You love evil more than good. (Psalm 52:3)

Centuries ago, the great philosopher, Socrates, asked a question which troubles the sensitive conscience: "How can people know what is good but do what is bad?" The question has been pondered through the ages and we should be asking it tonight as we begin the forty day period of Lent.

For some people, the answer to evil lies in education. They figure that people do bad things because of ignorance and so they put their hope in "getting the facts." They argue that if we just had the facts - if we could clearly see what is right and what is wrong - then most of us would choose what is right.

If people just had the facts, they would stop smoking, wear their seat belts or put less salt in their food. If people just had the facts, they would support disarmament. If people just had the facts, they would understand why we need more weapons.

Already you can see the problem. Facts are the servants of those who use them and people use facts on all sides of every issue. But beyond the problem of getting the facts right, there is no evidence that education reduces evil anyway. Certainly, college students are well educated, but we have seen for the better part of a decade a sharp rise in the number of racial attacks against minority students on college campuses across the country. Surely these white students were taught racism is wrong, but education wasn't enough to restrain their evil.

Others try to say that evil is an aberration, an exception to the rule. We know what is right, they say and we choose right most of the time, but sometimes we slip. Most of us are basically good, but sometimes we fall into evil, so we have to pick ourselves up and try a little harder to be good again.

Again, this is not a satisfactory answer to the question of evil. It's not just a matter of falling off the bandwagon of good once in a while. It's not just a matter of trying harder to resume doing the good we usually do. Our own lives and all of human history prove otherwise! We are fundamentally estranged from God - in our souls and in society - and the misery and sorrow which fill the earth are ample testimony. There is simply too much evil and injustice too deeply embedded in the world to call it an aberration or an exception to the rule.

And finally, some people look at evil as basically a management problem. Are there bitter arguments in your marriage or in your family? Take a program and learn better techniques for getting along with each other. Are there a billion people starving tonight in a world which has more than enough grain for everyone? It's a management problem; we just need a better system for distributing our grain. Find the right program, pass the right law, choose the right president, use the right technique and we can eradicate any evil under the sun.

Of course, this isn't the answer either. Techniques and programs are important when they help us. Education is also critical and I would never say otherwise. But by themselves they are not enough, because they don't get to the heart of the matter. How can people know what is good but do what is bad?

Here, the Bible strips away all our self-serving delusions and our wishful thinking and gives us a straight answer in very simple terms. We choose evil because we love evil more than good! We love "lying more than speaking the truth," and we love "boasting of mischief done against the godly."

We get what we want with evil. We pursue it and we know what we are doing as we do it. We enjoy it. It feels good. We think we need it. As the old Prayer of Confession says, "Lord, have mercy on us, for we do what we ought not to do and fail to do what we ought to do." Why is there evil when we know what is good? Because we choose evil in myriad ways, both consciously and unconsciously. Because we love evil more than good.

Let's be sure we understand what this means. It doesn't mean that we "love" evil like we love good food or a beautiful song. We don't get up in the morning, rub our hands together and gleefully say, "Oh, boy! Another day to do more evil than I did yesterday!" No, the problem is more subtle and more human than that, this problem of loving evil more than good.

In terms we can understand today, I suppose it's like the problem of the compulsive eater. He gets depressed and hates himself as he eats too much, so he eats more in order to feel better. She hates the way she looks, but she's afraid to risk frustration and failure by getting control of her eating. It's safer and easier to keep on with her life the way it is.

That's the way it is with our sin. We hate ourselves and we suffer because of our estrangement from God, but we love what we are doing too much to change. We love our own comfortable patterns and familiar prejudices, our small visions and narrow minds. We love our own ways more than we love the ways of God.

How can people know what is good but do what is bad? Because there is a part of human nature which loves darkness more than light. Remember, the central fact of the Lenten season is that the Light of God came into the world and "the world knew Him not" (John 1:10). Try as we might, the cross at Calvary will not let us escape this truth. The cross at Calvary keeps us honest about ourselves and our world, for this is where God's goodness was most brutally rejected.

Sometimes in a marriage or friendship, people get into a condition where they can't stop arguing. One little word, or even a look, can set them off and then they haul out their heaviest ammunition. They deliberately say things they know will hurt the other, even as they know they will be hurt themselves.

They torture each other, and why does it go on? Why does this vicious cycle of attack and retaliation remain unbroken? Because one or both people in that relationship don't want it to stop! "Your tongue is like a sharp razor, you love lying more than speaking the truth." In a perverse way, people in that relationship prefer pain to gain. Reconciliation is too risky - it's too dangerous to be forgiving to expose your tenderness and vulnerability. It's easier and safer to go on living in rancor.

That is God's Word as we begin the season of Lent. But it isn't the final word of Lent. It isn't even the last word in this Psalm. The miracle of human nature is that in spite of our love of evil, we still are able to say:

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.I will proclaim Thy name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

An even greater miracle is that in spite of our love of evil, God loves us anyway. God forgives us in spite of ourselves. It's just astounding! We will come to this as we come to Easter. The final word is good news and you will hear it preached.

But first, we must travel through the weeks of Lent, beginning here at this table. First, we must know ourselves as we are known by God. This is not a night for glib praises or easy absolution, but for soul searching and repentance.

We all came to this table estranged from God, each in our own particular manner and with our own particular confessions to make. So, approach Christ's table this Ash Wednesday night and tell Him the truth: "Have mercy on me, Lord, for in my own way and in ways I do not fully understand, I love evil more than good."

If we can be honest enough to ourselves and faithful enough to our God to say that, then we are spiritually prepared and ready to begin our Lenten journey tonight. Amen

Pastoral Prayer

Most Holy and Loving God, whose love for us never fails, despite the many times we fail in our love for You, we give thanks tonight that You are still our God, and that we are still Your children. We give thanks tonight for Your promise of forgiveness towards all who confess their sins and change their ways with a humble and contrite heart. Most of all, dear God, we give thanks for Your Son, Jesus, who gives us new hope and new life by His sacrifice upon the Cross and His victory over the grave.

Put in our hearts this Lenten season a better understanding of Your glory, that we may better know our sin. Make more clear to our consciences the ways of good and evil and put in our hearts a greater love of what is good. Lead us in the paths of reflection and renewal in the weeks ahead, that we may no longer love our estrangement from You, but love more perfectly the Lord our God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength. We ask all these things as we gather tonight at the table of our Lord, who is our Light and our Salvation. Amen