Sin

Sin – It’s such a big word to have so few letters. It reminds us of so much unpleasantness. We recall the times we have been hurt, the times and ways others have wronged us. There are scars – emotional, psychological, financial, spiritual, and, sometimes, actual physical ones as well.



There are also those times we are reminded of that involve our wrongs committed against others. We would rather not remember them. It is so much more acceptable to be the wounded victim than the uncaring victimizer!


But sin has a third category as well. In fact it is this third category that swallows all the others. Sin is simply missing the mark. Think of it as being at a shooting range. The targets are 300 yards away. The mark is a circle smaller than a dime, in fact it is only the tiniest fraction of an inch larger than the circumference of the bullet. This is what God sets for you and for me. There is no second ring, only the perfect shot.


“How unfair,” you cry! And you proceed to draw other rings on the target. You draw a ring that includes all the good “church people” you know. You draw a ring outside of that one that includes all the “good people”, and another one that includes the “nice people”. Outside that there may be a circle that includes all those people who have never gotten arrested or charged with a crime. We draw lots of circles, each one getting bigger and, finally, including almost everyone we know and care about.


Now we feel much more comfortable aiming at the target. Of course, we had to increase the size of the target! It is now 50 yards high and 50 yards wide, much more comfortable to shoot at. We shoot, and our shot lands easily within the outer rings. In fact, we are only 3-4 rings from the center. Yes, we feel really good.


The problem is that God only recognizes that center ring. All of the others are standards we set up. The only mark that counts is that one in the center. In our attempts to perfect ourselves we go back to the same sin that Adam & Eve committed, the one that says if you don’t like the rules as they are, just make up ones with which you are more comfortable. Keep making the circles bigger until all our family and friends are on the inside with us.


Throw out anything you don’t like and call it enlightenment. The only problem with that is that you and I end up throwing out God’s grace as well. We disregard or disagree with anything that might make us fall on our knees and cry out, “Oh God! Have mercy on me, a sinner!” It is only when we recognize how lost we are without God’s mercy and how undeserving we are of the gift of that mercy, that we come to recognize how abundantly it has been given to us for free!

Pastor Craig