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.
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.
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