Without Exception

Romans 3:21-31
Tuesday, 24 June 2008

I had always been a good, even excellent student when I put my mind to it, so when I discovered that the seminary I attended did not give letter grades, I was a bit taken aback. There were only three possible grades, credit, no credit, or credit with distinction. Most people passed and received credit, but few broke through to a "distinction." Even I had some difficulty getting those exceptional grades. Most of the time I just blended in with the rest of the group. I'll be honest; I didn't like that.

There are several points that Paul makes in this section of his letter to the church at Rome, the most important being that no one person or group has an advantage where God's favor is concerned. No one is righteous. No one earns a distinction. And even though the Law had been given to one group of people, because grace is a gift and cannot be earned, knowing or even attempting to keep the law brings no advantage. All who believe have access. Just as all of us, without exception, have sinned, all of us have the opportunity to be set free from our sin through Jesus Christ.

This reality is difficult for us to embrace fully because we humans have a tendency to desire to be exceptional. We like to have an advantage to lord over other people. We like to belong to the right crowd, to be accepted at the right school, to get the best grade. And sometimes we even manufacture symbols of status in the church in order to recreate the sense of distinction or advantage that we had in the world. But we have to remember that to grasp a sense of ourselves as better than others is to misunderstand and even cut ourselves off from the wondrous grace available to us through faith in the only truly exceptional person ever, that is, Jesus Christ.

Sing, "Glory to His Name"

Let us pray:
We confess, God, that our sinful pride sometimes still rears its ugly head as we judge one another and try to create distinctions among us. Help us to remember that just as all have sinned, all have received access to the gift of grace through Jesus Christ - no excuses, no exceptions. Make us aware that our confidence and our boasting can, thus, never be about us, only about you. Amen