Reflection on Romans 3:19-28

Romans 3:19-28

19 Now we know that, whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

 21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to demonstrate at the present time his own righteousness, so that he is righteous and he justifies the one who has the faith of Jesus. 

 27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, rather through the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. 

 

Reflection

“We hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law” (Romans 3:28).  That phrase was a mind-blowing discovery to Martin Luther, the first voice of the Protestant Reformation.  The idea that a person is made right by trusting in the one who can make things right, Jesus Christ, changed Luther’s life.  Previously, Luther’s relationship with God was one of absolute struggle. 

In his own words, Luther describes his life previous to his discovery: “As a monk I led an irreproachable life. Nevertheless I felt that I was a sinner before God. My conscience was restless, and I could not depend on God being propitiated by my satisfactions [he could not trust that he had gained God’s favor by doing all that God expected]. Not only did I not love, but I actually hated the righteous God who punishes sinners…Thus a furious battle raged within my perplexed conscience…” ("Weimarer Ausgabe" 54. 183-185).

After-all, there is so much pressure on us to be a certain type of person, and to do certain things.  I see the videos my teen watches, instructing her on the right way to shape and blend her makeup.  It is the law of makeup, so that the girls of the world can be acceptable.

I feel the pressures from family and friends to vote the “right” way and support the “right” causes as the election looms.  It is as if there is only one acceptable way to think and vote and do.  It is the law of political alignment, so that the voters of the world will be acceptable to their fellow citizens.

I feel the pressures to do more and be more and do more still, feeling guilty for not doing enough for people and being enough for the right people.  I feel the list of “doing” growing and growing, and I feel myself encouraging others to do the same, as if doing enough will allow any of us to finally be acceptable.

That is the all pervasive law of “up religion.”  “Up religion” tells you that you will only be acceptable and good if you do what is expected.  “Up religion” encourages you to save yourself, make something of yourself; be a better self.  “Up religion” says that you must climb up to finally see God.  “Up religion” requires that instructions be followed precisely and laws be kept.

And, the thing that is so confusing about the laws of “up religion” is that the laws are good.  As Paul says, “we know that, whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (Romans 3:19).  There are ways that makeup is done that makes you look glamorous and there are ways that makeup is done that makes you look like a crazy, cartoon faced Aunt Edna.  Sorry to all of the actual “Aunt Ednas” out there.  I am sure you are all beautiful. 

The laws are good.  God’s expectations of us are good, and our expectations of one another are also often very good, and what we do does affect other people.  The way you vote will have repercussions with the way our society either falters or flourishes.  The laws are good. 

But, the problem with “up religion” is that we put way too much stock in the abundance that the laws promise.  We trust that the laws will actually bring us what is promised.  We trust that the proper makeup will get us the attention that we seek.  Unfortunately, makeup may get someone to look our way, but it cannot get anyone to love us.  At least it has never worked for me. 

The other problem is that we convince ourselves that we will actually be able to accomplish the all that is expected.  We do and do and do, but all of that doing only reveals that we have not done it enough.  How many of you feel as if you have prayed enough?  How many of you feel as if you have loved your neighbor enough?  Praying and loving are absolutely good, but over and over again we look at the law, at the expectations, and all we see reflected back is the face of a failure.  We cannot be made right by following the law because God so often uses the law to make us come to “the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).  The law, the expectations, are like a mirror that reveals us to be failures.

This is where the good news starts to break in.  After years of struggling to keep the law, only to be exposed as weak and a fraud, Luther made the discovery in God’s Word that changed his life.  In his own words, “Then finally God had mercy on me, and I began to understand that the righteousness of God is a gift of God by which a righteous man lives, namely faith, and that sentence: The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel, is passive, indicating that the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ Now I felt as though I had been reborn altogether and had entered Paradise” (Ibid. 183-185).

And, this was when Luther discovered the gift of God that had been hidden in plain sight the entire time.  He discovered the gift of “down religion.”  “Down religion” is God’s promise to “come down” to us, to heal us, to feed us, and to save us.  In the very real feet and hands of Jesus Christ, God comes down to make things right again, as a gift.  It is the promise of the cross, where Jesus comes down to the dust through death, only to rise up again and raise us with him. 

The Apostle Paul prays that we will not only see, but grasp with our very lives, like a sinking person grasps a life preserver, this gift of God, convincing us that “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” (Romans 3:23-24).

The Apostle Paul wants us to trust that Jesus loves us first, before we prove anything.  Jesus comes down to find us and save us, searching like a shepherd who loves his lost sheep, searching like the woman who desperately seeks her lost coin, and embracing tightly the son who had wandered away even before he could say, “I’m sorry.” 

In his book, “When Christ Comes,” Max Lucado recounts a true story that came after a horrific earthquake.

“Moments after the deadly tremor ceased, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw that the building had been leveled. Looking at the mass of stones and rubble, he remembered a promise he had made to his child: ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.’

Driven by his own promise, he found the area closest to his son’s room and began to pull back the rocks. Other parents arrived and began sobbing for their children.

'It’s too late,’ they told the man. ‘You know they are dead. You can’t help.’ Even a police officer encouraged him to give up his task.

But the father refused. For eight hours, then sixteen, then thirty-two, thirty-six hours he dug. His hands were raw and his energy gone, but he refused to quit. Finally, after thirty-eight wrenching hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice. He called his boy’s name, ‘Arman! Arman!’ And a voice answered him, ‘Dad, it’s me!’

Then the boy added these priceless words, ‘I told the other kids not to worry. I told them if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you saved me, they’d be saved, too. Because you promised, ‘No matter what, I’ll always be there for you.’”

(https://www.irontontribune.com/2021/05/16/he-has-promised-he-will-always-be-there-for-you/)

Jesus promises to rescue us and make us right.  We are in the rubble.  We cannot possibly get ourselves out.  Whenever we try, another piece of rubble falls down to pin us under.  But, rather than despair, we urge others to trust the promise given to us, “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you.”

That is why we, as God’s people, do not trust in ourselves.  We do not trust in our own works or our own accomplishments.  We are not convinced by “up religion” that tells us that we need to do more and be more. 

Rather, as Paul says, “We hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law” (Romans 3:28).  We are people of “down religion” who trust in the one who wants the best for us and who goes to any length to make things right for us once again, even all the way to a cross.  In the cross we see that first and foremost, we are loved by Jesus. 

And, we share that promise of “down religion,” with everyone around us, because we understand to our very core that everyone strives for “up religion.”  The dark corners of this world want to convince us all that it is up to us to do more and be more and save all.  The world tries to convince us to save ourselves and be slaves to the messages of this world.  “Look pretty.”  “Be the best.”  “Find God.”  But, “up religion” forces us to ask the wrong god to save us.  You will recognize this very struggle in the poem, “Stepdad.”

Stepdad

Everything he does, he does to make his father proud. 

 

The ceramic volcano that he made in school,

that he handed over to his father in pride,

was thrown into the corner of his Father’s apartment,

collecting piles of dust inside. 

 

I am his stepdad. 

He doesn’t want me,

but I was there to hold him,

he needed to know someone was there to see. 

 

The time that he devoted at the gym,

gaining an impressive, muscular frame,

was not seen by his father

who decided women’s bodies were more to his gaze. 

 

I am his stepdad. 

He doesn’t want me,

but I was there to spot him as he lifted those weights.

I will be there, because that is what he needs. 

 

The touchdowns and the championship

were all done to make his father talk with pride. 

But, when he stared to the stands, his father was nowhere to be found,

and his tears he had to hide. 

 

Instead, his eyes fell upon his stepdad. 

He doesn’t want me,

but I smiled and raises my thumbs up high anyway,

because the day will come when he will surely see, 

 

that while grieving his father

whose pride he was never able to find,

he will see the dad

that he had the entire time. 

 

But, until that day,

I vow to be at his side,

To show him that he has always been loved,

and has never needed to do anything to gain my pride.

 

Christ has been there the entire time, giving his love.  There is no need to do more or go up. Christ has come down to you.  May Christ’s love for you this entire time, blow your mind, and may he continue to reform your life.