Mathew 5:8
God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.
Prayer
The recent media activity dealing with now former Congressman, Anthony Weiner, never delved into the more heinous aspect of his internet life. Sin. God forbid that this three-letter word ever be mentioned on the public airways and internet…..while on the other hand, those of four letter variety seem to be welcomed! Whatever became of sin? Over thirty eight years ago, Topeka psychiatrist Karl Menninger penned the following words in his now famous book, “Whatever Became of Sin?”
- "The very word, 'sin,' which seems to have disappeared, was once a proud word. It was once a strong word, an ominous and serious word. But the word went away. It has almost disappeared - the word, along with the notion. Why? Doesn't anyone sin anymore? Doesn't anyone believe in sin?"
-I am sure Dr. Menninger and Saint Paul would have been good friends when discussing this topic, especially if they were reading our assigned Epistle today from the 6th chapter of Romans. Sin. This is a topic on which we could spend all day, perhaps all week, discussing. A simple three letter word, found in the Lord’s Prayer of all places, wherein the Lord teaches us to forgive the sins or trespasses of others as we also ask to be forgiven for our own.
But what is sin in the first place? Our Catechism in the BCP on p. 848 tells us that sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation. Sin puts “me first” in place of God. By sinning, we become a captive to it because we, by our own choice and actions, lose our liberty, thereby distorting our creative, on-going relationship with God.
-In fact, this works the same way in all relationships, marriage included.
-God told the pouting Cain, because God favored his brother Abel’s gift over his, that he had a simple choice to make in life
oIf you do well, you will be accepted
oIf you don’t, sin is lurking at the door, desiring you, but you must master it.
-Jonah also had a bout of pouting when God wanted Nineveh to be saved while Jonah wanted them punished for their sin.
-When are we going to learn that you cannot take God on. He is God. He is right in every respect. And he desires that we seek his righteousness, not our own which oftentimes seems so right!
-This was exactly the case in our Old Testament lesson today from Jeremiah. The prophet Jeremiah was trying to tell the king and the people the truth which unfortunately for them was bad news. The false prophet, Hananiah, on the other hand lied to the leaders by trying to make them feel good about their predicament. He said that God would take them out of captivity in Babylon in only two years; the truth was more like 70!  He sinned, and within one year as predicted by Jeremiah, he died.
oSome 600years later, Saint Paul would write to the Romans, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-So just how are we to go about not sinning? Is it possible to not sin in this sin-filled world? How are we to obtain one of those “clean hearts” that the Psalmist talks about in Psalm 51? And what exactly is that “new and right spirit” that he speaks of in the very next verse?
-Simple. We have to work at it, and with God’s help, he will lead us into all righteousness. “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his Name’s sake,” quotes the 23rd Psalm. This is exactly what Saint Paul was telling the Romans in our Epistle today. Don’t let sin take control of your body; don’t be dominated by it.
-Listen to what the writer of the Letter of James has to say about this in his very first chapter:
o“One is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.”
oRather, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
But do we really, truly want to?
-If we want to put names on these things in the world around us, can I say, without judging anyone: Tiger Woods; Senator John Edwards; Governor Elliot Spitzer; Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger; Governor Mark Sanford; Senator David Vitter; Senator Larry Craig; President Bill Clinton, and yes, Representative Anthony Weiner. As we can see, this is not a liberal or conservative problem, it is a human problem, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23.
oI think Dr. Menninger would say that all these fellows, and countless of other men and women, were simply sinning, not just in the vernacular of the political spin by offering words like: disappointing, letting us down, feeling sorry, righteous anger, etc.

The good news is that help is on the way. In fact, it has already come in the form of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth. This Spirit cannot sin because he is God, and God cannot work against himself and his own will. In order for us to become, as Paul said today in the Epistle, obedient from the heart, and slaves of righteousness, we need to let the Holy Spirit dominate our lives, from the inside out.
-If the Spirit is the source of our lives, why not let the Spirit direct the course of our lives, said Paul to the Galatians.
-We have been freed from sin, not freed to sin, even though we now live under grace, not the law. And we have been given a new life in Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit at our baptism wherein we died to sin by dying with Christ in his death.
-Now it is up to us to live that new life, by conscious choice, for sin is an ever-present reality as God told Cain way back when.
-We are not automatically transformed, but we work out our salvation in fear and trembling, day by day, with the help of the Lord.
-Saint Peter reminds us that we are living stones, built into a spiritual house, as God’s temple for God’s Spirit dwells within us. This is that spiritual dwelling place for God that Paul taught to the Ephesians. Yet none of this comes easy. We have to work at it.
-I heard a story the other day about the Bristlecone Pine, the oldest living life form on this earth. Some of these hardy plants are nearly 5,000 years old! They live in harsh and rugged, mountainous areas with little water. If moved to a milder, more friendly climate and soil, they grow much faster and larger, but die quickly. Christians too have to tough it out, like the Bristlecone Pine. They too will learn to cope with a sin-filled world.
-There was a story about the devil having a garage sale one day. He wanted to get rid of some of those old tools of his that were cluttering up the place, stuff like lying, adultery, coveting, slander, greed, etc. People were mixing amongst the tables, examining these tools while one fellow wandered back into the garage and found a well-oiled, cared for tool. He brought it out and asked if it was for sale. “Oh, no,” cried the devil. “That’s my tool. Without it, I couldn’t wreck the Church. It’s my secret weapon” The man what it was. “It’s the tool of discouragement.” I suspect he has another one called the tool of false encouragement….like Hananiah used in the Old Testament lesson today. It’s called lying.
-A good way around all this sinning and discouragement is to reach out and help someone. To welcome one another. Even to the point of simply giving someone a cup of cold water, a seemingly minor effort. It’s not. It is part of that temple spoken of earlier, held together by the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ. Thus we are joined together in unity of Spirit by these visiting prophets and righteous people. God promises that in these shepherds he sends us, these ministers amongst us, in their success comes our reward. By helping them in their assigned work, we in turn are blessed. For we are all in this thing together, as slaves of righteousness.               AMEN