Sin, and also with you

Romans 1:28-2:1 (NRSV)

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,a 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.

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Man makes a gun.
Man goes to war.
Man can kill and man can drink and man can take a whore.
Kill all the blacks.
Kill all the reds.
And if there's war between the sexes then there'll be no people left.

And so it goes,
Go round again.
But now and then we wonder who the real men are.

"Real Men" written and recorded by Joe Jackson from "Night and Day"

This is one of those bible passages that people often read and think to themselves, or cry from the pulpit, thank God I am not like these people. And that can be said if the reading stops at the end of chapter one. The problem with that little message of condemnation and superiority is that it doesn't stop there.

No, Paul trips up his readers. Paul goes on to remind everyone who hears this letter to the church at Rome that those who pass ultimate judgments on others are sinful simply for this act of condemnation.

Don't misunderstand, this passage is not saying that people who abuse the weak and innocent should be let off because we are not to judge. On the contrary, we are to pass judgment to protect the weak and innocent. This is as good as we can do with earthly, humanly justice; but that's not ultimate judgment. We are not allowed to pass the ultimate judgment of damnation and separation from God.

That little nuance gets lost in the translation. We cannot judge a person's eternal walk with the Lord. That is known to God alone. That is between the Lord and the individual. We cannot pass that judgment, and when we do, we when we pass this judgment, we condemn ourselves, because we, the judges, are doing the very same things.

Joe Jackson reminds us that in our anger, in our rage, in our striving for "security," we will ultimately fail. And there is a war that will ultimately kill all of us. This song is an ode to young boys who grow up knowing that what they know of love doesn't jibe with "most of the rest of the world." It's different, and when you're young, different isn't necessarily good.

Society has norms, society has its rights and wrongs. Many of them are to protect the weak and innocent. Others are used to serve sin, particularly greed. "Who ever has the most toys wins." Sound familiar?

Other norms are discarded. The rules about impregnating a sister-in-law so your brother's name will be continued is an example. Important at the time, not so much now.

The Reformation leaders told us we are reformed and always being reformed. It isn't God who changes, but it is our knowledge and relationship with God that is being reformed. This changes what we once knew all too well; or Joe Jackson reminds us "And so it goes, Go round again. But now and then we wonder who the real men are."

As long as we remember who the Lord is, we'll be fine because the Lord remembers who we are.