ken castor

Romans 4:16-22 ~ Old Faithful

  Let's just rest in these few verses near the end of Chapter 4 for a moment... In fact, please read it twice through and look for key themes:

NLT Romans 4:16-22   So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.”  This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.  Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!"  And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.

 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.  He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.  And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 

God gave a promise.  Abraham believed God.  So God considered Abraham to be "righteous".

So stop trying to earn God's favor.  You can't.  You won't. 

Just trust God.  Trust God at His Word.  God Is Who He Is.  So trust God for Who God Is. 

If you don't know God... then pursue after God.  Start with those things about God that you do already know... and go forward in faithful steps from there. 

Abraham didn't really know too much about God when all this began.  He didn't know what the outcomes would really be.  He didn't understand how God was going to work in his life.  Abraham was quite uncertain about the specifics.  We're not even entirely sure what Abraham called God... but we know they interacted with one another... and that God had taken special interest in old Abe.  And the more that Abe and God interacted, the more Abraham trusted God... and the more Abraham relied upon God... and the more God shaped Abraham's life.  (Read the 2nd half of Genesis again if you need to remember the full story!)

God promised Abraham he would be the father of all nations.  Abraham believed this.  Paul tells us that God's promise wasn't merely a physical reality, but a spiritual one too.  Abraham's royalty wouldn't be passed on merely through DNA, but it would be passed on for generations by those who believed in God.  So Abraham is the father of all those ever since who have called out to God and found Him to be trustworthy. 

The Kingdom God promised was greater and more numerous than any temporal, geographic kingdom Abraham could have conceived.  Even just one child was beyond Abraham's imagination.  So it is remarkable that Abraham was actually open to whatever God's promise held for him--- And yet this is the precisely the proper stance of faith: Confident hope within the uncertainty that God presents (Hebrews 11:1).

Nothing Abraham could do about it really.  Just believe God at His Word.

Abraham's faith is noteworthy... because Abraham was OLD... and so was his wife.  Added to this fact was this little complication: Sarah, Abe's wife, had been barren her whole life.  Now she was wrinkly old, well past any child-bearning years.  The idea that nations would be birthed through her was laughable (Genesis 17:17).  And still Abraham believed God at his word.

And so God kept his promise.  Out of death, came life.  Out of a dead womb, came a promised one who would lead countless many to faith. 

 Note: I reflect a lot on this website about how God uses young people throughout Scripture... but it's just as apparent that God uses older people too.  In fact, it seems that God will use anyone at any age of any gender of any ethnicity and even of any religion to accomplish what He wants to do.  (People!  He spoke through a donkey!!  God can utilize anyone He wants!)  So again I am struck about how much poorer our churches are today than they should be.  We tend to segregate our congregations, separating young from old, compartmentalizing people according to age categories.  Look, God worked through an old faithful couple, and God worked through a newborn laughable baby... and God even worked through a dolt of a middle aged nephew...  Perhaps we should consider that God might want to work holistically throughout our generations today.

 

 

Romans 4:9-12 ~ severe faith

Well, you can thank Abraham for circumcision.  Blame him.  He agreed to the deal.

When Abraham was 99 years old he confirmed the covenant that he had made with God... and that God had made with him many years earlier.  Genesis 17 tells the story: God approached Abraham (whose name had been Abram until this moment) and declared once again his promise to make Abraham the father of many nations and that the land (of Israel) would belong to his descendants.  That was God's end of the deal.  Abraham's responsibility was to "walk with God and be blameless."

As a way to demonstrate the human side of the deal, God informed Abraham that any male who wanted to be a part of this deal had to be circumcised.  If a descendent of his was not circumcised he would be cut off from the covenant.  Either way you get cut.

So Abraham immediately applied this sign to himself... a procedure I imagine that most 99 year-old men wouldn't really want to go through... and he also applied this sign to all the men in his household (including grown male servants, foreign men, and his 13-year-old half-illegitimate son, Ishmael).   I assume it was for the most part a voluntary procedure.  Though I'm not sure how excited everyone was... but this is what we are told happened.  Maybe some strong whiskey and very sharp knives got them through it?  "Turn your head and cough" must have been quite a cutting remark that day.  Certainly the barber shop knew what you meant when you asked, "Just a little off the top, please." 

Now I suspect that many people today consider the Bible to be a bit antiquated because it talks fairly regularly about about circumcision.  I also suspect that circumcision makes a lot of people squirm.  It's not a typical dinner conversation topic.  That's too bad in a way... because circumcision really is quite a powerful symbol of what a relationship with God is supposed to be.  Circumcision was a severe step of faith that prevented someone from being severed from God. 

But it is not the symbol that saves... Just as a road sign cannot actually get a person to their destination... it merely points the way.  This sign only applied to men (and I believe it is significant that this symbol of faithfulness was borne on the part of the male anatomy that men generally struggle to keep faithful).  This sign did not apply to women... though they would have had an intimate reminder of the covenant with God every time their sons were circumcised or they saw their husbands naked.  But clearly the sign of circumcision did not apply directly to 1/2 of Abraham's descendents... and therefore it never was the means by which someone was "saved".  A sign can not get someone somewhere... it merely points the way. 

Consider what Paul says in Romans 4:9-12.  Paul has already in this chapter introduced Abraham as an example of someone who God credited as a "righteous" person not because of his good religious piety but because of his faith in God.  The objection to this statement perhaps could be that Abraham was "obedient" and did many good things because God told him to do so (e.g. circumcision)... and therefore Abraham was called "righteous".  But it is fair to say that "righteousness" is not a complete adjective describing Abraham's life... a life of general goodness mixed with significant moments of sin.  To this argument, Paul says...

^{NIV 9-12} Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Paul makes it clear that Abraham was "credited" as "righteous" before he started really "doing" things for God.  The outer sign of belonging to God took place after the inner reality of faith in God had started to take root in Abraham.  Inside out faith. 

Is this true?  Was Abraham "saved" or "justified" or "made righteous" by God before he applied this dramatic sign?  Well, circumcision happened in Genesis 17 when Abraham (Abram) was 99 years old.  We are told in Genesis 15:6, when Abram was many years younger, "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." 

A circumcised life is simply meant to display a heart set on God.

Romans 4:1-3 ~ Father Abraham

Paul now wants to give a practical example of how his ongoing argument works itself out in real life.  (And in case our attention spans have forgotten, Paul has been making a strong claim that all people are messed up but that they can be made right through faith in God. -- It wouldn't hurt to read the first three chapters of Romans straight through once more at this point.)

So at the beginning of chapter 4 in the letter-book of Romans, Paul turns his attention to the father of nations, Abraham.  One of the most famous and influential persons to have ever lived, Abraham had wealth, territory, political sway and integrity (good and bad) before the name 'Israel' was ever spoken.  (Apparantly he even made an album with the Smurfs in his spare time... He and Papa Smurf had several things in common I guess...).  In terms of faith, the original Abraham is counted among the most faithful person ever to have lived... He trusted God with all things, including his son Isaac--- He was willing to sacrifice anything for God.

And yet, even Abe messed things up.  That might be sacreligious for me to say... But it's time to sac some aspects of religion anyhow.  Look, it was not Abraham's good works that made him right in God's sight... It was Abraham's faith.  Abraham trusted God... And this was proven often through Abraham's good actions, yes... but it was also proven during times of Abraham's poor actions as well.

Genesis 15:6 is key here.  Abraham, a very old man, married to a very old wife, barren during their lifetimes and now well beyond child-bearing years, is shown the sky by God.  "See these stars," God says to him.  "See how many stars there are?  Uncountable, aren't they, Abe?  That's how many descendents you will have."  And Abraham believed God.

What did Abe do?  Well, Abraham "believed" God... and then he messed up.  He tried to take God's promise into his own hands (he and his wife actually forced a child through another woman and obviously things got very messy).  Oops.

And still God credited him as "right".  How?

Because in God's grace, Abraham was given another shot... and when presented with the opportunity to embrace God's pattern, Abraham squeezed his son Isaac tight with both arms.  In the end and throughout his struggles Abraham certainly showed a pattern of believing in God... and God chose to see Abraham as "right" in His sight.

We have a good God.

 Romans 4:1-3 (NLT) Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God?  If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

Romans 2:25-29 ~ cutting-edge

  Many people have a wee bit of misunderstanding about circumcision.  I know it might not be "cutting-edge" news, but the apostle Paul did offer some cutting remarks about it: 

“Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God." (Romans 2:25-29 NIV)

I have always thought it funny that circumcision was considered an “outward” sign of faith.  My mom always told me to keep that area of the body a private matter. 

But the Bible isn’t my Mom… and surprisingly to many of us, the Bible regularly, and rather bluntly, reveals some things that are otherwise kept where the sun don't shine.  Circumcision as a topic is a frequent and important visitor to biblical pages... and yet the modern Christian doesn't care to spend much time on the practice... Perhaps it's too awkard or uncomfortable or embarrassing...

Circumcision was meant to be a dramatic outward, physical indicator that Israel was set apart as people with a unique relationship with God.  In Genesis 17, God instructs Abraham (at 99 years old) to undergo circumcision… and to be sure that all of his descendents in perpetuity would be circumcised… as “a sign of the covenant between” God and Abraham. And in God’s instructions to Abraham, any of his male descendents who did not experience the “cut” of circumcision would be “cut” off from God’s people.  God intended circumcision as a means by which people could demonstrate visibly and quite-personally their intimate dedication to God.  And I’m sure it was meant to serve as a reminder of that dedication too.

Interesting to note, however, that circumcision as a biblical practice automatically cut out 50% of the population.  Circumcision was a symbol required of men only (notably, therefore, excluding the brutality of clitoridectomy).  Circumcision was not, nor could not, be evidence of salvation because it was intended to be evidenced in only half the population as a sign.  Circumcision was not to be worn as an entrance badge or some kind of secret handshake for the club.   Circumcision was a practice of "ineradicable nature" that "symbolized the enduring, irrevocable nature of the covenant” (Sarna, JPS Commentary: Genesis, 1989).  Circumcision was a permanent mark meant to demonstrate a permanent commitment.  Circumcision disallowed a person to go back to the way things used to be and blend into the crowd once more.  All excess has been cast off, so to speak, and what’s left is dedicated to God.  The intention was that Jewish men would live fully circumcised lives--- namely, a covenant relationship with God--- namely again, a life lived in a committed, mutual, personal relationship with God.

This “symbol” took on its fulfilled meaning after Jesus’ resurrection.  On the day Peter preached to thousands in Jerusalem, Acts 2 says that men were “cut to the heart”.  This is another way of saying that men were circumcised spiritually, forever dramatically, visibly altered… and they would never be the same again.

So if you were Jewish, a descendent of Abraham, and if you were male, then Paul indicates that it is within reason for you to be circumcised.  However, if you had been circumcised but lived in a way that was not cut-out for following God, then, honestly, if I may put this out there, Paul says, you lost a piece of yourself for nothing (lit. “your circumcision becomes uncircumcision”).

On the other hand, if you were a man who was physically uncircumcised, but you were careful to follow the patterns of God, then you were living as if you were truly circumcised in the tradition of Abraham.  In fact, those who are not circumcised and yet kept God’s commands, in effect, proved the unsalvation of those who were circumcised but disobeyed God.  The idea was not physical mutilation, but truthful dedication to God, inwardly and outwardly, thoroughly, wholly.

Cut to the matter: Does circumcision garauntee salvation?  Not at all--- Religious ritual does not save anyone.  So, then, is it wrong?  Not at all--- In it’s best sense, religious ritual is meant to be an outward sign of an inward transformation… a reminder, an indicator, a demonstration of dedication to God.  But in the case of circumcision in Paul’s Jewish society, the practice yielded some spiritually infectious and sterilizing side-effects.  People began to rely on their ritual(s) as proof of righteousness rather than on righteousness as an outflow of a living relationship with God. 

Oh man, how does this apply to us today?  I see a plethora of ways, actually—and here are my current top five lessons learned from Paul’s handling of circumcision:

1. There will be no “pat-down” as an entrance requirement at the Pearly Gates.  You can’t snip your way into Heaven.  You must cut off everything that hinders your relationship with God… just like everyone else… by circumcising your heart to the Lord… by allowing the Holy Spirit to cut to your heart so that God might reform you.

2. Going to church every Sunday morning in a suit with a Bible in your hand does you no good if you are not on mutual terms with God.  I am not suggesting that you should go to church un-bathed in ratty jeans with lice in your hair either.  But I am saying this: While people look at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart (1 Sam 16:7).

3. Don’t judge the guy who doesn’t follow the “proper” religious rituals… Perhaps that guy follows God’s commands better than you.  So don’t bother debating who is saved and who is not saved… because your arrogance and pride, not to mention your reliance on your flesh over your soul, might prove you to be inferior in the eyes of God.

4.  The Bible is really actually very interesting, if not a bit embarrassing, to read sometimes.   In the ancient languages, the Bible doesn’t tend to hide words like our English translations do.  All throughout the Bible, there are phrases that make us cringe (e.g. “You shall circumcise the flesh of your [own] foreskin” in Genesis 17:14).

5.  Finally, You either have been or you haven’t been.  You can’t pretend in the end.  You may fool other people because you don’t show them your hidden condition… but God can see whether you have or have not been cut--- He can see even right through all those layers of covering you are wearing.  Paul puts it this way in Romans 2:29: “You are a Jew if you are one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal.  His praise is not from men but from God.”  It is God who knows... not the moyel.

Generational Transference in the Bible: The Pentateuch

             The Bible is rich with the theological foundations of generational transference in regards to the identity and mission among God’s people.  Not only is God’s character faithful to successive generations,[1] it is clear that each generation has the obligation to pass on to the next generation the message of God’s action and love in this world.   The Pentateuch, for example, includes spiritual and ritualistic ordinances and regulations that are passed on for generations to come.[2]  Israel is instructed, “Repeat them again and again to your children.”[3]  Throughout the entirety of the Old Testament, God urges people to equip their children to lead into the future.[4]  There is an overwhelming concept that the principles and character of God are to be impressed upon, taught, and passed on to children and grandchildren and future generations of God’s people.  This, in God’s opinion, is a primary aim of a leader.

         Humanity has commonly equated prominence with leadership.  Throughout history, common measurements of leadership have included the quantity of followers and accomplishments, the display of power and control, or the ever-increasing climb of positional influence. The ancient Israelites at times fit this negative pattern.  For instance, they wanted a king so that they could be weighed on the same scales as all the other nations.^[5]  All the nations around them measured grandeur according to their kingly leader, so eventually Israel too desired an impressive man who was a head above the rest- a warrior, a public speaker, an influencer, a human power dealer, a god of a man.  The end result elevated the talented, charismatic Saul to kingship before Israel learned of his moral bankruptcy and disruptive tendencies towards God’s mission for his people.[6]  Sadly, in many subsequent generations, there would be numerous kings like him.  The Israelites sought to be led by men who placed their own innate skills and seizure of authority above their relationship with God and with others.[7]

            But in Deuteronomy, God set the stage for a different kind of leadership.  God taught that true leadership is to measured first according to humility of the heart.  The greatest of leaders is to exhibit submission to the Lord.  From the foundation of Israel as a nation, the most essential qualities commanded to be transmitted to succeeding generations included humble obedience and commitment to God.[8]  Failure to follow the Lord resulted in failure of leadership.[9]  The primary responsibilities of the Israelite king, for instance, according the Deuteronomy 17, do not involve control and power, but involve actively learning the laws of God and obeying God’s commands in order to ensure future generations will successfully follow the Lord in Israel.[10]  Therefore, the measurement of a leader, first and foremost in God’s opinion, is the character of his heart.

            “When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.  It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from this law to the right or to the left.”[11]

 

            As an example, God called Moses to lead the multitude of Israelites out of Egypt, not with his own charismatic power, but with God’s Spirit in his heart and hands.[12]  Moses, armed only with a staff of wood and no followers except Aaron, faced Pharaoh, armed with the greatest armies, buildings, economies, and religious customs the world had ever seen.  The clash was dramatic in its contrast: God’s modest version of a leader versus the world’s leadership epitome.  Moses won.

            Having been entrusted with the responsibility of leadership by God, Moses proceeded to raise up and transfer the onus of leadership to Joshua, a next generation leader who showed himself to be of godly character.^[13]  Moses and Joshua partnered in ministry for years.  During that time, Moses witnessed Joshua’s heart for God, his character as person, and his skills as a leader.   More profoundly, Joshua was chosen by God as Moses’ successor.^[14]  As a result, Moses encouraged the assembly of Israel to “encourage” Joshua “because he will lead Israel to inherit” the land.  Moses also began succession plans immediately, even though they would take years to complete.  He commissioned Joshua with leadership opportunities,[15] and openly spoke to the nation about the plans.^[16]  In one of his final acts of leadership, it is noted that “Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.”^[17]

            God’s plan for leadership involves the transference of opportunity and responsibility to godly people from one generation to the next.  As Moses was weaned from his powerful heritage of Egyptian royalty, he learned a new kind leadership based not on the uplifting of the leader, but on the uplifting of God and of others.  A leader’s identity, Moses learned, was to be grounded in relationship with God and in service of God’s mission for the world.  In this way, the Bible reveals a perpetuating process of generational transference that involves a leader, or leaders, intentionally conferring opportunity and responsibility to others.  Transference most readily occurs within an environment whereby God’s people are joined in community with an aim to live out God’s mission. 

...:::: See the previous post for the introduction to Generational Transference in the Bible ::::...

---

[1] Deuteronomy 5:10; 1 Chronicles 16:15; Psalm 33:11; 90:1; 102:12; 105:8; 119:90; Isaiah 51:8; Lamentations 5:19; Daniel 4:3,34; Luke 1:50  [2] Genesis 9:12; 17:7,9,12; Exodus 3:15; 12:14,17,42; 16:32-33; 20:6; 27:21; 30:21,27; 40:15; Leviticus 3:17; 6:18; 17:7; 21:17; 22:3; 23:14, 21; 24:3; Numbers 10:8; 15:14-15; Deuteronomy 5:10; 7:9; 11:19; 32:7  [3] Deuteronomy 6:4-9  [4] Esther 9:28; Job 8:8  ^[5] 1 Samuel 8:5; Deuteronomy 17:16-20  [6] 1 Samuel 9:2; 10:21-24; 13:13-14; 15:10-12, 22-29  [7] 1 Samuel 8:9-22; 12:13-25  [8] Deuteronomy. 5:1-3; 6:1-25; 10:12-22; 11:19-21  [9] 1 Samuel 13:13-14  [10] Deuteronomy 17:14-20  [11] Deuteronomy 17:18-20  ^[12] Exodus 6:1  ^[13] Deuteronomy 34:9  ^[14] Deuteronomy 1:38  ^[15] Deuteronomy 3:28  ^[16] Deuteronomy 31:4  ^[17] Deuteronomy 32:44

The Image of God

Image.
God's image.
Just imagine.

In humanity is God's image.  In a man, in a woman, is the likeness of God.  Genesis 1:27:  "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

Imagine what that means!  What does that say about humankind?

The Naked and Broken Leader 3.2

Camouflaging Our Condition 3.2

          Right from the beginning, humans have tried to conceal the fact that underneath all of the pomp, we are perishable jars of clay.  As we learn from Genesis chapter three, the first human couple embarrassingly orchestrated the first scandalous leadership cover-up in history.  In the Garden, Adam and Eve chose to listen to some malicious and destructive advice stemming from an achievement-based leadership theory.  Acting upon that theory, Adam and Eve pursued their own elevation and as a result, ironically, Adam and Eve plunged rather than climbed.  Their enticing and unquenchable hunt for knowing more, seeing more, and gaining more led them to seclusion and isolation rather than to freedom.  At the moment of their attempt to seize control the eyes of their souls were eternally opened, momentarily at least.   In shame of their nakedness, the original couple strung fig leaves together to cover up. 
          Later in the day, we’re told, Adam and Eve heard God walking around in the garden.  Alarmed that their condition would hit the headlines, they veiled themselves among the trees.  Their desire was to blend in to the surroundings, hiding behind the stylistic evolution of fig-leaf camouflage gear.  But even the greatest wardrobe and most impressive performance couldn’t conceal the fact that Adam and Eve were naked.  And God knew it. 
          So God called out to the couple.  He knocked on the doors of the Garden and asked, “Adam, Eve, where are you?”  It’s not that God didn’t know where they were.  He certainly did.  But God wanted to give Adam and Eve the opportunity to reveal for their own sakes where they were and what condition they were in.  But being laid bare before God was a distressing concept to these two blemished leaders.  Clearly, Adam was ashamed to come out into God’s light for fear that his deeds and his heart would be exposed. {1}   He didn’t want to deal with it honestly.  He wanted the problem of his nakedness and brokenness to go away.  He didn’t want God or anyone else (including his wife) to see him that way: as a broken man- a naked clay jar.  So he tried to cover it up.  But eventually Adam came out of hiding and ashamedly admitted to God, “I heard you, so I hid.  I was afraid because I was naked.”
          One aspect of our fearful resistance to being exposed is that we don’t want to face what we look like before God.   According to Genesis three, humans were created in God’s image.  Humans are supposed to be a reflection of who he is.  But when we stand before him in a full-length stare we become ashamed that we are but a cracked likeness of our Creator.  The process of this revelation is painfully illuminating.  As Kevin Mannoia has pointed out, “this downward path is, at first glance, unpalatable if not repulsive to the human will.”  But without the candid introspection of our condition, we will resist allowing God to shape us as his followers.  Mannoia suggests that the process of pain “is required in order for solid leadership foundations to be built out of which performance will flow.” {2}
          Christians are especially good at the cover-up.  We have become fashion designers of a pretentious style.  We live according to a persona of morality and peace in a world of nearly unrestrained sin and war.   It is expected that followers of Jesus will reflect God’s values and actions.  So most Christians are reluctant to initiate the revelation of our “old” nature.  We are ashamed to be exposed as pretenders who are actually transgressors rather than sanctified believers.   But the truth is that many in our society are calling out for Christians to openly face their condition.  Most of the world understands that Christians are sinners and that Christians share in the painfulness of life.  Our Creator and our world sees our brokenness.  So who are we trying to convince or impress?  Christians should never hide.  We should say “Here am I” and present ourselves in our full glory… or lack thereof.  We must be willing to be made completely bare before God.
          As more and more followers of Jesus are willing to be exposed as broken people in a broken world, the Christian community can better lead others towards authentic transformation through Jesus Christ.  Erwin McManus has suggested that as Christians admit brokenness and confess Jesus’ love, then “the church becomes the place for the broken and the weary to finally find healing and the help they’ve cried for.  The church becomes the place where the lonely and outcast are finally embraced and loved in the community of Christ.”

{1} See John 3:16-21
{2}  Mannoia, 48-49
{3} McManus, Erwin Raphael. The Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God had in Mind (Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2001), 224 pages, 65.

the gravity of depravity

Gravity pulls everybody down.  It restricts us from being truly free.  It keeps you from reaching to the heavens in praise.  Gravity makes us over-weight.  Gravity makes us hurt when we fall.  Gravity is this week making my son afraid to take his training wheels off... hindering him from discovering the holy goodness of riding a bike.  Gravity makes old bodies sag, makes drains drip, and makes me want to be lazy. 

It wasn't always so, but in this messed up world, gravity has come to be connected to depravity.  You see, at one point in history, nearer to the beginning of time than now, depravity caused distortion in the gravitational field--- spiritually speaking.  In a collossal attack, depravity seized the created goodness of gravity and has ever since abused its power for its constraining purposes.  Defeating us, depravity utilizes the power of gravity to eventually pull every single one of us rag-tag soldiers down into the grave.

The heavy truth is that the wages of sin is death.  Prior to sin, gravity was our friend.  It was good.  God even said so.  He separated the expanses of space, sky, land, water and declared it all to be excellent.  We can still catch glimpses of the created goodness of gravity in moments like downhill skiing (before the FALL!).  But like idiots jumping out of an airplane thinking we didn't really need a parachute, we messed it all up.  And so now, during our lives we find ourselves resisting the subtle advances of gravity against us.  And so eventually, at the end of our lives we find ourselves being conquered by the depravity of gravity as our mortal bodies are lowered into its clutches.  Immersed in death, held tight in its grasp.

But gravity, even depraved gravity, is no match for the strength of our Creator God!  While we were dead in our sin, firmly in the bowells of the earth, Jesus came to the lower reaches, where gravity is most powerful, and he moved about freely.  He advanced against the depraved earth and collided head on with it.  He wrestled gravity, teasing it, allowing it to think it was winning... and then he beat the snot out of it.  He drop-kicked it.  Like David cutting off the head of Goliath and shouting with all of his might, Jesus decapitated the depraved enemy and rose triumphantly from the battle.

Jesus is recreating what's good.  And the Good News today is that we follow a God who can save us from the clutches of death.  We follow Jesus Christ, the Creator, the Conquerer, the Slayer of the Gravity's gravely depravity.  Amen.

Romans 6 // We know that we will share in the new life of Christ.  We are sure of this because Christ rose from the dead, and he will never die again.  Death no longer has any power over him.  He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God.