Romans 7:15-25a
This text is used for the Lectionary Year A on July 9, 2017.
When our oldest son was three years old, he loved to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings, not so much for the cartoons, but for the commercials between the shows. He saw Power Ranger action figures, kids on shiny new bikes, tempting sugary breakfast cereals. He thought this was the greatest stuff. He would come to me after watching those commercials, and he would say, “I need this. I want that. Buy this for me.” Each week he would add more things to the list. Finally, I sat down with him and said, “Nathan, they are trying to trick you.” He looked up at me, smiled and said, “But I wanna be tricked. I really like this stuff. I wanna be tricked!” Then a few months later we had a similar conversation that showed some growth: at least he was beginning to struggle with the concepts of right and wrong. “Mom,” he asked, “sometimes I say naughty words, don’t I?” “Yes, I replied. Sometimes you do.” Then hoping to turn the conversation into a learning experience for him I said, “Nathan, why do you say naughty words?” He looked up at me and very self-confidently replied, “Sometimes I think I just like to say naughty words.” Our little boy was caught – between the “Is” and the “Ought” – the world as it is, struggling with the temptation to sin and our fallen human nature, and the good world as God created it to be – and the intentionality gap that resides therein. Even at the age of three, Nathan understood that he had a proclivity to do the wrong, even though he had a sense it would not make his parents very happy.
