Romans 2:17-24

Reflection isn't a passive exercise and in this case, it's pretty intense but desperately needed. Paul's challenge to the early Jewish followers of Jesus was pointed.  While our specific struggles are different today, the message still rings true, we're called to live with integrity.  Leave the hypocritical judgment behind and move back towards Christ. 

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Several years ago, I asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas. She told me she wanted this mirror that has the light that kind of frames it. It's not like a great big huge thing, and you can kind of take it with you, I think, even for traveling or whatever. But she wanted that mirror that has this light as a frame. And I remember going into the store to find one, to pick one out, to buy my mom for Christmas, and being absolutely amazed at the level of mirror-ness that was present, right? And and kind of recognizing that that the female approach to getting ready is vastly different than the male approach to getting ready. Like, guys, uh if you're listening in right now, you know what I'm talking about. We're just kind of happy if there's a kind of reflective surface around. Like we'll be okay with that, we'll make it work, we'll be the lights don't even need to be all that bright if they're on at all. But you women, you you, your next level on it. And I'm not just telling you this story because it's a little bit humorous, but it actually ties in to our passage today. Romans chapter two. We're looking at verses 17 through 24, and it's one of those passages that isn't just kind of passively reflective. This isn't just like a mirror, it's a mirror. You know, it's got the lights on and it's it's amplifying everything, and it really compels us to stop and take stock of our own character and the way that we view ourselves, and certainly the way we view others and the way we view God. So today it's Romans Day. Welcome. I'm so glad that you're here. Happy Thursday, or whatever day it might be that you're tuning in and listening to this. Romans chapter two, verses seventeen through twenty four. Before we get into the text, let's pray. Jesus, we are so glad to be with you today. God, I pray for each of us. God, would you give us that softness that we need to be able to hear what your spirit is saying to us? Lead us on. We ask this in your name. Amen. All right, beginning at verse seventeen. Now you, if you call yourself a Jew, if you rely on the law and boast in God, if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law, if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth. You then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written, God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. I'm going to just give you a moment. I think it's a good habit for us to be in. Pause this if you need to do that, but just take a moment and listen closely to God. What is he bringing to your attention? All right, let's take a slower walk through this text. Let's make a few observations. I really see kind of three distinct moments in these verses. The first part is what I refer to as the setup, right? And you can hear that language. By the way, I noticed that in the NIV, which is what I was reading from, the word if is emphasized. It's repeated a whole bunch in others, like the NASB or ESV, it's a little bit less of that. It kind of just kind of keeps going on with and, but in this one, it's if, and that really like it, it was punchy, right? It was punchy as the way that that it comes across. If you call yourself a Jew, if you rely and boast in God, if you know, if you all these different things, if this is who you claim to be, right, is that sense that is there? And and I would imagine, right, like the people that are hearing this letter being read for the first time, they I I imagine they kind of know what's coming. They're not just receiving this as, you know, kind of stroking the eagle kind of a thing. They're not hearing the the attaboy thing, but they're like, oh, okay, Paul, where are you going with this? Because there's this sense of like building this up, setting it up. Do you perceive yourself to be this way, right? So we see that there, verses 17 through 20. And then we get to what is probably the center of this particular passage, verse 21, which says, You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? And then Paul goes on in what I like to think about as the takedown, right? We have the setup, and then we got the takedown. You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? And he begins to list off these pretty specific things. I would imagine these are things that Paul had heard about, the things that might have been taking place in the context of these believers, particularly the Jewish believers that were there in the congregation of Rome. And and he just begins to unwind them, right? To take them down and to lower their view of themselves. And then he ends with with that bit in verse 24, which is just so direct. God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Man, that is some pointed stuff. That's that mirror with the with the light around it. That is glaring back at you, pointing out exactly what the problem is, and that there's this issue that I think most of us would say, oh yeah, that's hypocrisy. That's that thing that's taking place. It's not good, it's not it's not honest, it's not genuine in the way that they're handling all of these different things. We're gonna move right away here into reflection. I I don't know that there are a whole bunch of these, you know, secret or clever, you know, observations to be made kind of beyond what I just shared with you. But when we move into that reflection, I think that's where the the heavy lifting of this particular passage is for us. It's time for that mirror to be straightforward and honest. Now, my assumption as as we're doing this here together is that most of us are not Jewish or we're not practicing Jewish, we're not kind of in that category. So I'm going to speak to us as Jesus followers, as Christians. And so the first thing I want to draw out for us is a question: Do I get puffed up and proud because of what I know? It seems like Paul is addressing that issue for the Jews there in that whole bit. If you call yourself a Jew, if you rely on the law, if you do all these things, if you feel like you have this, you know, special knowledge and truth, how are you viewing yourself? And and for us, you know, we may not struggle with the same thing that the early Jewish Christians struggled with, but but we can fall into that same trap, and oftentimes we do. We get puffed up and proud because of what we know. We've spent time in the scriptures, we've been around the church, we know what to do, we know what to say, we know what position to take, we know who to vote for, we know all of those different things, and there can be, right, there can be that attitude maybe of superiority, that sense of I have all of these things, and that's puffed us up or made us proud in a certain sense. The consequence of that, of course, is that we begin to view others as being beneath us or needing our expertise. When we think about what any kind of an exchange of ideas or or what's true, what isn't, we view ourselves if or we view ourselves as people who who can lend a hand up. We're already there, and and that can be a really, really dangerous position to take. Or we think that our view needs to be the one that wins. Now, don't overhear me saying all of that. I I think there is something to this idea that if we've encountered Christ, right, if we've encountered the gospel and responded to it, that is news worth sharing. We we should be forward with that. That's not what I'm dealing with here. I'm just talking about the way that we conduct ourselves, the matter and that, and just even the way that we view ourselves. The second part is again building on that, and and it's have I let my pride skew my integrity? Have I let my own view of self, right, taint or color what's actually true about me? More specifically, do I give myself like a pass on my favorite pet sins? Am I that person who is pretty quick to kind of point out the flaws of the other, the other people? Am I in that place where I I tend to maximize the sins of others or the flaws of others while minimizing the stuff that's happening in my own life? It's difficult. It's really difficult sometimes for us to to have those moments of of honesty and to and to stop ourselves and say, it's not that what I know is incorrect. It's not about changing necessarily my position or my view on things, although sometimes that's true. But it's not just about that. It's like, am I living a life that that matches? Am I talking to others like they've just they have to fix everything about their lives, and I don't have to fix anything. And I know that I'm talking in kind of extremes here. I don't think anybody would say, like, well, yeah, my life is perfect, I don't need to make any changes, but that attitude, you know what I'm talking about. So have I let pride skew my integrity? And then finally, this, and it's not a question, it's it's a call, it's an encouragement here. Let's learn to receive correction without getting all dramatic about it. I think that that our spiritual lives, I think that our society in general would benefit so much if we were more willing to just say, yeah, what I did was either wrong or I made a mistake, my idea didn't work, and and I recognize that and I'm making changes as a result. To just admit, right? Admit that you made a mistake and and to recognize that making a mistake and acknowledging it doesn't mean you have to burn the whole thing down to the ground. We we live in this in this age of of what feels like extremism where where we were maybe scared, I don't know, that that if we admit some kind of a shortcoming or a flaw that that other people are gonna pounce on that and drounce us or whatever, that that's not it at all. We need to have that integrity with ourselves, particularly as Jesus followers, to look at our own lives and go, you know what, I've got work that's left to be done. I have a healing journey to go through. I I need to work on all of these these kinds of things. So uh it's just an encouragement to myself as much as anybody else to learn to receive correction without making a whole big deal about it. If we, Jesus followers, Christians, aren't willing to deal with our own shortcomings, the rest of the world won't take us or the gospel seriously. Paul writes to the Roman believers, as he writes to the Roman Jewish believers, God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. And we need to hear that. We need to be willing to look inside and to recognize that there are times when we don't get it right, that there may even be patterns that we need to deal with and correct. And so this really is that call, that encouragement, that bright mirrored light, or bright lighted mirror, that's the better way to say that. It it's it's that moment where we look at all of that and we say, you know what? Yeah, I do need to make some changes. And before I go talking to other people and pointing out their issues, I need to make sure that I'm sitting down with the Lord, with the Holy Spirit of God, and just saying, Work in me, cleanse me, change me. I'm not gonna rest on any other thing other than the uh transforming, healing, cleansing work of Jesus to make my life new. Let's go ahead and pray. God, thank you for today. Thank you for the blessing of your scriptures. Thank you that your spirit is with us. God, would you show us what it looks like to follow you with absolute integrity? We love you. Amen.