Reading for Wednesday, 2nd Week of Lent

Romans 1: 28-2:12

In the few verses before today’s reading (which are not included in the Daily Office Lectionary), Paul points out some of the sexual misconduct that results from the sin of idolatry -- of giving more worth to created things than their Creator.

Fine you might say, I don’t do that sort of thing; so I’m ok, you’re ok … NOT says Paul. Look closely at the checklist of sins Paul cites in verses 29-31. Notice how many of them aren’t actions, but thoughts and feelings – “covetousness, malice … envy … deceit … maliciousness … haught[iness] … heartless[ness], ruthless[ness].”

Paul then engages in a rhetorical technique called an apostrophe, in which he addresses people who aren’t actually there: “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges” (Rom 2: 1). By using the general term, “man,” it appears that Paul is not actually accusing anyone in the Christian community of these sins.

In one sense, of course, that’s correct. Paul is making a case that all human beings are lost in sin. So his indictment is not aimed at any specific people, but at all humanity. But…Can anyone in the Church at Rome, or the Church at Albertville, look at the list above and say, “never have any one of those thoughts crossed my mind for even a millisecond”?

The answer is so obvious that it can become too easy to focus on our sin, on condemnation. I’ve heard the stories of those who found their way to the Episcopal Church because of the condemnation they encountered in other churches. Grace will always have the last word when it comes to sin. But when it comes to the human condition, Sin has the first word.