Lent is the great penitential season of the Church’s year. So we’re now in that time of year when we’re called more than at any other time, to think about our own sinfulness. To think about our own lives and how far short of the teaching and example of Christ we fall. To think about how we might do better in the future and, hopefully, start to work at actually being better in the future.
I’m sure that most, if not all of us here today will know that already. But even so, I think there’s often some misunderstanding about we mean when we talk about sin. And the Church itself, I think, adds to the confusion because during the liturgy we confess and receive absolution for our sins and we declare that Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes away the sins of the world. But we also say that he takes away the sin of the world. So why do we speak about both sin and sins, and does it matter?
Actually, yes, it does matter because although sin and sins are connected, they’re not the same and if we really want to make progress in our discipleship and grow in the Christian faith, it’s important that we understand what the difference is. Because if we don’t understand the difference, there’s a danger that, if we can’t call to mind any sins we’ve committed, we can believe that we’re actually without sin and that is a very dangerous thing to think indeed! So let’s start at the beginning. What are we really talking about when we speak about sin and sins?
The root of both sin and sins is disobedience to God; to think, speak and act in ways that are contrary to God’s will. And as we know from the Great Commandment, what God wills is for us to love him above all others, and to love one another as much as we love ourselves. So this is the starting point, and if we know this, then we know that to be sinful is not to love God and our neighbour as he calls us to. The difference is that sin is what causes us to act contrary to God’s will. Sin is a state of being which renders us liable, or even predisposed, to this kind of disobedience. Sins, on the other hand, are the actual acts of disobedience that we carry out. So sin is the cause of our disobedience to God, and sins are the ways in which we show our disobedience to God.
One way to try and understand this is to look at it like an illness or disease. So just as a cold or flu is caused by a virus which displays itself through symptoms such as a headache, blocked or running nose, sore throat and so on, our acts of disobedience to God are symptoms of a disease which we call sin.
One of the great problems with sin is that it’s both a hereditary disease; it’s passed on within families, and it’s an infectious disease; it’s passed on by and through people we come into contact with during our lives. And we can’t lockdown to escape sin because it’s a disease of the mind and spirit, so we don’t even have to come into physical contact with others to be infected. We can be infected with sin simply by seeing, hearing or reading about what others are saying and doing. And it has a 100% transmission rate; we’ve all come into contact with sin, and we’re all infected with it. As with other diseases, we can have a mild or severe case of sin, just as we can have a slight or heavy cold. And, in the same way, how severe our infection is can be gauged by the severity of our symptoms, in the case of sin, by the number and magnitude of our sins. We’ll all go through times when our sin flares up and times when it subsides. But even when we’re going through times when we don’t seem to be showing any symptoms at all, we still have sin, the disease is still there, lying in wait to flare up again because, as St John tells us,
‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.’
But the great problem with the disease of sin is that it has a 100% mortality rate. Sin may not directly kill us in a bodily sense but, if it’s left untreated, it will be eternally fatal to us in a spiritual sense.
So we can liken sin to a terrible disease, one we’re all infected with because we can’t avoid coming into contact with it, one that has unpleasant symptoms, and one that is ultimately and eternally fatal to all of us. That’s not a pleasant thought. But the good news is that something can be, and has been, done about sin because this is the problem, the disease that Christ came into the world to remedy. But how does he do that?
According to our liturgy, Jesus, the Lamb of God takes away both the sin and the sins of the world, that is, he deals with both the disease and its symptoms. But Jesus hasn’t cured us of the disease of sin, we know that because we still show the symptoms of the disease; we still commit sins. What Jesus has done though is, first of all, he’s offered us a remedy to ease the symptoms of sin. He’s done that through his teaching and example and the more closely we follow his advice, the fewer and less severe our symptoms will be – we’ll commit fewer sins. It’s a bit like taking a Lemsip; they don’t cure our cold, but they do deal with the symptoms. And Jesus offers us the hope, the assurance, that if we follow his advice in this life, we can finally be cured of sin, the disease, in the life to come. And the cure he offered was his sacrifice on the Cross, his blood poured out for us, the antidote to sin that will allow our spiritual bodies to be free from this terrible illness so that we can enter heaven and live forever.
The season of Lent began on Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, when, according to the tradition of the Church, we were marked on the forehead with the sign of the Cross, made in ashes. The Church offers a choice of words that can be used as that’s done,
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
or,
“Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
It’s always been my practice though to use both sets of words. And I do that because, while the first set reminds us of our mortal nature, that we are all going to die one day, the second reminds us of the great Christian hope that whilst our bodies will, inevitably, turn to dust or ashes, we can live on through our faith in Christ and our obedience to his word.
To me those words encapsulate what this season of Lent is really all about. To remember that that our mortal lives will come to an end, just as Christ’s did, but that in Christ and through Christ, there is hope for an eternal life after this one. Those words call us to contemplate our lives and repent, to turn away from all that we do that could stop us from entering that life, and to turn to Christ and follow him on the way that leads to eternal life so that we can celebrate Easter all the more, confident that his Resurrection points us to our own eternal reward.
So, over these weeks of Lent, let’s think about those words that were used on Ash Wednesday. About our own mortality and about all that holds us back from following Christ more closely. Let’s think, honestly, about the sins we commit so that we can judge how badly the disease of sin has taken hold of us and is affecting us. And it does affect us, all of us. We’re all sick and we need healing. But just as there would be no point in going to a doctor when we’re ill, hoping they’d do something to make us better, and then simply ignoring the doctor’s advice, so there’s no point in turning to Christ in the hope of a remedy to our sins and a cure for sin, and then simply ignoring what he says either.
To borrow and rather freely use the words of St Thomas Aquinas, rather let us come to our Lord Jesus Christ, as sick let us come to the Physician of life, that we may enter eternal life. And having come, let’s listen to his advice so that we might find a remedy for our sickness and allow him to take away both our sins and our sin.
Amen.
Propers for Lent 1, Sunday 22nd February 2026
Entrance Antiphon
When he calls on me, I will answer him;
I will deliver him and give him glory,
I will grant him length of days.
The Collect
Grant, almighty God,
through the yearly observances of holy Lent,
that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ,
and by worthy conduct pursue their effects.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7
Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14, 17
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
Prayer after Communion
Renewed now with heavenly bread,
by which faith is nourished, hope increased,
and charity strengthened,
we pray, O Lord,
that we may learn to hunger for Christ,
the true and living Bread,
and strive to live by every word which proceeds from your mouth.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 