|
Morning Devotion for Lent
March 19, 2025
Invitatory
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous deeds!
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Romans 2:1-11
Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. You say, ‘We know that God’s judgement on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.’ Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgement of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed. For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.
Meditation-Rebecca Northington
I often find myself reading these passages through the lens of RYG Bible study, or confirmation class, or general discussions with young people around scripture, faith and religion. I like to share the insights I garner from these 13-18 year olds, as well as the fresh perspective they urge us leaders to assume. But today I find myself approaching this passage through the voice of an elderly mother whose only son died suddenly at 49 years old last month, unattached, without a legacy, and yet fully righteous in the way that Paul counseled us all to be. This mother has come to find out how good her son truly was through the various communities that he engaged in, the friendships that he held, the papers that he left behind, and his relationship with his Church. He lived a private life, a shy person from childhood. He had always been concerned with how the world would see him, which was ironic because everything within him was so good, so honest, and so loving.
This mother is also a teacher. She told me that she wished that she could have successfully imparted on all of her students over the decades of teaching, that the beauty within far outweighs the beauty that is visible. And yet so many of us are deeply affected by what we perceive the outside world to see: be that physical, intellectual, or material. This obsession can be a slippery slope, not only leading to vanity-but also to judgement, of ourselves and of others. I believe this is what Paul references when he cautions us not to judge others lest we be judged in the same manner.
This issue of judging others and final judgement comes up with the kids frequently. They might ask why cheaters get away with their crimes, getting into Ivy League schools for example, while those who don’t cheat toil away at their work honestly without such rewards. Or why mischief makers and rule breakers are able to skate through life without consequence in many cases. It is difficult as a young person, and as an adult, to see such behavior and its impact on others and not feel resentful or frustrated. In fact, just last week I wrote about the need to call out sin in our community, to root out evil, “He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority”.
I think the key distinction here, and one that the elderly mother would want us all to make, is that we are in no position to judge others. We must work on our own inner light, cultivate a good and repentant soul, and attempt to lead others to this same work out of love and compassion; not judgement.
It is our job to bring one another into God’s Beloved Community, through forgiveness, grace and a generous spirit. My friend, the elderly mother, reminded me that it is what is inside of us, it is our inner life that drives our outer spirit. The story of her son’s untimely death emphasizes the urgency of the work we need to do to develop this self. Paul counsels the Romans that by “patiently doing good
seek for glory and honour and immortality”, for ourselves and for one another.
Prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen
| 
