The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups compiled by Ned Bustard. The image by Bustard is called Simul Justus et Peccator.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 7:21-8:2, 35-39

Dear God, this is a complete coincidence and not why I chose this today, but I heard the end of this passage read at a funeral yesterday. So as I think about this passage and Ned Bustard’s artistic interpretation of it through his work Simul Justus et Peccator (At Once Justified and a Sinner), I wonder what there might be for here this morning.

First, here is what I’m noticing about Bustard’s image:

• The face in the mirror seems to be a fairly accurate reflection of the face we see outside of the mirror. He didn’t make it look worse that it is.
• Bustard’s publishing company is called “Square Halo Books.” Bustard says on his web page, “In Christian art, the square halo identified a living person presumed to be a saint.” So the man in the mirror is presumed to be a saint.
• The square halo is not represented in the mirrored image. It is only seen by us, not the man himself.
• I seen apple with a bite out of it on the desk. I presume this is original sin.
• I see a crow looking at the man. The crow can represent both the good and the bad. A duality.
• I see what appears to be a bag of money on the ground, but it is marked with “xxx.” I assume this indicates that they money is more of a problem than a solution.
• The man’s head is resting in his hands. It gives the appearance of despair.
• The man is frowning and his eyes are sad.
• In the mirrored image, the mans clothes have horizontal stripes, making it seem like he feels imprisoned.
• I don’t see a significance to it, but the candle on the table seems to be what is illuminating the room.
• The man is barefoot and appears to be in his pajamas. This is either at the end of the day or the beginning of the day. He is either regretting his day or dreading his day. There is no optimism in his eyes.

So those are my observations before reading Bustard’s description of the image. Here is what he said: “The print conveys the idea of being both sinful and righteous through symbols from Christian art. The black bird, the Adam’s apple, and the thirty pieces of silver [oh, that’s what the money was supposed to be] represent sin. The candle and mirror are God’s Word. The man is clothed in Christ’s righteousness–in the form of the robe and sash ubiquitous in Sunday school pictures of Jesus [I don’t see the robe and sash]. The square halo indicates that he is a living saint.”

Okay, I have to say that I feel pretty good about the things I noticed. I didn’t the candle and mirror as your Word. I missed the money reference to the 30 pieces of silver Judas received for betraying Jesus. And I still don’t see the robe and sash he mentions. But overall, I think I got it.

So what do I do with it? Well, how do I see myself when I look in the mirror? The truth is, I am as much of a dichotomy as anyone in the world. I am sinful. I am redeemed. I do good. I do bad. I am a living saint. I deserve death, but you have offered me life.

Father, help me to see this for myself today and to see others this way too. Help me to offer them the same benefits of your redemption that you offer me. And may those who see me as a failed man be able to maybe extend some of that mercy as well. Not for my sake as much as for theirs.

I pray all of this through the mercy and grace of Jesus that makes me, of all people, a saint,

Amen