September 16th - Reflection

Romans 3:1-8 (NRSV)
The justice of God

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By 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."

But 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.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And 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!

Reflection
No-No-No ... We just don't go running out and sin, claiming that we have been saved through the grace of faith and will be forgiven. And if we freely sin and are forgiven, we make God's act of grace even bigger! It's not about us! It's about what God did for us in Jesus. We can't make God any bigger than God is already, certainly we can't if we think that sinning more and more would make his act of love through Jesus bigger.

In accepting Christ and the love we have been given we respond to God's first act of love. We love because he first loved us. We love because of God's action. That's the grace part of it all. We don't respond by sinning freely knowing that God will forgive. We respond knowing that our sins are forgiven. So now we are bold to act on God's Love through our actions. We are bold to follow Christ knowing that all is cared for. We are bold to love neighbor knowing that God uses even sinners to do the work of the Kingdom. Sinners who will slip up and sin but in that sin we can always be forgiven.

Sin no longer is the focus of what brings us closer to God. Jesus is the focus of what brings us closer. Jesus took care of the sin for us, so that now we don't have to make sin our only focus, our only focus now is Jesus and sin was taken care of through Jesus. We will now turn to the Law to obey the Law knowing that our failures in the Law will be reconciled through Jesus Christ, not reconciled through our good works. And now our good works become that response to what Christ first did for us.

Jesus gets us to heaven --- our good works won't. So focus on following Jesus and the call of the Spirit. Work on the actions of Love for God and neighbor, as Jesus calls us daily into the Kingdom to be his disciples. All our trust, faith and hope lie in our Savior! Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, may my actions make you happy. Lead me this day as I follow your teaching, your calling and your way. You are my focus...you are my lead. And only you are my joy. --- Amen