Doing

There is an antagonizing passage in Romans 7 that seems to have risen from the mouths, not of babes, but of our current politicians on every level of government.  Bear with me and Paul:

I read: I do not understand my own actions. For I do not DO WHAT I WANT but I do the VERY THING I hate. I add: but it gets them elected.

Now, if I do “What I Do Not Want”, I agree the law is GOOD. But in fact, it IS NO LONGER I THAT DO IT, but SIN that dwells within me. (Is that passing the buck?)

For I know that NOTHING GOOD dwells within me that is in my flesh. (Sorry. That’s what we are dressed in - Flesh.) 

I can WILL WHAT IS RIGHT, but I cannot do it. (SIgh).

For I DO NOT DO the good I want, but the evil I DO NOT WANT is what I do. (Remember the Devil made me do it?)

Now if I DO WHAT I DO NOT WANT it is no longer I that do it, but SIN THAT DWELLS WITHIN ME. (Failure to take proper credit.)

SO I find it to BE A LAW that when I WANT TO DO WHAT IS GOOD, evil lives close at hand. (Next door neighbor, that person over there, or opponent in the race, how about Adam and Eve?)

For I DO DELIGHT in the law of God in my inmost self (really?)- but I see in my MEMBERS another law at war with the LAW OF MY MIND, making ME captive to the LAW OF SIN that dwells in my members. (WHEW! My Members?)

Wretched man (He ignores women) that I AM, exclaims Paul. Who will rescue me from this body of death? The Electorate?

Who will RESCUE me from doing what I DO NOT WANT TO DO, but do anyway, because (always an excuse) there is something bad WITHIN ME that I cannot control?

I am a slave, one way or the other, to the law of God - by choice; (Didn’t Jesus toss out all law?) to the law of sin - BECAUSE I AM HUMAN. (This chant continues in modern times.)

Alas. Finally. Truth outs.

I cannot figure out if this is a plea for votes or a cry that the speaker is out of control and doesn’t want to take the blame for his/her errors.

It is the eternal war between flesh and soul, with flesh more than likely the victor. (Sadly, this is what we have discovered hidden behind religious closed doors for centuries, as well as in homes. Flesh seems to win.)

I say, taking from that awesome play, Book of Mormon, that we need to “Man UP” all over ourselves and do what Jesus would have done. “He crawled up on that cross and he stuck it out.”

Then, as if having cut and paste as a follow-up for this plea from Paul, we can listen to Matthew II:  Can you hear God tossing this around in the heavens today?

“To what can we compare this generation?”  He sounds as exasperated as I feel.

They don’t follow the rules - they don’t dance at the flute or wail at funerals. They wield glocks and jam on sidewalks. They now protest, a needed power, and try to make a point that we have messed up and not loved one another, but chose who we will love by color, by race, by privilege and wealth.  They prefer to judge others, then turn away from them, even though most of the time they don’t even acknowledge the truth about themselves. We point in the direction of “over there.”

Matthew wrote: The innocent Son of Man came eating and drinking and He was charged with being a drunkard and a glutton and He was admonished for being friends of tax-collectors and sinners, the bad guys, so to speak, and yet Jesus was trying to convince the powerful, the intellectual, the wealthy, the leaders of religiosity that every man or woman, rich or poor, precise or sloppy, filled with faith or atheistic, is reasonable somewhere, is worth something.

A class of wine does not a drunkard make. A dinner with a homeless or a criminal does not a criminal make.

Our heroes? Where are our heroes? In the movies? On the basketball court?  What happened to police and firemen and women, and first responders and those now hidden behind masks and paper clothing protection saving lives, and those in camouflage suits carrying weapons and protective items so heavy it’s amazing they can move - our military saving us in the dangerous Middle Eastern deserts. And protesters kneeling down and risking their lives to wake up those who don’t care, who don’t trust, who judge by color and not heart and soul. Do we overlook too many of these who are our real heroes?

Those of us who believe in good love and a forgiving God must continue to build trust through prayer. We need more and more to make prayer our best friend day and night. It’s amazing how prayer in a moment can stop us from doing that thing we know we shouldn’t do but we do because we cannot stop doing it, blaming it on our sinful nature, our dark side, our uncontrollable urges, our ADHD, I guess.

There is always hope as we break open the egg of love. Light a candle. Say a prayer. Say grace.  Sing a song. Give a hug. Let our little light shine. Learn about the saints, not just those past, but those who are out there right now on the front line willing to risk their lives, to fight for rights and equality, to make us a better nation, a better place to live and each one of us a better person by loving the Jesus’ way. Take a Knee.

 ~ Rev
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audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
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