A New Intention: Stop Sin, Be Beloved

Something remarkable happens at this time each year. Millions of people spend billions of dollars on new diet plans, workout equipment, organizational materials, and whatever else gets marketed as a new year, new you product! What is your New Year’s Resolution? Have you kept it thus far? How is the new diet, workout routine, or prayer practice going?

While on one level taking on new routines this year could be seen as commendable, however the overarching concept of making yourself better stands in opposition with the message of Christ. As strange as it sounds, God did not send Jesus to us so that we might lose a few pounds or organize the garage in the New Year. In the First Letter of John we are reminded of our true nature, which requires no resolving to be “better” this year. John wrote, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.” Living a healthy life for your sake or for your family’s is great! Being more prepared is fantastic! Exploring nature through exercise makes my heart sing. And yet, we are God’s children NOW!

The trouble with resolutions comes in a fundamental misunderstanding. We do not make ourselves good, instead God has made us good in our Creation and in our restoration. It is through Christ’s Incarnation in Jesus his life, death, and Resurrection that we see and experience ultimate goodness! John’s letter goes on to show us that as God’s beloveds our entire existence will take the shape of Christ’s own life! He wrote, “What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” This stands out as AWESOMELY good news!

No resolution is needed for us to be made into God’s beloved. We are already these loved ones! And, as we see Christ in our lives and in the world around us life will take the shape of Christ: living, dying, and resurrecting. During Advent as my Sunday School class discussed the shape of the Church Calendar we found that in Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Morning, what is known as the Triduum, most of or maybe even all our experiences exist. Fellowship, service, betrayal, denial, torture, greed, rage, self-emptying, love, isolation, forgiveness, solitude, death, and resurrection are all on display here. In the person of Jesus, Christ models for us all of human experience such that resolutions no longer make any sense. We are already beloved by God, how can we become better, how could we possibly achieve something greater? However, what may be beneficial to us in this New Year is an intention to remember that we are God’s beloveds through a practice or observation.

John the Baptizer shows us a helpful practice for now and into the future. In today’s Gospel lesson the forerunner of God knew that Jesus was the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. Notice that this text says sin and not sins. According to Richard Rohr, the Franciscan priest and monk at the Center for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico, this is no mistake. There is but one sin that John the Baptizer observed. Rohr states as this, “Ignorant hating, excluding, and killing is the universal sin of the world to this day.”[1] It dates back to Cain and Abel, was seen in the death of Jesus and the first martyr Stephen, and it is still seen in modern martyrdoms here and abroad. So what do we do?

May our intention be to stop the cycle of hating, excluding, and killing this year! May we practice the self-emptying love of Christ! May we be willing to give up our way, so that God’s way may be walked together, hand-in-hand with all the people of this world! These huge objectives of stopping hatred, bringing about peace, and uniting all people in love seem impossible; however, the reign of Christ has already begun and we can co-create with God through even the tiniest of steps. When we stop judging, manipulating, or reprimanding others we are then able to live into our belovedness, as instead of trying to change how others are we may take on their pain, empathize with others, and together be transformed by the resurrecting power of God’s love! THAT IS WHAT THE GOSPEL IS ALL ABOUT!

We are already God’s beloved. Now we are called into a new intention. As the Body of Christ we must be part of taking way the sin of the world (hating, excluding, and killing), so that we may instead remember that all are God’s beloved, as we are all healed by the Lamb of God!

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[1] Rohr, Richard. Changing the Game. December 26, 2016. https://cac.org/changing-the-game-2016-12-26/ (accessed January 3, 2017).

Luke 18:9-14: 2,000 Years Later the Religious Folk Are Still Pharisees

Luke 18:9-14 (NRSV):


Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."


In yesterday's sermon on Luke 18:1-8, the Rev. Evan Garner pointed out how even though we are drawn to looking at the red-lettered words (those spoken by Jesus) in certain Bibles, often times we need those black words to help us understand what is going on in a certain text (full sermon text here). Like the parable from last week's gospel, this parable is set up as an instructive message for a certain group of people. Last week it was a parable for disciples who need to pray always and not lose heart, this week Jesus' instruction focuses on those who trust in themselves that they are righteous and regard others with contempt. If I didn't know any better I would think that Jesus was aiming this story at the judge from earlier in Luke 18. Yet, if I leave myself out of those who often thinks of themselves as righteous regarding others with contempt, then I end up being just like this Pharisee, and, perhaps I am not alone in this.


According to this article from Christianity Today, the Barna Group found that 1 in 2 Christians today hold attitudes and act in ways that are characterized by self-righteousness. The president of the research foundation, David Kinnaman, tends to think that because of how many Christians live their lives, others see them in much the same way as Luke portrays the Pharisees. In Kinnaman's words they "do the 'right' thing, but with improper motives." The Barna Group's survey results seem to show that even though Christians love to point to Pharisees as the antithesis of who Jesus wanted his followers to be, we very often act just like them. Perhaps it's not quite hypocrisy, but rather just going through the motions, so that we can be proven right by our "rules" as Christians. So what do we do as followers of Christ?


Jesus ends the above gospel, "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." The culmination of this parable appears a bit like a dog chasing her own tale (you humble yourself, which might make you feel exalted, which in turn humbles you), yet the words that Jesus leaves us with tends to make me believe that we are called to always start from a place of humility. This means that none of us begins from a position of judgment, power, and self-righteousness, but rather we start with curiosity about our own lives. Where are the places where I have separation between God and me, between my neighbor and me, and even between who I am called to be and where I am now? To observe our own faults, to recognize our own separation (that is sin), and to be inquisitive as to how we turn back is the beginning of a humble walk with God.