carry your cross

Good morning brothers and sisters,
I wanted to remind you of a great worship opportunity tomorrow evening. We'll join our neighbors from other denominations to celebrate our unity in Christ and pray for greater unity in the church. The service will take place at St. Mark's and St. John's Episcopal Church on the corner of Culver and Rosewood. Worship begins at 7pm and will feature leaders from several different communities of faith. I hope you can be there.

Our reading this morning reminds us that being a Christian isn't casual; it's a commitment that shapes the rest of our life. Jesus faced death for our sake and he warns us that to follow him we have to accept that risk as well. In giving up ourselves we find true freedom in Christ.

God bless your journey today,
Sam

Luke 9:18-27

¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” ²⁰He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” ²¹He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, ²²saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

²³Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. ²⁵What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? ²⁶Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

one in Christ

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Today's reading is a slight departure from our usual pattern. We're reading an excerpt from the Presbyterian Church's constitution, in particular from our Form of Government. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has a beautiful constitution, but at times it is challenging to read because it is somewhat dense. Today's reading talks about how the church is one church even though that doesn't always seem to be the place. Because we believe we are all one church through Jesus Christ, we are called to work for greater unity in the church. One way we do that at Laurelton is through our local ecumenical association, the North East Church Cluster. With this group of Christians from different denominations we will celebrate a service for Christian Unity in January.

Blessings today,
Sam

PC(USA) Form of Government F-1.0302 a.

Unity is God’s gift to the Church in Jesus Christ. Just as God is one God and Jesus Christ is our one Savior, so the Church is one because it belongs to its one Lord, Jesus Christ. The Church seeks to include all people and is never content to enjoy the benefits of Christian community for itself alone. There is one Church, for there is one Spirit, one hope, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:5–6).

Because in Christ the Church is one, it strives to be one. To be one with Christ is to be joined with all those whom Christ calls into relationship with him. To be thus joined with one another is to become priests for one another, praying for the world and for one another and sharing the various gifts God has given to each Christian for the benefit of the whole community. Division into different denominations obscures but does not destroy unity in Christ. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), affirming its historical continuity with the whole Church of Jesus Christ, is committed to the reduction of that obscurity, and is willing to seek and to deepen communion with all other churches within the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

is this the Lord's Supper?

Good morning friends,
I'm fulfilling jury duty today, so we'll see what the week holds. It was interesting to think about that this weekend as we heard Jesus' words about reconciling with an opponent before coming to trial. Today's reading mentions that factions in the church are necessary to show which members of the church are genuine. He doesn't say any more about that, but it's a somewhat unsettling idea.

The more important part of the passage is Paul's discussion of the Lord's Supper. It seems that in Paul's day communion was more than a little bread and juice, but an actual meal. He criticizes the church in Corinth for allowing economic differences to divide the church. As Christians we are called to unity despite our differences. The Lord's Supper is a critical sign of our unity, but our unity goes beyond the table. We are called to build up the body so we can be faithful in ministry together.

Blessings on your week,
Sam

1 Corinthians 11:17-22

17Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. 19Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine.


20When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. 21For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. 22What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!

unity in the church

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Today's reading again stresses how important community and trust is in the church. Christians are expected to be so transformed by Christ's love that disputes should be minor and easily solved. The way the community treats each other should be part of our witness to the world. So if Christians have a dispute, Paul advises them to appoint another member of the church to help them solve it and never to take a dispute between Christians to secular court. We have a new guideline that discusses this idea, which we will talk about at the annual meeting on Sunday after worship. We see this principle in action in the wider church as well. When the world sees denominations filled with controversy and arguing bitterly, who is going to believe that the good news of Jesus can transform their lives? Everything we do individually and collectively should show the world a glimpse of Christ's love. That's our calling today and always.

God bless,
Sam

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? 2Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we are to judge angels—to say nothing of ordinary matters? 4If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? 5I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believer and another, 6but a believer goes to court against a believer—and before unbelievers at that? 7In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8But you yourselves wrong and defraud—and believers at that.


9Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

seek the welfare of the city

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Our reading from Jeremiah is the scriptural motto for many people involved in urban ministry. At this point in Judah's history the defeat Jeremiah prophesied has come; most of the political, cultural and spiritual leaders of the nation are in exile in Babylon. God has Jeremiah write a letter to these leaders. The letter doesn't say to mourn (though the people are doing that too); it doesn't say to seek rebellion; instead, it tells the leaders to live life fully in exile. Even though they are in a hostile and strange land they are to engage in ministry and life there fully because that's how their lives will get better in the short to medium term. In the long term God will bring them home, but they shouldn't put their lives on whole to wait.

Our reading from Timothy remind Timothy of the gospel to proclaim, which is Christ himself. Paul also advises Timothy to avoid wrangling over words, which is always timely advice for the church. We can and should talk openly about our differences, but we must not let those differences divide us. We have work to do for God's kingdom, and we can work together instead of fighting over our differences. Even when we are chained or tired or confused, the word of God is not chained. If we take that hopeful, loving word into the world God can do amazing things through us.

God bless,
Sam

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

1These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

4Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.



*Sunday

2 Timothy 2:8-15

8Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David-that is my gospel, 9for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. 10Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; 13if we are faithless, he remains faithful-for he cannot deny himself.

14Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

Sharing the bread and cup, fleeing from idols

Good morning friends,
Today Paul takes his discussion of idolatry in something of a surprising direction. Earlier he discussed eating food sacrificed to idols as something to be avoided because it might lead weaker members of the church astray. Here he seems to think that the church is in more danger than before and warns them strongly to "flee from the worship of idols." I wonder if he felt like, while his earlier advise was sound it might have left too much room for accommodation. Here wants to be very clear that idol worship is dangerous and horrible so there can be no confusion.

We were talking on Wednesday evening about how Paul's writing can feel "changeable" because he shifts gears so often. A big part of that variability is because Paul moves from practical to theological matters seamlessly. And the reason he does that is that his practical advise is always grounded in theology. Whenever he thinks about the how the church or individual Christian should behave it comes back to who God is and what a Christian's behavior says about God.

This passage is a good demonstration of this. Paul talks about how sharing the bread and cup of communion makes the church one body and makes us one with Christ. In the same way, he warns, sharing a meal related to idol worship can have the same unifying power and we can't be united to both Christ and idols. So even though it is OK to eat food that might have been sacrificed to idols, we can't have anything to do with idol worship, because Christians only worship one God. We have freedom, but we have to use it responsibly. Paul will talk at more length a bit later about how powerful the ritual of communion is and how closely tied to the church's unity. Here we see that the bread and cup make a diverse group of people one body in the Lord. Amen.

Blessings,
Sam

Friday 1/29 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

14Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.15I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?

19What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?