B, Pentecost 17 Proper 20 - James 3:13 "The Great Bone of Contention"

James 3:13 (ESV) Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

The great bone of contention in the church is sin.  But it is a hidden and buried controversy in many ways. 

We as Christians are fearful of being seen to sin, as being sinners.  However, in the bible we learn that we are never free of sin because we all carry the nature of sin from our earthly origin in Adam.

As Christians many of us are led to believe we are to appear as though we are without sin, that we are good people, without much consideration over what goodness is in the eyes of God.

Then, there is the degree of the sin committed.  A little white lie or a devilish delight is believed not to be as bad as murder or adultery.  Theologians discuss the differences of these as venial sins or sins that are minor and forgivable, as opposed to mortal sins that are deadly and separate one from God.

However, on the one hand, scripture teaches, sin that is forgivable can become unforgivable, when one believes they don’t need forgiveness for it. Therefore, in not asking for forgiveness show themselves as unbelievers.  But on the other hand, a sin that appears to be unforgivable and mortal can indeed be forgiven by God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Luther pointing to our baptism into Christ Jesus says, “Even if a Christian would, they could not lose their salvation, however much they sinned, unless one refused to believe.  For no sin can condemn except unbelief alone.  All other sins, so long as the faith in God’s promise made in baptism returns or remains, are immediately blotted out through that same faith or through the truth of God, because he cannot deny himself if you confess him and faithfully cling to him in his promise.” (The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, LW 36:60 edited here with inclusive language)

The flip side of the sin coin is forgiveness and grace, where cheap grace is pitted against unaffordable grace.  Unfortunately, this discussion is more about the individual and their justification for forgiving or not forgiving rather than the expensive but free grace that comes from God for us all.  In fact, grace is cheapened or made unaffordable when sin is not dealt with appropriately. 

Therefore, while we fail continually to consider what sin is and fail to learn from our sin because we are pretending to be finished with sin or hide from the reality of sin because of our fear, we hinder God bringing us to maturity and giving us wisdom in Jesus Christ.

It seems we Christians when exposed to learning something from our sins, and the forgiveness of them, are like a dog who guiltily cowers because he’s been caught in the act of chewing his bone.  We quickly want to hide and bury the bone of sin.

Yes, it is true, we can become so focused on sin that we end up losing focus on God.  But the opposite is also true when we lose sight of sin, we end up becoming focused on gods and idols that have nothing to do with our Triune God!

Four extremes tend to arise when one is challenged on sin.  The first is, now that I am a Christian, I am no longer a sinner. And because I am no longer a sinner I no longer sin. 

This so-called “sinless one” naturally burdens others as they become puffed up proclaiming that stopping oneself from sin is easy.  Forgiveness for “the sinless one” also becomes a thing of the past because if one no longer sins then there is now no need for forgiveness.

The question then goes begging, “If they are no longer a sinner, why then do they need Jesus or the Holy Spirit anymore?” Rather, the so called “sinless one” really doesn’t have a biblical view of sin because they have become their own god.

Opposite to this is the second extremity: The Christian who believes their sin cannot be forgiven. This is either someone who cannot stop sinning because they struggle with sins of addiction or they commit a one-off sin they believe cannot be forgiven.

For the addict, the proof is in the pudding due to the cycle of sin in which they live.  This person lives a life of guilt and effort to work the guilt away.  They continually attempt stopping sin which entices them even more with its temptation to please.  However, pleasure quickly becomes pain as sin sours them the moment gratification is reached. The more one focus on the sin the more one is absorbed by sin. 

Or, the person may not struggle with a sin of addiction.   But having believed they were the “sinless one” the person is found to be with sin.  They are crushed by the shame of their misdeed.  They end up believing they have fallen too far from their Christian ideal to be forgiven.

Both the addict and the idealist fall into a cycle of shame. It’s a cycle that kills the person’s spirit and destroys any true faith that struggles to exist under the futile faith of their idealism.  This shame can lead a person to spiritual and even physical suicide.

These two extremes are one end of the bone of contention where sin is focused on too much.  One focuses on the extreme of one’s ability to not sin while the other is absorbed in not being able to stop sinning.

Then there are the third and fourth extremes on the other end of the bone of contention.  Where there is not enough attention to sin as defined by God’s word. 

The third extreme or “knuckle on the bone” is still a variant of the first.  This is where the presuming “sinless one” is confronted with God’s definition of their deeds as sin according to his word.  The result is they work tirelessly to demonstrate why they are not a sinner.  In reality, they are thrown into chaos by this revelation and work to blame and deflect their sin as someone else’s sin or they justify themselves by redefining God’s word on sin. 

This person is tempted to walk even further away from God because the ideal they have held, is shown for the hoax that it is, especially when life gets difficult, someone dies, or they are led into suffering.  The god they have upheld is an idol and not the Triune God. 

When a crisis comes the person cries out, “God if you will save me, I’ll be good, and start coming to church etc. etc.”  Then the moment they hit the clear God is jettisoned from their minds once again.  There is absolutely no importance attached to sin by this person. This person walks to the beat of their own drum.  God is not important to them. 

The fourth and last nub of the bone is the person who believes, “because I’m a Christian I can do as I please”.  Jesus’ death on the cross is a get out of jail free card to be played on judgement day.  They live life never learning anything from their sin or the forgiveness of it.  They ignore the reality of their sin.  Therefore, they have no understanding or awe of the depth of God’s work undertaken to forgive them. 

Between these four extremes there are many variants and mixes. Every one of us sits somewhere between the knuckles on this bone of contention.

In fact, sin is also the one great similarity between Christians and non-Christians.  Outside the church a person might call it human nature, passions, guilt, or narcissism rather than plain old sin.

If we are to reach out into a world that struggles with the same sin, we owe it to God for his sake and for the sake of our neighbour’s salvation, to understand our sin and the forgiveness of it, so we can share that forgiveness in the world.

Learning from our sin teaches us more about God’s work of salvation and in this learning, we are plunged further into the unfathomable depths of God’s grace and love for us. 

What a wonderful thing to be proclaiming to the world!

When we think we are facing enemies around us, when it seems like someone is going to steal our bone, and we try to bury and hide it, God wants us to chew on this bone and leave it in the light.  It is he who has given us Christ to chew on in the word of God. We are called into this meekness of wisdom. A good work to see our sin, confess our sin, and proclaim Jesus Christ through the forgiveness of our sins in this bone of contention. Amen.

Thankyou Lord Jesus for serving each of us and saving us from sin by taking your place on a cross that should have been each of ours.   Thank you, for continually sending the Holy Spirit into the hearts of your people to show us our sin but also to show us the way of meekness, maturity, and wisdom is found in no one else other than you.  Help us to learn from our sin, to trust you so we are freed to confess you and our forgiven sins to others who need the same forgiveness as us. Amen.