"God's Truthfulness... Abounds to His Glory."

I ask for the grace that our hearts might be transformed.  May we sacrifice our bigotry, our belief that we are better than other people, our self- importance over other congregations, our way of thinking that we may follow Christ's way of being in the world, a way of humility, patience, compassion, and kindness.  May our way be one of justice and humility.


Romans 3:1-8
3Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews^* were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? ⁴By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written,
‘So that you may be justified in your words,
   and prevail in your judging.’^*
5But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) ⁶By no means! For then how could God judge the world? ⁷But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? ⁸And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), ‘Let us do evil so that good may come’? Their condemnation is deserved!


1) "advantage;" "...the faithfulness of God;" "...By no means;" "...everyone is a liar;" "...let God be proven true;" "...I speak in a human way;" "..."By no means;"


2) So rich.  To start with, I'm reminded of a prof who used to mock, "It's not enough to win, others must lose," as a way to point out the juvenile approach many take to the notions of divine "reward and punishment."  Really, God doesn't have favourites, to sin is to sin, to seek justice is to seek justice.  I like the way Paul explicitly states, "I speak in a human way."  It is not the case that God needs to "inflict wrath."  Rather, God just needs to let us experience the consequences of our behaviour.  The consequence of alienating behaviour is alienation.  The consequence of estranging behaviour is estrangement.  "Deserved condemnation" is just what we get when we choose to be less than loving.  We are called to be loving in all that that entails.   It is simple, but not easy.  Like grace is free, but not cheap.  "What is the value of circumcision?" is an entirely different question to "Then what advantage has the Jew?"  Seeking to follow God is always seeking to follow God.  Seeking to be wicked is seeking to be wicked.


3) To let go of our "advantage," our need for advantage, the illusion of advantage, the sin of advantage.  If we are genuinely following God's way, what need to we have of advantage?  God's way is God's way.  Thanks be to God!


"Holy One, keep us in your way, and help us to let go of all sense of entitlement, privilege, and advantage when it prevents us from loving our neighbour as our self.  Remind us that loving you, means loving 'the least of these'."


Breathprayer: "God's truthfulness... abounds to his glory."