It’s all Greek to Me…

“If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9

We are about two-thirds through the season of Lent. How is it going for you? Have you forgotten what spiritual discipline you took on or habit you gave up? Are you weary, as a young person once told me, of “all this talk about sin, sin, sin and repent, repent, repent” that is so prevalent during the season of Lent?

Lent can sometimes be a slog, especially when, usually during this season, we traverse the vernal equinox. During this time, all living creatures, plants and trees begin coming back to life from the shortened and oftentimes gray days of winter. There is also Spring Break interrupting our Lenten reverie when many of us take a break from our day-to-day lives, retreating somewhere warm on a beach or carving out trails on snow-covered mountains. It is easy to get distracted from Lent and from its call to repentance.

It is unfortunate that the words “sin” and “repent” come to us with such baggage. Too often, we inherit the generations of Biblical interpretation and believe that God despises us worthless sinners, but that has never been a full understanding of God. Instead, like a patient father, God knows that we will sin; it is the arrogant and proud or “misinformed” among us who weary God. (See Psalm 51:17.) If we could read the Bible in its original language, perhaps we might be able to see this compassionate God more clearly.

I am an inept student of Biblical Greek, the language in which the New Testament was originally written. But two words have been drilled into my soul that, if we could embrace the Greek translation, may make our understanding of how God looks at human sin less punitive.

The word, “sin,” itself is “ἁμαρτία,” or phonetically, “hamartia,” which means “sin” or “missing the mark.” We cannot achieve God’s perfection and so, we miss the mark, we do those things that we would not wish to do as children of God. St. Paul confirms this in Romans 7:15: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but I do the very thing I hate.” Even Paul misses the mark!

The other word in Biblical Greek is that for “repent” or “repentance.” The Greek word is “μετάνοια,” or “metanoia.” It, too, has a more expansive understanding in the original Greek meaning “repentance” but also to “change course” or “to turn around.”

So, with these translations in mind, I suggest this reading of the passage from 1 John above to guide you through the remainder of Lent… “If we change course, he who is faithful and just will forgive us when we miss the mark and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”