John gives his final witness for Jesus when he says to his disciples that “He must increase while I must decrease” (Jn 3:30). In one sense, the mission of John the Baptist ended soon thereafter because Herod killed him. In another sense, however, John’s mission continues to this day. John described his mission with the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord” (Is 40:3; Mk 1:2). John’s strategy in accomplishing that task was to preach repentance (Mt 3:3). Jesus repeats this same message to the people when he says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17).
Because sin is part and parcel of the human fabric, there remains a need for repentance. Thus, John’s mission continues. Repentance is the renunciation of sin. When we sin, we miss the mark and wander off the right path. We miss the mark and wander off the right path when we follow and imitate false gods rather than the true God.
We get an idea of what a false god is in the Psalm that reads: “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see; ears, but do not hear; hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk...” In other words, objects of human making adored as having boundless value are really nothing but useless idols that cannot give life. For that reason, the passage ends with the warning that “Those who make them become like them; as do all who trust in them” (Ps 115:4-8).
A case in point is the golden calf made by the Israelites when they wandered in the desert. Discouraged over their long sojourn, they lost faith in the true God and looked for another god to trust, one made from their own hands. They handed over all their individual gold pieces that really had some practical value in exchange for an object that had no value, let alone the value of life.
All of this is to say that sin is not simply a matter of breaking rules by doing this, or not doing that. Rather, sin is a mindset, an orientation away from the true God of love toward a false god of illusion. False gods are the illusions each of us holds dear, and each of us knows what those illusions are. We know what captures our attention, and how we devote our time and energy. There is a line to cross with legitimate attention and effort on one side and the illusion of idol worship on the other. There is no rule of religion or theology that draws this line. Each of us knows where the line is and when we cross it. Making that determination is therefore a moral matter for each of us to decide (CCC 1782-89; CCC for Adults, p. 315)
When we choose to go in the wrong direction, however, God is still our hope, for he is a God of second chances eager to forgive our unfaithful behavior. In fact, the word “pardon” first appears in the golden calf story when Moses says to God, “If I find favor with you, Lord, please…pardon our wickedness and sins, and claim us as your own.” God does as Moses requests, thus revealing himself to be a God of mercy and forgiveness (Num 14:20). Awareness of such a loving and merciful God is often the inspiration we need to remain faithful and avoid handing ourselves over to useless idols and false gods.
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