Who can forgive our sins? And how is it done? I recently saw "The Last Sin Eater," a film about the Welsh practice of trying to cleanse the sins of a deceased person. At the funeral, a beggar-outcast of the community, designated "the sin eater," is given ritual food and drink and thereby takes away (absolves) the sins of the deceased person so (s)he can rest in peace. The sin eater is otherwise shunned by the people, for in him they saw the embodiment of all their sins and evil deeds.
This ancient practice is linked with the basic human need to have one's sins forgiven. The Old Testament Israelites for a time had the practice of a "scapegoat," a live goat over whose head the high priest confessed all the sins of the Israelites. This goat was then sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), to symbolize the removal of their sins. It was a fore-shadowing of the work of Jesus.
In "The Last Sin Eater," the 1850s Appalachian community finally stopped using this practice after being reminded of the Gospel in which Jesus was the final sin eater, the last scapegoat. Today we know that His words, "It is finished," signalled the end of all such human attempts to remove sin. You and I can't do it. Only God removes sin - no human ritual can do what He does.
On September 11, the anniversary of the death of nearly 3,000 innocent people, we need to think about forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean excusing sin, or even making friends of those who have offended us. It does not mean letting our guard down. It is laying aside our rightful retribution. It is our decision not to pursue what is justly ours, but to give it to God who balances the scales. Forgiveness is what God did for us in Jesus. He punished Him, made Him the scapegoat, and in the cross absorbed our sins. By the punishment He took, we are forgiven.
As much as we might like to, we cannot make Moslems our scapegoat. They are not the cause of evil in the world. All humans need Jesus Christ, for without Him we will but wander in the wilderness of sin and misery. When we trust in the merits of our Lord Jesus, when we have faith in Him, our sins are forgiven and we can also forgive others. We all need Jesus Christ and the blessings which He alone can give.
Today I hope you will forgive someone.
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