The law convicts us of sin. It shows us that we are, all of us, judged; that we are, all of us, found wanting.
But the law also convicts us by a second device. Law paints the lines on the savage playing field of our sin: what the law condemns, it first describes. Rules encapsulate sport: without ever having played a round or been on the ice, you know from their rulebooks the respective natures of golf and hockey.
Thus, our readings for today, readings from which the contemporary reader is apt to flee.