Daily Lesson for May 9, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from 1 John chapter 5 verses 14 through 17:

14 And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. 16If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.

In the Catholic Church a distinction is made between what is called mortal sin and venial sin. Venial sin is anything which weakens one’s relationship with God. Mortal sin, on the other hand, is that which in and of itself separates one from the grace of God. That does not mean a person is altogether separated from grace.  For they are still the recipients of general grace — the grace or sun and rain for example.  But they are separated from the grace of abiding life with and in God. Only sincere contrition can restore such a one. 

In the Protestant tradition we have tended to speak of all sin as all equally destructive in nature. We have said that even the most heinous crime and the least peccadillo are essentially the same in nature. For this reason Protestants have largely rejected the distinction between mortal and venial sin. 

But I think keeping the distinction is important — and Biblical. All sin, however large or small, is symptomatic of a deeper disorder within us all.  It is a part of the human condition to be inherently sinful — though not, as the Catholics believe, entirely sinful. So all sins are symptomatic of a deeper disease.  Yet, just as with a disease some symptoms are minor and others deadly in and of themselves, so too are some sins more deeply destructive of the human being than others. These are the sins which drive one deep into darkness and shame and the clutches of evil. What actually constitutes such a sin cannot be listed because they may be person specific; but in general these are sins which rob its perpetrator and/or its victim of their personhood. They are mortal sins, meaning they carry death within them — death of spirit and self, death of others, death of community, death of relationship with God and others.

In today’s Lesson John speaks of mortal sin. He speaks in distinction and gradation, though he acknowledges that all sin is “wrongdoing”.  All sin is wrongdoing, but some sin is deadly.  I appreciate the distinction and wish more Protestants knew such a distinction existed in the Bible. On a theological level this means every minor sin is not worthy of penalty of death, and especially not eternal separation from God. For if such were the case how in the world could we live with ourselves day in and day out with all the little minor lies we tell or thoughts we have. And on a practical level, recognizing different kinds of sin opens a way for us to deal more fully and completely and responsibly with sin which is truly destructive in its nature. This seems to be the major point of the distinction in the Lesson.

“Sin is sin!” Yes; but there is certain sin which is so vile and destructive that a simple little prayer and the promise never to do it again will not suffice. That is how abusers are allowed to go on abusing, without the community properly dealing with the perpetrator.

“If  you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal,” John says. John wants us to know that in most situations we are free to encourage and minister unto others that they might know and understand God’s love and grace and not beat themselves up (and down).  When we restore such a one they are restored.

On the other hand, there are certain cases where soul is so sick and the sin so grave that it’s really best that the situation be dealt with by the church in consultation with the leadership of the church, experienced mental health professionals, and quite possibly law enforcement and the criminal justice system.