"Sin Bravely"

Dr. James Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

March 23, 2003

Text: Psalm 77:1-4, 11-15, 20

This week when I read the opening lines of Psalm 77 I recognized myself. Perhaps these words capture something of what you have experienced also. "1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me. 2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;...."

On the one hand, I trust the reports about Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction. All I have read about him reveal he shares many of the traits of Hitler and Stalin, whose tactics he studied and has put to use. I am convinced that there is no realistic possibility of a stable peace in the Middle East as long as he is in power. I am also convinced it was going to take more than the kind of diplomatic efforts used the past 12 years to persuade him to disarm and change policies.

On the other hand, I am heartsick that the use of military force was finally the only practical option left. As the soldiers who have to do the fighting know better than most of us, the choice of war as the way to try to deal with human problems is at its best merely the choosing of the lesser of evils. But in saying it is the lesser of evils, does not declare war good -- only the lesser evil of evils.

What does the Gospel have to say to us in this current situation? It is at this point, the poet who wrote the Psalm 77 speaks for me: "I cry aloud to God ... I moan; I meditate... In my day of trouble I seek the Lord ... ."

Oh, I wish I had some clear revelation from God, some declaration from on high, that would guarantee we have made the right choice. But I can do only what the poet who wrote Psalm 77 did. I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember (God's) wonders of old; I will meditate on all (God's) work.

The poet who wrote this Psalm was troubled. He did not know which way to turn; he did not know which choice to make. He had prayed and thought and lost sleep. In the midst of his dilemma, he said, in effect: "I know what I can do. I can focus on all God has done. I can focus on the wonders of God, the amazing gifts of grace, the marvelous deeds God has done in the past to bring healing and hope."

He remembered how God had taken Jacob and transformed him to become Israel. He remembered how God had been able to transform Joseph from a slave in Egypt to being second only to Pharaoh. He remembered what God had done through Moses, bringing the people out of slavery in Egypt, making covenant with them, giving them the Law, providing for them in the wilderness and leading them into the Promised Land.

And by focusing on what God had done in the past he was able to face what he had to face in the present with confidence, trusting that just as God had been at work in the yesterdays of life just so God, would continue to be at work in the present and future. And like the Psalmist, in the midst of what we are going through, we can look at what God has done in life and in our lives, and aware of God's presence with us in our yesterdays we can face the future with hope and confidence that God will not abandon us and will be at work among us.

This is comforting, but it does not give us clarity about what we ought to be doing or not doing. Should we be at war with Iraq or not? Some of us say, "Yes;" others of us: "No;" and others of us simply cannot decide. I think it will be wise for us to follow the example of that poet, and meditate on the way God has been at work in life --- and in our lives.

As I have tried to do this, I have remembered one of the people through whom God has been at work in my life -- Martin Luther. Somewhere in the writings of Martin Luther (I think it may be in his "Table Talks") is this story about a of the conversation he had with some of his students. Luther was asked: "In a situation where it appears that whatever we chose will to some extent be sinful, what are we to do?" Luther's response was: "Sin bravely." This is certainly a practical response. If the only choice is sin, then sin bravely. This is not advocating sin as a way of life; but it is recognizing that sometimes whatever we choose (even choosing not to choose) will to some extent participate in evil.

There is an obvious parallel here with the dilemma of our leaders in dealing with Iraq, and with the dilemma we have faced in trying to decide whether we agree with the President or not. History and hindsight may eventually reveal which was truly the better choice, but today we do not have the luxury of hindsight. But even if with certainty we could identify the better choice, we would still have to face the truth that there is no sinless choice. Living in a sinful world, we have very, very few sinless choices. Because of sin and evil at work in the world, the possibility of living a life without having to choose between the lesser of evils is not an option. We live in the tangled web of sin and evil spun by not only those around us but by those who have gone before us. Not only that, each of us have made our contributions to the web of sin in which we find ourselves. In this real world where sin and evil are realities, there are very few choices that groups or nations can make that do not to some extent do some kind of harm to someone. Living in a sinful world, we have very, very few sinless choices.

This is the dilemma the students of Martin Luther were talking about. "What are we to do, when regardless of the choice we make, there is significant probability that harm is going to be done to some of our neighbors? What are we to do, when regardless of what we do, we are tangled in the web of human sin?" Luther said: "Sin bravely."

What did he mean? And what did he not mean? In telling his students to "sin bravely" Luther was not telling them God does not care what they do - so just move ahead. From what we know of Luther's other writings, we know he was not saying that one choice is just as good or bad as another choice and therefore God does not care which choice we make. God cares. Because God cares, God wants each of us to make the best choice we can. The goal is to be as faithful to God as we can be. We are to do the best we can to identify what is most consistent with love of God and neighbor in any given situation, and then we are to make the best choice we are able to make in this very real and less than ideal world -- trusting that God sees our motives and offers His mercy. "Sin bravely" Martin Luther told his students. But in saying this, Luther was not saying that because God sees we are trying to do the best we can that what we are doing is therefore righteous and good. It is not pleasing to God simply to ignore and not hold the Iraq government accountable for evil, such as the kinds of torture well documented in Iraq or that nation's past use of weapons of mass destruction on its own citizens as well as Iranians. Such avoidance of confrontation with evil is not pleasing to God; it is not righteous or good. Going to war, no matter how just the cause, is never pleasing to God. I can only imagine the sorrow in God's heart as God observes his children at war, killing one another. War may be tragically necessary at times; but that does not make it good -- at best it is merely the lesser of evils.

When Luther answered his students saying: "Sin bravely," he was not discounting the sin we are doing. He was saying, in effect, just because you are involved in the lesser of evils, do not gloat in self-righteousness for having chosen an evil action that is merely less evil than the alternatives.

Implicit in Luther's statement, is our ongoing need for confession of sin, and the seeking of forgiveness -- even when the choice we make turns out to have been the best choice -- that is, the lesser of the evils.

To be sure, faced with a choice between evils, there is to be some credit given for choosing what we are convinced is the lesser evil, but that credit does not exempt us from the ongoing need to seek forgiveness for our sin -- not only as individuals, not only as a society, but also as members of the human race. The mess we are in is not the result of simply what one person has done recently, or even a few people over time. The decades old mess in which we are entangled is a symptom of the fallen creation. We, each of us and all human kind, continue to stand in need of redemption.

There are times in life, and it appears to me this is one of them, where as much as we want God to tell us clearly the best action to take, the message from God is not clear. And probably it is not clear because we are in such a sinful mess to begin with we have no sinless options before us.

So what are we to do? We are to remember what God has done. Especially we are to remember the gift of Christ and trust the grace of God revealed in Christ. Then, with humility rooted in our awareness of sin, and offering prayers of confession, we are to move out with faith doing the best we can to make choices that do the least harm and the most good. In other words, sin bravely.

God, forgive us for all that needs forgiving, and keep our motives faithful even when ignorance and the sinfulness of our situation keeps our choices from being the best. Amen.

Pastoral prayer:

God, the war we hoped to avoid has now begun. May it be ended soon with a minimum of casualties. And may it be ended in such a way that what follows will be a just and lasting peace. We pray for all the women and men who are going in harms way on our behalf. Give them the inner strength they need in the midst of their ordeal. Protect them from harm to body, mind or soul. Bring them home safe and whole. We pray for all those who are wounded - whether it be our military personnel or citizens caught in the wrong place at the wrong time or the soldiers serving Iraq. We recognize that each one is one of your precious children. We pray for the families who are worried and in stress because loved ones are going in harms way. Especially we pray for those families that grieve because of the loss of someone killed in this war. Comfort them, give them strength to face what must be faced and the power to move on. Give them your peace in the midst of their pain. It appears our overwhelming military will prevail. Protect us and our leaders from arrogance. Help them and us to see this war is merely one step on a very, very long journey toward healing and hope for that region and the world. Help them and us discern what you want us to do, and give all of us the will, the courage, the patience and, most especially, the willingness to make the sacrifices that are needed in order for your will to be done. Help us learn how to put into action the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "Our Father ...."