Who gets hurt by sin?
Well I finally preached a sermon, or sermons, on sin. There is such a resistance to even the word “sin” but it really isn’t all that scary a word. What I was trying to do today is to help us to see that sin is never victim-less; there is the concept of victim-less crimes but there is no such thing as victim-less sin.
Knox Presbyterian Who gets hurt by sin?
St. Mark’s Presbyterian Who gets hurt by sin?
The Lectionary has us looking at the life of David and the beginning of the outcomes of his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. The most interesting thing to come from the Old Testament reading, and the Psalm selection, is that David explicitly says that his sin is against God. Hmmm. How can this be? Shouldn’t his sin be against Bathsheba, Uriah, the nation of Israel, etc., etc., etc.? David is making the critical point that sin is first and foremost against God; all sin is first and foremost against God. However, as I tried to demonstrate this morning (I think I might have done a better job at St. Mark’s but that is just me) is that while sin begins against God it is then against someone else and finally against us . . . in short, sin hurts everyone.
This is by no means new nor provocative but I think I have provided another look at what this might mean and I would very much like to hear what you think. In the meantime, enjoy the summer and I’ll be here next week.
Warm blessings,
- Date: August 5, 2012
- Liturgical Sunday: Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
- RCL Scripture: Psalm 51:1-12; 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35
- Sermon Title: Who gets hurt by sin?
PS As always if you want downloadable versions of these sermons click here