Sermon - May 9, 2010

The Year of Luke - Year C - Easter 6

During the night, Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Western Civilization as we know it came into being with these words from the Book of Acts. That is not an understatement for Western Civilization is a combination of Europe and Christianity.

At the time that Paul had this vision, he was in what is modern day Turkey. He was near the place where ancient Troy had once stood. Macedonia was in Europe and was part of Greece. As Paul crossed over into Europe with him came the eventual transformation of a continent and the lives and faith of millions of people.

No matter how much the modern world wants to deny it, Western Civilization is Christian at its core. Our education, science, political systems, medical and social structures have at their base the ethics, teachings, and principles of Christianity. It was the teachings of Christ that Paul brought with him to Macedonia that became this foundation.

When Europe fell into chaos during the Dark Ages, Christianity held the culture together. When European culture became corrupt, the Reformation and its principles of freedom swept across the continent. People of faith steeped in western education, thought and beliefs brought about medicine, the rule of law, and the eventual rise of democracy.

However, the most important thing that Christianity brought with it was its understanding of sin and redemption. Christian understanding of sin and forgiveness are essential to the faith. In these things is the whole reason for the cross of Christ. The Christian understanding of sin and forgiveness formed a structure upon which people where able to see the world, God, and themselves.

For over a century people have been trying to replace Christianity with a secular understanding of humanity that has as its teaching that all people are essentially good, and when moral restraints are removed, and when the right social engineering takes place, then we will enter a perfect and harmonious world.

This naïve view is what has lead to so many cataclysmic disasters. However, more significant than the breakdown of culture and the malaise of our time is the loss of the message that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. It is only through the forgiveness won by Christ that we are freed from ourselves.

Christianity has as its basic teaching that humans are sinful and flawed. Now some want to think that this is a terrible way to look at humanity. On the contrary, Christianity is realistic. It is for this reason we know that the church itself will make horrendous mistakes and do things contrary to the faith. People are of such a nature that we are constantly doing things that are against what we believe and which we have difficulty explaining.

Failure to recognize this reality means that people ignore the essential selfishness that is the make-up of our lives. Ignoring the essential selfishness of humans means that we have no restrictions against what we do or are. Commitment to family, community, or congregation is replaced with what we want as individuals. What the individual wants becomes paramount. We can dispose of people, institutions, and commitments because the self is what is important.

With the teaching of original sin, Christianity acknowledges the reality of humans. It recognizes our inherent selfishness. It sees our sinful nature. It recognizes that we have a character that backfires on us. It sees the fact that we will do things that are in complete contrast to what we confess and believe.

However, Christianity sees our sinful nature and rather than giving up on us, it calls us to a higher purpose even as it knows that we will stumble. However, because our faith is one that has a God who loves the sinner, we are redeemed to go and live a life worthy of the love God gives to us.

To repeat that idea, Christianity sees us as born in a state of sin, Christ loved us so much he was willing to die for us in our sin. Christ’s death elevates us and then calls us to something more than what we are.

For the modern world to see humanity as sinful is abhorrent because it undercuts the idea we need only follow our selfish desires. That is because if we confess our sins, then we are called to seek forgiveness and an amendment of our lives, which takes us from the self.

When Paul had his vision, the world changed. That vision of a man calling to him for help is still here. We need the help that Christianity offers. The world needs what Christianity is. This is a message that should never be lost nor put out of sight. Amen.