When we talk about sin, we often speak of it in terms of doing battle with our earthly desires.  We must do our best to keep ourselves pure, holding our will and our wants at bay.    We place great emphasis on personal purity, on keeping ourselves from the traps and temptations of this world.  In fact, some see a tension between social justice and holiness.  But what if we’re looking at it upside down and backwards?

We’ve put a lot of stock in trying to will away our feelings when confronted with the choice of acting on sin.  Don’t look, don’t touch, don’t even think.  Stay away from things which remind us of what we shouldn’t do.  Or, conversely, act on those things, but only to a point.  After all, we are only humans, with a need for sensation and experience.  Go ahead and enjoy a milder form, as long as you’re not crossing some invisible line.

That’s the kind of thinking that Jesus rejected in the Pharisees.  He said to them, "You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:24).  But Jesus didn’t mean <em>go ahead, do what you like, because there’s no way to completely obey the law anyway.</em>  The whole point of the message is that when a literal breach of law has occurred, it must be in the spirit of obeying the highest law: To love God above all, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

What if the way to deal with sin in our lives isn’t to try to stop ourselves from wanting it, but to concentrate our efforts on living out the Greatest Commandment?

What if the way to battle an unhealthy craving for wealth and possessions would be best dealt with by giving to others, rather than repeating the mantra, “I shall not covet”?  What if we could overcome our sexual lust with genuine love, care, and resepct for the other people in our lives?  What if we could stop anger, resentment, and vengeance by reaching out to our neighbors, even when we’ve been wronged?

I have some friends who are doing just that.  With permission from our youth pastor, Cory Hunneyman, I'm sharing a recent interaction between his family and their neighbor.  To get the full effect, please read the original <a href="http://toomuchpizza.com/2011/11/28/when-your-relationship-with-your-neighbors-is-less-than-great/">blog post</a>—Pastor Cory has said it much better than I could (not to mention the fact that he was actually there).  In short, he and his wife received a rather rude note about the state of their unraked lawn.  Rather than responding in kind, they chose to rake the leaves and bake cookies.

Will their neighbor be changed by their actions?  Possibly.  That person may be moved by their actions and want to know more.  He may soften and begin treating them with returned respect.  Next year, he may even help rake the leaves.

Or he may not.  He may not be changed at all.

But by their actions, my freinds.  They answered God’s call to love their neighbors, quite literally.  They didn’t ask, “Who is my neighbor?” but “To whom can I be a neighbor?”  They have conformed to the heart of God, and moved deeper in their love for God and others.  It is that kind of faith which leads us from sin and into grace, by God's infinite love.

What can we each do today to act on that love?