A Correct Response to Sin

In the book The Brother’s Karamazov a distraught woman approaches the Elder of the local monastery, Father Zossima. She privately confesses to the Elder that she had murdered her abusive husband. In response to her admission of guilt Father Zossima replies:

“Fear nothing and never be afraid; and don’t fret. If only your penitence fail not, God will forgive all. There is no sin, and there can be no sin on all the earth which the Lord will not forgive to the truly repentant! Man cannot commit a sin so great as to exhaust the infinite love of God. Can there be a sin which could exceed the love of God? Think only of repentance, continual repentance, but dismiss fear altogether. Believe that God loves you as you cannot conceive; that He loves you with your sin, in your sin. It has been said of old that over one repentant sinner there is more joy in heaven than over ten righteous men. Go, and fear not. Be not bitter against men. Be not angry if you are wronged. Forgive the dead man in your heart what wrong he did you. Be reconciled with him in truth. If you are penitent, you love. And if you love you are of God. All things are atoned for, all things are saved by love. If I, a sinner, even as you are, am tender with you and have pity on you, how much more will God. Love is such a priceless treasure that by it the whole world was redeemed.”

Compare this with the Prophet Samuel’s message to the people of Israel recorded in I Samuel 12:19-24. The people have rejected God as their king and asked for an earthly king to lead them so that they, the chosen people, may be like all the other nations. Samuel rebukes them for this and at this point they repent:

Then all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king." Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. The LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name. . . . Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.”

The people of Israel had sinned. They know they have sinned, how are they to respond? Samuel tells them to not continue in their sin, but to fear God and serve Him in truth. He repeats his admonition to them a couple of times. Why does he do this? Because this is really hard to do! When we sin we create separation between us and God. It is easy to think that we’ve blown it and we might as well continue blowing it. We imagine that God is upset at us and has removed His love from us. This delusion creates a state of mind within us that encourages sin. When we think the love of God is taken from us it is easy for us to run to the things of this world for comfort. How do we avoid this? What is the correct response to sin?

I think that Father Zossima gives good advice to the sinful woman. We must remember that our sin does indeed separate us from God, but that God in His love (through Christ) bridged that great chasm. No act we can do places us outside of the infinite reaches of His love. We must remember that God loves us always; God loves us even in our sin. Only by having our faith grounded in this truth will we feel confident to turn to God in the midst of our sin for the healing and forgiveness we need. If we think God is mad at us or that He has taken His love from us, why would we turn to Him in our sin? We must remember always that He loves us. Only by remaining in His love may we overcome our sins.