Life Together

 

Philippians 1:12-30 (CEB)

Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the things that have happened to me have actually advanced the gospel. The whole Praetorian Guard and everyone else knows that I’m in prison for Christ. Most of the brothers and sisters have had more confidence through the Lord to speak the word boldly and bravely because of my jail time. Some certainly preach Christ with jealous and competitive motives, but others preach with good motives. They are motivated by love, because they know that I’m put here to give a defense of the gospel; the others preach Christ because of their selfish ambition. They are insincere, hoping to cause me more pain while I’m in prison.

What do I think about this? Just this: since Christ is proclaimed in every possible way, whether from dishonest or true motives, I’m glad and I’ll continue to be glad. I’m glad because I know that this will result in my release through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. It is my expectation and hope that I won’t be put to shame in anything. Rather, I hope with daring courage that Christ’s greatness will be seen in my body, now as always, whether I live or die. Because for me, living serves Christ and dying is even better. If I continue to live in this world, I get results from my work. But I don’t know what I prefer. I’m torn between the two because I want to leave this life and be with Christ, which is far better. However, it’s more important for me to stay in this world for your sake. I’m sure of this: I will stay alive and remain with all of you to help your progress and the joy of your faith, and to increase your pride in Christ Jesus through my presence when I visit you again.

Most important, live together in a manner worthy of Christ’s gospel. Do this, whether I come and see you or I’m absent and hear about you. Do this so that you stand firm, united in one spirit and mind as you struggle together to remain faithful to the gospel. That way, you won’t be afraid of anything your enemies do. Your faithfulness and courage are a sign of their coming destruction and your salvation, which is from God. God has generously granted you the privilege, not only of believing in Christ but also of suffering for Christ’s sake. You are having the same struggle that you saw me face and now hear that I’m still facing.

 

We continue this morning our journey through Philippians, after taking a little side road last week as we celebrated the kick-off of our 200th Anniversary celebrations.

As I was working on this sermon, I was struck by how contextual scriptural interpretation becomes.

What I mean is, one does not read scripture in a vacuum. 

Scholarly commentators attempt to do that --- but often times, even in their analysis one can perceive what was going on in the world at the time of their writing.

Hence, the issues of today, that are in my head and on my heart cannot help but creep into my understanding of the text.

And that is true not only for the pastor or commentator of the text --- it is true of the text itself. 

The stories of Jesus or Paul is reflecting what was going on in their world.

That is why it is unavoidable for me to see in the text the social justice issues that are on my heart

          Whether it is inclusion of all of God's children into the full life of the church

          or Justice for the disenfranchised

                   --- especially people of color

          or The economic disparities in our society today

All of those creep in whether we want them to or not.

Just as these and other current issues creep into your understanding and interpreting of the text

After the greeting Paul begins an exhortation for us to focus on the things that matter

And for Paul it is a call to us to focus on the matters of the Kindom of Jesus

          Love for each other

          Service to all of God's children

          Sacrifice with Jesus

          To be intentional about how we live our lives

          To be filled with the fruits of the Spirit

But the first section all comes down to a call for us to love God

If there is no love, there will be no sense of what is vital.

          If there is no sense of what is vital, there will be no pure and blameless life.

          If there is no pure and blameless life, there will be no glorifying God.

You see, it all begins with our love for God.

As we continue into the second half of this first chapter Paul begins with sharing that regardless of the circumstances one finds oneself in --- we can and must glorify God and live out kindom values

Paul is in prison as he writes this letter

          but he is not feeling sorry for himself

          or bemoaning his plight ---

instead he is looking for an opportunity to proclaim Christ.

Paul writes:

I want you to know that the things that have happened to me have actually advanced the gospel.

And he knows that while his imprisonment is not what he wants --- he understands that he still has work to do.

Paul looks forward to being called home to Christ, but he says:

it’s more important for me to stay in this world for your sake. I’m sure of this: I will stay alive and remain with all of you to help your progress and the joy of your faith, and to increase your pride in Christ Jesus through my presence

He wants to help us grow in our love and relationship with God.

And he wants us to do that by our living together in a manner worthy of Christ.

I have pondered long and hard this week about what that might mean.

This past Monday, well before the sun had risen, I was on my way to Midway Airport in Chicago to catch a flight to Phoenix.

For only the second time in my life, one of my parents had implored me to COME.

The first time was when Stewart was dying

And this last one took place a couple of weeks ago when my cell phone rang and it was my mom asking me if I could come to Phoenix and help her bring my father home to Chicago.

"Live together in a manner worthy of Christ’s gospel"

Live together Paul implores us

Last month a group of us read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's little book LIFE TOGETHER.

For Bonhoeffer, the community that he was referring to was a subset of Christians --- specifically the members of a small underground seminary that he was a part of.

Their Life Together was insolated and separate from many of the horrors that were beginning to happen around them as Hitler was consolidating his power and getting ready to unleash his evil on the world.

When Paul talks about living together who is he including in this community?

          That is a hard question to answer

Because he does not explain himself here in this letter 

We do know who Paul included in his letter to the Colossians and to the Galatians

There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

But the really important question is --- Who are WE including --- or maybe even more challenging ---- who are we not including?

If we go back and look at the words that Paul chose --- the phrase that is translated "Live together" is taken from a word drawn from the political arena and means "live as citizens"

Remember, Philippi is a Roman colony and the residents of Philippi were Roman citizens --- they would not have missed this reference that Paul is making.

When Paul was first in Philippi, and was in jail there, he had made practical use of the fact that he was a Roman citizen (Acts 16:35-40).

          Later in Acts we see him doing that again. (Acts 22:25-29).

But in our passage this morning --- Paul is reminding the Philippians that their true citizenship and his,

          their ultimate allegiance,

                   was to King Jesus, not to Caesar in Rome.

As Morna Hooker, in The New Interpreters Bible writes:

Those members of the church in Philippi who were citizens of that city would also have been Roman citizens; thus they would have been well aware of the privileges and obligations of citizenship.  Paul has probably chosen this particular verb (politeuomai) because he thinks of Christian behavior not simply as something undertaken by individuals, but as the expression of the life of the whole community.  His meaning is, "let your life as a community be worthy of the gospel of Christ."

What Paul is asking us today is our community worthy of the Gospel of Christ?

Is Christ who we put first in all that we do?

Paul is asking the Philippians: do you pledge your allegiance to God, or to Rome?

Today he would be asking us:  do you pledge your allegiance to God, or to the United States of America?

And maybe what we need to wrestle with is how those two kindoms look different.

          In God's kindom --- no one is excluded

          In God's kindom there is an economy of sharing

          In God's kindom we are united to God through the mystery of suffering.

Those are not the values of our earthy citizenship in the USA.

We by the color of our skin --- and the opportunities of education and wealth set the rules for who is in and who is out.

          Rights are based on where you are born --- and to whom you are born to

I have to admit --- I struggle with what it means to be a citizen of God's kindom.

Remember what Paul says in this passage

God has generously granted you the privilege, not only of believing in Christ but also of suffering for Christ’s sake.

Our world does not view suffering as a privilege --- but God does.

He is reminding us once again that we need to focus on what really matters.

And what is that?

          God --- and our living a life worthy of God

So in this --- life together --- who did God exclude?

Who is not welcome at God's table?

          Who comes to mind that Jesus excluded?

Jesus, through his life, demonstrated the answer to this --- all are welcome.

We love to say: Hate the sin, love the sinner.

It's a Christian cliché that has been used with increased frequency in recent years because it is often invoked in debates about the LGBTQI community and gay marriage.

Many who use this phrase don’t intend to harm others but wish to express love for another at some level.

Justin Lee writes,

“The basic point of the phrase is true. But “love the sinner, hate the sin” feels very different depending on which side of the table you’re sitting on. To the person doing the “loving,” it feels very generous: Even though this person is a sinner, I’m going to treat them with love and compassion!”

“I’m a good person,” the phrase implies, “because I’m loving you in spite of your sin.”

However, to the person on the receiving end of “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin,” it can sound frustratingly judgmental, condescending, and manipulative.

“Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin” highlights the virtues of one person against the perceived sinfulness of another, conveniently placing the ‘Lover’ in a position of moral superiority over the ‘Sinner.’

It’s not compassion, and it’s definitely not grace.

And it also isn't biblical --- Jesus NEVER said that.

Peter Rollins in The Orthodox Heretic, writes,

“Jesus’ understanding of forgiveness was so radical because he did not need people to repent before he accepted them. He did not require a change in behavior before he loved, respected, and related to them. Yet, it was precisely this unconditional love and forgiveness that seemed so potent and transformative, often being the very act that drew people to repentance.”

The closest use of this phrase in Christian history is a letter from St. Augustine to a group of nuns encouraging them to have “love for mankind and hatred of sins”.

It was Mahatma Gandhi in his 1929 autobiography who said:

          “Hate the sin and not the sinner.”

But Gandhi’s full statement has a bit different flavor:

“Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.”

Gandhi correctly observed that it is difficult --- perhaps impossible --- to see someone else primarily as a “sinner” and then to focus on “hating their sin” without developing some level of disdain for the person.

Perhaps this is why Jesus did not ask us to love “sinners” but to love “neighbors” and “enemies.”

Adam Hamilton writes:

I think Jesus knew that if he commanded his disciples to ‘love the sinner,’ they would begin looking at other people more as sinners than neighbors. And that, inevitably, would lead to judgment. If I love you more as a sinner than as my neighbor, then I am bound to focus more on your sin. I will start looking for all the things that are wrong with you. And perhaps, without intending it, I will begin thinking about our relationship like this: “You are a sinner, but I graciously choose to love you anyway.” If that sounds a little puffed up, self-righteous, and even prideful to you, then you have perceived accurately.

"Live together in a manner worthy of Christ’s gospel"

We can't do it until we put God first and accept and love our neighbor

I love what Fred Rogers once said,

“To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.”

May we work to become full members of Christ's community of love ---

          not only for ourselves

                   but for our neighbors

                             all our neighbors!

 

What Do We Owe The Past

Matthew 16:13-20 (NRSV)                   

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

 

I cannot thank everyone who has hand over the last couple of years in getting us to this point.  Pandemic or not --- we are ready to celebrate 200 years of making a kindom difference here in Indianapolis and around the world. 

Over the next year, we will be celebrating Meridian Street as we look back and start living the future.

This celebration terrace will be one of the lasting legacies of this anniversary --- as we create a space for us and the community to gather in prayer and contemplation.

I am also excited about the new history of Meridian Street that Andrea Neal and Jason Lantzer have written.  Early on David Evans, whose father Dan Evans, Sr, wrote the history of Meridian Street at 175 years, suggested that we need to have a new history written.

I appreciate the push he gave to the project and the wonderful writing that Andrea and Jason have done.  I have had the privilege or reading a draft of the book, and when it is published this fall you are going to want to get a copy.  Thank you Andrea, Jason and David!

If you do not know the history of Meridian Street, the story will not only inform you, it will inspire you.

It is not a perfect history --- we have had our times of turmoil --- but through it all, God has been present --- seeking to lead us toward God's perfect kindom.

The turmoil of today --- social division --- racial injustice --- LGBTQI inclusion --- are nothing new. 

Two World Wars, Spanish Flu, Vietnam, Civil Rights --- and that is just the last 100 years

          There is hope that we survived and thrived through them and can do so again

As I was preparing for this morning I was reminded of the Roman god Janus.

It is the images of Janus that jumps out at me ---

Janus is usually depicted as having two faces, he was the god of beginnings and endings, presiding over every entrance and departure, and every door and passageway because they look in two directions

Janus is looking to the future and back to the past.

And that is what we do when we mark time like a 200th anniversary.

We remember where we have been --- and beginning living in the future.

It is easy to reminisce about the wonderful ministries that have come out of Meridian Street Church.

We have had a glorious past and the influence that we have had on Indianapolis is significant.

Two ministries that continue in our city jump out.

We are founding members of Family Promise and the Interfaith Hospitality Network.  For the past quarter of a century we have helped house homeless families --- but that is not really what Family Promise is about.

          Family Promise is about helping families get back into their own homes

          And we have help countless numbers of families return to their own home

Even this past Friday we had volunteers helping organize a new apartment with the furnishings you donated for a family

The second that JUMPS out at me (and I could name many more) is Neighbor-link

Formally known as neighbor to neighbor; it began as a ministry of Meridian Street Church and today has numerous partners --- helping homeowners throughout the city keep their homes safe and secure. 

          Neighbor-link has an office up on the third floor that they operate out of. 

But we are not called to rest on the past.

God is still calling Meridian Street to be a leader and innovator in the city.

I picked this passage because the message in it is one we need to be reminded of.

Jesus has gathered with his disciples, way up in Northern Galilee and asks them a simple question --- Who do you think I am?

Who is Jesus?

And Peter says: ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’

You are the one, Jesus, who is to usher in a new age --- the kindom of God

                    And we believe that as well don't we?

And Jesus response should be instructive for us:

"I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

We all know that Jesus is not talking about buildings here. 

          He is not saying, I am going to build a great edifice at 5500 N Meridian Street!

The word church in the Greek means the calling out of people to assemble together

In other words, Jesus is saying that we are a CALLED OUT PEOPLE

We are called to be different --- distinct from the world

We assemble --- we gather --- together for worship because God in Christ has called us out to be distinct from the world.

The church is the people who have heard the call to follow Christ, and that means gathering together (assembling) as a holy people

          We are called out from the world and set apart for a God's purpose

This, then, is church.

          Our prime concerns should be located in that single word.

So let me ask you:

          Does our worship reflect the Christ who calls us out?

          Are we living as a distinct, called-out people?

Or to put it another way, is Jesus first in our lives?

          Not our party affiliation

          Not our national allegiance

Is Jesus first?

          Remember in Christ we are all one!

Nadia Bolz-Weber:

"People don't leave Christianity because they stop believing in the teachings of Jesus.  People leave Christianity because they believe in the teachings of Jesus so much, they can't stomach being part of an institution that claims to be about that but clearly isn't."

Meridian Street --- has been and must continue to be --- built upon Jesus

The second part, Jesus says: “The gates of Hades will not prevail against it”

Jesus is saying nothing can hold back the church --- the assembly --- when the church is living as the distinctive, called out people of God.

NOTHING

          Not conflict

          Not even a pandemic

We are still the church!

Remember the passage from Philippians last week.

          "the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion"

          "I pray this so that you will be able to decide what really matters"

As we celebrate the past --- let us rejoice in the good work that Jesus has done among us --- and as we look to the future --- may we recognize what really matters and move forward with confidence and love.

While we gather to celebrate --- this is a challenging time for many

          Many feel broken

          Vulnerable

          Alone

          Afraid

Let us be the church by letting those who are hurting know that when God sees broken hearts – God’s heart is broken as well.

Let me close with this prayer from Richard Foster:

Let me enter your heart, O God. Let me see what breaks your heart. Let my heart be broken, too. Amen.”

What Really Matters

 

Philippians 1:3-11   Common English Bible

I thank my God every time I mention you in my prayers. I’m thankful for all of you every time I pray, and it’s always a prayer full of joy. I’m glad because of the way you have been my partners in the ministry of the gospel from the time you first believed it until now. I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus. I have good reason to think this way about all of you because I keep you in my heart. You are all my partners in God’s grace, both during my time in prison and in the defense and support of the gospel. God is my witness that I feel affection for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

This is my prayer: that your love might become even more and more rich with knowledge and all kinds of insight. I pray this so that you will be able to decide what really matters and so you will be sincere and blameless on the day of Christ. I pray that you will then be filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes from Jesus Christ, in order to give glory and praise to God.

 

Over the next seven weeks we will be overwhelmed in the worst of our country.

For the last half decade or so, elections haven't been about what unites us as a nation, but have rather sought to instill fear and loathing into the electorate.

This is not a critique of the Democratic party or the Republican party --- it is a critic of what has become of our democracy.

As a result of what Bob Greising referred to yesterday as the "silly season" I want us to spend time with Paul and his relationship with the people of Philippi.

This is a beautiful letter

          People that Paul seems to have a close and personal relationship with

                   Gordon Fee in his commentary on the letter calls it a "letter of friendship"

I know I said this in my article on Thursday --- but I want to emphasis it again

          I encourage you to read this little letter each week

Even better if you can take the time to read it in a different translation

          You can find different versions at Biblegateway.com

          It is a short letter --- only 4 chapters long

Just briefly, let me share a little history of the Church at Philippi and this letter

If you remember from the book of Acts chapter 16 (16:6- 12 The Message)

They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas. 

That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.

Putting out from the harbor at Troas, we made a straight run for Samothrace. The next day we tied up at New City and walked from there to Philippi, the main city in that part of Macedonia and, even more importantly, a Roman colony. We lingered there several days.

This was the farthest west that Paul had ventured to this point in his ministry.

Philippi was a small city in the first century C.E. --- most suggest a population of around 10,000 inhabitants.

But it was an important city

• Philippi was located at the far eastern end of a large fertile plain in central Macedonia
• It was situated on the Via Egnatia --- the main east west road between Byzantium (Constantinople) and the major sea port of Adriatic sea --- thus access to Rome

By the time of Paul, Philippi was a Roman City and the urban political center of the eastern end of the plain.

There is strong consensus that this letter was actually written by Paul, quite possibly from Rome somewhere around 60-62 CE.

There is some scholarly debate that this is actually a number of letters that over time were edited together.

          For our purposes, I don't see much importance to that sidenote 

It is fun reading, studying and meditating on this Letter of Paul's to the Philippians while also engaging in a study of The Book of Joy --- because in many ways this is a letter of joy!

One of the reasons Paul writes this letter is to say thanks for a gift that has been sent to him while he is imprisoned in Rome.

(Philippians 4:10-20 selected  The Message)

I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. . . . I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I’ll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. . . . 

The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end.

Paul is grateful and filled with joy --- and he wants us to be as well.

Oftentimes when I begin working on a sermon, especially if I am going to preach through a book of the bible like I am with Philippians --- I read the text and see what jumps out at me.

As I read Philippians --- I felt the spirit pushing and pulling me in a number of ways.

But in this first half of the first chapter of Philippians --- one phrase just leapt out at me: "This is my prayer . . .that you will be able to decide what really matters"

What is it that really matters?

          Is it the same thing today as it was when Paul wrote this letter?

Let's look more closely at this section of Paul's letter.  I want to focus in on verses 9-11

This is my prayer: that your love might become even more and more rich with knowledge and all kinds of insight. I pray this so that you will be able to decide what really matters and so you will be sincere and blameless on the day of Christ. I pray that you will then be filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes from Jesus Christ, in order to give glory and praise to God.

Paul seems to be suggesting that there are three particular things that he is praying for the people of Philippi

First: “that your love might become more and more rich with knowledge and all kinds of insight.”

There are some who believe that this refers to the love which the Philippians were to have for each other.

Paul is praying that the followers of Jesus in Philippi would get along better with each other 

There is no question that Jesus calls us to love one another, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Paul suggests the same thing when he writes in his letter to the Thessalonians said: (1 Thessalonians 3:12  CEB)

May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you.

And if you have read the whole letter you know that Paul addresses some of the bickering that was going on amongst the followers of Jesus.

But I don't that that is what Paul is trying to get across when he prays that our: "love might become more and more rich with knowledge and all kinds of insight."

I believe that what Paul really wants is for us to grow in love more deeply with God.

And a love that is not simply an emotional attachment, but also one in the head.

          Paul wants our heads and our hearts aligned with God.

Today, I think we are better at filling our heads with knowledge and struggle with filling our hearts.

          But we need both!

Paul knows that they already love God --- he is not questioning that --- what Paul desires is for them --- and us --- to let our love grow deeper and wider.

Deeper so that we can see the things that God sees

Wider so that we can embrace the kindom that God desires.

The second prayer of Paul's is that we "will be able to decide what really matters and so you will be sincere and blameless on the day of Christ."

This, for me, is the crux of the passage.

Paul is praying that the Philippians --- and you and I --- will be able to discern what is most important.

The Phillips translation puts it like this: “I want you to be able always to recognize the highest and the best.”

As we move into this "silly season" is there anything more important?

Every day life is filled with difficult decisions.

Every day we face a myriad of choices

not just between good and bad,

but between sort of good and not much better,

between not great and not any better.

If life's choices were between good and bad or better and best it would be easy.

          But it is not always an easy task to decide which choice we should make.

Danish theologian/philosopher Soren Kierkegaard told a modern day parable about thieves who broke into a jewelry store at night.

Instead of stealing anything, they merely switched the price tags, putting high-value tickets on costume jewelry and bargain tags on premium gems.

Sometimes that is what it feels like in our world today

          the value of things are all mixed up       

                   things that are valuable --- aren’t given much importance

                   And things that are not as significant are highly valued

But Paul is harkening back to Jesus in calling us to kindom values and not our own.

Jesus looked at the world's values and declared them to be upside down.

All of the price tags were wrong.

How did Jesus define greatness?

          The biggest house?

          The heftiest bank account?

          How many titles we have?

NO

Jesus said that greatness is found in service.

          Self sacrifice is how one saves one’s life.

          The first will be last the last will be first.

Do I need to go on?  Jesus certainly did.

Jesus turns our values upside down and Paul's' prayer is that we can see what really matters!

Paul prays that we will know what really matters so that we "will be sincere and blameless on the day of Christ."

Paul believed that Jesus was coming back soon --- today even.

How would our choices change if we really believed that Jesus might return NOW and hold us accountable?

Do we even think that way when we buy things made from sweatshops or when we don't think twice about the damage we are causing to the earth?

Paul wants us to care

          To care about what we value

                   are they even the right things?

Paul wants us to care

          About how we do business

          About how we spend our money

          About how we vote

Because he believes that we will be held accountable for what we do --- and what we don't.

And then he concludes this section with one more prayer for us: "that you will be filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes from Jesus Christ, in order to give glory and praise to God."

You see for Paul ---

when we take seriously what really matters ---

when that becomes the focus of our lives ---

we are filled with the fruits of the spirits.

In his letter to the Galatians (5:22-23 CEB), Paul tells us about the fruits of the spirit.

the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

That is Paul's prayer for the people of Philippi and it is his prayer for us today

Are we willing to focus in on what really matters to God --- or what matters to us?

You are probably familiar with the short poem from Benjamin Franklin found in the 1758 version of Poor Richard's Almanac under the title “A little neglect may breed mischief”

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.

For want of a horse, the rider was lost.

For want of a rider, the battle was lost

For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,

All for the want of a horseshoe nail.

While it is popularly attributed to Franklin, the proverb is actually far older

          variations of it can be found dating back to the 14th century.

The story has survived so long, and been shared so widely, because it illustrates a universally recognized truth: everything is connected to everything else.

Little dysfunctions, if ignored, compound to larger ones.

          The untended stray thread will eventually lead to an unraveling of the whole.

          Water drops, given time, can wear away holes in solid rock.

And little unaddressed imbalances in our society can steadily erode our unity, and eventually lead to a host of much more serious problems.

This is the truth that Paul proclaims in this prayer.

And for Paul --- the starting point is pretty simple,

You have to start with a love for God.

If there is no love, there will be no sense of what is vital.

          If there is no sense of what is vital, there will be no pure and blameless life.

          If there is no pure and blameless life, there will be no glorifying God.

It all begins with our love for God.

Remember what happened one someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was? 

His answer tells us what really matters.   (Matthew 22:36-39 NRSV)

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

I pray that you will be able to decide what really matters and will be found blameless on the day that Jesus returns.