3 Pentecost, Year A

Proper 8:  Genesis 24:34-49; Psalm 45:11-18; Romans 7:15-25; Matthew 11:16-30
A homily by: Fr. Gene Tucker
Given at: Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, July, 3, 2011

“PAUL’S LAMENT”
(Homily text: Romans 7: 15 - 25)

Back in seventh grade, all of us in a shop class made small hammers. We started with a six inch length of mild steel, which was one inch square. We had to first cut the shape of the back of the hammer in a slope with a hacksaw. Then, we had to use a file to round off the corners and to get the desired shape of the hitting edge. Following that, we had to drill holes so that the handle could be fitted. The next step was to temper the steel to make it hard, so that it would not deform when used. We put the finished product into the furnace, heated it up until it was red hot, took tongs and pulled it out so that we could put the hot metal into a cooling vat. As it chilled rapidly, it got hard. (We may have repeated that process over again, I can’t remember.) Once that process was done, the remaining tasks consisted of putting a finish on the metal and then fitting the handle into the head.

It was a good project for us to do. I don’t think my work was of the same quality as some of the others, but nonetheless, I was pleased with what I’d accomplished. In the process, I learned a lot about handling steel, and about tempering it so that it would form a good and useful tool. (Alas, I do not know what became of the hammer.)

As we look at St. Paul’s writing that is before us today, from the seventh chapter of his letter to the Romans, the image that comes to mind is of a man who is keenly aware that the shaping and tempering that God has been doing with him is far from complete, and it is far from being high quality work.

Notice that Paul laments the fact that he knows what characteristics and qualities he ought to have, in order to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and to be an effective tool for spreading the Good News (the Gospel).

He says this: “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (Verse 21)

A little earlier on, he had said this: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me.” (Verse 18).

Paul is aware of his faults and shortcomings.

So the two, good and evil, are both to be found in Paul’s character and in his thinking.

Paul, like all of us, is a mixture of the awareness of the standards to which God calls us, and an inclination to do just the opposite of what we know we ought to do, and all at the same time.

So, if we might return to the image with which we started, that of a hammer which is a fitting and fine tool in God’s hands, we might say that Paul knows that he fails the test when it comes to the critical work to which God has called him. The shaping process which began with Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus (see Acts, chapter nine, for this account) has, thus far, failed to produce a well rounded messenger of the Gospel…there is still much work to do.

And the tempering process which Paul has been undergoing as he gained the knowledge of God that would be necessary to be an effective witness to Jesus’ resurrection, and the hardships which he had faced along the way, had, thus far, failed to drive out the soft spots in his character which were the openings that sin needed in order to invade his thinking.

Paul is keenly aware of the poor quality that he presents to the Lord as a follower of Christ and a tool to be used by God.

Well, if there’s hope for Paul, there is hope for us all!

As painful as it probably was to Paul, personally, the realization that Paul presents to us today should provide us with a measure of comfort and assurance.

For when we admit that we fall short of God’s standard of righteousness, when we disclose to God and to others that sin always seems to lurk, close at hand, then we are laying the groundwork for God to enter into this troubled situation and redeem it.

It is precisely because of Paul’s openness about his own spiritual condition that he can come to the conclusion that praise and thanks are due entirely and solely to God. Paul puts it this way: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Verse 25)

For, you see, the process of shaping our lives and the spiritual tempering that is necessary as we live out our lives, day by day, is essentially God’s work to carry out. But we must allow God to carry out that work and that process within us. We can easily say “No” to God, and not allow Him to do that work.

However, Paul’s example, before us today, provides us with the example of openness which is always the beginning of the process.

May we imitate Paul by openly admitting our shortcomings and faults, that God may shape us and fit us for His service in the world, in this life, and in the life of the world to come.

AMEN.