All Have Sinned
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
Most everyone is willing to agree, there’s sin in the world. The daily news makes this obvious.
Here are but a few examples of news items this week:
A 23-year-old man has been charged with murdering three young brothers who were killed when a firebomb was thrown into their home.
The heaviest fighting in weeks has cast new doubt on peace efforts . . . a fourth day of clashes left at least 36 ethnic Albanians dead.
Three former national guardsmen in El Salvador were paroled from prison Tuesday after serving 17 years of a 30-year prison sentence for the 1980 rape and murder of three American nuns and a lay worker.
The reformist mayor of Tehran was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison on corruption.
Chechnya’s president survived an assassination attempt that left four of his bodyguards seriously hurt.
Searchers combing the mountains for bombing suspect Eric Rudolph have discovered several small camp sites that they believe he may have used, authorities said. Rudolph, 31, is the prime suspect in the January 29 bombing of a women’s clinic.
Seven male and three female sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln have been punished after a group sex incident in a Hong Kong hotel.
David Graham’s, the former Air Force cadet faces life in prison if convicted in the December 1995 slaying of Adrianne Jones. Prosecutors say he and former girlfriend Diane Zamora killed her because he had a sexual tryst with the 16- year-old.
He forced his way through the swarm of tourists waiting to pass through the metal detector at the Capitol, drew his .38 and opened fire. First to go down Friday was Jacob ``J.J.’’ Chestnut, shot in the head as he gave a visitor directions to the subway. Chestnut’s partner returned fire as the suspect fled around the corner chasing a woman toward the entrance hall leading into Rep. Tom DeLay’s office. There, the gunman confronted Officer John Gibson. ``Special Agent Gibson ordered the staff in the area to get down, pushed the female out of harm’s way and exchanged gunfire with Weston,’’ said U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Dan Nichols, referring to the 41-year-old suspect, Russell E. Weston, Jr. Caught in the middle was another tourist, Angela Dickerson, who was shot in the face and arm. A few feet away was Gibson, who had collapsed after getting shot in the chest.
The stories spread like a fire, hotter and stronger in the telling and retelling. Serb forces gouged eyes, burned Albanian civilians alive, beat them, shot them, slit their throats, and with bloody knives cut the Serbian cross into their victim’s flesh. The bodies were taken to mass graves.
Security forces killed about 100 members of Algeria’s most violent movement after rebuffing an attack in the mountainous north, an official source said Saturday.
Two convicts killed a guard and took a prison nurse hostage in a jail break in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The prison guard died late Friday when one of the convicts shot him in the head. Guards then shot the prisoner, who was seriously wounded. One guard also was hurt.
A French nurse has admitted she helped about 30 terminally ill patients die, then tried to commit suicide after she learned she was being investigated.
So, yes, there’s sin in the world, but the Scripture is not saying, "There’s sin in the world", but rather, "All Have Sinned!"
We also have evidence every day that the people around us sin. We are all victims of other people’s sin, and it manifests itself in many ways. While attending a PK Rally, the following funny story was told:
In a small midwestern town there lived two brothers who were known to be the baddest and meanest. No one seemed to like them, everyone seemed to have a story about being cheated or maligned by these two brothers.
Then one day one of the brothers took sick and died. The surviving brother went to each of the Pastors in the town to find one who would preach the funeral for his brother. None of them were willing until at last he came to the Community Church Pastor. At least this Pastor would talk to the surviving brother, but it was a difficult position to be in because the Pastor knew that he wouldn’t be able to say anything good about the deceased man without being called dishonest. But the brother pleaded, saying that actually he had only one stipulation. That was that at least once during the sermon, the Pastor would use the word "saint" when referring to his brother. Finally the Pastor agreed just so he could get the man out of his office.
Two days later nearly the whole town turned out to this funeral. The surviving brother, sitting in the front row, riveted his eyes on the Pastor as he began to speak. But to his horror, the Pastor openly declared just how bad a person was this man who had just died. He had cheated, he had lied, he had no concern for anyone but himself, there was no one he wouldn’t step on to get ahead. After ten minutes of this, the surviving brother just glared at the Pastor, angry that the Pastor had betrayed his one wish. But then the Pastor, being the man of integrity that he was, raised his voice to a higher pitch as he said, "But compared to his brother who sits right down here in front, this man was a saint!"
For you the sins of others may victimize you in many different ways:
Someone passes an untrue rumor which damages your reputation.
A co-worker treats you unfairly, makes fun of you, or perhaps makes a nasty remark.
Someone might take out their anger on you, lie to you, or steal from you.
Worse yet, you may be brutalized, harassed, vandalized, abused or molested.
Yes, we know it to be true, "They have sinned; he has sinned, she has sinned." But this Scripture verse can’t be used merely to judge and condemn others with their alleged sin.
There’s a cartoon that was included in a news letter I received this week where the secretary, standing in the doorway of the Pastor’s office is explaining why the man outside is waiting to see the Pastor. The caption is, "Says he wants to confess his neighbor’s sins."
But again, the Scripture is not saying, "They have sinned, or he or she has sinned", but rather, "All Have Sinned!"
It seems that all of us have this same need to point the finger at someone else.
That has been true every since Adam blamed Eve, and Eve tried to put the blame on the serpent. Ever since then, we have blamed them all, Adam, Eve and Satan.
Sin is "harmartia", missing the mark, like an archer or marksman. The mark missed is likeness to Jesus. And none of us consistently hit it.
Remember the temptation in the Garden of Eden? Satan says, "God doesn’t want you to eat of this tree because He knows that will make you like Him." Actually, it was quite the opposite. Sin ruined the "image of God" with which Adam and Eve were created. When they sinned, they "came short of the glory of God". (The glory of God is that which we could see if we could look at God, it is His "image".)
That "all have sinned" means that none can boast in their own righteousness, and none can assume a superior position - "The ground in front of the cross is level".
So what are we going to do with this truth from Scripture, "All have sinned"? Sooner or later we have to come to the conclusion, it means me, it means you.
The story is told of a Pastor who was frustrated because of one man who always seemed to fall asleep during the sermon. So the Pastor devised a trick, a way he thought he could embarrass the man so as to get him to break this habit. Near the end of a sermon concerning "hell", the Pastor, in a normal voice, said to the congregation, "Any one here today who wants to go to hell" - - then he raised his voice to a much louder volume - - "PLEASE STAND UP!" Of course this woke up the sleeping parishioner who quickly jumped to his feet. After collecting himself for a moment, the man then looked at the Pastor and said, "Preacher, I don’t know why I’m standing, but it appears that you and I are both in this boat."
The fact of the matter is, we’re all in the boat - "all have sinned".
We also must acknowledge that recognizing that "all have sinned" isn’t the excuse we’re looking for to look down on others, nor is it a reason to excuse ourselves by saying, "What could I do, I’m only human."
But it simply means that you and I must come to the conclusion, "I have sinned." But in our day of positive affirmation, self esteem and self worth, this is a hard message to give, and take. But it is the only way we can approach God.
