Pentecost: John’s Critique of Our Preoccupation With Sin

Pentecost: John’s Critique of Our Preoccupation With Sin

By The Rev. Rian Adams

Pentecost is the time of the church year where Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. However, over the years it’s also been a confusing time for me personally. Mostly because sermons tend to focus our attention on how the Spirit came (e.g. rushing mighty wind) or when the Spirit came (e.g. when the church was gathered in one mind… unity) instead of why. 

The Gospel lesson for Pentecost Sunday gives us a good look at why. As you read the Gospel, look for the why.

The Lectionary Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Jesus said to his disciples, ”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit teaches us the truth about sin.

The lesson says that the Holy Spirit’s role is to show the world it is wrong about sin. I find this fascinating because I think the church (and most Western religions for that matter) obsess over sin. In my denomination we rarely have a church service without the obsession. As Episcopalians we even tell God how bad we are: “We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we… most grievously have committed,… against thy divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.”

To sum up that liturgical prayer, our sins provoke God’s anger towards us. The funny thing is… I can’t find anywhere in the Gospels where Jesus told “sinners” to be afraid of his wrath… or to bow at his feet. I wonder if some of our liturgical prayers are remainders of a religious heritage from monarchal days when subjects groveled before kings.

I’m the father of an amazing eight year old. I never want him to be scared of violence when he makes a mistake. I’d rather create room in the relationship to talk honestly about problem. Further, I want him to know that I will advise him if he desires it. His mistakes are never reason for violence toward him.

Pentecost proves the world wrong about sin.

The Holy Spirit shows us graceful relationships.

That begs the question then, how has the world been wrong about “sin?” In Greek the word sin is hamartia. The root meaning is “missing the mark.” For me the “mark” is the way of Jesus shown in the Gospels… the mark is love, mercy, compassion, and grace!

Grace is far removed from a behavioral religion obsessed with sin. To take that one more step, grace is a long way from the notion that “sin” is actions of “manifold wickedness… provoking God’s indignation.”

Let me be upfront, I believe sin is a failure of consciousness, not a simple behavioral problem. Sin is a failure of psychological awareness. By the same token, sin is the willingness to live solely in the ego instead of living from the divine center – the mark – of mercy.

When we live from the center, the Holy Spirit can “lead us into truth” by showing us that sin never was about behavior. Rather, the Holy Spirit teaches us about graceful relationships.

The Holy Spirit brings depth, not judgement.

An immature form of spirituality reduces sin to a surface level… “good” and “bad.” That equation assumes that the Holy Spirit convicts followers of Jesus of various behaviors that God finds offensive. This is a surface approach to the work of the Spirit and lacks spiritual depth.

It’s ironic that entire Christian denominations are founded on Pentecost (I grew up in one) yet these denominations fail to give up the simplistic approach to sin as behavior. When the Christian Church understands sin in the same context as Pharisees did 2000 years ago we have… missed the mark. 

A depth approach sees the Holy Spirit as “God’s operative” that helps us grow past egocentrism into a divine consciousness… a consciousness that realizes God “desires mercy and not sacrifices.” (Matthew 9:13). This spiritual consciousness recognizes the centricity of “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.” (Matthew 5:7).

So, the Holy Spirit teaches us the deep truth that Jesus is God’s example of how we should live. The Christ “gave his life for our sins… in order to rescue us from this world in which we live.” (Gal. 1:4). “This world” are the ones who remain unconscious of God’s call to follow the truth, the mark, of mercy.

The Spirit of mercy!

John’s Gospel illustrates this point when a woman, caught in adultery, is brought before Jesus. Religious law said to stone her because she broke God’s rules. Jesus took a deeper approach… a much more difficult approach. Jesus deployed MERCY… “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7).

Pentecost is a call to allow the Holy Spirit to deepen our minds and transform them into the mind of Christ, the merciful one. When that happens, behavior will fix itself without obsession or pathology. Patience and process are key here! 

The Holy Spirit indwells the soul.

But it doesn’t simply stop with the imitation of Christ. Carl Jung said, “One of the functions of religion is to protect us against religious experience.” In essence, what Jung says is that our religion can become so corporate that it loses the spirit upon which the institution sits. That foundation is the Christ of the Gospels, Mercy. The Holy Spirit isn’t simply an experience or a baptism… the Spirit is a spiritual and psychological awakening.

Here Fritz Kunkel offers some helpful insights. He says that the disciples would have been in a continual state of idolatry if Jesus had not left them and ascended to heaven. Kunkel thought idolatry occurred when the center (God) projects on to a human being. In other words…

They needed the Holy Spirit to lead them to the Christ in their souls. Christ leaving the disciples at the crucifixion and ascension was an essential part of their spiritual growth.

The world is wrong about sin, righteousness, and its judgmental approach to people because it assumes sin is action, or a state of being (e.g. original sin).

Jung said the Holy Spirit was “not about the imitation of Christ, but about the assimilation of the Christ image to the self.” Jung knew the work of the Spirit is related to a soul awakening to mercy.

Or, as Paul said, “Christ in you is your hope.” (Colossians 1:27). My poem pieces hints at this transformation. Don’t worry so much about sin… just let the Spirit transform your heart into a heart of mercy.

Love God, show mercy to yourself and others, and be filled with the Spirit of Jesus this Pentecost.

Peace,

Rian+