ken castor

Romans 5:12 ~ Thanks a lot, Adam

Thanks a lot, Adam.  Way to go.  You really shafted the rest of us.  I mean, if you hadn't blown it so badly everything would have gone well for us.  There would be no war, no problems, no traffic, no disease, no grumpy people, no layoffs, and certainly no Windows crashes.  And if it hadn't been for you, the Cubs would probably win a World Series every now and then too.

Oh, and there would be no death.  Yeah, thanks for that one, Mud Man.  Dust to dust, eh? 

Just when I was beginning to enjoy the letter-book of Romans again, the apostle Paul has to remind me of the frustrating aspects to life.  "When Adam sinned," Paul reflects, "sin entered the entire human race."  Before Adam-- to err is human was not true.  After Adam-- to err is human became much too true.  Before Adam, biblically, there was no humanity.  After Adam, biblically, is all humanity.  Adam messed it up.  It's your fault, No Belly-Button Boy!!!  Argh!

And the problem is not just that the entire human race now misses the mark... Sin is not the only mess hitting the fan.  Our lives hit the fan too... and are shredded by it.  "Adam's sin brought death," Paul laments, "and so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned."

No sin = life.    Sin = death.

Stink.  But I know this is true.  I see it in my own life.  When I sin, it destroys bits of me and bits of others.  There is no victory in sin... only a lingering defeat.  But when I do what's right, I catch a glimpse of freedom and joy in myself and others.  It's as if doing what God wants for me to do actually opens up life... but doing what goes against God's desires actually tears down life... Life, the breath of God in us.  No life = no breath.

You know, Adam, you didn't just "miss the target" (the definition of "sin"), you actually aimed at the wrong target, you dolt!!  You weren't even trying to look at the right one!

Thank you so much, Adam.  I inherited this direction from you.  And now I'm to blame also.  Thanks for roping me into this, bro.  Guilty by association.

Romans 5:12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race.  Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Romans 5:9-11 ~ How Much More?

I'm going to wrestle with this for a moment.  The truth is that I am not always comfortable with what I read in the Bible.  The letter-book of Romans brings out a myriad of reactive feelings in me.  Some of the verses help me sail to heaven... while others hand me into darkness.  Sometimes I'm gutted.  Sometimes I'm radically inspired.  Sometimes, lost.  Sometimes, in awe.  Sometimes, frustrated, angry.  Sometimes, insatiable.  And sometimes, like today, I am mixed up mess of all of these feelings.

Perhaps it's the mood I have as I approach the passage today... or perhaps it's the passage.  I have joy... the type of joy that someone who has an undeserved relationship with Jesus has.  But I also have a heaviness in my soul... the type of weight that someone who has a burden in their soul has.

Yes, there is life in these verses... but life comes out of death... and it's that part that causes me to pause today.

Blood is red.  I've seen it.  It's real.  And it's not pretty.  Except when it saves the life of one who has already bled out... then it is somehow tragically beautiful.  But this sort of thinking all shatters my comfort zone... It startles my nicely controlled climate and safe walk.  And I'm burdened as a result...

Here's the passage: ROMANS 5:9-11  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

So the Good News: We have been justified.  That means that somehow we have been declared "just".  Somehow, just in time, we just made it.  When the judgment was made, even though we had messed it all up, somehow we found ourselves innocent.

The Burdensome News for me today: Justification came about by the blood of Jesus.  I am declared "just" because he was declared guilty.  That's not fair.  And it guts me.  How much more of this can I take?

So the Good News:  We were reconciled.  That means that somehow we have been made right in relationship with God.  At some point, even though we were enemies--- fighting against God and God's ways in the world--- somehow we found ourselves as his friends.  How much more Good can Jesus be?  I can hardly embrace this thought at this moment without breaking down in agonizing joy.

The Burdensome News for me today: Reconciliation came through the death of Jesus.  I am declared God's friend because Jesus was executed.  That's not right.  This is much more than what is supposed to be true.

The Good and Burdensome News: We will be saved.  That means that somehow we have been snatched from imminent peril.  Our deliberate and undeliberate wrongs had consequentially put us in a position of endangerment.  So, at the end of time, instead of God's wrath being poured upon us for messing it all up... Jesus will proactively step in and accepts wrath upon himself.  On the day of our deserved sentencing, we will be saved.

So we boast, or rejoice, or praise God through Jesus who has made us right with God, present and future.  But HOW MUCH MORE of this can we take?  Jesus just keeps heaping on grace upon grace.  John 1:16 is right: "From the fullness of his grace we have reveived one blessing after another."  Wave upon wave... upon wave... upon wave... life pounding against me.

It's like burning coals on my head... because God's grace is so undeserved... and yet I welcome it whole-heartedly in unabashed thanksgiving to my Savior.  Amen.

mobilizing others in ministry

This is the graphic from the first slide for my session at the Minnesota Church Expo tomorrow.  The workshop will focus on "how to mobilze your church for personal outreach".  Should be an encouraging, and hopefully radical (in the real sense of the word), look at "outreach" and our tendency to do it alone... or not do it at all.  Some of my favorite topics such as Cultural Intelligence, Romans 16, St. Patrick, Generational Transference and Active Listening will be explored... maybe... if time allows.  Can't wait!  Come on by!

Romans 5:7-8 ~ hyper

A goodie-two-shoes type of person won't ever receive much support from anyone.  A "righteous" person, in the way that Paul uses the word in this verse, is "upright" and, as a result, is rather annoying to everyone... and no normal person would sacrifice their life for such a prude. 

Some people might, however, be willing to die for someone who is genuinely good... a person who is for the most part kind and humble, a person who is responsible and honorable, a person who exhibits character and inner strength.  In fact, we have soldiers that do this sort of sacrifice all of the time for the people of their country.  I am so amazed an impressed by my friends and family members that have put their life on the line so that other good people would be able to live and be free.  Some people might consider it worth their life for such people to be spared.

In relative terms, the snobby pharisee is not worth the sacrifice, but the common decent person might possibly be.

But who would dare offer themselves to die in the place of those who revolt against them, a.k.a. enemies?  Who would lay down their life for the sake of someone who rejected them and has acted violently and revoltingly in defiance against tem?  Paul marvels about this in Romans 5:7-8:

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (TNIV)

As Everett Harrison points out in his commentary, the action of Christ is "distinctive, unexpected, unheard of (cf.John 3:16)." (59)  Paul expresses the phrase "die for" four times in verses 6-8 in conjunction with the preposition hyper (ὑπὲρ), meaning "on behalf of" or "for the sake of".  Harrison suggests that Paul could have used the word anti, meaning "in the place of" or "against"... which would have alluded to Jesus dying as a substitute for us, against what we deserved. (59) But instead Paul uses the word hyper, allowing him to still communicate that idea of substitution but with the added concept of Christ's proactive, loving action at just the necessary moment.

It's as if Jesus, as a soldier, actively fights on our behalf, empathizing with our pain, taking the body blows that come from our own amunition, offering his blood, sweat and tears for our sake.  It was our iniquities that crushed him, it was our suffering that he bore, it was our transgressions that he let pierce him, it was our pain that he carried.  And instead of beating us back with his abilities and power, he silently withstands the onslaught and then remarkably, takes the consequence that should have been ours.  As Isaiah 53 says, the punishment that we deserved was on him... and we were given peace.

Who will save us, the fallen enemy who has sinned against God?

Jesus says, "I'll do it."

*References from Harrison, Expositor's Bible Commentary, Romans edited by Gaebelein.

 

 

Romans 5:6 ~ clockwork

  My family has a tendency to rush around at the last minute.  We might have 1 hour to get ready... and yet the last 5 minutes seem to be a rash of hurried commands and forgotten socks and bathroom visits and quick clean-ups all in an attempt to get in the car.  I can't stand this!  Drives me crazier than just about anything I can conjure right now... and yet, with five of us plus a dog in the house, I have up to now been powerless to change it.

I can't imagine the Incarnation being so rushed.

It wasn't.  In fact, God was amazingly planned, patient, proactive and prompt.  He  planned out the timing and the event and the people involved for his appointment with the Earth.  He patiently worked throughout history, letting us know of the plans but never pre-emptively striking or giving up on us.  God proactively prepped, participated and partnered with people over the years to make sure things were ready for the set time.  And God made sure he didn't arrive on the scene before it was time... and He certainly made sure not to be late.  God was prompt.  Galatians 4:4 speaks about "when the time had fully come, God sent His Son."  In Mark 1:15, Jesus declared, "The time has come!" 

As I read the first chapters of Romans up to this verse (5:6), I am astonished again by the remarkable plan, patience, proactivity and promptness of God.  God is like clockwork.  Not necessarily predictable in nature... but God does operate with unswerving integrity and dependability...

... and God has acted so faithfully for people that are rushed, late, anxious, angry, chaotic, frustrated, and short of breath.  God has planned to be there for people that could no longer find him.  God has patiently waited for the right moment to enter into the lives of people that had impatiently thrown themselves onto another path and that now desperately needed his hand.  God has proactively worked to redeem relationship with people that had deserted him.  And God does all of this at just the right time.

Here's how some different translations speak out the truth of Romans 5:6~

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  (NIV)

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.  (NLT)

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen.  He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready.  He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready.  And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway.  (Message)

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  (KJV)

While we were yet weak, in due season Christ died for the ungodly.  (ASV)

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  (NASB)

Romans 5:5 ~ pregnant

... and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.  - Romans 5:5

This verse carries an idea of pregnancy... Our hearts are pregnant with hope.  Fully expectant. 

And this hope doesn't disappoint.  New life will come.  The journey will have difficult moments of fears, discomfort, and distress.  But the journey will also have cherished moments of calm, intimacy, and wonder.

No matter the circumstances, we are full... because "God's love for us" has been "poured out" in our hearts.  God has poured love out... into us.  And my guess is that God's love is more than enough to fill us... forever.

And not only do we have God's love poured into our hearts, but we have God's Spirit given to us.  We don't walk alone through the pregnancy... we don't go through the pangs by ourselves.  The Holy Spirit is present with us through it all... taking those precious wobbling walks with us.

So, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:3-5).  The present experiences work a growth process in us... producing wide-eyed, intimate new life.

Romans 5:4~ hope

... and endurance produces character, and character produces hope...  -Romans 5:4

Ugh.  I was kinda hoping that I could skip the endurance part.  Is there any other way to get character?  There must be an iPad app for character somewhere...  Is there a way to develop character that does not include endurance?  I'd like to pass on the endurance part.  Endurance equals perseverance.  Perseverance equals per (through) + severe (ugh!)

Come to think of it, then... I'd like to skip the character part too... and just move on to hope.  Can I just grab a bag of hope and hold on to it for those times when I need it?  Is there a way to develop hope that does not include character?  Character equals integrity.  Integrity equals inte (webbed) + grit (tough courage!).  [Yes, I know, integrity carries an idea of complete, undivided integrated soundness... but it takes incredible fortitude to pull off such a life!  Almost as if integrity can only come from incredible endurance or something. :)]

And don't even remind me about the verse in front of this one (verse 3!)... because I can't deal with the fact that all of these things first come from suffering... which we rejoice in.  That's too much.  Who wrote this stuff?

I met a man yesterday who wanted hope... but he didn't want to wait for it... he didn't want to learn it... and he didn't want to change his behavior for it.   He didn't want community, he didn't want accountability, he didn't want to seek real help... but he certainly needed all of these things.  No, this man just wanted God to give him hope... hope without cost... hope without change... hope without consequence.

Hope is not a trivial whim.  Hope is deep and it is difficult to come by.  Hope costs.  Hope is something that rests in the center of one's life, not in the whisps of our fingertips... or the twinkle twinkle of a little star.

Hope comes from something... something forever true and forever good.  Hope kindles in fire and emerges from death.  Hope erupts in the pain and deepens in the toil.  Hope shelters in storms and intensifies in war.  Hope fuels passion and it is fueled by the Passion.

Hope is not cheap... and it will never reside with the cheapskate.

Romans 5:3 ~ pain --> joy

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance." Romans 5:3 (NLT)

Just as I can't imagine the pain of childbirth (even though I must have gone through it at some point in my life!)... so it is hard to imagine joy coming from laborous trials.  But, just as with my own childbirth... and the birth of my children... I have over the years begun to find thanksgiving in the process of pain.

Bono wrote the following lyrics as a song to God:

“Yahweh, Yahweh.  Always pain before the child is born.

Yahweh, Yahweh. Tell me now, why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city, a city shining on a hill,

Take this city, if it be your will.

What no man can own,

No man can take,

Take this heart, take this heart.

And make it break.”[1]

 

Somehow, a sad face is good for the heart... or so the writer of Ecclesiasties (7:3) has said.  Over the years, however bizarre it may seem, I've found this to be true.  The following story for instance, which I've shared on a few occasions, has witnessed to me a profound lesson of life: Pain, and the endurance of pain, is a necessary process for the capturing of joy.

Several years ago our son fell and ripped part of the cartilage on the top of his right ear.  While he screamed ear-piercingly, we took him down to the hospital clasping his ear and his head together.  He did not want to be there and he fought against the nurses.  He yelled angrily at all of us to stop touching him and to leave him alone.  We tried to reveal his condition to him- that he had ripped his ear and we needed to tend to it.  But our son did not want to face that fact!  And when he saw the needle and thread in the doctor's hands, our petite three-year old rebelled!  He took two parents, two nurses, a doctor, and some tightly wrapped blankets around his body to hold him down.  Even though his ear was broken, he was more afraid to face the pain of healing! 

The doctor grabbed the torn piece of his ear, and proceeded to make several “popping” stitches through the cartilage.  My precious child shrieked in pain and rage.  Unfortunately he was unable to see, let alone understand, that his dad was crying along with him.  He couldn’t make sense out of the process and he didn’t want this kind of attention any longer!  If this was healing, if this was what it took to be restored, my son at that time wanted no part of it.  He would have much rather run away and hid in the dark, bloodied and broken.

Finally the doctor made his final pop and pulled the stitches tight.  Our son made one last scream and would have collapsed had he not been held by five grown-ups and a tightly wound blanket.  His red swollen ear was again in one piece and his tears had pooled on his face.  Eventually, almost in an acceptance of a much-needed sabbath, my son moved into a calmer breathing between the sobs. 

Now, many years later, my son’s ear doesn’t even show a scar from the incident. His ear has been completely healed.  But I haven't forgotten that it took some extra examination and hurt for that healing to take shape.

---

[1] Lyrics written by Bono and taken from the song, Yahweh on the album How to Dismantle and Automic Bomb by U2 © 2005.

Romans 5:2 ~ through

I'm through.

And that's fantastic.

Through faith I have been made right with God.

Through Jesus I have peace with God.

Through Jesus I have access to God's grace and now stand in it.

I learned all this through the first two verses of Romans 5.  Through the first 4 chapters of Romans I learned that all of this comes through nothing I've done.  So I can't boast about myself... but I can rejoice because Jesus broke through my pride, pushed through to my heart, and invites me through the gates to stand in God's presence.

This is such great news because somehow through all the mess of this world God is able to offer an opportunity to stand smack dab in the middle of grace.  Grace is a great offer... not available through money nor merit.  I can't earn grace... I can't buy grace... I can't deserve grace... I can't steal grace.  Grace is a gift given through Jesus, through faith in Jesus, through what Jesus has done for us. 

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  [ROMANS 5:1-2 (NIV-UK with my italics added)]

Romans 5:1 ~ on a rainy day

Okay... so here's a great verse:

 ^{ROMANS 5:1 (NIV)} Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...

Notice that this is not the complete sentence... oh no... there is much more to this statement.  But for a moment, let's obey the verse designations and ponder the first verse of Romans chapter 5.

Therefore ~ See the post from yesterday for a whole obsessed discussion about this word.

since ~ Paul is reminding his readers about his multi-chapter line of reasoning.  He's already helped us come to a conclusion... and now he's launching off of it.

we have been justified ~ "We have been justified" is actually the first word of this sentence in Greek (Δικαιωθέντες).  In English we feel compelled to put "therefore" first... but Greek sentence structure often calls for the topic of the phrase to be upfront.  So it is that the emphasis and focus of this first phrase is 'justified'.   Paul just completed a huge thought at the end of Chapter 4 about being credited as "right" even though we were wrong.  Because of the fact that "we" (Paul and those he addresses in Rome) have been "made right" (NLT)... Since the reality is that "we" are "set right" (Message)... Since it is true that we have been justified... something cool is about to happen...

through faith, ~   The Greek word for "faith" here is πίστεως.  Faith in this way means not a set of statements, but a deep, active, soul-full conviction of God in relation to one's life.  This kind of faith in God actively trusts God for righteousness, for justification, for being credited... all in the realization that on human merit alone there is nothing someone can do to earn God's favor.  "Justification" (being declared "all right" by God) comes about when someone becomes convicted and then engages in trusting God with one's life.

we have peace ~ My favorite Greek word of all time is the word for "peace" (εἰρήνη,n  \pronounced i-ray'-nay).  Dr. Bill Heth at Taylor University taught our class way back in 1991 that "because of Jesus we could have 'peace' on 'aye rainay' day."  Get it?  It's worked for me.  Virtually every time it rains, I repeat to my heart, "I have peace today because of Jesus."  It's a little English trick to remember a wee Greek word... but it is still remarkably profound.  Since we have been made right with God, we have peace.  Isn't peace what everyone needs?  In the midst of chaos and uncertainty and war and broken relationships and non-stop-busyness... Isn't peace what we are all searching for?  When Jesus was born, what did the angels proclaim?  PEACE ON EARTH! (See Luke 2:14)

with God ~ The whole problem with humanity since the beginning has been a frictious relationship with God.  Not God's fault.  God didn't stop short... Romans 3:23... we did.  Ever since we have had turmoil and heartache.  But because we have been made right with God, we have peace with God.  So simple a truth... and yet so amazing.

through our Lord Jesus Christ, ~ Jesus Christ is called "The Prince of Peace" for a reason.  His governance is one of peace.  His authority ushers peace through the gates.  His lordship is a rule of goodness.  THROUGH faith in Jesus we have been justified... THROUGH Jesus we have peace.  I'm wondering who makes out best in this deal?  Seems like Jesus is doing some amazing work of grace for us.

Note: Today is a great day to invite Jesus into our lives... whether we have not yet done so or even if we have.  Jesus makes us right with God and Jesus gives us peace with God.  If this isn't enough to convict us to place our trust today in Jesus then we might as well convert to all the man-made philosophies and religions of this world in which humans hopelessly strive to earn their way to the Divine.  And then, when we reach the extent of our exhaustion, perhaps it'll be time to just place our faith in Jesus... inviting him to help us, or to be with us, or to make his ways true in our life.  I've known a few people who gave their lives over to Jesus precisely because of this verse.  All the human baggage of Romans 1-4 is set free in the half-sentence of Romans 5:1.  What a great verse.