of the priestly order, and for the sins of the entire House of Israel.
Ario S. Hyams (adapted)

Thus, we prayed together our confessions on behalf of ourselves and the entire community.  As was explained to me by one of my Jewish friends, when they make their confession on Yom Kippur, it is a confession as a community.  Thus, not every single thing confessed needs to apply directly to you to confess it.  You are confessing with the community, and certainly someone in the community has transgressed in that particular way.  So also is the community confessing to you as it is quite likely at least one of the confessions applies to you.



The heart of the confession is the Ashamnu which we prayed and sang together.  The English translation of the text is as follows (pg. 649):

We have trespassed; we have dealt treacherously;we have robbed; we have spoken slander;we have acted perversely; we have done wrong;we have acted presumptuously; we have done violence;we have practiced deceit; we have counseled evil;we have spoken falsehood; we have scoffed;we have revolted; we have blasphemed;we have rebelled; we have committed iniquity; we have transgressed; we have oppressed; we have been stiff-necked; we have acted wickedly;we  have dealt corruptly; we have committed abomination;we have gone astray; we have led others astray.

After concluding our confessions, we read a text of reassurance for the forgiveness of our sins- 

When repentance and change seem too hard,
We draw strength from the Divine promise;
For on the road to true repentance,
We are met by God’s love and compassion.

Following the service, I read from the tenth chapter of Hebrews where Jesus is depicted as the high priest making the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the community.  I think we can both affirm that forgiveness is ultimately mediated by Jesus Christ without invalidating the rituals of confession embraced by both the Jewish and Christian faiths.  We still need to take the time to ask for forgiveness- even if that forgiveness is freely offered.

Since I cannot reproduce the entire service here, I asked several members of the congregation to write up their own thoughts following what was a very different service.  I hope you will appreciate their lightly edited reflections as they are posted this week.  It will be great to see the diversity of the responses!

Shalom!

Pastor Jared