2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8
This past week I took a trip up to Dallas for an ordination; a friend of mine after 10 1/2 years decided to surrender to God's plan for him, for the church, ultimately for the world. Before going to Dallas, I swung by to visit a classmate of mine in Gand Saline, Texas.
If you do not know where Grand Saline is, I will tell you; it is north of Italy, south of Paris and just east of athens. I always knew traveling in Texas was like going around the world and this trip confirmed for me.
As I was driving, I had a lot of time to think. One of the things I was thinking about was sin. It is important to think about sin; Jesus came to take away sin; We should at least ponder what that reality is.
What is a sin?
Most of us when we hear the word 'sin' we make a laundry of list of things that belong under the subheading of sin: lying, stealing, killing, adultery, not going to mass, not honoring our father and mother. In some sense the Ten commandments is slowly formed, hopefully.
My next question was, what makes a sin a sin?
What makes lying sinful, stealing sinful, killing sinful?
We could rack our brains for a few moments or longing but eventually all of our answers could be and should be reduced to one answer. We could all respond with the answer, "because God said so..."
Now this may see simplistic but it is the reality. God has spoken. God keeps silence no longer.
From the beginning, God reveals himself not as an image or effigy but as a voice, a living word that speaks.
In the beginning God said, "let there be light" and he defeated darkness and nothingness and created being and formed the world. Not only is god a voice, a living word, it is a word with a purpose, a plan.
God throughout time has invited us to participate in his plan. His plan as unfold patiently and he has patiently waited for us to participate in it.
In todays' gospel, Mark tells us, "the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, son of God. as it is written in the prophet Isaiah..."
The word "gospel" means good news. Mark is reminding us as he draws from the prophet Isaiah, as he reaches deep into history, deep into the memory of Israel, this good news is not new. It is part of God's plan that has been slowly unfolding, a plan that the prophet Isaiah had reminded us of long ago.
God who reveals himself as a voice, a living word, ha snow become living flesh. No longer does God speak to us in the hidden recesses of time but now he speaks to us face to face.
In Jesus, God continues to invite us to participate in his plan for us, for the world.
Now, sin, has a more nuanced meaning. Sin, at its heart, is the reality in which we refuse to participate in God's plan. we retaliate against God's patience for us and the patience he demands from us. Sin is when we choose our own plan, we choose to take matters into our own hands.
This is the reality of sin; we choose to not cooperate with God' s plan for us and the world.
Love then must be when we refuse to take matters into our own hands. This is seen most perfectly in the agony, where Jesus on his Knees surrenders, "let it be your will not mine." Jesus refuses to take matters into his own hands and thus he hastens the day of the Lord, when love conquers sin.
How do we hasten the day of the Lord, as St. Peter tells us, we simply refuse to take matters into our own hands. Then truly a new heaven and new earth will be unveiled, because God's plan for us all will be made manifest through us all.
Let us wait on the Lord and not keep him waiting.
God's plan is not our fault but it is our responsibility. We can choose to ignore his word or we can be active participants in his plan for all.
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