by Matt Perez

Romans 7: 12-25

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For 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 with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

We live in a dynamic, dramatic and distressing world. Our social landscape is a shifting, treacherous labyrinth of alternative facts, fluid identities, conspiracy theories, influencers of every flavor and news (fake or otherwise). Reality has become subjective, shaped by our tribal affiliations, biases and those bits of information we choose to recognize because they support our ideologies; we ignore any ideas or facts we don’t agree with. This egotistical subjectivity has made the concept of morality so broad and vague as to be almost useless. So long as you obey the law and don’t offend anyone, you are free to do as you wish. This chaos is devoid of real value, and leaves us lost, confused, but convinced we are right. Some call this the Post-Truth Age.

Within this context we Christians live our lives. Our work, play, family and social lives unfold within this world of hostile moral relativity. However, we know what is indeed right, as revealed in Scripture and through prayer. Though we know right from wrong, we live in a world in which almost every sin is perfectly acceptable. It is easy to stumble, indulge and make excuses for ourselves. Afterall, everyone is doing it, and they seem fine. We begin losing our way in a tangled web of distraction, sensuality and materialism. We know we’re going in the wrong direction, and we inhabit that uncomfortable place between sinner and saint; who we are now, and the person we want to be.

Because we are frail sinners, and we tend to drift away from God, the rhythm of our church calendar and the liturgy of our services are critical because they re-orient our focus toward what is truly important: our right relationship with the Lord. Sadly, as our world distracts us, even our weekly Sunday worship can come to be a chore or an obligation. Thankfully, we have the season of Lent. We are forced to confront our sin in a very real, intentional way. We are made to pause, and probe through our lives, searching all those places where we have gone astray and recognizing where our faith and practice have suffered. More than simply a guilt-trip, Lent is a call to action. We resolve to refuse to indulge the weakness of the sinner and instead borrow the strength of the saint, with the hope of keeping that strength. During Lent, we mark ourselves as truly a people apart by taking a firm stand in this corrupt world and making the bold claim that sin is indeed real, and by the grace of God, we will not give in.

Matt Perez lives in Lynchburg, Virginia. A plumber by trade, he enjoys Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, hiking and just a little whiskey.

Lent Day 19