I recall being in the 8th grade and standing at the board in Mrs. Gilbertson’s English class. I also recall being totally befuddled as I was supposed to be able to use my “ear” to “hear” the parts of a sentence: noun, verb, subject, adverb, object, subordinate clause, etc. If I remember correctly we were also inserting punctuation and determining whether the sentence was active or passive. When you got it right you could sit down. I spent a lot of time standing at the chalk board.

Well, I’ve taken to diagramming sentences again, because I’m reading, I mean really reading, the book of Romans for the first time in awhile. I was taught to write in simple, declarative sentences, Paul evidently had a different writing teacher.

I committed to reading more of the New Testament a couple of years ago. I have read Mathew, John and Acts, Revelation, James, back to John, then Acts and now I am tackling Romans. I knew this would take awhile because I’ve attended several churches where the pastor promised an six-week series on Romans and concluded the sermon series many months later.

I have different colored pens and markers designed just for use in Bibles printed on thin paper. These tools come in handy when I’m teasing apart “if/then” statements or some “so/therefore” statements. It seems I’m better at it first thing in the morning. It also seems that I must limit my digging to just a handful of sentences each day or I’m apt to feel like I’ve pulled something in my brain.

But I have concluded that for all the work the results are extremely rewarding. My logical, goal centered, brain wants to read a chapter a day no matter what, but I’ve found with Paul a sentence or two will give me things to chew on all day.

There are also some verses that I’ve really come to cherish the more I read, study and apply them. Romans 8:38-9* gives me strength, courage and hope no matter what I’m facing. This became even more clear to me as I was thinking about violence and the recent run of murders of innocent men, woman and children highlighted in the media. It also applies to deadly viruses as well.

In fact, that Romans thinking led to a talk I gave recently on how Christians, or the church, should perhaps respond to acts of violence and disease. I have come to realize that my reaction to violence and disease is really a question of faith: Where was God? Those words slip out almost without thinking. Questioning my faith and the foundation of my beliefs seemed so natural and easy in the moment of crisis. But the answer I found, based on Romans 8:38-39,* is that God was in the classroom carrying those children into his eternal presence and in the movie theater and in the shopping center and in the bombed refugee camp and in the row house with bullet holes in it, well, you get the picture. God is in the ICUs walking some people into his eternal presence and some people back for more struggle. God’s love is not bound by our temporal world. His plan never manufactures violence or pain but He can redeem the violence and pain. No matter how I diagram those few sentences of Paul I’m reassured and comforted.

I would also like to point out that unlike much of Paul’s writing the declarative statement about God’s inseparable love does not come with an “if/then” statement or a “so/therefore.” God is unconditionally by my side and yours. This is not proven by logic, rabbinical law or human reasoning. Paul’s statement, inspired by the Holy Spirit came after beatings, shipwreck, blindness, humiliation and the hard work of self-sufficiency. God’s love is beyond my comprehension yet unconditionally mine.

Now that is a thought worth diagramming, color coding and prayerfully thinking about. Care to join me at the chalk board?

— Phil

  • 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ↩