“The Sin Within”

“The Sin Within”

Text: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

© September 16, 2007 by C. Edward Bowen at Crafton United Presbyterian Church.

Some people just don’t fit in. Some people just don’t fit in because we say they don’t fit in. Take, for instance, a woman by the name of Mary Francis Beckley. When she started at Juniata College, in the central part of Pennsylvania, some 80 years ago she very quickly discovered that she didn’t fit in. You see, Mary Francis Beckley was left-handed. And so when she went out for the women’s tennis team, the coach wasn’t quite sure what to do with her. So the coach ended up sending her off to a separate tennis court to practice with a guy with the men’s team who was also left-handed. Well, eventually those two left-handed outcasts got acquainted with each other, fell in love, and got married several years later.

Later in life, Mary Francis Beckley decided that she wanted to leave some money to Juniata College for scholarships for needy students. But she attached one set of conditions to her gift. She said that the money could only be given to needy students who are left-handed. And so, to this day, each year two financially needy left-handed students at Juniata College receive between four and five thousand dollars in scholarships because of Mary Francis Beckley’s gift. I guess you could say that that scholarship was set up to show left-handed people that they’re special and that someone cares about them, even if other people might say that they don’t fit in.

In essence, you could say that that’s the same message that we discover in today’s reading from the New Testament letter known as 1 Timothy. Because there in that reading we find that even if other people might say that we don’t fit in, as far as God is concerned, we’re special and God cares about us.

But as this passage reminds us, for at least one person in the Bible, it took quite a while before that message finally sunk in. You see, in the New Testament, one of the major figures that we learn about is a man by the name of Paul. And at first Paul made a living out of telling other people that they didn’t fit in and that God didn’t love them. You see, at first Paul’s job was to work for the religious leaders of his day, and his assignment was to hunt down people who were Christians.

At that time, very shortly after Jesus had been crucified and resurrected and taken up into heaven, Christianity was a new “religion.” And the religious leaders of that day didn’t like the idea that more and more people were ignoring what they had to say about God and were instead paying attention to what Jesus had to say about God. And so the religious leaders used their power to declare that Christians just didn’t fit in, that God didn’t approve of them. And they hired Paul to be their enforcer. And so day in and day out Paul dedicated himself to tracking Christians down, arresting them, torturing them, and even killing them.

Just like back then, even today, one of the ways we try to make ourselves feel more important and more right is by looking for other people that we can point at, and who we can say that they don’t fit in, that we don’t approve of them. For instance, each fall U. S. News & World Report magazine ranks all of the colleges and universities around the country. And one of the things that moves your school up in their rankings is if you reject a lot of people who apply. In other words, according to U. S. News & World Report magazine, the more students that you say don’t fit in at your school, the more students that you disapprove of, the higher your ranking.

But then all of a sudden one day Paul’s life changed forever. He was on his way to the city of Damascus because he had heard reports that there were some Christians there, and he was planning to go there and arrest them. But as Paul made his way along that road, from out of nowhere an incredibly brilliant light exploded there in front of him; it was so bright, in fact, that it even blinded him so that he wasn’t able to see. When that happened, all Paul could do was ask, “Who’s there? Who’s doing this to me?”

And a voice answered back, “I am Jesus, the one you’re persecuting.” And as a result of that encounter with Jesus, Paul realized how wrong he had been. He realized that all the time he had been pointing at Christians and saying that God didn’t approve of them, that they were sinners, the reality was that he was the sinner, not them.

To be honest with ourselves, to face up to the truth about ourselves – that can be such a hard thing for us to do. For instance, if students are asked, “Are you more intelligent than the average student?”, the overwhelming majority say yes. Of course, if they were all honest and faced up to the truth about themselves, only half would be able to say that they’re above average, and half would have to admit they’re below average. Or when people who drive are asked if they are safer than the average driver, 90% say they are above average. Or when college professors are asked to rate their teaching ability, 94% of them say they are above average.[1] It just seems that most of us have a hard time facing up to the truth about ourselves. And so instead of facing up to our shortcomings, instead of facing up to our sins, we try our best to convince ourselves that we’re pretty much perfect just the way we are.

We find that that same sort of thing takes place in our political campaigns. Each candidate always seems to try their best to convince themselves and to convince the nation that they are pure and spotless, while suggesting at the same time that all their opponents are some sort of deranged maniacs. What’s interesting about that is that the word “candidate” has its origin back in ancient Roman times. Those who were candidates for office would wear white togas that had been rubbed with white chalk to make themselves look as bright and spotless as possible.[2]

But even though we might not put on white togas nowadays, for the most part we still do pretty much the same thing. We try our best to convince ourselves, and to convince other people, that we’re good, that we’re spotless, that we’re acceptable, while at the same time pointing to others and saying that they’re the ones who are sinners, they’re the ones who are dirty, they’re the ones who are unacceptable.

But as we play that little game, this passage in the Bible reminds us that Jesus Christ came into the world not to save the “good” people, not to save the “acceptable” people, but to save sinners. Or that same idea is summed up in the old saying that Jesus didn’t come into the world to make good people better; no, Jesus came into the world to make dead people alive. In other words, as long as we go on assuming that we’re pure and sinless and acceptable, we’re never going to “get” what Jesus is all about. But if we have the courage to take a good, honest look at ourselves and see ourselves as we really are – if we have the courage to take a good, honest look at ourselves and see the sin that is there inside of us – it’s then and only then that we’ll come to realize just how good the good news of Jesus truly is.

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. That’s good news. But that’s not just good news for “other” people, out there. No, the fact that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners is also good news for us, in here. So whether you think of yourself as being a saint or whether you think of yourself as being a sinner, believe the good news of the gospel: in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.