*Matthew 5.7 (ESV)

But much of the venom spoken about "sinners" and others by the church-going is not merciful, not at all. Many "churches" are the most unmerciful places in the community. At times, the most unmerciful teaching and messages come from those places that claim to be sanctuaries of Christ Jesus.

Thankfully, the opposite is true. At times, a "church" is full of merciful, kind, and welcoming followers of Jesus Christ.

So, see, we cannot blame the Church or Christ; we cannot point a finger and claim Christianity, or any major world faith, is essentially prejudicial. The lack of mercy is a human issue, not merely a religious one.

Indeed, the message of Jesus Christ was and is - are you ready? - not essentially a religious message at all. At core, we might best call it a spiritual message. But, then, not spiritual in the sense of a specialized pursuit separate from being a dignified human person.

Our theme today relates to our subject yesterday - compassion. It raises the question: How can we have compassion, if we see others as "the sinners" and ourselves as the "non-sinners"? Or ourselves as the "saved-sinners" and the rest of the world as the "damned-sinners"?

When I sit before an inmate in my chaplain work, I do not see the other before me as sinner, or feel the other as damned at all. I once would have, but no more.

What do I see? What do I feel? I see, I feel a person broken and lost - not "theologically" lost, just plain lost. I see and sense into a person seeking what I am seeking, someone I could be, given the right circumstances in my past. I meet with - in withinness, not objectification - a self in need of time, patience, and healing.

Now, yes, we are all sinners in some sense. Sin is simply to miss a mark. That is simple - that "to miss the mark" is the biblical meaning, devoid of all the theological, moral, self-righteous, churchy accretions added later . We all miss the mark - some more than others, some in greater ways than others.

Yet, if I say, "You're a sinner," what am I doing? Well, I am speaking of you as an object - I am objectifying you. As long as I can do that, I can feel safe and superior - superior to you, safe from your uncleanness.

Furthermore, I am not acting kindly with that objectification. I am not speaking of you the way I would want you to speak of me. I am not speaking lovingly. Yet, I have been told, so I say, that Christ puts love of God and others as first priority.

This is one reason religious leaders are often among the most self-righteous. Their teaching and preaching is condemning of other persons whom they identify, objectify, as the damned-sinners. Thankfully, most persons now find no place in their lives for such arrogance and unlove. Could it be such is why many no longer darken the doors of church buildings?

I state we must seek fresh ways of seeing others and ourselves, ways true to the basic "non-theologized" meaning of "sinner." We are all broken. This opens us to see more clearly the basic meaning of "Savior" as "Healer" and "salvation" as "healing."

Who were those in the Gospels whom the religious elite saw as the damned-sinners? Persons Jesus sat among and ate with. His doing this was a sign of his acceptance of them, totally. He was acting out an affront to the established standard of the religious leadership. This was risky. Of course, he did get crucified, did he not?

Now, did Jesus ever treat them as damned-sinners? No, he did not then, and would not today. Still, he spoke rather harshly of the arrogated, self-righteous clergy who so objected others as unfit and unclean - scum religiously, outcasts socially.

25-26You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.