March 5, 2013

Psalm 78:40-72, Jeremiah 7:21-34, Romans 4:13-25, John 7:37-52

“For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13

When I sat down and read today’s readings, I found myself particularly drawn to Paul’s letter to the Romans. I found the following translation from The New Living Translation (2007), which I liked even more, “Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.”

Why did this passage, specifically verse 4:13, speak to me so much? Maybe it is because a pet peeve of mine has always been that person who judges others by how closely they follow what they view to be God’s laws as laid out by both the Bible and whatever particular dogma their denomination has adopted. We have all encountered this type of Christian before, the one who is so quick to pass judgment on those who they feel have sinned. It both annoys me that they can be so uppity and judgmental, but also saddens me that they have forgotten what is the most important thing about being a Christian, and that is our relationship with God that comes through our faith, not by whether or not we are giving exactly 10% of our tithe to the church each week or abstaining from eating cookies for the full 40 days of Lent.

I am not advocating for going out and sinning every chance you get. The two examples of “rules” above are great ways to help strengthen our faith with God. But I am saying that everyone sins; we know this. God’s grace is so amazing that he forgives us of these sins.  Today’s reading helped remind me that I need to be constantly examining my relationship with God and working to deepen my faith. It isn’t as simple or as easy as just following a few rules. Having a strong faith and relationship with God is like any other relationship—it takes constant work. What better time to do this than Lent? After all, isn’t that one of the reasons that we continue as Christians to celebrate the season of Lent year after year? So this is my Lenten challenge: work to strengthen my faith in whatever way I find works for me.

Liz Korandanis