Daily Liturgy and Scripture

Paul has spoken about what to avoid, now he comes back to the things that should be added: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. That's a good start, anyway. If we are citizens of the Kingdom of the Prince of Peace, then imitating him is what we work at making second nature.

Paul has talked about departing the union of the Law, now he comes back to the union that exists in its place: Christ. In Christ, there is no racial or national division, all are brought together under that new reality. It the Kingdom of Jesus, unity brings about shared lives that set aside a scheming plan to get everything for yourself and is replaced with love of neighbor.

Paul is making some pretty radial statements for someone who used to tow the line as a Pharisee. Upending the rigid rules surrounding festivals and Sabbaths in lieu of the better future in Christ is truly an indication of where Paul has come. If Christ is the King of Kings, the ruler over every authority, then anything else really is a shadow.

Paul places the church at an interesting intersection: the mystery that is Christ has been hidden for ages, but now becomes revealed to this people. That's pretty exciting. Not only is Christ with his people, the Spirit moving them; also the hope of glory has come.

Bartholomew is an apostle about whom very little is known. Some traditions say that he carried the Gospel to India, but that is not documented in the Bible. Perhaps many of us might actually take a little joy in his mostly unknown story: even those of us who may not be all-stars like Peter and Paul still have a place in God's story.

Paul closes with a call to peace and harmony, also acknowledging how difficult that can be. Taking care of one another, from practical needs to the finer points of forgiveness, is one of the defining characteristics of life in the Kingdom of Jesus, and should define us as well.

"We are the circumcision." Paul is talking about belonging here. The Jewish people circumcised their infants to show that they were part of their community, but now there is a new way of doing things. Christ has formed his community to belong to one another, and the Spirit that bonds it together is stronger than any mark of the flesh.

Paul, writing from prison, continue some pretty specific admonition for the church in Philippi. Pastors like Timothy and caregivers like Epaphroditus were critical to Paul's mission and had connections to the young church which would have probably felt like family. We all need people like that: spiritual sons and daughter, fathers and mothers.

We worship Jesus, and we seek to be more like him. This gives us an insight into loving others that is unique. It also brings us closer to the heart of God, which is another point of worship.

It takes a special kind of faith to remain faithful in hard times, and that defines Paul. This book of the Bible was a prison letter written by the apostle after haing been arrested, and his faith in God to keep the church alive and well is obvious. Even more than that, Paul is willing to offer himself up to advance the Gospel if necessary.

Short passage from Philippians today, but there's a really important theological nugget right in front of us: God is at work. If God is at work, we can always be confident that the work is good, and that it will complete in God's time. We, like Paul, can look beyond our immediate circumstances to the bigger picture of what our Lord is doing.

Paul has been working in ideas, but now he works with real people. In the closing of this letter, we see Jews, Greeks, and Romans who made up the early church. Women and men. The Kingdom of Jesus was formed of all types, and that remains true today.

This little section of Romans establishes one thing: Paul has not been to the Roman church. This makes the letter to the Romans pretty unique, because it is written to a group of people he had not met before, to a church that he did not start. (They were not all strangers, no doubt he knew someone in the church, because the letter had to go to someone.) This is a good indication of the growth of t...

Bound together in Christ: that is what the Kingdom is. As the Old Testament scripture finds fulfillment in him, so does the love shown among his people.

Paul has been building the picture of the body of Christ, diverse in all its parts. Now he talks about grace. Having a little patience and allowing difference in practice was perhaps best summed up in a quote that has been attributed to several theologians: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." Whoever said this definitely had Paul's vision in mi...

When Paul talks about the new Kingdom under Jesus, he doesn't talk about one that exists outside the current world. The people of the Spirit are in the world, bringing Jesus into the places where they are, not outside that system. Given that angle, we are still subject to worldly rulers and expected to do things like pay taxes.

Paul has spent a lot of Romans talking about how to bring together believers from different backgrounds (such as Jew and non-Jew), and now he turns to unify those believers in a single purpose: to form the body of Christ. Serving one another and showing love is not a rule, but a way of life. There is room for grace, and the Spirit is our guide.

Paul keeps drawing the unifying trait that brings Jews and Gentiles together in the Kingdom of Jesus, and here he seems to be a little playful, talking about how God made the Jews jealous by including the Gentiles. That may have actually been a sensitive topic in Rome, where Jews and Gentiles made up the church together. Whatever the tone, the end result is the same: God makes his church from all...

"Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." This passage lands right on the fusion of the two testaments of the Bible. What the law did in the old, Jesus completes and continues in the new. Now there is new life through the creator and give of life itself.

Paul is using a lot of Biblical connections in this passage, but central to the theme is the sovereignty of God in making his people, without regard to birthright. What God started with a promise to Abraham, he made complete with Jesus. Faith is the key, and Jesus is the way.

How far does the Kingdom of Jesus go? Through all things, redeeming all creation. His resurrection is an early preview of our own future, but the world will go with us. In the end, God will make all things new as Jesus was made new. Nothing can separate us from this promise if we are part of that Kingdom.

What does life in the Spirit do? More than just give us a great place to spend eternity. In the here and now, life in the Spirit is the Kingdom of Christ on earth as it is in heaven. This is what Paul works out for Christians in Rome who might have been struggling with their theology.

Jesus's transfiguration was symbolic. Meeting with Elijah and Moses, he came together with the historic figures for the law and the prophets. With their departure and Jesus being left alone, the law and prophets have not dissolved. Both are still an important part of God's story. In the Kingdom of Jesus, both have found fulfillment in him.

Since Paul has spent the last few chapters upending the Jewish view of law and obedience, he needs to connect obedience back to life in Christ. Not that we have been give a free pass to do what we want, but that living in Christ is living LIKE Christ. Of course, none of us can be fully like Christ until the resurrection, but in the meantime, it is our job to bring that Kingdom on earth as it is in...

There's some pretty great theology in this passage, and actually pretty simple. Maybe a good way to sum it up might be, "If the best the law had to offer us was a way to to correct the path of Adam, then the best Jesus has to offer us is the news that it's not longer about the path, it's about him." Being slaves to sin was something God always meant to free us from, and the l...