10.2 sin
DESCRIPTION
Keynote presentation on an understanding of sin.TRANSCRIPT
What I do, I do not understand . For I do not do w hat I want, but I
do w hat I hate.Romans 7:15
SinUNIT TWO
How should we understand ?sinWhat does this have to do with living the
?fu ll life
SIN
SINfu ll life ful life
How should we understand ?sin
What is ?sin
BIBLICAL NOTIONS
of SIN
Leviticus 15:31Psalm 38:5
How was sin portrayed in these Old Testament passages?
stain
What does this understanding of sin tell us about the full life?
What are the limitations of this understanding of sin?
staindefilement
unclean before God
LIMITATION
ignores interpersonal & societal justicelife is motivated by a self-centered fear rather than a faith in God’s mercy
blind to responsible free acts
VALUE
we share in God’s holiness and sin defiles that very nature
natural holiness and ‘purity’ of the human person
Isaiah 59:2-8Proverbs 8:32-36
How was sin portrayed in these Old Testament passages?
crime
What does this understanding of sin tell us about the full life?
What are the limitations of this understanding of sin?
crime
LIMITATION
1) determining the nature of the crime
2) culpability of sinner 3) appropriate
punishment
Sin’s juridical aspect, concerned with:
VALUE
we are given a guide in living the fullness of life that we all aspire for
God seeks to be in covenant with the human person
willful violation of covenant
Jeremiah 3:6Hosea 11:1-4
How was sin portrayed in these Old Testament passages?
rejection
What does this understanding of sin tell us about the full life?
What are the limitations of this understanding of sin?
rejection
VALUE
human person as relational (sin affects another)
human person as free and responsible agent (sin is done in freedom)
personal rejection of a love relationship
LIMITATION
actions become trivial and justifiable
Genesis 3How was sin portrayed in the
story of Adam & Eve?What are the causes
and effects of sin?
HUMAN PERSON
GODE V O L
SIN is an offense against
God. It is a failure to
respond to his love.
SIN does not come from God. It is a product of the person’s free will.
While SIN begins at a personal level, it never ends there. Sin also injures the entire human community.
S N
GODOTHERSOURSELVES
NATURE
Original SinSIN violates God’s intention for
creation; and the world as a place of harmony, solidarity & love.
This original sin tells us that although it is not in our nature to sin, the presence of this evil
makes it EASY to commit personal sins.
2 SAMUEL 11 & 12 | PSALM 51David & Bathsheba
Missingthe Mark
Scripture shows us that there is a goal to aim for. SIN meant missing our ultimate goal - GOD.Missing the mark is when we settle for behavior that does not reflect love for God, ourselves & others.Sin is the failure to love.
Hardnessof Heart
Scripture also refers to SIN as hardness of heart because it comes from the human heart.Hardness of heart suggests a closing in upon ourselves. This tells us that sin has much to do with our attitudes as with our behavior. Sin is the failure to bother to love.
LUKE 18:9-14the Pharisee & the Publican
Case StudyDan’s parents weren’t perfect. His mom is super funny. She always misplaces things and forgets things and ends up making many bloopers at home. On the other hand, his dad had an anger problem. When is stressed with work or frustrated with anything, he takes his anger on them. It affected Dan and how he grew up. Despite those shortcomings, he felt that they were trying to make it up to him - to be there when he needs them.
Case StudyVic, well, he was well-off and was given everything he needed. Nothing went wrong when he was a child. His parents had no fights. They had no misgivings. But, he felt that his parents were always focused on the business. He always feels that they don’t even bother with him. Most of the time, he questions as to what is the meaning of being loved by parents.
In what instances did I miss the mark?
In what instances did I manifest hardness of heart?
TMJ Prompt
JESUS onthe cross.
When we look to Jesus on the cross, we get to understand fully what SIN is all about.
The Cross reveals to us the actual damage and evil caused by sin. “Real sin… cost the life of God’s only Son…” [CFC 1798]
The Church has never forgotten that “sinners caused the sufferings that [Jesus] endured.”
SIN was not in the isolated actions of the people but in the person they chose to become through these actions.
A refusal to follow our conscience’s call towards the good
SINA rejection of God and our own true selves and others, by turning away from God, our true endA break in God’s loving covenant with us
SIN is against our nature and against our reason. It goes against the entire purpose of our being created by God. It goes against the basic sense of our being, which is to be good.
What were you thinking?
How can they do this?
How did they allow this?
DID THEY CRUCIFY JESUS OUT OF THEIR WEAKNESS?
We sin out of our own strength.
We don’t sin because we are weak. We sin when we freely choose to act against the will of God.
In the cross of Jesus, we see the interplay between MISSING the MARK and HARDNESS of HEART.
SINImagine you’re being tried in the court room. Your sins are being read to you. What do you think will be read there? Will there be a ‘surprise’? How would you feel?
Compare yourself to the people in your family who have gone before you. How do you fare against them? How about the rest of creation? How do you feel when you compare yourself to the rest of God’s creation?
The Cross makes us understand deeply the sin that Jesus saves us from. The Cross highlights how He redeemed us and saved us from sin.
JESUS on the cross is God’s loving response to sin.
He was willing to enter human history, endure our own sufferings and conquer sin and its effects.
He did SACRIFICE out of GREAT LOVE.
The cross gave us a way back to God.
GOD
sin
It does not only show love &
forgiveness, it also shows us a way out of sin.
S I N
SIN
NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
Paschal Pattern
At the foot of the Cross, we receive the grace of a
“sense of sin.”
The sin of the centu ry is the loss of the Sense of Sin.
Pope Pius XII
The Case of Ethan Couch
What is affluenza?
Can I justify my actions with this?
What could be the possible concerns that will arise from this affluenza defense?
Compare & Contrast their view of the human person
and the Christian’s understanding of the human person.
Proponen
ts of
the afflue
nza ‘disor
der’
as a defen
se.
FATHER, I have no sin.
I don’t sin anymore. I don’t sin
seriously.
I sin but it’s between me and
God.
I am beyond redemption.
I sin all the time.
It’s no use; I’ll never change.
Dr. Karl Menninger Psychiatrist
DANGER 1We run the risk of losing authority over our lives. We become objects of our actions.e.g. If we blame our parents for all of our actions, we lose accountability for our decisions.
DANGER 2Any choice that we make becomes valueless.e.g. If nothing is wrong, then it doesn’t matter what we do.
“If we don’t recognize sin for
what it is, we give it power over us.”
OBSTACLE 1: Interpreting sin as political or social malfunctions.
OBSTACLE 2: Religion is a public affair. Discovering truths and morality is a personal responsibility.
OBSTACLE 3: Trivializng grave sins by changing its name.
Sense of Sinrecognition of the presence of SIN
It is a grace grounded in faith in Christ’s redeeming love for us; can only be recognized in the light of Jesus/not
ourselves (cf. CFC 1799) -- lead us to repentance or conversion. (cf CFC 1800)
“Sin exists.” and “I am a sinner.”
I acknowledge my fallen nature
- that without God’s grace I will be lost and prone
to fall into temptation.
I acknowledge that I have committed personal sin.
I acknowledge that I missed the mark in
responding to God’s love.
Sense of Sin
I acknowledge that my chosen attitudes
prevent me from responding to God.
ProphetIn the Scriptures, the
Prophets were the one who remind the people when they missed the
mark.The prophet provides
the ‘sense of sin’.
We also acknowledge that through Jesus’
sacrifice on the cross & his resurrection
(paschal mystery), we have a remedy available to us: JESUS HIMSELF.
The Cross is the reminder that sin does not have the final word but God’s loving mercy. God’s mercy is greater than sin and its effects.
The SENSE of SIN happens in the face of great love. “What did I do to deserve this?” or “I am not worthy.”
The SENSE of SIN is a grace in itself. Sin is a mystery. We cannot name it accurately ourselves. We allow the love of God to illuminate our sinfulness.
Sense of Sin
We cannot understand God’s love for us unless we
see it as the love of the Creator for c reatu res w ho
reject his love.
Edward Yarnold
Healthy Sense of Sin
Recognition of: the awful, destructive
power of sin that require such sacrifice
to redeem human situation.
Recognition that: God loves us so much
and values our lives to such a degree that in
the person of Christ he freely offers sacrifice.
Recognition of: the awful, destructive
power of sin that require such sacrifice
to redeem human situation.
Recognition that: God loves us so much
and values our lives to such a degree that in
the person of Christ he freely offers sacrifice.
We become blind to the evil around us and mock Jesus’ sacrifice.
Unhealthy Sense of Sin
Recognition of: the awful, destructive
power of sin that require such sacrifice
to redeem human situation.
Recognition that: God loves us so much
and values our lives to such a degree that in
the person of Christ he freely offers sacrifice.
We fail to take sin seriously. We make it appear as if God fails to as well.
Unhealthy Sense of Sin
Only God can judge me.
God judges us by giving His life for us.
Are my actions and decisions worthy of such sacrifice? Of such great and merciful love?
The Prodigal SonL U K E 1 5 : 1 1 - 3 2
A P E R S O N A L R E A D I N G O F A C L A S S I C P A R A B L E
The Prodigal SonL U K E 1 5 : 1 1 - 3 2
What is the sin of the younger son?
How do we know it’s sin?
What led the son to do what he did?
Younger SonGospel portrayal on the deception and power of sin in our lives.
His view of what will make him full is limited that it led him to reject his identity, his family, his community — himself.
Although it was his decision to come back home, it was his father’s initiative and forgiveness healed him.
The Prodigal SonL U K E 1 5 : 1 1 - 3 2
What is so notable or unusual about the Father’s reaction?
FatherGospel portrayal of what true loving entails: you focus on what matters.
The Gospel equates love with forgiveness and mercy. Love is oftentimes manifested in our capacity to forgive and look beyond the mistake.
It was father’s love that conquered the selfishness and evil that lured the son to do what he did.
The Prodigal SonL U K E 1 5 : 1 1 - 3 2
Why did the older son feel that way?Was it wrong for him to feel that way or to react that way to the father?What could be underneath that feeling of the older son?
Older SonGospel portrayal on the hardness of heart - how our selfish attitudes turn us into persons we do not want to become.
His sin keeps him outside the house. In his rejection of his brother, he also rejects his father making himself no different from his younger brother.
He rids himself of joy. He failed to bother to love.
“The God who waits for us. God who waits and also God who forgives. He is the God of mercy; he does not tire of forgiving. We are the ones who tire in asking for forgiveness, but he does not tire…
Seventy times seven, always. Let us go forward with forgiveness. And from a business point of view, the balance is negative. He always loses: he loses in the balance of things but he wins in love…
[God] is the first to fulfill the commandment of love. He loves and does not know how to do otherwise.”
Pope Francis
THE TRUTH ABOUT MERCYOur God is a God of love. In the face of sin, the only way He knows how to deal with it, how to remedy it is love.
The love that he offers as a sign of mercy and forgiveness is his own life. He sacrificed Himself on the cross because that’s how much he loves.
In the face of this great love, all we can do is drop our heads in shame. But this shame stirs in our hearts a desire to make a return of love to God.
“The mystery of the cross is the recognition that our wounds, those
due to sin, could only be healed by Jesus'
wounds when he was made man and died on
the cross for us.”
Pope Francis
My God, I love you above all things and I hate and detest with my whole soul the sins by which I have offended you, because they are displeasing in your sight, who are supremely good and worthy to be loved.
I acknowledge that I should love you with a love beyond all others, and that I should try to prove this love to you.
I consider you in my mind as infinitely greater than everything in the world, no matter how precious or beautiful.
I therefore firmly and irrevocably resolve never to consent to offend you or do anything that may displease your sovereign goodness and place me in danger of falling from your holy grace, in which I am fully determined to persevere to my dying breath.
Amen.
St. Francis Xavier