I want to look this morning at the reading from Romans. Because of all of the apostle Paul's writings (and he wrote a great majority of the New Testament), this is one section that makes sense to me. His writing is full of deep ideas, rich images, great theological explanations, but sometimes, don't you feel like you need to read his letters with a dictionary right next to you? Or take only one sentence at a time? His writing is dense – hard to pick up in one hearing or reading. But we come to this passage from the 7th chapter of Romans, and for once, I feel like, “Yes! I get what Paul is talking about!” Even though it's kind of circular, I feel like he is describing my own experience.
Here the reading is again, but this time from The Message paraphrase of the Bible:
"What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. "
Sound familiar? My husband used to work with a woman who said to him, “Andy, if people knew better, they'd do better.” And that sounds so good, but it's not really true, at least not all of the time. Paul experienced this, and we do too, that there are times when we do know better, but we still don't do better. Paul wants to do the right thing, but somehow, someway, despite his best intentions, he finds himself doing exactly the thing he doesn't want to do; and the thing he does want to do, he doesn't actually do. Something inside him sabotages him every time, and that something is the power of sin.
Now sin for Paul is not just about the individual actions – it's not just about the things that he does or doesn't do. Those are “sins” with a small “s”, but what Paul's talking about here is Sin with a capital “S”. Sin with a capital “S” is the underlying condition, sins are just the symptoms. It's like how when you get a cold, the sneezing and runny or stuff nose, the coughing – those are just symptoms; it's the virus underneath it that's causing the problem. And no matter how hard Paul tries to kick this cold, his immune system can't kick that virus out. He's tried everything, and he keeps finding himself back in the same place.
We all know how this feels – to know what we should do, and not be able to do it. Or to know that we shouldn't do something, and find ourselves doing it anyway. I always think of times when I know I shouldn't say something, times when I actually say to myself, “Don't say that. It won't help. It's mean. It will hurt the other person. Just keep your mouth shut.” I might even literally bite my tongue. And yet, so often, I just go ahead and blurt out whatever I just told myself not to say anyway. I know better, but I don't do better. It's not that I don't have any responsibility for my actions – but sometimes, it's just overwhelming; it's as though I really can't help myself. The power of sin is so strong within us that sometimes it doesn't matter if we have the best, strongest willpower in the world , sometimes it just overpowers us, and we find ourselves doing things our best selves don't want to do, things we know that will hurt us, hurt other people, hurt God.
The power of sin is like a riptide, a rip current. I never really knew much about that until I lived in Rhode Island – but you all know what a rip tide is, right? It's that strong, strong current that you don't really notice until it's got you in its power and it's dragging you out to sea. And try as you may to swim back to shore, the harder you try, the more you realize that you're never gonna make it back on your own. You exhaust yourself trying to save yourself by swimming against the current, until you finally realize you can't do it. You can't hold out against the power of sin through sheer willpower alone. As Paul says, “I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it.”
Our lives as Christians can be like that. Our best selves, the part that delights in God and God's command, wants to do what God wants us to do, and yet so often, we find ourselves doing the exact opposite. We find ourselves pulled further and further away from God's shore by the power of sin, and we can just tire ourselves out, trying to swim back on our own, until finally we realize that we're doomed on our own. We need something or someone stronger than us, stronger than the power of sin within us to come and rescue us.
And Paul reminds us, that Jesus Christ can and does do just that. He can and does rescue us from ourselves. He comes and sets things right. He comes into our lives and triumphs over the power of sin. Like a lifeguard, Jesus enters the riptide of sin, and pulls us aside – not by swimming against the current, but across it, until we are brought out of the current and carried back to the shore of God's love, grace, and forgiveness. He swims alongside us, ready always to pull us out of the current that threatens to pull us under, giving us hope to keep swimming. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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