Read: Romans 2:1-16
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality. 12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Are you an excuse factory? Be honest. Are you? Some of us (yes, I am including myself) learned as children that in high stress environments a good excuse could lessen the reaction thrown our way. Unfortunately, many of us think we need an excuse for everything. When you tell someone “no,” do you justify it? When you forget something, do you rattle off a million reasons why? When things are about to go topsy turvy, do you try to get ahead by giving a good “reason” why?
The word “excuse” is both a noun and a verb in the English language. The definition for excuse as a noun is “a reason or explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense.” The definition of excuse as a verb is an “attempt to lessen the blame attaching to [a fault or offense]; seek to defend or justify.” We are reasoning with ourselves and others, while hoping they accept our attempt to lessen the blame and see we were or are justified.
In the very first verse of Romans 2, Paul tells his readers very bluntly: “Therefore, you have no excuse.” This makes me want to automatically start my defense. “Whoa Paul, you don’t know what I have been through. You don’t know what my life has been like. You don’t know what I have endured. You don’t know how hard I have tried.”
Within the book of Romans, Paul draws stark contrasts as he builds his arguments. He has just spent time in the previous verses talking about another group. The “they” group. They did not retain the knowledge of God. They are God-haters. They have no understanding. They became fools. They exchanged the truth. They are filled with wickedness. They are full of malice. Then Paul switches his attention from the “they” group to the “you” group and starts with “Therefore.”
My brain wonders if the “therefore” is referring to the “they” section or if we need to go back further or if it is a both-and situation.
When Paul began his letter to the Romans he wrote these words, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world” (Romans 1:8). I thank my God because your faith is being talked about all over the whole world.
Why do you have no excuse? Could it be linked to verse 8 saying you are a people of faith? And if you are a people of the faith, then You have no excuse. You are condemning yourself. You are a mere human being. You show contempt for the riches of God’s kindness. As Paul’s attention switches focus, it becomes keenly honed in on those the letter was written to, those Paul wants to visit, those that Paul wants to be encouraged by. These are believers.
Imagine this, the congregation of the Romans has filed in, and you are one of them. You find yourself sitting there ready to feel pretty good about yourself thinking, “Go ahead preacher. Tell them where they are doing wrong. Tell them how they have messed up. I have seen it, so I know you have seen it. And I am sure Paul has heard about it. No denying it, they are a mess, and I am so thankful I am not one of them.”
Then all of a sudden the preacher (or reader of the letter from Paul) turns their attention to you and begins reading: “You have no excuse. You know the truth, and you have decided that instead of rejoicing in God’s kindness, you are in contempt towards it. You are stubborn, you are unrepentant. And God will repay you according to what you have done.” Now you are thinking, “Wait a minute! I didn’t come here to get chewed out. I am one of the ‘good’ guys.” Then your excuse factory probably starts to kick in.
When I was working at a church in Lake Tahoe, the lady I worked under would stop us college students mid-excuse. She would flat out say, “No. Don’t finish that sentence.” She didn’t want to know “why” we didn’t do something or “why” we couldn’t do something; she just wanted us to acknowledge where we messed up, fix it or apologize for it, and move on. I learned a lot that summer, and this is one of those life lessons that has stuck with me.
That doesn’t mean that all of our excuses weren’t real or aren’t real, but why are we using them? We use excuses to try to lessen people’s frustration at us, their disappointment in us. To lessen our own guilt or avoid any negative feeling we don’t want to feel. We use excuses to feel better about ourselves, to ward off the things we don’t want to face or the things that we know we deserve. Do we voice excuses to God for similar reasons? In Paul’s words, “You have no excuse.”
But think about this with me a little further. If you give excuses to lessen someone’s negative reaction to you, and you use excuses before God, then what is your view of God? If you give excuses to stave off what you don’t want to face, and you use excuses before God so you don’t have to be honest, do you trust God?
If we took Paul’s words to heart and stopped giving God excuses, I believe that we would find freedom in God’s overwhelming, unending, abounding love. We need to examine why we are offering excuses for our behavior, actions, and thoughts before God. You have no excuse, so don’t tell them to Him, but instead trust Him to show you kindness and patience. Don’t fear what you will meet, but instead, accept His correction. For He corrects those He loves. Don’t worry that you will disappoint Him or let Him down, for when He looks at you and me He sees us through the righteousness of His son, and He has loved His son since before the foundations of the world. He loves you the same.
Leave the excuses behind, and embrace the Father’s love (you will spend your whole life trying to learn its heights and depths). Feel the peace that comes with seeking to understand His love.
