Romans 1:28-2:11 (NRSV)

Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent - Reflections on the Letters of Lent

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die-- yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say, "We know that God's judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth." Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay according to each one's deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

Paul tells us, "in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself." If we are looking at others and judging them on some sort of moral code that we think we understand more than we are looking in the mirror and examining our own lives, we are damned. I truly feel that if we all pay attention to ourselves, if there is deceit or strife in another it will be worked out. We cannot help another see if we have a log in our own eye. (Matt 7:3)

I am struck by the laundry list of sins that Paul is listing - wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, gossip, slander, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. I am wondering what the Romans are really up to, and why Paul is pressing on them. It may be that he is admonishing them for their pagan ways, but it seems that in all of these instances, the offender is putting something (deceit, gossip, etc.) in the way of their relationship with others and God.

Anything that destroys our relationships is a sin and it needs to be taken out of our lives. However, you know best what is destroying your relationships with others. The saving grace is that God loves us through our shortcomings. God's patience and kindness lead us to repentance. God is the final judge and we will all be accountable, not that we let so and so do thus and such, but that we destroyed our relationship with God and others trying to be a judge of some pursuit of some puristic code.

The call I hear today is to be good to one another. Love one another. Help one another navigate the troubles of this life. Don't hurt each other. Strive for relationship and understanding. Struggle with the things that you don't understand. Help untie the knots in communication and help heal the hurting.

John 12:44-50 (NRSV)

Then Jesus cried aloud: 'Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.  And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.  I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.  I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.  The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak.  And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.'

Today is the first Sunday in Lent.  The rhythm of the daily office moves away from the prayer of Jesus in John chapter 17 back to chapter 12.  The word that surfaces today in my initial reading is judge.  Jesus says that he didn’t come to judge the world, but to save it.

Jesus’ proclaims that belief in him constitutes belief in the one who sent him (the Father).  He has come to show the way (as the light) and deliver the world to salvation.  The world that rejects Jesus, rejects the Father, and is subject to the judgment of the Father.

Everyone who believes in Jesus, as a true disciple, does not believe only in Him, but in the Father who sent Him.  Jesus displays the glory of the Father and we learn to obey, love, and trust in him.  As believers, we are freed from the darkness of ignorance, sin, and misery.  We learn that the commandment of God is everlasting life, but the same commandment will seal the fate of all who reject it, despise it, or neglect it.

If we are to follow in the way of Jesus, then we are also called not to judge.  God is the only judge, and will deal justly.  The way I read this, it seems like those who reject, despise, or neglect God have already judged themselves.

John 8:12-20 (NRSV)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."  Then the Pharisees said to him, "You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid."  Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.  You judge by human standards; I judge no one.  Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.  In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid.  I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf."  Then they said to him, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also."  He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

 

“You judge by human standards; I judge no one.”  As we learned yesterday, Jesus forgives and gives guidance more than he judges.  And today we get a glimpse of what it means to walk, live, and learn in the light of Christ. 

I feel human beings will never be able to completely comprehend God, in all of God’s vast glory.  Awesome doesn’t describe it.  To me it’s more like incredible, indescribable, inexpressible, and every other superlative you can think of.  With that said, we also will never be able to comprehend God’s justice in our human context.  However, neither condition keeps us from being drawn to learn and understand.  Much like the Pharisees and scribes who don’t understand Jesus’ authority, we are caught in their circle of living and participating with a limited understanding of God.

Recently I heard a someone say that we are all “cracked pots and that we all fall short of the glory of God, and yet we are the plan for bringing God’s Good News to the whole world.”  Whether we like the term “cracked pot” or not, it’s a great image for this reading.  This is a desperate and broken world that is full of suffering and injustice.  This brokenness wasn’t brought about by God, but by our own selfish behaviors.  We need God to heal and nurture us in our brokenness.  God does that in Jesus, who forgives and guides and judges rightly.  It is through our “cracked pots” that the light of Christ shines through. 

By following Jesus (and his example of forgiveness and guidance) we are participating in him.  (I’ve talked about participation before and its importance.)  By participating in Jesus, he dwells in us and we walk in his light as he enlightens our path.  Today we have been called to testify to the light.  We know that light to be Jesus Christ Our Lord, and we can testify to the ways that God heals us and continues to restore us through Christ.  Maybe then we can do our part and help Jesus be a light to others.