Words of Welcome

  Philippians 2:1-13 It’s election season again. That means political ads bombard us day and night on TV, on the radio, on Facebook, and in emails. These ads remind us that we are a divided nation that seems unable to discern what is good and right. So, how do we heal this brokenness that afflicts our land? How might we find unity when our communities, our churches, and families, are so divided? It’s important that we remember that there can be no true unity without justice for everyone who has been denied justice.   While we may want to achieve wholeness in our broken world, we’ll have to start within the Christian community. We have to get our own act together or our witness will be diluted. That’s why Paul told the Philippians to conduct their lives in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ( Phil. 1:27 ). Now Paul calls on this community he dearly loves to stand together and make his joy complete by being “of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and

Rembrandt, Paul in Prison Philippians 1:21-30 Paul wrote his letter to the Philippian church from a jail cell, and yet the defining word for this letter is joy. We see this in Paul’s word of thanksgiving for the Philippian church: “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy for all of you” ( Phil 1:3-4 ). He’s grateful that he can share in their “progress and joy in the faith” (Phil. 1:25). Now, this joy isn’t rooted in their circumstances. After all, Paul is in jail and they’re suffering some form of persecution. Nevertheless, they’ve found joy in God’s presence. It’s for this reason that Paul can write: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice” ( Phil. 4:4 ). This joy that marks the letter is rooted in a spirit of friendship and affection.  Now, Paul does have a life and death dilemma. He’s ready to die and be with the Lord, and yet he knows he still has work to do. So, he declares: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Ph

  Romans 14:1-12 My favorite TV judge is Harry Stone from Night Court. Harry was humorous, friendly, and most of all, merciful. Oh, and did I mention, he was also something of an amateur magician? If I had to go to court, I’d like to stand before him. When it comes to playing the role of the judge ourselves, we tend to be more like Judge Roy Bean, the so-called hanging judge of the Old West, than Harry Stone. While we might enjoy playing the role of the hanging judge, Paul asks the Christians in Rome: “who are you to pass judgment on the servants of another?”  This community that Paul addresses here in Romans 14 seems to be divided over food and special days of the week. There is this one group that claims to be strong in the faith, and they’ll eat anything while the other group prefers to eat vegetables. This “strong group” also doesn’t pay much attention to particular days. They’re very free church. Paul has this way of coopting certain groups to get his point across, so he t