Morning Devotion for the season of Advent
Friday December 10, 2021
KARL BARTH
PASTOR AND THEOLOGIAN, 1968
The Invitatory
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.
Amen.
Our king and Savior now draws near; Come let us adore him.
Reading: Romans 7:14-25
For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.
Meditation – Michael Palmisano
My buddy in seminary used to call this convoluted bit of Scripture, “The Do Do Passage.” Besides this being a pretty hilarious way of describing any part of the Bible, I think it may be a helpful way of balancing the gravity of an otherwise severe passage with some levity. A good sense of humor is always of value in our lives and vocations. In a roundabout sort of way, the apostle Paul seems to be communicating that we – all of us human beings – often do things that we wish we would not do. If this is a hard reality to accept, perhaps our reluctance to do so might be tempered by our shared propensity for self-servitude and self-oppression.
Passages like this one from Romans led St. Augustine to suggest that human beings are constantly in a state where they are “curved in on themselves.” Human beings fail to see the effects of their choices and actions because they spend much of their existence gazing at their own belly button, asking the wrong types of questions: “How can I satisfy my hunger for success? How can I fill my belly with good things? How can help this person I’m looking at – myself – get a bigger share of things?”
Karl Barth, the theologian for whom this day is set aside, was unwavering in his commitment to this reality. All throughout his academic and pastoral career he maintained that the most important thing that can be said of humans is that they are sinners saved by grace alone, through faith, prompted by the Word alone. The marks of the human condition are such that we are drawn inwards toward sin; are incapable of saving ourselves; and are wholly dependent upon God’s primary movement of mercy through Christ.
Living out a truly meaningful and fulfilling existence – one that we were made for by God – involves “uncurving” ourselves through the lifelong process of acknowledging these marks of the human condition. It means taking seriously not just what we are hungry for but taking seriously what the world is starving for. If “The Do Do Passage" from Romans can communicate anything about what it means to be human, perhaps it is this: That we must ceaselessly ask ourselves, “Is this what I want to do? Is this what others want me to do? Is this what God wants me to do?” Somewhere at the crossroads of our answers to those questions we may even discover that the world is much more beautiful than our own stomachs.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Almighty God, source of justice beyond human knowledge: We thank you for inspiring Karl Barth to resist tyranny and exalt your saving grace, without which we cannot apprehend your will. Teach us, like him, to live by faith, and even in chaotic and perilous times to perceive the light of your eternal glory, Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, throughout all ages. Amen.
