Homily – September 11

“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” All are corrupt and commit abominable acts; there is none who does any good.  The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all, to see if there is any who is wise, if there is one who seeks after God.  Everyone has proved faithless; all alike have turned bad; there is none who does good; no, not one.”  The Psalmist paints a very bleak picture of humanity.  In his eyes all of humanity is corrupt and there is no hope for us sinners.

Perhaps we will find a more hopeful message in Jeremiah.  Oops, that’s not very likely either.  For the Lord says to Jeremiah, “my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding.  They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.” Again we don’t see much hope here.

We know that we are sinners by nature and that we continue to make poor choices.  In our hubris though, we tend to think it is always the other person who is the sinner, not ourselves.  We love to judge others harshly, but are not very good at viewing our own actions through that same lens.  We see that in the gospel this morning where the Pharisees are grumbling about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners.  They see others as sinners, but feel that they are pure and blameless.  But these two old testament lessons are reminding us that sin is not the sole province of the other guy, or just the bad people.  “Everyone has proved faithless; all alike have turned bad; there is none who does good; no, not one.”  This is very unambiguous and also pretty hard to ignore.

So then, we come to the inescapable conclusion that we are doomed.  Nothing we can do will help and God has given up on us.  We should all just look for a rock to crawl under and wait for the end.  But before we do, perhaps we should take one more look at the scripture and see if we have missed anything.  “For thus says the Lord: the whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.”  It is easy to overlook that small phrase, but it is key.  For even when we seem to be irredeemable, God gives us a small ray of hope.

Despite our sinful nature, despite our propensity to fall into sin again and again, God doesn’t give up on us.  We may frustrate him, and things may seem bleak, but God is ever patient and willing to forgive.  That is why he sent Jesus, to teach us about forgiveness and love.

In this morning’s gospel, Jesus gives us the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.  “Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”  And again, “there is joy in the presence the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”    Jesus is telling us that God knows we will fall into sin for we are but human.  But he assures us that there is no greater joy in heaven than when we repent of those sins and try to live the life God wants for us.

Repentance isn’t a once and done type of thing.  We don’t simply wake up one day and realize that we have been doing bad and decide to do good from then on.  No, repentance is something that we do each and every day.  We are sinners, but when we attempt to turn from that, when we repent of our nature and look at the world and ourselves differently, that is pleasing to God.  For as Paul says in today’s epistle, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost.  But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience.”

So my brothers and sisters, take heart, for all is decidedly not lost.  The words of the old testament may appear bleak, but we have an advocate in our corner, Jesus Christ.  Through the mercy of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven for our sinful nature.  We need only to practice repentance to bring joy to heaven.  Remember that a more literal translation of repentance is to think differently after.  You will try to avoid sin, and you will fail.  But afterward, look at what you did and think differently afterward, using the knowledge that you gained from the experience.  Repent of your sins, secure in the knowledge that Jesus is there to strengthen you, to forgive you, and to be overjoyed when you return to him.