SIN  AS  A  SPIDER  WEB

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 4th Friday in Advent is, “Sin As A Spider Web.”

Today I would like to talk and reflect a bit about sin.

When I read today’s first reading, the theme that hit me was sin. Isaiah gives the message of keeping the Sabbath free from profanation and one’s hand from any evildoing. [Cf. Isaiah 56: 1-3a, 6-8.]

That’s sin - but it doesn’t mention spider webs - like being caught in a spider’s web - but that’s the image that hit me.

So first a bit about sin - the web of sin.

Sin can ensnare us and we can ensnare others.

Relax sin is a big topic, but  I won’t talk too long.

OLD STORY

You have all heard the story of the man who went into a church one evening by himself. He came home and his wife who was with the kids said, “Well, how was the sermon.”

“Okay.”

“What did the preacher talk on?”

“Sin.”

“How long did he preach?”

“One hour.”

“What did he say?”

“He was against it.”

Well, I’m against sin, but I won’t speak an hour.

Only 8 minutes.

SPIDERS

Back to the spider’s web…. That’s the image of sin that came to me when I was reflecting on sin this morning. I have a meditation poem somewhere about being caught in sin is like being caught in a spider web.

Now I don’t know much about spiders, but I imagine things about them and I wonder about them.

Spider webs, I imagine, can be found everywhere around the world -  indoors and outdoors.

And you can find them in many a church - and sometimes people notice them - especially when sermons are long.

I wonder at times when I see a spider’s web: “When was this web constructed and how did a spider get up there in the first place?”

I also wonder, “How long do spiders live?”

And here in this church, on the first step over there in the corner, below the statue of St. Martin of Tours there has been a spider’s web with  carcasses of dead bugs at times.

Next, I picture spiders out for themselves not giving a dang about anyone else. They use their web as a way of trapping other bugs so they can suck the life out of them.

Me, Me, Me

They are out to trap others for themselves - of course.

They are totally self-centered.

They have no ounce of compassion in them.

We’re dealing here with the survival of the fittest.

We’re dealing here with the need for food.

The spider has no thought for the well-being of a mosquito or a moth or for those who have to clean churches.

They are all about: Me. Me. Me. Self. Self. Self.

Life is to watch out for # 1 and # 1 is me.

Now obviously the image is weak - as an image for sin - and being caught in the web of sin -  because humans are well over 100 or 200 pounds.

BACK TO SIN - AND ITS MENTION IN TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading is from Isaiah.

Isaiah was a dreamer. In today’s first reading he gets into his dreams for the Sabbath and the Temple.

The purpose of the Sabbath, the purpose of the temple, is to go there on the Sabbath and get out of oneself. The purpose of the Sabbath and the Temple is to be in the presence of God, the OTHER, the GREAT OTHER, God. The purpose of the temple is to stop being self-centered.

The purpose of the Sabbath is to realize we can be as sneaky as a spider, spinning webs to suck life from others for ourselves.

That’s sin. That’s what sin is all about.

Hasn’t that happened to each of us when we’re praying?

Haven’t we all now and then come here to church to pray and to be with God?  However, sometimes what happens is we experience other people - and this is good.  We experience people outside our web, outside ourselves, foreigners. This is very good. They became other than us and one with us and we see the purpose of life is to be present to them, nice to them,  rather than using them.

Sin.

This doesn't always happen.

Sometimes sin happens.

Unfortunately people, as we will read in the New Testament, and in other places, come to places of worship to show off - to be noticed  - to impress others - to be here for self. They come here wrapped in the cellophane of self. The come here to prove self. To show off. To impress. To feel less guilty. To get points.

Or as Jesus found out, to make money.

So people who come to church better take notice. Warning given. The church is a church - not a spider web.

So Isaiah is saying that a place of worship is a moment to get out of self. The Sabbath is a moment of rest. To stop the sucking and to start the worshipping. To admit there is an OTHER  and others.

That’s the real purpose of the temple.

That the temple is the center of Israel, that the center of the temple is the Holy of Holies, the center of the Holy of Holies is God. The OTHER. The Wholly OTHER. 

Hopefully, we go to the temple so that some of this might rub off on us - that there are other people on the planet besides me. They have a center as well.

That I can be with them and with God on the Sabbath and hopefully that mirrors God’s dream for the week.

So we hopefully discover God here and at the sign of peace, see others. There are no foreigners here. We die. Sacrifice to others.

GOSPEL

Today’s gospel Jesus says there are times we accept others outside ourselves as  light. We accept people as John the Baptist did, but we do this only for a time, this getting out of self-- accepting another’s light other than self.

But then we blow it out. The workshop is over. The homily is finished. It’s Monday and prefer the dark. We miss the great light. Christ is the Light of the world.

CONCLUSION: THE CHALLENGE OF ADVENT

So Advent is that challenge. It's more than a day. It's a period of time. It's a season.  It’s a challenge to die to self and accept Christ. To die to self and accept others. It’s a challenge to stop killing, sucking the life out of others.

Advent is a challenge to not be a spider but to be a Christ.