Author: barbarafox

Not all pride is sin, and humility is not self-abasement, said Rev. Don Brash, who preached on “pride vs humility” in the Marathon sermon series on January 26.

If sin is the act of disobeying God, he said, don’t fail to notice what comes before and what happens afterward.  Consider the state of the heart.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve wanted to be like God. Equality with God was something to be grasped.  What began in imagination and desire was the disruption of relationships.

Prideful desire plus disobedience led to self alienation in form of guilt and shame — blaming each other and the serpent.

Sin is an act that leads to disruption of true community. With its alienation, pride is the worst of the deadly sins. Insecurity results from alienation to the detriment of others.

Four kinds of sinful pride:

• Intellectual:  the wry satisfaction from being the one who knows.
• Moral: not committing the sin another is doing, not removing the plank in our own eye
• Collective: justifying sinful behavior, as did the Nazis, for the sake of the nation
• Spiritual:  leading to self righteousness, as when a preacher thinks he can speak for God

Healthy pride, in contrast, values self enough to care for oneself, according to C.S. Lewis. We can celebrate our victories but value the other team. Healthy pride builds community,  but sinful pride alienates community.

Christ is our model for healthy pride, as in Philippians 3:2-11

Walk with Christ.

Don’t look for equality with God.
Make a choice to make a sacrifice for the other.
Learn to love the other voice and the result will be harmony.

Amen.

Anger can’t be ignored, said Rev. Catherine Williams in her sermon on February 2, part of the seven deadly sins marathon series. Anger  raises more questions than can be answered. Then she proceeded to answer some of these questions.

As Martin Luther said, anger can be useful in giving us energy to accomplish something. As John Wesley said, all anger is not evil. But anger also alienates and it disrupts community.

So what do we do about an anger producing situation?

We can use the Biblical lament to channel anger. As examples, Rev. Williams quoted Psalm 137:7-9, written by the exiled Hebrews, and Psalm 22. When we are enraged by what life hands us — the anger expressed in Psalm 22, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” — validates our emotions. Somebody was praying what we are thinking.

We can also use anger to fuel robust activism, like Jesus when he attacked the money changers in the temple (John 2:13-17). We can fight any of a hundred unjust evils.

We can also take our anger and forgive. Forgiveness is a choice the forgiver makes without regard to the offender. When anger is sinful, forgiveness is its visible antidote. The forgiver — not the situation — is the primary beneficiary of this antidote.