Brian Castelli – With His Heart

Jesus Christ is the public speaker I would have loved to hear in person. We are blessed by having many of his words–both public and private–recorded in the Bible. In my reading this morning I was reminded of just how radical his message was to the Jews he ministered to.

In Matthew chapter 8, a Roman Centurion came to Jesus to ask Him to heal his servant. Upon seeing the faith of this man, a non-Jew and a member of the people who were oppressing the Jews, Jesus says these words:

I assure you: I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith! I tell you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let’s remember who Jesus was speaking to. This was a people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These were God’s Chosen People. They thought their birthright was a passage to heaven and that Gentiles (non-Jews) were lost. In this passage Jesus says clearly that salvation has come for the whole world–and that birthright will not be enough! This was a radical message to his audience, no doubt one that did not earn him favor with some of His hearers.

In Acts 10, Peter is preaching to a Gentile household. As he witnesses to them, the Holy Spirit fills his listeners. They become believers in Jesus Christ even though they are not Jews. Verse 45 proves what a radical idea this is:

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

The “circumcised believers” here refers to Jews who had come to faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus the Radical. He wasn’t afraid to Speak up!

I’ve recently been spending a lot of time studying Reformed Theology, often referred to as Calvinism. The fundamental difference between this view of Christianity and what I think of as the “popular” view is that God is in charge, God is sovereign. He chooses. He draws. He saves. The “popular” view says that we have free will, that we participate in our own salvation by choosing.

I believe that the Reformed Theology is correct, that we can’t have the power to somehow thwart God. But whether I’m right or not will have to wait for another day, another post, another discussion. What I want to write about today is the fact that I struggle with Reformed Theology because, as John Piper puts it, we have lost the passion of it. To me it seems so “hard,” intellectual, and often elite.

I recently listened to a John Piper presentation about Augustine. He called for reformers to return to the passion of Augustine, to live, feel, teach, and preach that loving God with passion is the antidote for sin, indifference, and elitism. He said that we shouldn’t be teaching people to refrain from sin because it’s wrong but because it is a cheap replacement for the magnificent realities of following God.

Oh, to have that kind of passion for Jesus!

A friend lent me her already-borrowed copy of the audio book, “same kind of different as me.” It’s the true story of the ministry of Debra Hall and her husband, Ron, and how they reached out to befriend a homeless man named Denver Moore. Denver, as he’s referred to in the book, came out of a life of virtual slavery. The Hall’s reached out to him as part of their weekly work with the homeless in Fort Worth, TX.

Some insights from the book that apply to outreach:

• That the Hall’s kept coming back week after week set them apart from the “seasonal” volunteers that the homeless saw at the Mission. Denver said that the folks who only show up on holidays come because they feel guilty for all that they have. Once the guilt is assuaged, they return home and let the guilt start building up again. Since the Hall’s kept coming week after week, folks began to get the idea that they really cared. (And they did!) This tells me something that I guess I already knew from my trip to San Diego a couple of summers ago: Drive by help is not always appreciated. The kind of help that makes a difference is the kind of help that builds relationships.
• Denver’s tough exterior was his shield. He’d been hurt enough times to not want to let anyone get too close again. When he appeared dangerous, people left him alone. Because of this exterior, Ron didn’t want to be friends with him at first. Debra, who looked through the exterior, kept insisting. It took time, but Ron and Denver eventually became good friends. Denver became part of the family. In fact, he moved into the family home after Debra passed. The lessons here: The tough exterior we see is sometimes an act, and it takes a while to break through layers of defense. Patience and perseverance are required.
• Even though the Hall’s had no common background or experience to help them understand the plight of Denver and other homeless folks, they did what they could–they loved. Ron didn’t have to spend the night in a cardboard box to show love and compassion to Denver. He didn’t have to sell all of his possessions and give the proceeds away to become Denver’s friend. The lesson here is that even people of diverse backgrounds have something to share. This isn’t always comfortable. In fact, it is decidedly UNCOMFORTABLE. And that, my friend, is just what we need sometimes.
• When the visits to the homeless Mission began, Ron felt sorry for the men and women he met there. He admits, however, that he also felt somehow superior to them. He was there to help them, but what he found, in the end, that he was in many ways INFERIOR to Denver. That is, as the relationship progressed, Ron found that it was *Denver* who poured his life into Ron, not necessarily the other way around. The lesson here is that humility helps us understand our role as we work to become better friends.
• God is in control of all things. Although there was terrible pain for Ron when Debra passed–why did He take her when she was doing so much good for so many people?!!?–Denver took up the torch she laid down. He became an advocate for the homeless and has made a difference in that community that Debra by herself could not have achieved. Even her horrible, painful death yielded evidence that God works all things together for good.

I highly recommend the book. I also highly recommend that we endeavor to find uncomfortable situations in which we can minister. Speak life into people!

I have been wrong!

I have been challenged by the teaching of the leadership of my new church. They are showing me that the casual way I had been interpreting the Bible is error prone and can lead to some crazy interpretations. I am guilty of using some of the misinterpretations that were used as examples. Oh, no!

The best example of my failure is Psalm 46:10a. In the NIV, it reads:

Be still and know that I am God

I love the Steven Curtis Chapman song, “Be still.” The lyrics include the phrase, “Be still; be speechless.” The interpretation of the song, and the interpretation that I had been using, including the interpretation that I have taught in small group Bible study, is that we are to be quiet before God. We are to put aside our busyness, our hustle and bustle, to turn down the volume and just absorb who God is. While all of that is good and true, it isn’t what the verse means!!!!!

If we look at the verse in the local context of the rest of the psalm, it becomes pretty clear what it really means. Psalm 46 is all about God as warrior, God as our refuge and strength. We need not fear even the destruction of the earth because we know God. The imagery is of war and destruction. Then the quote from God in verse 10:

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” (NIV)

“Be still” in this context is really something like, “Stop striving, stop trying to be God, stop worrying over how you’re going to handle the uproar in the world around you.” God is going to exalt himself. We are to get out of the way and let him be God.

This correct interpretation is far from the one I had been using. I am glad to have had the opportunity to learn the truth.

I recently rented the movie, “Hancock,” starring Will Smith as John Hancock, reluctant super hero. (Using RedBox for the first time! $1 a night! Try it!) In entertainment terms, it was so-so. The special effects were good, the acting was fair, but the story had holes a mile wide. At the center of it all, though, was the story of John Hancock’s redemption. When the movie opens, we find that Hancock isn’t well liked. Many of the people in the city want him gone. Along the way, Hancock saves the life of a professional PR man who, in return, helps Hancock with his image.

At first the changes are superficial. Hancock sticks to the script he’s been given and pretends to be different. Through a series of events, however, he goes through a true transformation – one that enables him to lay his own life on the line for someone else.

I like redemption stories because they strike very close to home for us. At some level, we’re all messed up like Hancock. John Eldredge in his book, “Wild at Heart,” says that we’re all posers, hoping that no one gets a peek under our fig leaves. In the movie, Hancock is, in a way, running from himself. He knows that he has flaws, and he protects himself from that knowledge by adopting a, “I don’t give a hoot,” attitude.

Isn’t that just like us? I mean, aren’t there times in our lives when our #1 goal is to cover our weakness in order to appear strong? And, although I like redemption stories, Hancock falls well short of reality. That is, we actually can’t fix ourselves. on our own power, we can change for a time and even make steps in the right direction. But it takes something outside of us, something greater, to affect true change.

Here’s the bottom line: We’re all the same. We’re all messed up. In fact, we’re messed up beyond our ability to fix it. We can’t do it on our own power. This is where Jesus steps in. Romans 5:8 tells us that God loved us so much that he saved us while we were still sinners. No clean up required. No perfect saints in this church. Just saints that have been cleaned up by God.

Jesus changes things. That’s true redemption.