Sermon – Second Sunday after Epiphany 2023

Let the words of my mouth & the meditaions of all our hearts be alway acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, our Strength & our Redeemer. Amen.

Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Romans.xii.9.

_________________________________

How many of us made New Year’s resolutions?

How many of us haven’t broken them yet?

Well, there’s still time to get them right.

_____________

What a wonderful text with which to start the New Year. Abhor (or hate) that which is evil & cleave to that which is good.

Sometimes, when I’m talking to others, especially those who aren’t religious, there are certain words I avoid. One of those words is “sin”.

Now, I don’t avoid that word because I don’t believe in sin or because I don’t think they should know about sin, but I avoid it because I know it’s more likely than not that when I say “sin” a certain, narrow definition of that word is going to pop in their heads. And this is often true of religious persons also.

When we hear the word “sin” or when most people use the word “sin” what do we think of? We think of a certain list of things we aren’t supposed to do. The problem with that is that either folks think of sin as a

checklist by which they’ll acquit themselves – Yep, well I haven’t broken any commandments this week.

(as if that’s possible) – OR – folks will think of it as an arbitrary list without any real moral substance. What’s really wrong if someone worships other gods? What’s wrong with bowing to a religious image? Is it really that bad to use our Lord’s name casually or when we swear? Yeah, I didn’t really tell the truth, but it’s not that big a deal.

(Of course, it’s good to have a list to combat that mistake – we have a defected view of what’s good and what’s evil. And even when we know the difference, we don’t always like to admit what’s good or evil so it’s helpful to have a list. )

But we do need to know that sin isn’t an arbitrary list of rules, and it’s not just a checklist. (There are so many people who even though it seems they don’t sin on the outside, their hearts & minds are full of sin.)

So it’s because of these misunderstandings of what sin is that I often use the word “evil” instead. “Evil” has more weight to it, more gravity.

Sometimes people will admit they sin. Even though they don’t like to do it, sometimes they will admit they sin. And some people, they take a kind of pride it. Madonna sang a song “I’m a sinner & I like it that

way”. There’s an edginess our culture associates with being a “sinner”. It’s this idea that a sinner leads a life that’s carefree & hedonistic – the life of the party.

But how many people will admit they’re evil?

‘Well, I make mistakes, but I’m not evil. I’m really a good person.’

‘You know man, I’m just living my life & having fun. I’m not evil.’

Well, aren’t you?

See, that’s why I use the word “evil” instead of “sin” – because society too quickly dismisses the word sin.

Ask someone, Are you a sinner? They might say, ‘Well, yeah.’

But ask someone, Are you evil? Immediately, their demeanor will change. ‘No. I’m not evil.’

Sin is engagement with evil. You know that, right? When we sin, we are engaging with the forces of evil. It’s not a light-hearted matter. It’s quite serious.

____________________________

Now, what does S. Paul tell us here? Abhor evil; cleave to the good.

Oh, if we would live our lives with that mindset. If we would see sin for what it truly is, and rather than desire it, abhor it. If we could see the sinfulness of sin, the evil of sin. If we could see that sin lies to us. Sin promises to give us pleasure, to make us feel good about ourselves, to make us feel important, to make us a success. But really all sin does is kill and destroy. The wages of sin is death.

And if we could see goodness for what it is. We think, Well, if I do what is good, I’m not going to get what I want. If I do what’s good, I’m going to miss out.

There is a confusion in the human mind about what’s really good and what’s really evil. We mix those things up. We pursue what is evil because we think we’ll get something good out of it. And we don’t do what’s good because we think we’ll miss out on something good. We are confused. ___________________

In Deuteronomy, God says to the Israelites, I set before you good & evil, Life & Death…. Choose Life!

Evil is not going to give us life. Sin is not going to make our lives better. Evil brings Death. It brings destruction. When we think sin is going to make our lives better, know that we have been taken for fools. Sin has set its trap & we fell headlong into it.

But goodness brings Life. And yet the world makes fun of goodness. If you’re a virgin, you’re a loser. If you don’t take revenge on those who wronged you, you’re a loser. If you don’t push others out of the way to be successful in your business, you’re a loser.

But that’s not what our Lord said. Jesus said he gives us Life, and not just any Life – but abundant Life.

Why don’t we see that? Why don’t we see that following Christ is the abundant Life? Why do we think evil will enrich our lives? Again, it’s because there is a confusion in our hearts – a confusion that needs to be corrected by God’s Spirit.

________

Abhor evil & cleave to the good.

I’d like us to take a few minutes and silently consider our lives over the past year – In what ways did we cleave to the good? In what ways did we engage with evil?

Do we hate evil and love goodness in our hearts? Is a hatred for evil and a love for good guiding your life? Or is there a confusion there?

Our Lord said there are only 2 paths: a broad path that leads to destruction on which the vast majority of humanity travels, and a narrow path that leads to life. And he says, few be there that find it. Few be there that find the path of life.

Choose Life! Abhor evil & cling to what is good.

Let’s take 3 minutes (I’ll time it) and consider how we want to live our lives this year. Let us consider what things we need to change in order be a better follower of Jesus Christ, and I will close the time with prayer.

Heavenly Father, source of all goodness,

by thy Spirit correct the fleshly confusion in our worldly hearts that we may see clearly what is good & what is evil, and that we may hate the evil & love the good.

May we resolve this year to be true disciples of thy Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we make this our prayer. Amen.