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Romans 3:21-25a NRSV But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. +
One of the first classes I took when I started my theological education was at St. Mary’s Seminary - Ecumenical Institute of Theology in Baltimore; the class was Spirituality of the Early Church. A husband and wife team where the instructors; they both had Th.D.s from the Pontifical Institute in Montreal. They were very well versed in the early church and very smart. We were talking about Paul and the early church and the instructor asked the class a question and I remember responding with the verse from Romans 3:23. This was only the second class I had enrolled in and I did not have a very secure grasp of scripture. As I had attended church in the years before I enrolled in this class, I must have been paying some attention to what I heard, for every so often I have heard read this third chapter of Romans. I will not claim that I was always paying attention when the lessons are read, but apparently I was able to recall this verse from Romans.Many people love Jesus, but hate the church. All to often, modern culture and media portray the church as composed of a bunch of straight laced, moralistic, judgmental hypocrites. People give this as a reason not to be involved in a church. To some extent there is truth in their evaluation of the composition of the church. But, I have heard it said: “there is always room for one more.” If the church were composed of people who have not sinned, we would have no need for church. We all fall short of the glory of God and sin. There is no getting around it. We come together in church to admit we are sinners, and to ask God to forgive our sinful nature. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We cannot redeem ourselves. Jesus has redeemed us by his death on the cross, once and for all. Paul is offering us a liberating truth. We are sinners; sinners of God’s redeeming, through the blood and body of Jesus Christ. As we acknowledge this truth, we can get on with our life.
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We pray: Most merciful and loving God, we come before you as repentant sinners, sinners of your redeeming. Walk with us through life, as we face our struggles, our fears, our concerns. Always remind us that we are your beloved children, even when we sin and fall short of your glory. Our steps may be faltering as we walk with you, you are there to help steady us and guide us on our life’s journey. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.
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