The other evening some classmates and I were discussing the confession from the Eucharistic Service found in Enriching Our Worship which states that we can and should repent of sins "done on our behalf." So not only are we to confess the sins which we have done, but also those that were done for us. Some immediate examples that come to mind that could be seen as done on "my behalf" would be such examples as slavery, racism, sexism, wars, institutional poverty, xenophobia etc...It's important to recognize that all of those things mentioned are in fact sin, but the question remains whose sin is it? Are we only responsible for those things we have done, or those plus others done on my behalf? How does one determine which sins were committed on my behalf? Because my father was born in Germany, thus making me a German citizen, am I then responsible for the Holocaust? Or, if I shop at Wal-Mart am I condoning the poor treatment of their workers? One more, because I am a man, am I responsible for all the wrong done to women? Where does this all end? On one level, it feels like we could get trapped in playing a game of six degrees of sin separation.
Another fundamental question that must be examined is who do we really sin against? Only that Being which is perfect, blameless and without defect is able to be sinned against. In the greek "sin" is defined as "missing the mark." To miss the mark means that there actually is a goal in which we are aiming to hit. As in shooting a bow and arrow at a bulls-eye, the target does not move. Only that which is immovable can be the target. As St. Augustine points out in The Enchiridion, God is that Being who is unchanging and unmoving. The Psalmist states, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment." And St. Luke in his gospel writes, "And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Only He who has been sin against can forgive. Whenever we commit a sin it is against God and God alone. This does not mean however that we can't offend, hurt or wrong another person or groups of people. In fact when we do such things, we are sinning against God. But we must not forget that sin cannot be committed against another human being.
A good friend of mine pointed out that there is a distinction between "evil" and "sin" that must be acknowledge. As fallen human beings we are partakers in a sin nature, which is evil. But evil and sin are not in the same category. Evil is an essence or nature, while sin is a direct action or affront against God. In repentance to God we are conceding our role in sins which we have committed and our Lord in His most gracious love forgives us of said sins. As we see in the Rite of a Penitent found in the BCP, once we have confessed our sins and have received absolution, we are called to forget those actions that Christ has died on the cross for us to wipe out. When we continue to hold onto those sins that we have repented of, we are guilty of declaring that somehow God's grace was not sufficient and we begin to make idols out of our sins. When the priest declares that we are forgiven of our sins we are to allow the Holy Spirit to wipe clean our conscience of its past offenses against God so that we might be freed from our sin. Ones inability to let go of an absolved sin continues to leave their soul wrapped in chains and enslaved.
Finally, even though we might not be able to repent of sins that we have not committed this does not mean that we are to ignore those offenses that we witness within institutions or in our society. We are called to proclaim freedom to the captives and this require us to acknowledge the evil that exists in the world. When we see the evil in the world and ourselves, we are better equipped to offer those things up in prayer and hopefully be empowered to speak out against those things that are contrary to the Will of God. This means speaking out against injustice and oppression as well as being involved in actions that will bring greater attention to those things that God sees as an affront. What is my main concern is that we remember that we can only repent of those sins that we personally have committed against God and that this does not however give us a free pass to remain silent when we see God's Law being violated by institutions. We must keep our categories (i.e. sin and evil) in their proper places or else we begin to misrepresent key understandings of our faith and we must continually hang on to God's promise that He has forgiven us of those things which we have done against Him and Him alone.
Good opening salvo, Karl. The idea of collective sin that leads to an individual repentance to cover that collective sin is dangerous. While we are collectively "the bride" of Christ, we are obviously judged or freed individually (John 5:28-29) on whether we did good or evil (as fruit/evidence or our belief) and, more importantly, on whether our names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world. That Scripture from John 5:29 does a good job of illustrating your good point about separating evil from sin. The Greek word for evil used in that text is phaulos, which is an adjective that comes over to English as foul and/or wicked. Evil as an adjective modifies the noun while sin acts as either a noun (e.g. "I am forgiven of my sins.") or a verb (e.g. "I am sinning.") Praise God that He, through His Son provides forgiveness for our actions and nouns while sanctifying us and thus making our adjectives new (i.e. righteous, good, etc.)!
ReplyDeleteKarl, you've raised a complicated question, the simple answer to which is "no." We cannot repent of anything that we have not done ourselves. So repenting for slavery is not necessary. I'm not so sure about the Wal-Mart example though (theoretically speaking, of course). If we actively support things now that build up someone else's sin, then we are indeed sinning too. But again, our repentence for participation in something bigger than ourselves would not negate other offenders' need to do the same; nor would absolution for such offenses have any efficacy for anyone other than the one who asks for it. And, let's not forget, at some point it becomes a reductio ad absurdem. Just about anything we do could be traced back to some bigger, sinful institution or activity. The fallen nature of the world means that everything is tinged with sin, not that sin interrupts what is otherwise pristine. For that reason, I would counsel a penitent simply to name those things that he or she believes to constitute transgression of God's law (either by commission or omission) in the most direct possible way. Then, thank God, leave the rest to "all other sins which I cannot now remember"...or indeed, which I couldn't possibly think of even if I prayed all day long.
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