Philippians 1: Rejoice in Christ Proclaimed

Rejoice in Christ Proclaimed

9/24/17

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

You’ve probably heard these words start a sermon before.  The words may no longer leave an impression.  They are simply words of greeting like, “Dear distinguished guests or To whom it may concern.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes if we hear the same phrase over and over it loses it’s initial power.  Hear the words  “I love you” for the first time to someone and your cheeks get flushed.  There are butterflies in your stomach.  Hear the words “I love you” for the 10,000^th time from the same person and we nod and smile.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we begin diving into Paul’s book to the church in Philippi.  I want us to hear this epistle again for the first time.  Let’s take a journey to the year 66AD and imagine that you are Paul’s disciples, unsealing a scroll that traveled 800 mile across land and sea to your congregation.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul started the church in Philippi which is modern day Greece.  He proclaimed Christ crucified there.  He told them the story how Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under pontious pilate was crucified died and was buried, but he did not stay dead, He rose.  Paul retold the story in Philippi to whoever had ears to hear.  When Paul left the region, the story was retold again and again by the church.  

At a later time and at another place, Paul was arrested for telling that same story about Jesus.  For two years he was under house arrest.  Eventually, he was taken to Rome to face civil judgment there.  Imagine waiting to hear word about your former pastor.  Eight hundred miles away was another world.  Rome was the craziest city in the Mediterranean.  What did the strain of being captive for two years do to his spirit?  Has suffering beaten him down?  Has his message changed now that he has been in chains for proclaiming it?  Is this the same Paul?  Does he preach the same Christ?

(Unroll scroll)  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Same Paul, same simple words that proclaim Jesus.  The Philippians felt joy.

The read on,

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[d] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Feel the emotional connection Paul has to his fellow believers.  Prison has not kept Paul from praying for his churches.  In fact, maybe incarceration is a gift because he has more time to pray.  When he thinks of what Christ has done for the people of Phillippi it gives him joy.  Planting the seeds of faith through proclaiming Christ has produced miracles.  People received grace from God.  His friends have peace with Jesus Christ.  He saw the miracles when he was with them.  He trusts that God is still active in the church and one day he will complete his good work on the last day.  This makes Paul happy.

One of the themes of Philippians is that the Christian life produces joy.  Paul says “Christ is proclaimed, in that I rejoice.”  “I am glad and rejoice with you all.”  “Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.”  “Rejoice in the Lord.”  Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I say rejoice.”  Prisons are supposed to be dark but Paul finds joy in a hopeless place.

Even in prison Christ can be proclaimed.  Paul was not in a place like dungeon.  He was under house arrest.  He was chained to a Roman guard, who took shifts watching him.  Meanwhile, he was allowed to pray, read scripture, host friends and write letters.  He was confined to a limited space but God’s word will not be confined.  Paul told the guards the story of Christ crucified.  They were so impressed with this weird prisoner that the told the story to their families and fellow guards.  What kind of evangelism plan is this?  First we get our pastor arrested, then he gets sent to the capital, eventually Romans with no access to the Gospel will be saved.  Its nuts.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hearing Christ proclaimed brings joy to the heart that belongs to God.  To the heart without the Spirit, the good news just hits it and goes thud.  Nothing.  That heart says I don’t need Jesus.  But when God has been working in your heart, you hear Christ proclaimed and the Holy Spirit jumps inside you.

I heard Christ proclaimed by a three year old and a 97 year old this Thursday and the Holy Spirit jumped inside me both times.  I got to lead my first chapel with our preschool.  The first three rows were filled with the two year olds, three year olds four year olds.  The babies are in these little carts with seat belts.  I taught them to proclaim in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit.  I said we use our pointer finger not our thumb, not our pinky.  And we make the sign of the cross because Jesus loved us so much that he died on the cross for us.  They used their little finger to make the sign of the cross.  The proclaimed Christ crucified.  They may not be baptized but the words of God can work on their hearts.  We have no idea what life is like for the kids he gives to us.  Maybe their parents are proclaiming Christ at home.  But Christ can take our words in chapel and plant faith in a heart forever if he wills it.  That brings me joy.  We should celebrate what God is doing here Monday through Friday.

                It also brought me joy to visit Pastor Dale Griffen.  I made an appointment to bring him communion.  He lives on Elm anout a mile from church so I decided to walk.  As I walked I prayed for the neighborhood.  I proclaimed Christ down the sidewalk.  Pastor Griffen is 97 years old.  I was supposed to be ministering to him but as so often happens on these type of calls, he ministered to me.  He said, “every day is a gift from Jesus.”  We talked about forgiveness and sharing Christ with broken people.  You can tell that he has spent a lifetime proclaiming Christ and he has this joy that glows.  I hope God continues to give me joy the way he gives Dale Griffen joy.  By the way, Dale watches every Sunday via the internet so everyone say Blessings Dale!

                Not everyone is as gracious as Dale.  Paul says there are some who preach Christ from envy and rivalry.  Some believers did not trust Paul because he was a persecutor of the Christians.  They actually used his imprisonment as an opportunity to undermine his influence.  But it doesn’t matter.  Paul will not let them steal his joy.  What matters is that Christ is proclaimed.  It doesn’t matter why someone proclaims him, as long as the Gospel advances.  Paul isn’t looking for credit.  He doesn’t care if he has the biggest church.  He doesn’t care if another pastor has a bigger name.  All that matters is that the good news spreads.

                We really can proclaim Christ better when we don’t care who gets the credit.  I had to make phone calls this week about members who want to transfer to another lcms congregation.  At first, it’s easy to feel defensive.  I want people to stay and be blessed through the ministry here.  But I asked them, do you feel God is calling you there.  Do you feel that God can use you to spread the gospel there?  Then go in peace because Christ is proclaimed here and there.

Today we are giving you a new tool for your faith tool box.  It’s Daily Bible readings based on the Sunday Morning scripture….

We all need to hear Christ proclaimed everyday.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

You may have heard those words more times than you can count, but rejoice in knowing that they have the power to change the world.

Romans 14: True Humility

True Humility

Romans 14:1-9

Pastor Scott Jonas

9/17/17

            We’ve spent the last three weeks in Romans.  Romans 12 was about true community, living in genuine love as the people of God.  Romans 13 was about true citizenship, not just respecting our leaders but loving them as Christ does.  Today Romans 14, True Humility, gracefully accepting our brothers and sisters even when we think their opinion is wrong.

            I heard somewhere recently that that there are many opinions to avoid on a first date.  You don’t want create division from the get go.  Of course you want to stay away from religion and politics, but you also want to avoid talking about your favorite movies.  We take it personally when people hate the films we love.  For example, my trinity of favorite movies are Braveheart, Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Matrix.  I’m looking at your faces right now to see if you approve or disapprove and taking note.  I’ll try not to take your reaction personally.

            It’s silly really.  We know in minds that taste in movies is unique to the individual.  Everyone has their preferences.  Some like chic flics and some like documentaries and so forth.  Yet, we embrace a movie as if it is more than a preference.  We allow it to somehow become a part of who we are.  I’m more than a fan of Raiders of the Lost Ark, I’m an apologist.  I’ll defend it against those who attack Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford and Stephen Spielberg.  I’ve worn a leather jacket and carried a whip for Halloween.  I’ve virtually beat up a nazi in Lego Indiana Jones.  Just the other day on twitter I clicked on a video entitled Raiders.  It was a bull dog running around a corner in slow motion, behind it was a large dodge ball chasing it.  Da da da da, da da da.  My devotion to a movie is silly.

            In Romans 14, Paul is talking about people’s devotion to small issues.  Verse 1

“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. “ 

Paul just talked about fulfilling the law through love.  Love those outside the church, those who have authority over you as a citizen.  Now Paul goes back to inside the church family.  We have those amongst us who are stronger and weaker in the faith.  Whether you perceive that the person next to you is more mature or less mature in Christ you should welcome them as a fellow believer.   One of the worst things you can do is be so devoted to a small issue that you judge your brother based on it, making him believe that he is lesser than you.

            We all have our little tests, something that we hold close to our heart and judge other people through.

Comedian Emo Phillips describes this phenomenon through a joke,

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

            The man’s first test was Christ.  But he kept testing until he found a difference between them.  That minor silly differences he made grotesquely bigger than it was.  It’s funny because it is ridiculous for such a minor difference to determine life or death, part of the family or cut off.

 Paul says One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegtables.  Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgement on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

In the first century, the church was wrestling with the old testament dietary laws.  The apostles were clear in their teaching that it was not necessary for salvation to eat kosher.  The only thing necessary for salvation is faith in Jesus Christ.  But when you’ve been eating a certain way your whole life it is hard to give it up.  Some did.  They wanted the world to know that Christ freed them from the dietary laws.  Through Jesus everything was clean to eat.  But others just couldn’t change their eating habits, even if it meant appearing like a certain diet was the law.  It was easy for both of them to feel superior to the other even though neither diet made you more Christian.

We must avoid this kind of testing of others inside the church.  It can be done with anything that is not required by Christ.  A lot of our traditions should not be used as tests for Faith.  Do you prefer organ or contemporary?  Are you in favor of having a school or not a school?  Have you been to Pastor’s Bible study or do you go to breakfast?  Do you know biblical greek or don’t you?  Can you speak in toungues or not?  Do you prefer this?  What is your opinion on that?  None of these things should ever be a test of faith.  Who are we to make a fellow believer feel like an unbeliever?  If I ever do that to you through one of my sermons, I have failed.  And I hope you would forgive me.

What if Jesus had treated people this way?  What if his mission was not to save the world but to offer his opinions?  The devil offers bread to him as he is starving and rather than saying  “Man shall not live by bread alone” he said “I prefer bagels.”  What if Jesus was at the wedding at cana and he stood up and said, “I really prefer that wedding venue on the other side of the village.”  What if Jesus went into the temple and instead of throwing out the greedy money changers he said, “I really prefer a different color of drapery in the Holy of Holies. It’s a bit dated.  What if Jesus preferred not dying over the cross..  It’s ridiculous and unthinkable.

 Therefore we should never allow our opinions take take away from the Gospel of Jesus.  They pale in comparison.  The only opinion that matters is God’s.  What does He think of this person?  If that person has received the holy Spirit then they are perfect in His Eyes.  Doesn’t matter your opion.  Doesn’t matter their opinion.  What matters is what Christ says and he says that that baptized person is just as forgiven as you.

You are either in God’s family or you are not.  There are no inner levels of the faith.  It is possible to educate someone.  To pass on wisdom without making them feel lesser than you.  We are all equally brothers and sisters in Christ.  That is not my opinion.  That is God’s word.  

Romans 13: True Citizenship

Pastor Scott Jonas

Romans 13:1-10

9/9/17

            We are traveling through some of the chapters of Paul’s book to the church in Rome.  Last week, Romans 12 talked about True community.  Jesus is painting a beautiful picture of the church the is genuine, steadfast and loving.  Today in Romans chapter 13, Paul urges the church towards True citizenship, honoring the state while serving Christ.  True Citizenship.

            Nero was King of Rome when Paul came to faith.  Nero was simply one of the most spoiled, ruthless, wicked Kings in all of history.  Think Joffrey on Game of Thrones.  He became King as a teenager.  They say that a person stops developing socially, emotionally and morally at the age they become mega famous.  Nero became the most powerful government official in the world when he still had pimples.  He was born just a few years after Jesus’ resurrection.  His Teacher was poisoned by his mother.  His Father too was murdered.  Nero learned much from this and put his mother to the sword.  He had total control now.  He started wars on a whim, confiscated estates and reportedly started a fire that burned much of Rome.  He wanted to build over a portion of the city.  The fire allowed him to do so.  He blamed the Christians and executed many of them.   That is the state of the government when Paul writes Romans.

            13:1  “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God.”  Isn’t that strange?  A madman rules and Paul says “be subject to the governing authorities.”  This isn’t modern representative democracy.  This is a menace who is devastating the known world.  What is Paul doing here?

            In Romans, Paul says that the death and resurrection of Jesus is reordering the universe.  That includes how we view our citizenship.  If we get Jesus wrong then we will get our relationship to other things like government wrong.  There are many ways to go wrong when it comes to how you look at governing authorities.  Paul wants us to avoid these wrong ways.  If we go down these paths it will distract us from the Gospel.  Your primary mission is to spread the love of Christ in your home and community.  Don’t let politics divert you from the church’s goal.  We all know it is very easy to get distracted by politics.

The first wrong path for the Christian is to believe that the government is all.  That there is nothing above the state.  The civil authorities are an end to themselves.   In Jesus’ day, Caesar declared himself “Lord and Savior.”  He was lord in that there was no authority above Caesar’s authority.  You could not appeal beyond him.  His word was the highest law.  He called himself savior because he saved his kingdom from poverty and chaos.  Being under his reign meant roads, a defending army, and predictable laws.  He saved people from anarchy and all of the destruction that follows.

This may seem like an unnecessary warning today.  No one calls the government Lord and Savior.  But it is necessary.  There are people who act as if there is no greater authority than the government.  If the laws say something is wrong then it is wrong.  If the government says something is right then it is right.  This leads to obeying the authorities no matter what.  Doesn’t matter what conscience or scripture says.  The church knows this is wrong.  We should never put the government above the Lord.

Another wrong path is to divorce faith from the state.  To separate religion from civil matters.   Paul was very familiar with the Pharisees doing this.  It is separation of church and state to the extreme.  The Pharisees were not cozy with the Romans.  They were a minority interest group so they only dealt with government when they were forced to deal with them.  They focused exclusively on their spiritual interests and let the state be influenced by others.

Today, this would be like Christians who wall themselves off from society and politics.  They look at the political realm as evil and the church as pure.  They are all crooks, the Pharisees cry.  The Pharisees of today take themselves off of the political grid.  Don’t pay taxes.  Don’t get involved.  Jesus is Lord over the church and not Lord over all.  This is a dangerous path.  It makes the faithful more and more isolated.  It leaves civil institutions unguided by those with the Spirit.  It believes that God never ordained the right hand kingdom.  We know otherwise,  God is Lord of all.

            Then there is the wrong path of anarchy.  The zealot of Paul’s time worked to overthrow the government so that people could be free of all authority.  Barrabas is the most famous example.  Remember him?  When Jesus was on trial, Pilate brought up a Passover tradition.  One convicted Jewish criminal would be released as a show of good faith to this constituency.  Pilate asked the crowd if Jesus should be let go.  Instead they shouted for Barrabbas the zealot.  A zealot is a guardian of the Jewish people who sees the threat of governmental rule.  But rather than separate from that rule, the zealot attacks it with violence.  The zealots are not looking for a better government they are looking to destroy the government.  We know from the gospels that the people chose the zealot over Jesus.

            In a country with so many blessings like the united states, the church does not have many zealots.  Most people recognize that without any government the world turns into an apocalyptic nightmare.  Dog eat dog.   

            We are much more tempted to go down the wrong path of the favored church.  We want our church to have an advantage over other denominations and religions.  We cozy up to government obliterating separation of church and state.  Paul knew well that the Sadduccees worked to be the favored church of Rome.  They cowtowed so they got power that the Pharisees, and zealots could only dream about.  They got to make laws.  They got to make civil decisions.  They were emeshed with Rome and lost a part of their souls in the process.

            It reminds me of the recent supreme court case “Trinity Lutheran of Columbia vs the state of Missouri.”  The court rules recently that it was unconstitutional for the state to deny a churchschool free playground surfacing that was offered to secular schools.  If it was offered to one it should be offered to the other.  Free processed chopped up rubber tires do not encourage religion one way or another.  It is simply a way for the state to help make playgrounds safe.  How does this ruling highlight  a sadducee like emeshment between church and state?  You see the reason why Missouri denied Trinity the playground surface in the first place is because it was written into the state constitution years ago that no religious organization should receive any benefit from the capital.  From what I hear, that was put in there by Lutherans who didn’t want Catholics to receive this benefit.  Lutherans were using the civil laws to try to punish another church.  They were trying to climb the ladder of success through politics.  Paul warns us that this is not what Jesus wants.

Paul says in Romans 13 that there is a good path.  It is the path that Jesus followed.  He calls us not only to give governments their due respect but to love those who rule over us. Paul says, “Pay to all what is owed the; taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.  Owe no one anything, except to love one another for the one who loves another fulfills the law.”   That is pretty radical.  It doesn’t matter who is in power.  It doesn’t matter if you like their policies or not.  It doesn’t matter if they are good people.  We are called to love them because Jesus loves them.

Think about Jesus before Herod and Pilate.  Those were the political authorities.  Herod held local jurisdiction and Pilate was governor over Herod.  After Jesus was arrested by the Jewish leaders he was sent to Herod.  If I was in his position I’d be like who are you to arrest the creator of the universe.  You have no right to detain me.  This arrest is a crime against the real Lord and Savior.  I hereby renounce all of your authority.  Goodbye.  And then a thousand angels come down and whish me away.

But I’m not Jesus.  He doesn’t do that.  In fact, Jesus says nothing to Herod.  He doesn’t question his authority.  He respectfully stands before Herod.  He doesn’t attack him.  He doesn’t undermine him. He also doesn’t obey his every command.  He breaks no laws but he also doesn’t answer herod’s questions.  He doesn’t perform a miracle as herod hoped.  Due respect does not mean obeying every command.  There are times when Man’s laws violate God’s will.

Then Jesus is before Pilate who gets frustrated that Jesus is not speaking to him.  He says “Do you not know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?  Jesus answered You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above.”

Those were the last words Jesus spoke to Pilate face to face but they weren’t His last words on the matter.  When Jesus was on the cross he said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”  Jesus gave Herod and Pilate respect for their God given authority but he also loved them enough to forgive them and die for them.

Jesus loves you so much that he placed structures for your blessing.   He gave you a family with a parent to love you.  He gave you a church with Pastors and elders to look out for you.  He gave you a government that keeps the chaos at bay so you can live your life for the Lord.  What an awesome Lord and Savior!

By Grace through Faith 

Romans 12: True Community

Pastor Scott Jonas

Romans 12:9-13
September 3, 2017

When I attended a public college in California, God led me to a Christian Fraternity.  Most fraternities were started by Christians but over decades they have slipped away from the faith.  They are shells of their former self.  Alpha Gamma Omega, on the other hand, was a true Christian community.  We were thirty guys from every denomination Baptist, Catholic, greek orthodox, Presbyterian and me the token Lutheran.  I experienced real brotherhood in Christ.  We lived together, worshipped together, laughed together and studied God’s word together.  My brothers in Christ, stood next to me at my wedding to Ann, consoled me when I tore my knee ligament, encouraged me to go into churchwork and exhorted me when I messed up.  One of the requirements of joining the fraternity was memorizing and presenting Romans 12, our text for today. I have a special place in my heart for this chapter.  Our Lord hands it to us as a gift.

Romans 12 verses 9-13 “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[g] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

When you hear those words from God, how do you react?  Let love be genuine.  Abhor evil.  Cling to good, Love one another.  Out due one another.  Don’t be lazy.  Serve. Rejoice. Pray.  Contribute.  If we hear these words as the hammer of the Law then we cringe.  Not all of my love is genuine.  Sometimes I will like a story on twitter just because so I appear to care.  I will nod when someone recalls a national tragedy but I don’t do anything about it. Resisting evil is hard too.  It’s much easier to just ignore it or let someone else do the heavy lifting. Look at Jeremiah.  He abhorred evil and it became a full time calling.  Who has the time?  Loving others is exhausting.  I can be lazy.  How can I constantly be in prayer and get anything done?  I know I don’t contribute enough.  I can’t live up to these verses.  Can you?

It’s like Peter in our Gospel reading.   He wants to do the right thing.  Jesus says that he must die and Peter says “never Lord.”  He was probably thinking he would get a “Thanks Peter”, that’s really sweet of you.  Instead Jesus says “Get behind me Satan.”  Peter fails to live up to expectations again.

But Paul does not want us to despair.  He is not giving us the Law so to drive us to the Gospel.  He does not want us to read these words without context.  He has carefully prepared the church to understand these words with the 11 chapters that proceed it.  

In His letter to the Romans, Paul starts with the rebelliousness of humankind.  Men and women have been going against God’s design for humanity from the beginning.  This has led to a broken world, a torn apart community.  But Jesus Christ is bringing together the world through his work on the cross.  His life, death and resurrection is bringing peace to his creation.  It is bringing people together bit by bit.   The order of things has changed.  We are no longer a slave to the Law.  Instead we belong to the Spirit.  The Love of God is so powerful that it can reorder the universe.  The Lord has showed his restoration plan through Jesus.  The plan includes uniting Jews and Gentiles, men and women, old and young.  Jesus is bringing True community.

In Romans 12:1, Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God.”  Everything that comes after those words are to be put into that framework.  The mercies of God.  The Gospel.  The Cross.

The rest of Romans is not to be read solely as Law.  Do this.  Don’t do that.  Though that is a part of it.  Instead, Paul is painting a picture of true community. Imagine a community with genuine love.  Not people pretending to love but real love.  People aren’t acting a way because it is expected.  There is no hypocrisy.  Everything comes from the heart.  Imagine a community that hates the devil and all his works and all his ways but clings to beautiful things like baptism, family, friendship and love.  Imagine a community where you can see and feel the affection of the group.  People hug.  They call when they know that someone is sad.  They laugh easily and often.  Imagine a community where they compete to honor each other.  People standing at doors saying “After you, no after you.”  Fighting over who gets to invite the new person over for dinner.  The old honoring the young and the young honoring the old.

Imagine a community that is full of passion.  People get emotional because they care so much about Jesus and His church.  People cry when a member leaves.  People get upset when they see injustice.  This moves them to serve the Lord and make things better.  Imagine a community that rejoices in hope.  They are thrilled at what the future holds because God is good.  He has a plan to restore all things and they get to be a part of it.  They know the story ends perfectly but their part is a mystery day by day.  Makes it dramatic.  Imagine a community that was patient in tribulation.  They expected the world to be broken.  They were ready for Hurricanes that killed,  Politicians who lied and church family who  let them down.  Jesus warned them ahead of time.  It is normal but won’t last forever.  Imagine a community that constantly at prayer.  That’s impossible for one person but as a team someone was talking to God.  And when they weren’t praying, the Spirit was praying on their behalf and the Father’s ears were open.

Paul is saying imagine a community in which people consistently ask “What can I do to help?”  People are ready to unload a moving van or pull out their check book if someone in the group is in need.  Imagine a community where you always have a place to sleep even if you dont know the person.  Imagine.  Put the last two paragraphs  to John Lennon’s Imagine and I would like that song.

Paul is painting this picture of True community in the church.  With humans this picture will not be completed.  We cannot do this on our own.  But Jesus Christ is creating this picture.  He is making it happen.  Everything good in this church is from God.  It is not from us.  These words are a lot like Paul’s 13th chapter to the Corinthians.  Love is patient.  Love is kind.  Here he only uses three words as well.  The Love Genuine.  The Agape Genuine.  No verb.  It is not an imperitive, so it’s not a command.  Love Genuine.

Joel Osteen is a pastor in Houston.  Maybe you’ve heard of him.  He has written best sellers like “Youre Best Life Now.”  He reportedly has a net worth of $50 million.  He pastors a congregation of 20,000.  It is so large that they worship in an arena where the Houston Rockets used to play.  Many questioned Osteen’s decision to not make his church a refuge for Harvey victims.   His church has this great facility outside of Houston that could house temporary homeless but he declined.  Many outside the church are accusing Osteen of hypocrisy.  The church is supposed to be a community that cares about hurting people but they turned their back.  They let furniture stores and shopping malls provide hospitality instead.  People are really good at sniffing out hypocrisy.  We intuitively know that love is sincere.  True community is without hypocrisy.

The situation actually makes me take a look at myself.  If St. Louis was flooded would we open our doors to stranded people?  Would we welcome dirty, wet strangers to sleep in our sanctuary.  Would we adjust worship in order to save people?   I will not pile on Joel Osteen.  Instead I will say, “Brother, God is recreating the world in his image. It is beautiful.  Be a part of it.”

Sometimes God’s law is meant to be prophetic.  He is saying that he will accomplish what he is asking us to do.  For example, look at the Ten Commandments.  You shall have no other gods before me.  We can read that as God sternly looking at us, waging his finger and saying “You better not have any other Gods but me!”  But there is another way of looking at it.  You shall have no other gods before me is also a prediction.  There will come a day when you will have no other gods but me.  I will destroy the puny gods.  There will only be me, my people and creation.  All of it will be restored.  God is making that happen and when he returns we will have no other gods forever.  So too, God is forming us into a True community.  One day it will be complete.  There will be no hypocrisy, evil, laziness or tribulation.  It will be wiped away along with every tear.  Jesus will sign his painting and it will be complete.

This is also an aspirational picture.  We see it and want to be a part of it.  Maybe you’ve seen aspirational pictures on facebook.  A line of men, women that extends for blocks in Houston.  They look excited and ready to reach the front.  Are they waiting for food?  Water?  A place to sleep?  No.  They are waiting to volunteer.  Did you see that picture?  It motivates you to want to get in that line.  Or the picture of teenagers driving their boat to search for stranded people.  I wish I got to have an adventure like that.  I want to be on that boat.  Or the picture of the man carrying the woman and her baby.  That brings me to tears.  I want to be a part of that community that is saving people.  Don’t you?