By Katy Mariotti

We Are All Sinners

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Matthew 24:35 New International Version

Our family vacation this summer took us to Washington D.C. I’ve been several times but the kids have never been, so it was a lot of fun to show them all there is to see and do there (and we certainly could not fit all of it into one vacation!) One of the things we got to do was a United States capitol building tour, given by an intern of our congressman. By doing the tour with her, we got to skip lines and hear about some things we wouldn’t have otherwise gotten to hear about.

One thing that fascinated me on this trip more than others was the idolization of the founding fathers, particularly George Washington. It struck me as so silly to look up and see him painted as a Greek god on the rotunda of the capitol, as well as see a huge statue of him in a museum wearing a toga.  In a lower level of the capitol, our tour guide showed us the spot in which the people wanted George Washington to be buried.

On the 4th of July this year, I read things on social media from several friends about how they do not feel pride in our country. Instead they feel disappointed in the actions of the country’s founders, and are unhappy about what our country has turned into. I think it’s important to remember that humans are humans. This means that George Washington was a sinner, just like all other humans (which he admits to himself in his farewell address). George Washington did not want to be buried in the capitol building, which is why he isn’t. He did not see himself as an idol.

There will never be an ideal nation on earth because our nations are made up of sinners. The important thing to focus on is God’s Word, which will guide us in how to love others, and lead us to His eternal kingdom, which will not pass away.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado