Sin City

Acknowledging we are all sinners

 Matthew 19:16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

             Do you believe in sin?  What an odd question!  Shouldn’t a priest rather ask us, “Do you believe in God?”  Yes, we should ask that, too, but I believe it’s even more urgent to inquire about our faith in iniquity.  Why?  Because if there is no sin, who needs a Savior, who needs God?  Now, Fr. Benedict Groeschel says, “If you don’t believe in sin, just walk the streets of New York City!”  Humorous as that remark is, I bet it’s only outsiders who see such behavior as sinful, not the New Yorkers themselves.  So, we have to believe in sin, like we have to believe in God.  One of the devil’s most successful strategies is not so much to make us sin, but rather to make us forget there is any sin.  C. S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters, gives us a glimpse of Satan’s subterfuge when he writes: “It’s funny how mortals always picture us [devils] putting things INTO their minds; in reality our best work is done by keeping things OUT.”  Satan wants to keep sin out of sight.

             In the gospel today we meet a man who has stopped believing in sin, he’s obviously from New York City!  He asks Jesus what he must do to enter heaven, and Jesus quotes him the commandments.  The New Yorker is happy to report he has kept all the commandments.  He says, “Check.”  But I think Jesus makes an even more penetrating reply when he says, “There is only One who is good,” meaning only God is good.  That is, only God is perfect and sinless, and the implication is, “And you, young man, are not.”  Then Jesus gently points out the young man’s greedy heart.  Jesus is teaching the young man: don’t let Satan fool you into believing you have no sins.  Don’t let Satan steal sin out of your mind.

             In the 1970’s the famous psychiatrist, Karl Meninger, wrote the book called, “Whatever Happened To Sin?”  He argued that society at large had taken sin out of our minds and treated such behavior first as crime and later as mental disorders and diseases.  But you see what happened?   Collectively, we decided that evil behavior should no longer be called “sin,” but rather something else.  Satan had taken sin out of our minds.  If you don’t believe me, let me ask you one question: When was the last time you went to confession?  You see, you don’t have to be from New York City to stop believing in sin.  So, let me ask you again: “Do you believe in sin?”  And listen again to Jesus’ words today: “There is only One who is good.”  By the way, that ain’t YOU.

Praised be Jesus Christ!