Q. 82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?
A. No mere man, since the Fall, is able, in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but does daily break them, in thought, word, and deed.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8)
Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made. - Philosopher Immanuel Kant
During the Watergate scandal, Leon Jaworski was the special prosecutor. Jaworski a Presbyterian elder, one Sunday he found himself at the New York Ave. Presbyterian Church, the historic D.C. church where Peter Marshall had been pastor. As he sat in worship, he noted the Lincoln pew, which is set aside for presidents to sit in when they visit there for worship, and it's the pew in which Lincoln sat during the Civil War years when he came to church. Suddenly there was a hush in the congregation, and down the aisle walked Mr. Nixon with an usher who seated him in the Lincoln pew. Leon Jaworski, sitting several pews behind that pew, recollected in his mind all that he knew from having listened to the Nixon tapes. He knew that the president could be indicted for criminal activity beyond any shadow of doubt. There he sat in worship. He wondered in his own mind what would happen if the president suddenly stood up and said to the pastor of the church, who was Dr. George M. Docherty at the time, "Dr. Docherty, I would like a moment of special privilege," and then would turn to the congregation and say:
"I want to say today that, as president of the United States, I have sinned before God and I have lied to you. I have asked his forgiveness and I now ask yours. I have come to this church today to make full disclosure of who and what I am and what I have become. I promise you from this day forward I'm going to do better."
Leon Jaworski said if he had done that as he had turned it in his mind, we would have probably gathered the president up and put him on our shoulders and carried him back to the White House. It is a thought worth thinking about for all of us to acknowledge our sins. - Dr. W. Frank Harrington, "Does the Oval Office Reflect Who We Are?" Peachtree Presbyterian Pulpit, 1998.
The Confession of 1967 describes human sin as when people “claim mastery of their own lives, turn against God” and against others. They become “exploiters and despoilers of the world. They lose their humanity in futile striving and are left in rebellion, despair, and isolation.” Self-interest and hostility infect all human enterprises, even those that are good, such as devotion to “freedom, justice, peace, truth, and beauty.” This means, theologically, that all persons, “good and bad alike, are in the wrong before God and helpless” without God’s forgiveness. All fall under God’s judgment. And no one is more “subject to that judgment” than those who assume they are “guiltless before God or morally superior to others.”
The Brief Statement of Faith, speak of sin when it says:
We rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God’s commandments,
We violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
Accept lies as truth,
Exploit neighbor and nature,
And threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
We deserve God’s condemnation.
The “inward” and “outward” effects are real. Sin disrupts our relationship with God, with others, and with our world. In the face of all that is destructive, evil, and contrary to God’s intentions for our human community, as Christians we can only confess our sins. We confess for ourselves, and we confess on behalf of all humanity. For only in admitting our sin and seeking God’s mercy is there hope for forgiveness and new life. Fortunately, the doctrine of sin is not the last word. The last word of the Christian gospel is that God has given us one who will “save his people from their sins,” Jesus Christ. (Matt. 1:21)
Today’s Lectionary Readings
Morning Psalm: 108
Evening Psalm: 67, 73
Jeremiah 25:8-17
Romans 10:1-13
John 9:18-41
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