Romans 3:16
Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known. (Romans 3:15-17a)
This passage in Romans is part of a series of Old Testament quotations Paul makes to support his idea that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are under the power of sin. This particular quotation is from Isaiah 59:7-8.
Paul is not writing here about a specific person. Rather, he quotes Isaiah because to Paul it seems to represent a universal truth about humanity: given the chance, we become violent, leaving behind ruin and misery in our wake, while leaving the path of peace pristine, untrod.
In heaven, I’d like to talk with the Apostle Paul. I suppose I’ll have to get in line to do so. Paul’s strong rhetoric has confounded many for nineteen and a half centuries now.
I think I’d ask him if it’s really as universal as all that. After all, I’m a fairly passive person. I hate conflict, dislike when relationships fracture. Having had a traumatic near-tears episode running over a groundhog in our church parking lot the other day, I will not be swift to shed blood again, much less actual human blood. I have no desire to see other in ruin and misery—in fact, I’m quite willing to be peaceful.
Or am I? There’s a big difference between being passive and being peaceful. A passive person doesn’t mind if blood is shed as long as he doesn’t have to clean it up. A passive person doesn’t mind ruin and misery of another as long as she doesn’t have to look at the overwhelming pathos of the situation. A passive person doesn’t mind if a relationship fractures as long as it maintains the appearance of being whole. A passive person doesn’t mind conflict as long as it never comes to confrontation.
This is substantially different than being a peaceful person. A peaceful person is unafraid to be in the presence of another who is bleeding—physically or emotionally—because they know the strength of Christ’s presence at such a time. A peaceful person is unafraid to confront another, because they can also be confronted willingly. A peaceful person’s identity is not bound up in relationships appearing well, and so they are free to breathe actual healing into relationships.
Ironically, passive people can leave ruin and misery in their wake because they are afraid to confront and be confronted, leaving themselves and others to spiritual stagnation rather than growth. But peaceful people leave love and joy in their wake, for they are unafraid.
This passage in Romans is part of a series of Old Testament quotations Paul makes to support his idea that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are under the power of sin. This particular quotation is from Isaiah 59:7-8.
Paul is not writing here about a specific person. Rather, he quotes Isaiah because to Paul it seems to represent a universal truth about humanity: given the chance, we become violent, leaving behind ruin and misery in our wake, while leaving the path of peace pristine, untrod.
In heaven, I’d like to talk with the Apostle Paul. I suppose I’ll have to get in line to do so. Paul’s strong rhetoric has confounded many for nineteen and a half centuries now.
I think I’d ask him if it’s really as universal as all that. After all, I’m a fairly passive person. I hate conflict, dislike when relationships fracture. Having had a traumatic near-tears episode running over a groundhog in our church parking lot the other day, I will not be swift to shed blood again, much less actual human blood. I have no desire to see other in ruin and misery—in fact, I’m quite willing to be peaceful.
Or am I? There’s a big difference between being passive and being peaceful. A passive person doesn’t mind if blood is shed as long as he doesn’t have to clean it up. A passive person doesn’t mind ruin and misery of another as long as she doesn’t have to look at the overwhelming pathos of the situation. A passive person doesn’t mind if a relationship fractures as long as it maintains the appearance of being whole. A passive person doesn’t mind conflict as long as it never comes to confrontation.
This is substantially different than being a peaceful person. A peaceful person is unafraid to be in the presence of another who is bleeding—physically or emotionally—because they know the strength of Christ’s presence at such a time. A peaceful person is unafraid to confront another, because they can also be confronted willingly. A peaceful person’s identity is not bound up in relationships appearing well, and so they are free to breathe actual healing into relationships.
Ironically, passive people can leave ruin and misery in their wake because they are afraid to confront and be confronted, leaving themselves and others to spiritual stagnation rather than growth. But peaceful people leave love and joy in their wake, for they are unafraid.
posted by Rev. Michael Jordan at 3:06 PM
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