Sin, Guilt & Damnation

J, my spouse, talks with his mother nearly every day. Even if he misses a day here and there, without fail he calls her on Sunday evenings. J’s mother, Virgie, is a life-long Southern Baptist. Even though she holds firmly to her beliefs, she is loving and supportive of me as a minister and of us as a couple. Recently, she introduced me to her Baptist minister as J’s spouse and a Unity minister. If that was not a statement of her support, I don’t know what would be! When talking with J on Sundays, she frequently asks how the Sunday service went and if I preached on sin. She jokingly says that she is glad she was not there if I was preaching on sin.

Well, Virgie, you may not want to come this Sunday, because I am going to be preaching on sin!

My lesson for Sunday is “Sin, Guilt and Damnation.”

Sin, as any good Southern Baptist will tell you, is a frequent topic for Sunday sermons in their churches. Preachers often expound on the evils of sin and extol the virtues of repentance. Having been a Southern Baptist, I can speak first-hand to the philosophy of reward for “good” behavior and punishment for “bad” behavior, or “sin,” that is enculturated in that denomination, as well as many other traditional Christian denominations. The legacy of “sin, guilt and damnation” from our Judeo-Christian heritage impacts all of us whether we realize it or not.

We, in New Thought, are not even immune to it. While we may not use those particular words or admit to operating from a reward and punishment consciousness, we cannot help but be affected by it. It is, unfortunately, an aspect of our embedded theology.

Fortunately, we have the opportunity and the power to take steps to evolve past it.

I found it interesting as I searched for Bible references to “sin” that of the nearly 100 cited, only a few were attributed to Jesus. Many of the ones referenced in the canonical Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – that are attributed to Jesus do not mention damnation, retribution, guilt, or shame. That’s because Jesus revealed a deeper meaning and broader understanding of the word ‘sin’ than was previously accepted by the Pharisees who were interpreters and enforcers of the Jewish law. They used the word “sin” to signify actions that belied the law thus requiring punishment.

In John 8: 1- 11, we read the story where the Pharisees are ready to stone an adulterous woman to death as punishment for her “sin.” Attempting to set a trap for Jesus, they ask him if she should be stoned. Not wanting to contradict the law, Jesus suggests that one who is without sin could cast the first stone. When no one does and they slink away, he tells the woman “go and sin no more.”

While he may have ostensibly been referring to “sin” as an action that goes against the Mosaic Law, Jesus was also pointing to something deeper. He did not condemn her. He did not see her as guilty. He did not condone punishing her. He called for empathy and compassion.

Jesus, in this story, was exemplifying my theme for Lent, “Love – the Religion of Jesus.”

He taught by living example, and Jesus calls us to love. He calls us to take another look at the idea of “sin” and see it from another perspective. To Jesus, sin is not breaking an arbitrary law or rule set down by a power outside of us. Sin, from Jesus’ perspective, is taking action that is out of alignment with our True Self, action that contradicts our higher values.

Jesus does not see the woman as guilty of breaking a law of man or of God, but of being out of integrity with herself. With his help, her recognition and realization of that was humiliating and painful enough. No external punishment was required.

When he said, “Go and sin no more,” Jesus was calling her up to the recognition of her Higher Self and encouraging her to live from the values intrinsic to her in the consciousness of her truth.

I appreciate the words of civil rights leader, theologian and philosopher, Howard Thurman, in referring to how Jesus exampled Love in this story. He says in his book, Jesus and the Disinherited,

"He met the woman where she was, and he treated her as if she were already where she now willed to be. In dealing with her he “believed” her into the fulfillment of her possibilities. He stirred her confidence into activity. He placed a crown on her head which for the rest of her life she would keep trying to grow tall enough to wear."

This is a powerful lesson for all of us who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus, not just those in traditional Christianity, but us in Unity and other New Thought traditions as well. I encourage us to embrace and live more fully “Love – the Religion of Jesus.”

We can begin by inviting ourselves into the awareness of when we are tempted to make ourselves or another “bad or wrong” - when we want to make ourselves or another guilty of “sin.” We may not use the word “sin,” but if we honestly explore our judgments of ourselves or another, we often discover that we point the finger of blame and guilt when we believe a rule has been broken or a law of our own making has been violated. Whether the “guilty party” is ourselves or another, the punishment is often judgment, damning words, hurtful actions, withdrawal of love and affection, isolation or worse.

We can also ask our inner Spirit, “How can I see this differently?” and open to witnessing the True Light within us or the other. Be willing to see the offending words or actions as expressions of one who is temporarily out of touch with their True Self and out of alignment with their highest values. Instead of engaging in blame, shame, and guilt, we can call ourselves and others to live up to and grow tall enough to wear, recognize and realize who we truly are; support each other; and live in integrity with our highest values from that conscious awareness of truth.

As Thurman said, we can believe ourselves and others into the fulfillment of the highest potential and possibility. That is the way of “Love – the Religion of Jesus.”

Join us on Sunday at 10:00 as we explore together how we can rise above and release ourselves and others from the bonds of “Sin, Guilt and Damnation.”