“Sin no more” Sunday
Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11
When Isaiah speaks of a God who makes a path through the sea and mighty waters as well as makes horses and their riders perish in the sea, he reminds us of the actions of God delivering Israel from Egypt and creating Israel to be his people. This is the first part of our first reading. The second part of our first reading starts with, “see, I am doing something new”! Israel that was created a people of God, now needs recreation from sin — the “new thing” God is doing! When Isaiah talks of a God who makes water gush out in the desert of Babylon (Isaiah 43:14) he reminds us of God’s redemption or recreation from sin, because “the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise” (Isaiah 43:21) have failed and need spiritual redemption.
This history of rise and fall, creation and recreation because of sin continues today. Our Lenten season reminds us of our fall into sin, and Easter morning reminds us of our rising from the ashes of death to sin into a glorious resurrection and new life with Christ.
More wondrous than what Isaiah says in the first reading is God’s forgiveness of the woman caught in adultery! Instead of a whole people —Israel — a single woman is mentioned; in the place of many sins, only one sin is given to us as example of how we fall into sin — adultery. The woman caught in adultery, which our gospel relates, tells us of how God recreates us after we had sin — forgiveness! The statement of recreation comes from Jesus’ redemptive formula: “Go, and from now on do not sin any more” (John 8:21).
This Sunday is “sin no more” Sunday! Today’s gospel teaches us a fact we prefer to ignore at our peril — we are all sinners! The Pharisees and the religious leadership of the day saw themselves as the custodians of justice, so they were ready to stone an adultress to death! The law said so — she must die — and so must it be, they reasoned!
It was at the appearance of Jesus on the scene that morality came to light: he who has never sinned should throw the first stone, said Jesus! The question wasn’t who has never fornicated or committed adultery, but who has never sinned before! Morality refuses cherry picking — what sin is worse than another — it emphasizes perfection! From the approach of Jesus, morality is NOT the condemnation of sinners, but the guarantee that oneself is NOT a sinner! Interestingly, there is a second step, besides sinlessness as morality, the refusal to kill sinners despite not being a sinner oneself, just as Jesus did: “Go, and from now on do not sin any more” (John 8:11). Imagine what our world would look like, should each one of us be sinless like Jesus!
When we imagine the impossibility of any human being without sin, then the first reading of today begins to make sense: how is it possible to make water gush out of a desert, as Isaiah prophesies? Thanks goodness, with God all is possible! Rather than a piece of land without water, Isaiah is talking about a human heart that is so accustomed to basking in sin, so much so that sinlessness appears impossible! The impossibility of sinlessness becomes possible, when the mind is totally preoccupied with the imitation of Jesus to the point that sin becomes an allergy.
When Isaiah talks of water gushing out in the desert, he does indicate that it will be available only to those who choose to drink from it; there is no compulsion! It is water available to pilgrims in the desert, the desert of sin and the journey out of the desert. If we have been serious with our Lenten fast, almsgiving and prayer, the effects of five weeks of desert experience will inch us closer to ourselves; that is, our sinfulness and need for God.
Our second reading provides us with the attitude of a true Christian: “Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus”. Those who have time to condemn fellow sinners, are those who have not even started out on their journey to realize their sinfulness. For Paul, he keeps himself busy: “It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus”. That is the point, allowing Jesus to possesses us to the point of him living in us and directing our lives like Paul’s: “It is no longer I who live but Christ living in me” (Galatians 2:20).
“Sin no more” Sunday invites us on a journey of self-discovery that we are sinners with our unique sins that are different from those of others. The journey of discovery must be so intense and sincere that all our attention is focused on Christ and not on who to condemn.
In order to profit from “Sin no more” Sunday, we must let go of other conceptions of morality that divide us into saints and sinners. On the contrary, the unyielding desire to live a life-long Lent, beyond 40 days, until Jesus Christ is formed in us, should motivate us.
“Sin no more” Sunday invites us to disabuse ourselves of the imagination that morality is located in anyone or any place than in Jesus Christ. The only way to be sure that we are on track to morality, Jesus Christ, is the moment we can speak with Paul: “I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him”. “To know Christ” is to live and behave like him; anything short of that keeps us in the past, not even on the path to the “new” in Christ Jesus!
“Sin no more” Sunday forbids us from condemning ourselves and others. It gives us hope of forgiveness and the requisite courage to change for the better. If Jesus transformed himself into an unpaid lawyer to defend the woman caught in adultery, let us also become defenders of all sinners cowed down by despair that they are “no good”!
Assignment for the Week:
Write down or share with someone the story of your conversion or how you overcame a major sin obstacle in your life.
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