Proper 18B’24 7 Deadly Sins: Epilogue
8 September 2024
Jam 2.1-17; Mk 7.24-37
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Rev. Carey Stone <+>
Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us, that we, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – from The Book of Common Prayer pp.228-29
One Sunday, US president Calvin Coolidge had gone to church while his wife who was sick stayed home. When he got back home his wife asked him what the preacher had talked about. “He preached about sin,” Coolidge told her. “What did he say about sin?” she asked. President Coolidge replied, “He was against it.”1
As I began this seven-week series on the seven deadly sins I wasn’t quite sure how things would go. Within most Episcopal congregations there are several varieties of folk; there are spiritual refugees who joined the Episcopal Church in order to escape the incessant preaching of hellfire and damnation. There are others who didn’t grow up in that kind of faith tradition may who may have found direct commentary on various sins as either a novelty or slightly annoying. Still others took it at face value and have pondered it. I suppose you could say my aim was to take a look at these deadly sins from a nonjudgmental, healthier and more life-giving way. The underlying questions were and are, “Where do they speak to my daily life? Which one or ones do I struggle with, and what does my struggle look like in real life? Is there anything that can be done about it?
Sin is not a sinister word, it simply means “missing the mark” or “falling short” of the commands of God. This week I have done some reflecting as to where my personal struggle with sin lies. It has been a sobering, and humbling exercise to do this both as a preacher and a fellow human who, like you are on a very human journey. I have tried to use these to identify patterns that diminish my love for God, myself, and others. To discover how they have hindered holiness and the forward progress of my life. So, I’d like make a brief review of all of them.
Envy: author Rebecca DeYoung defined envy as “feeling offended at the talents, successes, or good fortune of others.” Yielding to this offense leads one to all manner of slander, gossip, backbiting, and sabotage, and rejoicing at their difficulties and downfall. The antidote to the poison of envy is the way of gratitude for our own place in life, and delighting in the envied person’s good fortune. “Thank you, God, for the ways you have blessed me, and thank you for blessing so-n-so in their life/lives too!”
Pride: That is thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, seeing ourselves as better than others by comparing our strengths against other’s weaknesses always makes us look like a winner. St. James said it best: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble…Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”.2
Gluttony: Perhaps Frederick Buechner said it best: “A glutton is one who raids the refrigerator [icebox] for a cure for spiritual malnutrition.”3 Seeking to fill a spiritual vacuum with comfort food simply won’t work, food for the body can’t provide food for the soul. The way out is temperance or self-control which called in the bible a “fruit of the spirit.”
Greed: The false belief that the accumulation of wealth can guard protect and provide the well-being of our souls. Money can solve a lot of problems and buy a great many things but no amount of it can buy love. The way out of greed is generosity – by giving money and possessions away is to become dispossessed. To bless others by our generosity of one life’s great blessings. May we all have enough money in order to give to others in need.
Sloth: The sin of “things left undone.” People under sloth’s influence fall asleep to their lives, all areas of their lives body, mind, spirit, family, work, suffer from a lack of due diligence. St. Benedict coined a phrase back in the 5th cen. as an antidote “Ora et Labora” literally to pray and to work. By awakening to diligence, and with God’s help, a person can become free from the quagmire of sloth.
Wrath/Anger: The deadly sin that causes a person to seethe in resentment and steamroll over others whom are perceived as obstacles to achieve their self-centered goals. Wrath also drives people to retaliate against any perceived threat, to seek revenge, and find satisfaction in lashing out at others. There are two antidotes to this destructive type of anger and they are two more of the “fruits of the Spirit” patience and gentleness. As we are patient and gentle with ourselves for our own weaknesses, we can allow God to bring through us a gentle and patient response towards other’s weaknesses and short comings.
Lust: Is yet another futile attempt to find love in a place where love cannot be found. Through the pleasures of the flesh, one seeks to meet the deep needs of the soul and spirit. This sin causes one to turn others into objects of objectification. The antidote to Lust is chastity, that is, using our bodies as God intended, within the bounds of a committed love relationship.
Well, there they are. As we have reviewed and reflected on all seven of these we are invited, not to self-condemnation and shame but an honest acknowledgment, and to repentance – the opportunity to own up, confess these behaviors to God and receive God’s forgiveness. This makes the next redemptive step possible, to make amends to ourselves, and those whom we have hurt or harmed, that is to take actions that reveal a change of heart by apologizing to those we have hurt (unless it would injure them or others) and by making amends, some outward action. The nature of the amends will be directly related to the sin we’ve struggled with. For some this may involve paying money back that doesn’t belong to them, while others need to give generously to those in need, or apologizing for hurtful words, seeking the rite of confession with a priest may be called for, or by becoming a part of 12-step group in order to recover from the sin: AA, NA, OA, SLAA, if there is an addiction there is probably a recovery group to address the problem. God stands ready to guide you towards recovery from your deadly sin. Asking for help is sometimes the hardest thing but is the best thing we can do.
When we take the appropriate steps in our lives to make amends, we can be assured by what the Book of Common Prayer calls The Comfortable Words:
Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.
-Matthew 11.28
God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, nut have everlasting life. – John 3.16
This a true saying and worthy of all to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. – I Timothy 1.15
If anyone sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the perfect offering for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. – I John 2.1-2
1 https://www.google.com/search?q=calvin+coolidge+went+to+church+and+said+they+preached+on+sin&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS701US701&oq=calvin+coolidge+went+to+church+and+said+they+preached+on+sin&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQABiABBiiBDIKCAIQABiABBiiBDIKCAMQABiiBBiJBdIBCjE0OTkzajFqMTWoAgiwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
2 – From James 4.6-10 nrsv
3 Buechner, Frederick, Wishful Thinking