This week’s topic has confounded me for quite some time. Not because I don’t have plenty to say (could I ever been accused of that!?!!), but because it has called me to reflect on the most fitting way to approach it. I wanted to get it right. I wanted it to be good. I wanted it to hit the mark. And, as I hope it will become clear, these desires of mine are the living experiences of the idea in action. This week’s Jacob’s Well lives in that beautiful congruence of page and pathway.
The topic that was suggested to me is, waiting for it, sin. Yeah. Easy, right?!? Not a loaded word at all! The simple question for me to answer is: what is it? So, here is my attempt to navigate this powerful, confusing, and misunderstood idea.
One of the first things we are taught as children is an understanding of right and wrong. This is important, both as an individual who is trying to grow and develop to their greatest potential and as a member of a community where actions have consequences and effects that ripple into the world. Next, the concepts of good and evil are developed, taught, and explained. In this process, all four concepts start to overlap, muddle, and merge. Being right somehow began being good, and all wrongdoing is evil. But what happens if this simplicity is limited? And, in the mix of all this, we find ourselves in the realm of sin. We have equated sin with evil, and it has made all the difference. Our lives become trapped in recognising, judging, and sentencing sin and sinful actions. Something is amiss.
The act of translation is a funny thing. It is not meant to only be an academic or intellectual exercise. These words are the shape of history in action. They are the best ways that people, over time, gave voice to the experience of the deep, the wild, and the confusing. Our words have power, for ourselves and with others. Dumbledore acutely expressed this in his famous statement of the magical wonder of words. The study of words in the Bible is a key tool is working out the core meaning of concepts and ideas that consciously or unconsciously dominate our lives.
The word “sin” appears often in the biblical texts, and, of course, sin is an English word. The common Hebrew term translated “sin” is chait and in Greek the usual word is hamartia. Both terms mean “to miss,” in the sense of missing or not reaching a goal, way, mark, or right point.
Here are a couple of examples of where the word ‘sin’ in biblical contexts makes no sense if the term is understood as doing something evil.
The meaning of the word is usually defined by the context of how it is used. So, for example, In the Book of Judges (20:16), slingers from the tribe of Benjamin are described as being so good with their weapon that they can "aim at a hair and not chait." Could this mean to "aim at a hair and not sin"? It makes no sense. The more logical translation is to aim at a hair and not "miss," i.e. not to hit off target. Another example is in the Book of Kings I (1:21). King David is on his death bed and his wife, Bathsheba, comes to him and says, "If Solomon does not become king after you then Solomon and I will be chataim." Solomon and Bathsheba will be sinners? It means that Solomon and Bathsheba will not reach their potential, will not make the grade, will not measure up. The Hebrew for one of the many sacrificial offering is chatot, from the same root as the word chait. This offering (called in English a "sin offering") can only be brought for something done unintentionally. In fact, if a person purposely committed a violation, he is forbidden to bring a chatot. It is truly a "mistake offering" rather than a "sin offering." These three examples offer a glimpse of the experiences of the early Jewish people and God.
Unfortunately, sin has been weaponised, used as the mechanism that it was never intended to be. As a result, we have been conditionally to believe that the remedy of sin is punishment. It’s not. The remedy of sin is grace. The ever-giving nature of God (the God who is pro-giving, or for-giving) is the balm that heals this ongoing struggle with missing the mark. Sin is the space between what we do in navigating life and who we can be at our fullest and best. At its most foundational, sin is the action of separation from God and others. This is where our freedom is found: always in love, and a decrease in this separation. St Augustine, one of Christianity’s greatest minds, came to the same conclusion: it is our steps away or towards God that defines our whole existence. In our Christian tradition, we know that God understands that we make mistakes, fall short, or even intentionally miss the mark. And yes, there are consequences that require us to address those actions. But we are called to something deeper, to move out of the space of judgment and persecution, and into a space of responsibility, ownership of one’s actions, and to the saving nature of God.
As resources for this week, check out some of Fr Richard Rohr’s reflections on sin and grace (as we know, it just isn’t a MYM resource if Rohr doesn’t get a shoutout?!).
Richard Rohr and Sin: https://cac.org/sin-symptom-of-separation-weekly-summary-2017-08-26/
Richard Rohr and Grace: https://cac.org/grace-is-key-2017-05-08/
Here is a (somewhat heavy) beginning point for accessing St Augustine, as a philosopher: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/#Lega
Have a blessed week!