Romans 3:22-24 For there is no distinction, 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.
These were some of the verses we read last Sunday in observation of Reformation Sunday. They come up in the daily lectionary today because tomorrow (October 31) is not really Halloween, it's Reformation Day.. the anniversary of that crazy Martin Luther putting his crazy 95 These up on that church door. So we read them again. But I think it's worth it. Here's why.
I've read these verses hundreds of times. I've preached on them or taught them dozens of times. Confirmation classes, adult classes, new member classes, sermons. I've read them and I've studied them and I've tried to come up with creative ways to talk about them.
And it hit me today: this is really hard stuff.
I WANT to be able to do something. I WANT to be able to please God. I WANT to be able to know I'm on the right track. I WANT to be able to know whether or not I'm being a good Christian. And these words (which I profoundly believe to be true) tell me I can't. It's just a gift.
Sometimes gifts are hard to accept, aren't they?
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Remember our special All Saints schedule: Education at 9:00, Worship at 10:00, Meal following.
Set your clock back Saturday night.
For conversation, visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com/
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That last question is so true. Gifts ARE hard to accept. WHY? It doesn't seem like it should be that hard.
ReplyDeleteDoug