Daily Liturgy and Scripture

The connection we have with Christ is unbreakable, because it was made by Christ himself. But what is it for? Certainly we have eternal security, but that isn’t meant to be some secret, personal possession that we keep to ourselves. It is a shared bond among the entire body of Christ, and draws new additions by the power of the Spirit.

Eternal life isn’t just a bonus we get when we die. It’s part of the life we live now. The Spirit that raised Jesus is that very spirit of life, and the spirit’s purposes should be played out as we join with God to bring glimpses of the Kingdom now. The passage from 1 Samuel today is a great example of that otherness. Sometimes, it’s so easy for us to choose what comes naturally to our own thinkin...

Why was The Transfiguration necessary? Certainly it was more than a good show. It was a combining of symbols. Moses represented the law, Elijah represented the prophets. They were cornerstone in Israel’s history. When they leave, it’s just Jesus. Why? Because he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. They are not destroyed, but made complete in the life of Christ.

Slaves of God instead of slaves to sin? As Paul continues laying out what the church looks like, he’s made a real progression. Jews and Gentiles equalized by the cross, doing nothing of their own accord, saved only by Christ… but now we are slaves to righteousness? It’s difficult to imagine being drawn to righteousness in the same way we’re drawn to sin, but the good news is that it’s still not ou...

If anything we did were to bring about God’s salvation, it would be incomplete. Only God’s initiative to our sinfulness would fully recover us. This is where Christ did the work we could never do: by God becoming man, being obedient to God, and dying in our place. Paul’s placement of Christ at the center of our salvation leaves no room for any other explanation, and we could have never done enough...

Paul continues his explanation that through Christ, Jew and Gentile are now the same. This time, he goes backwards, beyond Abraham: how was Abraham set right before God if there was no law? It was his faith, and this is once again the place that Christ enables us to be. 

Paul seems to be running down his fellow Jews pretty hard, but his point isn’t just to insult the Jews. Instead, he is trying to show his readers that all are now equal under the cross. The Jews and the law are not to be forgotten, because Jesus was also a Jew, and he fulfilled the law. But holding onto the first half of God’s covenant won’t do. Now it’s about Jesus, and all people are included un...

Paul continues to outline the difference between those in Christ and those outside, and he isn’t giving Israel a free pass. Paul has certainly been down that road himself, since he was among the elite of Jewish leadership, and now he gets pretty blunt: that’s not enough. Obedience to God is the key, not just a birthright connected to Abraham. Being God’s chosen people is a big deal, but the chosen...

As we start Romans today, we are getting into a letter written by Paul to a church he had never visited. He talks a lot about that as he opens, as well as his desire to see them at last. Then, never one to mince words, Paul dives into a pretty important topic: the critical need to pursue the things of God instead of our own wisdom. He draws some pretty specific lines as he sets this letter up, but...

As he closes the letter, Paul isn’t messing around. He has discussed the insults against him, he has even taken on the personal of those insults. He has pleaded, he has reminded them of his connection to Christ. Now he tells them it’s time to clean up their act, cast off the old ways that they knew before they were in Christ. (This also seems like a pretty good indication of the difference between...

Whatever his critics said of Paul, it must have really hurt him. You can almost hear the pleading in his voice as he has come past the, “fine I’ll pretend to be what they say I am” part, now to the, “come one guys. Are you going to make me say it? Can’t you see how much I’ve done for you?” Perhaps the fact that he keeps insisting that he asked for no money means the false apostles asked for a lot,...

Paul's critics apparently tried to convince the Corinthian church that he was a fool, so he decided to embrace it. Then he turns it: their attacks are nothing but boasting, and he boasts only in Christ. If Christ isn't the message and the foundation, we wind up looking quite foolish indeed.

It’s a narrow road to walk, trying to follow the humble Christ but claim authority as a leader. Paul finds a pretty good standard: leave the focus on Christ. It certainly doesn’t help us out if we’re trying to be the most Holy (Jesus definitely always wins), but if Christ is the message and the way, it should be our default choice. If we’re always pointing the way to Christ, we’re not taking the t...

There is a thread that runs throughout the passage from 1 Samuel and 2 Corinthians: obedience. Remember when Saul decided to make his own sacrifices because Samuel was late? Now he’s amending God’s commands on the battlefield. His refusal to be obedient as God’s chosen leader meant that he long longer WAS God’s chosen leader. Somewhat less dramatically, Paul wants the Corinthian church to give to...

The men that Jesus called to walk with him on earth shared a unique opportunity that would never be duplicated. The Kingdom was coming, and they had front-row seats. As we remember James today, the passage from Mark reminds us of his calling. He and his brother recklessly abandoned what they were doing to find a better way. These were also the same apostles who asked to sit at the right and left o...

Showing “tough love” should not be administered with fury. Paul sums it up pretty well in this sentence: “I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways.” This should be the goal, but there must be love attached to the administration. Certainly not all of us have the discretion of an apostle, so we should always be very careful when we’...

This letter from Paul is more than just a reminder of the church's life in Christ, and our life in the body. It's also an answer to challenges to Paul's authority who must have descended upon the Corinthian church. There were hints of this earlier, but now Paul is starting to address it more directly. He also reminds the young church of his love for them, and asks for that love to be returned. Chu...

We have something in common with Mary: we have been forgiven much. Do our lives show that? Is anyone every going to wrong us in the way we have wrong Christ, but been forgiven? The stance of someone who feels their forgiveness is different from someone who doesn’t feel like they need it. As we remember Mary today, let us adopt her approach instead of Simon the Pharisee’s.

Do we really believe that God holds us safe in his arms? Paul certainly did. We are like fragile jars that hold a great treasure, the light of Christ. It is not ours to keep, but to share. If we are being transformed, we are becoming more and more like Jesus. As that happens, the treasure we hold re-aligns our view of trouble and hardship.

As a Pharisee, Paul was an expert in Jewish law. As he reforms his theology around Christ, he doesn’t throw away the entire Hebrew body of scripture. Instead, he takes what he knows of Old Testament and uses it to frame Christ as the completion of that promise. What Moses had, we now have as believers in Christ. The Spirit that rested on him but faded after a time lives with us continuously. For a...

The sense of community in this second letter to the Corinthians is unmistakable. He starts with something we might expect: your sufferings can help others. Comfort can be passed along. Then he comes back to something far more difficult. In essence, he says, “that guy that hurt us? It’s time to help him heal.” Anyone who has gone through a church split or endured opposing groups within a church kno...

While Paul is known as a great teacher and theologian, it’s kind of refreshing to read him take care of practical matters. (I’m paraphrasing here) “Help other churches financially. I hope I can stay a while. Don’t be mean to Timothy. Thank God for these three guys who picked up where you Corinthians left off. It’s great to be encouraged.” The church isn’t just a lot of people with their heads in t...

Bodies are important in the resurrection. Sometimes it’s easy to think that we have a spirit living in our body is anxious to get out and get away, but that’s not what Paul teaches. While our current bodies can’t live forever, those in Christ will get another one. Judging from what Jesus was able to do after his resurrection, it might actually be a lot of fun!

Resurrection is a promise God has made his people, shown to be true by Jesus being raised from the dead first. All our hope is in Jesus, and resurrection is a big part of that. Paul agrees in this verse, saying that if there is no resurrection, it’s all a big waste of time. Of course, it’s not. Christ was indeed raised from the dead, and we have the same future to look forward to.

God is the God of order, not of chaos. Worship services, according to Paul, should follow this rule. It makes sense, because who among us wouldn’t make extensive plans if they were welcoming a famous celebrity into their house? Perhaps we are too familiar with God’s faithful presence, so we don’t think of it as being particularly special in any given worship service. But indeed it is, and we shoul...