Getting whacked with a wooden stick?

Romans 3:9-20

           My husband and I have a small obsession, we love watching Judge Judy (taped). One of the many Judy-isms is a question about teenagers. "How do you know when a teenager is lying? When there mouth is open and they are talking."  This is quite an indictment of all teenagers but no less an indictment than is placed before us in this passage today. Everyone is guilty. Everyone. Once we grow older perhaps we exchange lying for other sins or bring the lie to a fine art. We could argue about degrees or specific sins or which sins are worse but in the end, we are all guilty.  Lest you forget, that is why Jesus became a human and died for us. He showed us how to live and love but he did not go around arrogantly accusing and condemning people. If anyone could, he could. But he did not. Far from it. (obviously, neither should we then, eh?)

         It might seem wrong to stress how sinful we are. It is not meant to beat us all down into groveling sinners. It is not meant to damage or psyches and ruin our self esteem. It is meant to point out a human condition. We all sin.

         When I was in Catholic grammar school it was a norm that if you did something wrong, and inevitably everyone did, you got whacked by the good sister with a ruler. That word 'ruler' is an interesting word though. We tend to think in terms of precise measurement. But a ruler is a basis to judge a goal and not in precise amounts. If we have a 'rule' by which we live, the ruler is a guide to how we are "measuring up" on our journey. What is our personal rule? Being a follower of Christ?  Is it a bit more refined, being a follower of Jesus but using the 'rule' of St. Benedict as a guide to our faith or some other Sainted persons philosophy?  The rule is a guide for us to measure our journey and again, not in precise terms.

           If we deal in precise terms we come away with a really wrong hearted notion of God's love.  We might tend to think God keeps a book with a spreadsheet of all our sins in life. It demeans us and minimizes our journey to wholeness, that wholeness that God calls us to and created us for. 

           We know that God loves every single one of us just as we are, sinners one and all. He embraces us in our journey to wholeness wherever we are along the way. We will never attain perfection, certainly not on this side of life, so we are sinners one and all. And God still loves us. 

          What I believe God is asking of us is to make him/her our 'rule' in life. Have faith in God, love God,  move towards God answering the call into relationship with him.  We can offer nothing else but our imperfect selves trying to love, willingly loving ourselves, our God and each other. 

What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written:
‘There is no one who is righteous, not even one;
there is no one who has understanding,
     there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;
   there is no one who shows kindness,
     there is not even one.’
‘Their throats are opened graves;
   they use their tongues to deceive.’
‘The venom of vipers is under their lips.’
‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’
‘Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery are in their paths,
and the way of peace they have not known.’
‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’

Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.