But we’re not Puritans anymore. We live in a
society oriented around our inner wonderfulness.
So when something atrocious happens, people look
for some artificial, outside force that must
have caused it — like the culture of college
football, or some other favorite bogey. People
look for laws that can be changed so it never
happens again." These words come not from the
Bible, but from David Brooks' fantastic Op-Ed in
the NY Times yesterday regarding the scandal at
Penn St. The overarchiing them of his editorial
is that when things like this happen, in this
case when sexual abuse occurs and then is
systematically concealed or ignored, we wonder,
"how can these things happen." Nowadays, we ask
the question, then, according to Brooks, find
something to blame which then absolves us of our
collective guilt in the tragedies of this
world. He concludes with this line, " the most
seductive evasion is the one that leads us to
deny the underside of our own nature." That is,
our culture has developed in such a way that we
do not believe in our own sinful nature.
This is why one of the most important aspects
of our weekly worship service is the Prayer of
Confession, when we spend time acknowledging our
own failures. It's not fun, and it doesn't fit
with the cultural narrative of our "inner
wonderfulness," but it does serve to remind us
that we are people who are creatures of sin, in
need of God's redemptive grace. Most of the
problems in this world are rooted in the simple
truth that there are people in it, and people
often do bad things which are large and small.
You do them and I do them, and the frightening
truth is Brooks is correct, this is in our
nature. So this week, as we come to the
confession of sin in worship, I hope you will
remember Brooks' words, remember the truth of
Scripture, and remember that we are all in need
of God's redemptive grace. Sin is the problem
in this world, and it is sadly not going
anywhere.
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Prayer: Holy God, please forgive me for sinning. Forgive
me for the ways I have failed you today, and for the ways in which I
participate in the evils of this world. Help me to remember that I
need your grace to change my life, and that as long as I live here,
I live in separation from you. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[Phil Blackburn, First Presbyterian Church]
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