The Parable at the Chemist's

Life can be tiresome at times, not least when you're in a hurry.  You’ve probably suffered the same frustration that I experienced recently when I tried to buy some cough medicine.  The assistant was about to take my money when she suddenly realised,  “I’m sorry – I can’t sell this to you at the moment – the pharmacist’s just popped out.”

 

Sometimes in church - or in other places, too, I suppose - we use an expression of completeness, 'body, mind and spirit.'  It may seem perverse, therefore, to break this down into its constituent parts.  As I waited for the return of the medical professional whose absence was holding me up, I had the chance to reflect on the strange quirk of the Medicines Act that requires not that the pharmacist should make the sale (body), nor even that he should see the sale take place (mind), but simply that he should be on the premises at the time (spirit).

 

I decided that the powers that the Act confers on the pharmacist can teach us something about sin.  Just as the authority of the pharmacist pervades his whole emporium, so sin influences all of our being.  There are, of course, those obvious sins that we commit with our own bodies, which we can compare to the idea of the pharmacist selling the product over the counter himself.  But how often do we consider as our own sins those times when we see someone else doing wrong and take no action to prevent or report it - comparable to the proprietorial oversight of the sale taking place?  And which of us can claim that we’ve never been present in a building, or been part of an organisation, or a citizen of a country where sin takes place somewhere, even if we don't actually see it?

 

Now, we are told that the sinner who repents is assured of being forgiven (e.g. in James 5:15), and we are taught that true repentance involves a change of habit or lifestyle.  But here's a greater challenge.  Is there some way in which we can contribute to repentance at a higher level – perhaps by boldly offering a choice word at the right time (Matthew 10:19-20)?