ASH WEDNESDAY

[cappie]

Here we are once more at Ash Wednesday and there is a great deal said about sin. For most of us, the language of sin has been obscured and even lost; sin, as a concept doesn’t make a great deal of sense. For some, it seems convenient to simply leave sin in the rear-view mirror, to move on without it However we need sin

Two helpful terms that help in understanding sin are isolation and damage. Isolation has been described as the chief human problem in our age. Certainly, the pandemic has highlighted this problem. Isolation impedes our life, our abundant life, because we are created to be in communion with God, our neighbours, and ourselves. When we are isolated or isolate ourselves, our humanity is diminished.   . We were created in the triune image of God, which is a loving community of persons that are so caught up in giving that they share a nature. This is why reconciliation is such a theme of God’s work – and therefore ours – because sin is isolation.

The other term that is helpful for understanding sin is damage. Damage is inflicted upon us, and it is also self-inflicted.  We are created good, but something happens, something damages us, yet we can be restored to health; damage is not our nature nor our fate.

As we look at our readings today, we can substitute damage and isolation for sin. From the Corinthians reading: “ We are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God. .” This could be read as: “ For our sake he made him to be damaged who knew no damage, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Here we see that Jesus, who was not damaged, took upon himself our damage to heal us.

Sin as isolation sounds like this: “We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be isolated who knew no isolation, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” By Jesus taking on our isolation, we are reconciled, that is, reunited, to God, ourselves, and our neighbours.

 This action of substituting those words “damage” and “isolation” for sin allows us to, perhaps for the first time, hear what sin is and how it hurts us. Sin isolates us from God, ourselves, and our neighbours. It sets up walls that are not supposed to be there that keep us from thriving. Sin damages our goodness, our soundness. Sin hurts our healthy integrity. And we need healing; we need reconciliation.

Ash Wednesday is our reminder of our isolation and damage. How we have separated ourselves and hurt ourselves and have been both victim and perpetrator of isolation and damage. It’s a reminder that you are human, you will die, that you are a sinner, and that, yes, there is reconciliation of isolation through Christ, there is healing of damage through Christ.

It is so important for us to recover a healthy sense of sin both theologically and socially. The first part of this Ash Wednesday message is about the theological importance of sin, but the social impacts are just as important.

 We are sinners. So be it. And we have healing of that sin through Christ. That healing is for our flourishing, for us to enter into the abundant life of God. Our saving, our salvation, is not primarily to quit the life of the flesh to go to heaven. And our salvation is not primarily the celestial fire insurance of rescuing us from the flames of hell. Instead, our salvation is accepting God’s healing of our damage and the reconciliation of our isolation. God is not our elevator, hopefully only taking us up, no, God is our abundant life lived in health and community.

As we move into and through Lent, carry these helpful images of sin as damage and isolation. Take up your Lenten disciplines that can begin to address your damage and isolation. And remember that God is for you, so desperately. 

 

[little2add]