Sin and the Human Condition John M, Buchanan
Luke 18:9+14 Broad Street Presbyterian Church
April 20, 1975 Columbus, Ohio

One time when the story of the Pharisee anktax collector was studied
pe anal =e nl

by a first srade heol class, after the two characters had been
renee ha ee]
: <—e

iwet : a
Pat ias Prior a aut vwian © 4

) Sen cue dramatically portrayed
- Ty

pei mag Calico st,
aan ee 7 eantehee| the teacher said, 4{"And now children, Let's thank God that we are not like

yeh Ree that mean old Pharisee" .) The universal human propensity toward esotism

or pride at the expense of someone else was investigated and in the course
me ee temo —

of that very investi.

gation showed its presence \shat's the way it is with

us, it seems.\Inherently within us is a terriblg peed to be somgone b
° on ome he oe able o& feeling
n WE are Gus aa a
comparing ourselves upfairly with angther person. Proud aout “ kee 4 —
: 7 eel « etumae Gavare o
We are Wessed wih sock wonderfully expmusiue eggs Thet even we cl!
ue eae kim, we ore Wanda ot work > somewhere elbe in omek eft oer weds” wenden we our
——> Jesus was not a philosopher, \#e did not, as far as we know, define] wp Vee ene
ree

cand reagan
wat cnt ste
—_—_—

sin, nor did he discuss it in the abstract.\ What he did was to point to

the particular behavior, and the attitudes and motivations behind the
PO naa] vc ad
fad in as eyelet,
behavior, which separated men from God and from each other\ ‘the parable
ie a

of the Pharisee and the tax collector is perhaps the most devastating
Ee

commentary on the human condition you and I are ever likely to confront.
me, nae. Cn

Let's think about the story for a moment. \ As is usually the case

er — Liat d

with the parables of Jesus it is deceptively simple, set in a common,
a [EE

every day situation,\ Two men came to the Temple to pray. \ Qne was 4
rr

Pharisee, a pillar of religion, a patriot, an honest, generous, regpected

man. \the other was a tax collector or Publican, a Jew who had agreed to
we

work for the Roma®& authorities by collecting their taxes and who was au-
EsSued

Zi thorized to keep for his own amy money he could collect over and above
Z ER SEE sienna

the official per-capita tax. Ve short, he was both a traitor and a thief.

The comparison between the two could not have been drawn more dramatically.
were Ere, Ferree

When the Pharisee prayed he gave an accounting of the vices from
[ee

which he abstained and the good works he had perfigened | He gave thanks
Were Le =e or]

to God that he was so demonstrably superior to other men - particularly
ee eee

the tax cghlector\ The Tax collector, on the other hand, was so aware
=_—a be al _—eee

of his inferiority that he did not even approach the altar, but stood
ee Ee

far off, and with downcast eyes asked for God's nexey | Jesus" comment

= ST nun rian

on the situation was that God approved of the tax collector, but not
Meme, | Ee

the Pharisee..

Now, Jesus was not generalizing about all Pharisees.\ In fact,

jt has been observed that what he said was a caricature:\ Pharisees
ee og ete

didn't act Like thac. \ Nor is it probable that a tax collector would
baad rE DT

. show up in the Temple, let alone to pray with such beautiful sincerity.

The point of this rather staged situation then is in the little proverb

which follows: | neveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he

who humbles himself will be cxatced.| Jesus would have approved of the

a

Pharisee's conduct and it is certain that he would have found the tax
pear arrestee a

collector's treachery offensive. He was talking about prige:\ehe pride
ne /

that interferes with a man's relationship with his God and fellow man

Val

G ue.

regardless of the relative moral wemémeof the particular behavior he
TE

ee ate Bhorsen wae dat 2 good “lite | ae wes
happens to be exhibiting #, . \ Bot een wa i” ’ v= av Ve ween of

alieuwhim, seperckin , Wetwees WO fellsu man o Wlaneth aud Hens Set tnt
————p Christian thinkers have consistently |

regarded pride or egotism as

the basic, understanding about the human condition. | In theology pride
en * eT ad

is not simply one of man's shortcomings, but the fundamental condition
nil be —

which is expressed in all sorts of wrong behavior. | That is what is
— eel ra

pointed to and documented by the parable of the two men in the Temple.
iT, SET — REE

And it is to that which I wish to draw your attention this morning.

=a 2a
~2-

We asked last Sunday "Whatever Happened to Sin?", and concluded
De | ena ieaiieel ry
that sin has disappeared because of the long process which has reduced
[en So E SECTS
our sense of individual responsibility. \ sin became crime which became
the symptom of sickness. \at the same time we concluded that religion

gut petty vices as the locus

has been less than helpful by singling |

of all evil and neglecting the advice of the late Paul Tillich who
IT

iT,
insisted that (sin is a condition before it becomes an ace.") So, this
morning, a look at the Condition of manking which preceeds wrong or
—_ [i Ene

sinful behavior.
ne

it Wor
Fall in the third chapter of Genesis, Adam and

a

In the story of The

Eve broke the rules: [they refused to live within the limits God had set
an ‘Sn

for tren \ It seemed rather arbitrary - to eat or not to eat the apple,
‘Seer. nn De

but what really was at stake was that in eating

the apple they would

become like God,
oe

Religious fantasye

hardly an apolog st
Listen to Bertrand Russell, sddmuejpedaidomet
Sy

"Of the infinite desires of man the chief are
the desires for power and glory... Every man would Like to be God,
ar ai el

if it were possible;|some few find it difficult to admit the impossiitity’ )

—r

a

(Power, A-New Social Analysis, p. 11) ar
& York word

wt a
mice
hiatry? ["Arrogance, narcissism

and egocentrism are usually symptomatic residuals of early ego injury.

Or listen to the tegtimon

ete reeha

They serve to salve unhealed wounds of self-esteem
a

ama

m, but the remedy can be most obnoxious
se

to one's fellows." (Karl Menninger, Whatever Became of Sin, p. 135)

The psychiatrist suggests that people may become proud, arrogant ,
agressive and harmful to other people in order to compensate for earlier
Cn

ego canage. | te assumption is that if you are fortunate enough net to
BT -~3-

have e i i Pp g
xperienced early ego damage you will net need to be proud, arrogant
a 7atm na
and agressive. \ Christian theology responds that all men sufferfeso damage,
rE atthe & Heh mney eg pa, bute —_ae
not at the hands of their parents, but as a consequence of their humanity.
= ¢

wo gaee ees yy ‘

Alone in creation man is aware of his finiteness,[{Dogs are finite
See aa Ce

too, but they don't know it: | they don't worry about it:| tney do not
a —_—rc

feel the least bit insecure in the face of fate \ Every day is eternity
Steerer Sra [eS

for a dog: \ they are happily unaware that they will die one day, that the

world is literally full of threats to their existence, \\ the only anxieties
‘oeetery Ets

dogs seem to have are those caused by us.\ But we are different {we know:
baile

“Prorkal ‘
we are deka and painfully aware of it. | Qur parents may love us totally -
paingully \ ovr » y y

we may be sheltered, protected, supported, esteemed but one day we know -
we are finite.\ That, the theologians tell us, is basic:]Jit is our basic
anxiety, our fundamental insecurity, our original ego damage.
ee] ee. see
Reinhold Niebuhr, whe wrote the definitiye woxk on the subject
observed, |". -al1 human life is involved in the sin of seeking security
at the expense of other Life... | the truth is that man is tempted by
rT * a
the basic insecurity of human existence to make himself doubly secure
anal ene

and by the insignificance of his place in the tgtal scheme of life to

prove his significance." | (The Nature and Destiny of Man, Vol. I p 181; 192)

Suddenly, Adam and Eve begin to look a great deal like all men and

all women, | tot of what we do derives from our deepest insecurities:
— —

it is frankly intended to document our worth, our significance, our
i tie ind

importance, and ultimately our defiance of our own mortality. \ Some of
oo 1

ts.

us are more blatant about it than othe

2a

The Pharohs of Egypt consumed the resources of their land in opder
Da on alae ss.

to construct pytanides symbols of their inmortatity | Langdon Gilkey
observes, |"Our infinite human hunger for wealth, prominence and place
om eno Ld

«b=

.) ye
goer sew
Td ne

we

9) pur Vala efSorks ke

shake ovk ae “es

af downer “y

we get tigni- a
sont,

Wwe cele ® gus rt

is in large part an effort to amass power in some form eameaneiecmecey
scenes

to guard against the threat of fate, that unpredictable force of destiny ..,
a crac

Or more immediately, when the transport planes were evacuating
timed =r

DaNang, South Vietnamese soldiers pushed aside, trampedsover, or shot

if necessary, the women and children who stood between them and their
meee is TEN RLU

security.
remy
ar eae’
Pridey the theologians tell us, is a product of our ultimate
Oc a agesesnsat
insecurity. \ Tt is the universal condition of man which makes sin
omar wrens
original | That is the testimony of the men who tygge have thought most
Score Er :

articulately about us: Augustine, Pascal, Luther, Acquinas, Calvin. ®
wenrh. _ Ln :

ea Ais
Our basic epmendiniiy or self-centeredness is expressed as
ba ei nal
intellectual pride, moral pride, spiritual pride. | we can't all be
King or President - and thus feel a little bit infinite \ We can't
a_i bate al —_

all be Chairman of the Board, or a General or President of the club
= mre i cee

or even head of the house, and thus feel a little bit omnipotent.

ceke dovt
But regardless of our station in life we can feel right:
Dey

we can feel
ae

that our ideas are correct, ultimately correct and that our brilliance
ee S|

is revealed in comparison with the Pubes of the people wéth whom
ba ad | geen! |

Ls) . .
we must deal.]| How many arguments, ae ideas, are merely the working
fd
— ely
out of original sin, or egotism™ JEven
ad

ereat intellectuals, who ought

to know better, regard| themselves as possessors of ultimate, unending

truth, | tHeset not only proclaimed the finality of his own thought

Ea

but regarded his contemporary Prussian military state as the culmination
ah eee

ame a
of human bistory." | Gieibunr, p 196) So did Adolph Hitler with his

bi

vaunted "Thousand Year Reich."
sake nm

oy,

oe duck ts sing,

Phe Pa Wa, vy
lia Abate “haar
is Rouihende

“an Pe war Be oon
nae - gan ~ eee
» pemager wt saint
| pooh 1 a
pe rw a
aan ot tt ube

Yisw |

became of out ey

Morally, we judge ourselves by our own standards which, we assume are
DE ] moe

the ultimate standaras.\ Even virtue can become the vehicle of moral
‘cee on ‘EOE
pride ~ which is why the new Testament is so consistantly critical of

@
the righteous.\ Self - righteousness is not only distasteful, it is

the philosophic basis for a Lot of history's cruelest and most arrogant
‘Sharer terse Eo

escapades.\ One of the keystones in Nazi

Wor o
that Germans were weSEES superior to the rest of the world which was
Bs ad Eo Pt Sa rcn circ

ry was the assertion

always described as aecadent.\ under the guise of “Mani

hundreds of thousands of native Americans were dispatched because they were
ar Ce ee ts

regarded as morally inferior.

Moral pride is close to and often becomes spiritual pride Cy
ae re]

‘tae
religion is ultimately right and yours is ultimately wrong." Nedbubx
. Ld

tere

called it the "ultimate sin", and went on to comment :| "religion is

not simply as is generally supposed an inherently virtuous human
——————

quest for coa. | Tt is merely a final battle-ground between God and

man's self-esteem.| In that battle even the most pious practices may
— ——— a ,

be the instruments of human pride." (Ibid. p 200)

There are, for instance, religious groups which are highly visible,
= oR

and which flagrantly appgal to basic human insecurity by insisting,

very vocally that they are the true faith, the true church, standing
3 Er ats Sin oF Spirited Prike.

alone against the evils of all the rest of us. [ thee is sin, and it
[Ee —
seems to me that we ought to call it that - whenever any man, ox

institution, claims ultimate, exclusive knowledge of the truth \ And

yet, we must proceed with care. \ For even the Reformers - the greatest
‘RAE

a ee

teachers of human sinfulness - used their doctrinal postures arrogantly

against theological opponents \ We never want to forget chat John Calvin,
al _—_—E Lasers ee al
with his immense sensitivity to man's sin and God's grace, agreed to
the burning of a man by the name of Servetus at the stake.
cance ‘See OEE see aege

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4 Tajus ice wo MA ceavtt, VIF Taw buperien | iF oars eich in acber — ai tes \s an
my pete _exteem, Wan Ee te Ont Toth Oroloatah wilt opertes chives whisr
a " Ar€GeaS Wa mow wee thers ge nu ally Aor Way Owens ared Tica A met ‘wove “
Seiv guar ie Se arose , Vives Uigde Mew ~ eee mure ‘Sele me = Feol goes.
lave, Gua Aven Egotism - pride - self-centeredness, inevitably lead to the using
ames mre = ben ne

ce of other people, | coubeatsvely, the sin of pride leads to disaster F@) Aw Lickin
_— Ds rac = $ pata ener é¥eae,
x Frederidtthe Great was no moralist but he observed: | "T hope thay" iF we cea
fence See Moar Pere exch ke
: : oe . may we com dues
posterity will distinguish the philosopher from the monarch in me te Choe wf

and the decent man from the politician, \x must admit that when drawnjmisesls wr

wauhe <

into the vortex of European polities it is difficult to preserve
oe baal

——

decency and integrity." (Ibid. p. 2095
[————

—

Collective egotism becomes, in terms of the state, blind
Ee, rh Ee

patriotism. \ft enables the individual to find in the myth of the

bl
nation, or the super race, the power and immortality and prestige
ae Di ave Dl So
that he needs so desqagately.\ collective egotism leads to ‘empninarnes
of Hy, Fae ex ‘

totalitarianism: |it is the breeding ground for history's consistant

record of \"War and rumors of wax") it's final foe_has always been
pride por igras Bi , wuld glies :
religion ~ which has been able togsee it for what _it “is =] It is_no

rear Fasets 0: Commutse ;

accident that tyranny, and Christianity have not gotten along very well,
— =o

nor that the Church historically has been an uneasy and sometimes
Yur rAd at sha, Yoaks oc ~Aw Chase Vs be Tee ata Ae
of the ghate. svephtcal alrout “He petewtiol of Corporat Cay bine

embarassing alls

Jesus was no phsipsopher.\ But he did point to the behavior - and
PS Leaitimeneaid

the attitudes beneath the behavior ~ that separates men from each other.
be |

cman
On a personal level the sin of pride motivates us to play games Weiss
=e cyaeantpaues SE each o ;
Cttinpiies rather than loving, celebrating and affimming Wri .

The original game, one psychiatrist suggests, is (tine is better
that yours", ) and we play it all our lives Aes daddy is stronger
than your daddy" | then it became a little more scephisticated + "my
bike is faster than your_bike''s\ "ny history test was tougher than
your history test", \s sauachood, (Hay trip was more exciting than

reener,

your trip, my children are snarter ,\ my plans grander || ay Lawn
my golf score tower" land with great suberety, (May crises more severe,

-7-

my operation more critical, my burdens peayter" Natt of them variations
= name mE

on that original gene ("nine is better than yours":)all of them personal
P|

De |

manifestations of that fundamental human anxiety over our insecurity
al i

and our teggible meed to assert ourselves at the expense of

Gi ok Krew ceases wi our relaktmslips spmetimes Seem Pemke-F tes, Seale, WSeleas.

“Wn Goopet,

eS. dace We Btmghy urge us ly Ary Marder Aik in bee mest fer “tint

Now, this has not been a very happy sermon - which, perhaps, is
why you don't hear many sermons on sin. \ Tm fact, if you are still with

mé a state of despair may have set in.\ What's to become of we? If we

can't help ourselves, if all our little sins of pride, all our games
Pan ienmmmienialiidl —eee oe

"nd is 1 th ") a ipli i ti acia
of( "nine is letter than yours'/ are multiplied into na ional and racial
and sectarian Sin with a capital S$ on the grand, historical scale,

Pl : Ce — Pe

is there really any reason to be hopeful about mankind? ©

Many, in fact, would answer "no". |The cynic sees no reason for
—_— ey _roE ———e

optimi in the human condition. he atheist, if he is honest, must
ptimisve 1 T » t pl

ultimately become paranoid. (St. Paul, after struggling with his
=e reer ba iT]

inability to do even the things he knew were right cried out {Who
RES a

Will deliver net" )

The Gospel of Jesus Christ does not look at the world, or us,
ees

through rose tinted spectacles \ Rather, as T understand it, it
al =
ou Vaue Mena Wo Aw =
encourages us to be candid, brutally honest, about ourselves: and
ptte
then in our candor to see and to laugh at our pretensions, our \madely, #E
py DEC ' pine

. : . . simey :
posturing, our game playin : our sins of eggtism and pzide. on odes HEY
Coe’ cote {is gus

taeus koe Seek l preva af our e&horiy.
‘~~ The Gospel of Jesus Christ, as I understand it, offers the only
en

resolution that makes any sense at all. Tt's called forgiveness
¥ a >

ora.

erace, acceptance,

The Good News of Jesus Christ is that while God condems cur sin -

bared
he does not condemn us because of our sin. \pather he forggveg it - when
oer eee a estima’

we come to terms with it and confess it. \the Good News of Jesus Christ
STE animal ee Co Pd
is that God Loves us in spite of our gin:| that he does accept us as we
ieee eee reer

are, that we don't have to prove anything to him nor do we have to use
= Jeo

: \ 0
our nejghbors for our own self-enbapgement, nor Gy we Wave, laa the
Bory week ove yee du signi ficume, |He loves vi = aed “Kha ool Us cur worn, eur CaN ed ‘cro
The Gospel is Good News because it promises _a better vey that, as
we know ourselves to be loved and forgiven and accepted by ye can
Ouracive s 5
begimrebo love and forgive and accept Cosheainar “ers Xba love + m€firws
nie a

Corn orttur -

One time, in a moment of awful clarity, the Apostle Peter cried,
bn] CE De tn

(voeraxt from me, 0 Lord, for I am a sinful nan.) Jesus didn't dispute
ar

Peter's self-assessment. \pue neither did he depart, Amen.
P|

Father, give us courage to be honest with ourselves, and to
relinquish the games wé play with each other, Help us in that
most difficult religious act - to accept the fact that we are

accepted; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Aman.