no divisions

Good afternoon friends,
Last night's Halloween party at the church was lots of fun. Thanks to all who helped or donated to make it a success. Next week Supper and Scripture will be back to normal. We'll also be starting a series at the Boulevard Bar and Grill across the street from the church from 8:30-10pm. The idea is to have open conversations about important questions in life. The series is open to everyone, regardless of faith; in fact, I'm especially hoping for people who feel like they have lots of questions or skepticism about traditional religion. As long as you're interested in having thoughtful, respectful, open minded discussion, this series is for you. It's also a great time to invite a friend.


Today's reading is important in the light of the divisions our culture faces, which are highlighted by a national election. Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth about the importance of unity. He doesn't mean that everyone has to agree about everything or be the same. Instead, he means that no matter whether we agree, we are not supposed to let our leaders or opinions divide us. It seems that in the church at that time some people were taking a lot of pride in identifying with different church leaders and were looking down on people who followed other leaders. Paul's point is that human leaders are not the main idea: Jesus is. Whichever candidates you prefer, don't let that divide you from people who prefer different candidates. In Christ we are all united.

God bless,
Sam

1 Corinthians 1:4-14

⁴I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— ⁶just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— ⁷so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

¹⁰Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. ¹¹For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. ¹²What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” ¹³Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)

God's servant

Good evening friends,
Today's reading is an uncompromising argument from Paul about obeying government. It's interesting to read that from Paul, who at every turn was respectful to all leaders, in keeping with his words. At the same time, he never obeyed leaders who told him to act against God's calling to preach the gospel. Paul wrote these words about government being ordained by God even while he knew the government might persecute him for his faith. Christians have a challenging balance. On the one hand comes this command, to obey the government and respect it because it keeps the peace and provides stability for us. On the other hand, we know that no matter what, God's calling comes first. 





Paul's words were also written with a totally different concept of government. While Rome had elected officials, the idea that all men and women would be able to vote for a president would blow Paul away. So now Christians not only have to think about how to obey God and government, we also have to think about how to choose our leaders with our faith in mind. At the same time, Paul's words ring true: everything in our faith and life comes back to love. If we think about how to love everyone, including our political opponents, we'll be following God. We may differ in our beliefs about who will be the best president or congresswoman or senator, but as long as we love each other, those differences will not tear us apart. Who knows? we may even learn from each other.

God bless,
Sam

Romans 13:1-10

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; ⁴for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 

⁷Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. ⁸Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

judgment and office

Good evening friends,
I want to remind you of a great event next Sunday. The choirs of all our UPT churches will share their gifts at a joint event at 3:30 pm on Sunday at Third Presbyterian. It would be wonderful to have a big turnout to support all the choirs. If you'd like to bring cheese or fruit or cookies, that would be very welcome as well.


This passage is familiar to many of us. It's one of the first passages I think about when I think about faith and politics, which is what we'll be reading, praying and talking about between now and the election. Obviously, I'm not going to try to tell you who to vote for. Both candidates have strengths and weaknesses. As Christians, our job is to seek God's will in our lives, and that includes the life of our nation. We probably have different ideas about what that means, so I'll be interested to hear from you too. This passage gives us a great sense for what's most important to God, by showing us how God will judge us at the end of time. If it's important to God, it's good to keep these things in mind as we choose candidates for office.

Blessings,
Sam

Matthew 25:31-45

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”