Daily Liturgy and Scripture

Unifying his Jewish and non-Jewish audience further, Paul draws on Abraham: that circumcision (a tradition of the Jews) isn't their birthright, but faith is. Faith is something that everyone can have, and so the patriarch of the Jewish faith can be the father of all who believe in Jesus.

There was some pretty wild history between Jews and non-Jews from Paul's time in Rome. For a while, the Jews had been expelled from the city. If there were some returning now to be part of this new body of Christ, there were probably some leftover tensions. Paul aims to harmonize those two groups by pointing out that all are equal in the Kingdom of Jesus, and that faith is required of both Jew...

Having opened talking about how worship keeps our mind in the way of God, Paul now turns again to those who consider themselves righteous, just in cast that list at the end of the last chapter makes us think we're okay as long as we're better than someone else: obvious sins are not the only thing that distances us from God, there is a lengthy list for those who consider themselves to be ho...

As Paul opens Romans, he emphasizes the importance of worship, glorifying God. It's the thing that keeps our heart set on the things of God instead of our own way, pursuing paths of darkness when left to our own devices. God does not force us to do so, and our choice to worship him is our first step of faithfulness.

How do we determine those who should be in authority, in a Kingdom of Jesus that is about submitting to one another? Those who have wrestled with the reality of that Kingdom might be good choices. For Paul, that came in the form of physical struggle. For others, it may be working past easy answers to find the truth of Jesus's message.

Today starts the season of Lent, and Ash Wednesday is about the impact of our own sin and the cost of saving us that Christ paid on the cross, observed as Lent ends and Easter comes. We have a lesson from the king of Ninevah, who was not a Jew, demonstrating humility and repentance and leading his people to the same.

Paul seems to be knocking the legs out from under the bragging of "super apostles" by being a littlle sarcastic. Of course, he did go through extensive troubles, but he's 'acting the fool' because making your troubles into a humble brag is distracting from the cause of Christ.

Paul must have gotten some criticism. Bolder in letters than in person? It seems that he wants to discourage the believers from getting tied up in the drama of personality and keep their focus on expanding the gospel.

Sharing resoources between churches in the region was a way that the early Church came together, and Paul used this to establish the personality of this new kind of organization. Not in obligation or under threat like the rule under the Romans, but in love to one another.

Taking care of the body of Christ sometimes has practical implications, including money. This was one way that early believers could learn to be that body. "The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Transforming pain is not easy. We tend to think of God's working as being all positive, because God does indeed work to make things whole. There are still times when our distance from God, a product of our sin, produces the opposite feeling. The sorrow we feel for our sins is the work of the Holy Spirit, and this is also God.

The oddness of the Christian faith is outlined in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. In his previous chapter, he talked about being reconciled to one another to be the body of Christ. Now he moves to this section, talking about the struggles that form the faithful and the need to transform that pain through the life we share.

Paul's vision is on eternal life, but that doesn't start at death. Eternal life is a style of life, focused on Christ, aware of his sacrifice, with a new point of view.

It's almost as if Paul realized that he might have drawn too wide a contrast between the death of the Law and the life of the new covenant, so he comes back again to the foundation of it all: Jesus. The closeness we share with Christ is what sustains us through troubles, and resurrects us at the end of days.

The difference between the Old and New Testaments is literally life and death. Where the function of the law is to point out our sin, which leads to death, the Spirt which moves through the new covenant brings life.

If Paul‘s last letter to the Corinthians was more about community, and he is definitely starting this one out with a strong emphasis on Christ. Of course, there was plenty of Jesus throughout the last letter, but he comes out of the gates, with a clear indication for this letter: it is all about Jesus, and he is the foundation.

The collection for the Lord's people, which might have been another example of Paul's other references to an offering for the Jerusalem church, shows how connected the early church was even in the first century. The Spirit was their bond of love, but the practical bonds of taking care of one another were also highly important.

Paul's vision of resurrection, continued from yesterday's portion of this passge, gives a little more detail about how he sees resurrection happening. Perhaps the Corinthians needed more details. Paul uses the analogy of a seed, because death brings about a new kind of life very different from the seed. Resurrection will certainly bring about a very different life, as we follow Jesus even...

Resurrection might seem like an idea too wild to build a faith on, but it is that very supernatural event that gives Christianity its unique flavor. Not only that Jesus rose from the dead, but that he did so as a preview of our own future. God came to bring us to where God is, and resurrection is the way in which we will all get there.

Having addressed the use of tongues in the first part of the chapter, Paul now turns to more definitive picture of what worship should look like: orderly, corporate, and done together. No grandstanding from its members, but a corporate approaching of God together.

Is it possible to be "too spiritual"? The point of worship is certainly to come to God, but we also have to go there together, when we are worshiping together. What the Corinthians were doing speaking in tongues almost seems to have been a competition (hence Paul's sort of sarcastic ending), but they are coming down to earth thanks to the Apostle.

The things that bind us together in the body of Christ now come down to the most important one: love. This passage, one of the most famous sections of the Bible, is often quoted at weddings. It's not just for couples. The spirit of love that is between couples should also be between members of the body of Christ.

This passage is almost whimsical, having body parts talk to one another and even insult one another. Paul's point is solid, though: the Spirit equips the Body of Christ for its work, and that work takes on many forms. Hopefully, they can learn to work in harmony.

A lot of the content of this passage from 1 Corinthians is cultural, but the spirit holds for us today: when we are thinking of life in the body of Christ, we should be working to unify that body. This may mean changing habits or personal preferences a bit, because the point of life in the body is Jesus and not ourselves.

Paul continues instructions that help the Corinthians live better in community, and building one another up seems to be the theme. Questions of faith aren't merely "what does it do for me" issues, but are weighed against the good of the body. If we are the body of Christ, this is how we keep that body healthy.