O Wretched Man That I Am — Romans 7:24, 25

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24, 25).

It is easy for us to look at the faults and shortcomings of others, while dismissing or making light of our sins. Yes, even the word “sin” is rarely used anymore, rather it has been supplanted by various psycho babble terms designed to free people from personal responsibility.

Yesterday, I witnessed along with countless other viewers, an incident that took place on the streets of Hartford, CT. A 78 year-old man was crossing the road, was hit by a car, and tossed to the pavement. The driver of the car kept going, but that wasn’t the worst of it.

As CNN reported, bystanders and other drivers did nothing. Ten cars went past the man lying in the street, who by now was critically injured. Perhaps worse were the people who were walking by and did nothing. Finally, the police did arrive and took the man to the hospital.

This incident serves to remind me of two stories in the Bible:

The first story being the account of the Samaritan (Luke 10) who stopped to help the man robbed and left for dead. A priest, then a Levite passed by, but it wasn’t until the third person arrived, a no good Samaritan (in the eyes of the Jewish people of that day), who came to the man’s aid and paid for his recovery.

The second story is from today’s scripture, where the apostle Paul recognized his sinfulness and cried out to God. Immediately, he understood the position that he was in and glorified God.

Here is my take on two very different stories — the first one shed light on a man who wasn’t caught up in religious pretense and helped his neighbor. The second one shed light on the heart of a man who realized he could do nothing apart from God. In both situations you had men who were humble before God, just the kind of person God uses.

I was tempted to emphasize the “lack of moral conviction” the people of Hartford displayed yesterday, but that is only a piece of the puzzle. Truly, had these people cared, someone would have come to this man’s aid immediately.

Instead, we have the hearts of people revealed — no one recognized their own sinfulness, thereby their hard hearts made them incapable to help a fellow man when he was struck down. I believe that when God is forsaken, we’re capable of scraping the bottom when an opportunity to do good arises.

However, when God is exalted in our lives through true repentance, wonderful things can be done. I only wish that more people had the heart of Paul and the action of the Samaritan, when this man’s moment of need became evident.

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