Every saint has a past, and every sinner a future… – Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde’s life was both enigmatic and scandalous. In fact, his life has the makings of many a past and future Ph.D. thesis. He was sentenced to two years in jail for the charge of homosexuality, and shortly after release died from a meningitis that may have had something to do with the burst eardrum he suffered during a fall from lack of sufficient food at prison. Back at that time, in England and in many parts of the world, the penal philosophy was a deliberately harsh philosophy. The philosophy back then was summarized as, “hard labour, hard fare and a hard bed.” There was absolutely no sense of rehabilitation. The operative philosophy was pure retribution, and retribution of the worst sort. The bad treatment was a deliberate attempt at a very crude form of deterrence.
Every one of us is created in the image and likeness of God. All of us are born in the image of God, but—since the Fall—are learning to grow into the likeness of God. On the one hand, we would agree with the West that we are all sinners, each and every one. On the other hand, we would not say that we are so damaged that we cannot possibly grow more and more into the likeness of God or that we are unable to respond to God. What Oscar Wilde expresses is something that is absolutely true. There is no saint so good that s/he has not been a sinner worthy of death. There is no sinner so bad that s/he cannot be redeemed.
Every true saint knows that in his/her past there are sins worthy of death. Every sinner needs to know that there is no sin so bad as that it cannot be forgiven by God the Father, through Our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, there is no sinner so bad that they have no hope. Judas’ great sin was not that he betrayed the Christ, but that he thought himself unable to be forgiven.
Oddly enough, the enigmatic Oscar Wilde recognized that great truth. God willing, he recognized it personally before his death. And, I hope that you recognize it too. If you are living a righteous life now, rejoice, for you were once a great sinner and have been saved by grace. If you are struggling with your sin, rejoice, for you have great hope and a future, for God has forgiven your sins and is willing to receive you into Paradise like he received the thief on the cross, provided you repent (over and over again if you need to).