Your Sins are Forgiven
February 20, 2000
Psalm 41, Isaiah 43:18-25, Mark 2:1-12

Isaiah 48:25 "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."

Mark 2:5b "My son, your sins are forgiven."

Mark 2:9 Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Rise take up your pallet and walk’?

In today’s gospel lesson Jesus asks us a question, "Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Rise take up your pallet and walk’?" This morning I phrase the question differently. I ask you, which is the main event in our gospel lesson, forgiveness or healing?
Which is the main event in your life? Forgiveness or healing?
Is it safe to say this morning that forgiveness and healing are the same?
Have you ever been paralyzed by an unfortunate event for which you were responsible?
Have you ever been unable to move emotionally beyond a certain point because of some past pain? And in these circumstances did either accepting or extending forgiveness make a difference?
Deepak Chopra has introduced us all to the Mind-Body Connection or body-soul connection. He and others suggest that if there’s emotional distress – physical symptoms can exist. If I’m angry, I get sick. If I’m stressed, I get sick.
Does either accepting or extending forgiveness make a difference?
The whole mind-body connection makes sense to me. But I see a problem with the theory. You and I become responsible for all our illnesses…we have cancer because there’s a problem. Maybe we have not extended or accepted forgiveness… we get sick. I don’t like this and I don’t believe it’s true. Yet, I do accept the connection. I accept the fact that fear and anger can do a number on me, both emotionally and physically.
Have you ever been paralyzed by an unfortunate event for which you were responsible? Have you ever been unable to move emotionally beyond a certain point because of some past pain? And did either accepting or extending forgiveness make a difference?
Is healing or forgiveness the main event?
Is it possible that Jesus, in our gospel lesson, is referring to the body-mind connection. A common belief during Jesus time was that sin caused sickness. If you were blind, you did something horrible or your parent’s did something horrible. Jesus says, "Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say, ‘Rise take up your pallet and walk’? Is Jesus saying, since your sins are gone you are no longer paralyzed?
I do not accept that the man was paralyzed because of sin. And I don’t think Jesus taught that either. But I do believe that sin is paralyzing. I know from personal experience that a failure to take responsibility for mistakes is paralyzing!
The quote that I choose for the bulletin this week is "Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts." "It is the response to my error that counts."
Is it true that there is less inclination to accept responsibility for errors these day?
Is there less inclination to offer forgiveness and healing? Ann Lander’s column listed explanations people have given to explain why they were not responsible for automobile accidents. Some of them are as follows:
"A pedestrian hit me and went under my car."
"The guy was all over the place. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him."
"The accident happened when I was attempting to bring my car out of a skid by steering it into the other vehicle."
"As I approached the intersection, a stop sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before."
"The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path wen it struck my front end."
"My car was legally parked when it backed into another vehicle."
"An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my vehicle and vanished."
"The pedestrian had no idea which way to go, so I ran him over."
"Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don’t have."
You get the idea! I’ve often thought that road rage could be greatly decreased if there was a universal "I’m sorry, please forgive me" gesture! "Mistakes are a fact of life." It is the ability to accept or extend forgiveness that counts.
I have three nephews, ages three, two and nine months. Zachary is the oldest, Austin is in the middle and Caleb is the youngest. Several weeks ago, Caleb or baby Cale as his brothers call him, was the only one in childcare when he was bitten on the check. That same night, safe and sound at home, Heather, their mom, was telling my brother Mark about Caleb being bitten. Zachary overheard and was immediately concerned. Why would someone bite baby Cale? Who bit him, where, when? Zach was more upset than his parents!
Monday arrived and Heather dropped all the boys off at daycare. Zachary marched in, located the boy who bit Caleb, ran over, pushed him down and shouted, "You NO bite my baby Cale!" In the following seconds, before any adult could respond, Zachary quietly walked to the time-out chair and took a seat!
"Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts."
Zach’s inappropriate correction of the boy who bit Caleb was no mistake, it was well planned. He pushed and yelled deliberately. But his response to that intentional error is priceless. Time-out in Zach’s world, is the hoop you must jump through to be absolved. Time-out though is just one stop on the way to forgiveness. Forgiveness also includes an "I’m sorry" spoken to the person that was wronged.
What is your response to error? Your own error or someone else’s? Do you accept and extend forgiveness and healing?
Or is forgiveness a non-issue today? Do we believe that we can behave in any manner we choose with no consequences? Does our belief that God forgives all give us license to hurt others? Does your response to error include forgiveness and healing?
So far this morning I’ve talked only about our response to error. I’d like to close with a look at God’s response. God’s response to error is remarkable. God says in our OT lesson, "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." God sees error and forgives.
I once heard a story about a miserable man. He had been an extraordinarily difficult person. He had a fiery temper – always arguing, cursing, and complaining. He was found shot to death. No one knew how it happened. Was he cleaning the weapon when it went off? Was the wound self-inflicted? At the man’s funeral the minister said, "I have a vision. I can see this man in heaven. He comes face to face with God. He curses God. He grabs God by the shirt. He shakes God. He pounds God's chest until he is exhausted. Then God puts his arms around the man. God embraces him."
"I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."
God sees error and forgives. May we do the same. Amen.