I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
The past few weeks I have made a point to encourage us to use context as we read scripture. To observe more than the mere words within the passage, but to also consider the rest of the book, and even scriptures outside the book. Not just scripture, but also culture and history. It is even important to understand science, contemporary spiritual practices both inside and outside Hebrew influence. We need to do this because the writers of scripture were inspired to write within a historic and cultural context. The words were written to encourage and inspire those of their age, as well as us today.
This is significant when we consider the passages associated with eschatology. Imagine for a moment if the prophets of ancient times were only speaking of events that were to occur 3 to 4 thousand years in the future. Would the people of that age be able to recognize them as sacred texts, or would they only see them as the ravings of a mad man? The words were primarily for their time and place, but also allude to something more. But this something more, these future events, were understandable within their context.
I bring eschatology up not because this passage speaks of it, but because sometimes our thoughts on eschatology permeate through our lives to such a degree that our primary focus is on the end instead of the present. We are not called to merely prepare for that great day, but as we prepare we are to live today. We are to work, teach, serve, and share now.
Before we move on we do need to consider the context of our passage. When we look at the letter to the Romans we often assume that this was a letter written to the people of Rome. We are not wrong, but we sometimes forget what Rome was. Rome was the capital of an empire. There were people from every corner of the empire living within this city. There were representatives from the provinces of Africa, from the Central Europe, from Spain, and from across the lands surrounding the Mediterranean basin. There were also envoys from other lands. Envoys from the Persian remnant, diplomats from Ethiopia, merchants from the Far East, and even traders traveling down the rivers of Eastern Europe and Russia across the seas. Rome was not a homogeneous community but diverse.
The church within Rome was also diverse. There was a large Jewish population within Rome and many of them responded to the gospel along with those from the gentile nations. This is why Paul exerted such energy and thought to explain the reality of the grace of God. The church at this time did not have the scriptures that we have today. What they did have were the writings of the Old Testament, but they did not have the Hebrew scripture, they had the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. And because they had only the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, those are the scriptures that were used and recognized within the ancient churches.
When I was a child I was often taught that the Catholic Church added books to the bible. They are not wrong in that teaching, but they are not correct either. The Catholic Church added the New Testament, but they were not the only church that did so. The Church of Antioch, Ethiopia, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Alexandria also added the New Testament. These however are not the book we are speaking of. Protestants frequently say that the Church of Rome added the Apocrypha, or the deuterocanonical books. These book were part of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, so they were not added, instead they were already part of the Jewish community that lived outside Judea. The reason they are not included in our Protestant bibles is because during the reformation the leaders of the Protestant churches wanted only the books that were represented in the accepted Hebrew text. The texts they used, the Masoretic text, was only accepted around the 7th century of our current age, seven hundred years after the church began. One could argue that the Masoretic texts, could have been made in opposition to the church just as much as one could argue that the text was the Hebrew Bible used within Jerusalem.
So when Paul was writing to the church of Rome, everyone present only knew the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. The understanding that both the Jews and the Gentiles had of scripture was from those first century era of history. They believed that the nations were divided among lessor deities, under the leadership of the one true God. And that the entire purpose of the Messiah was to bring all people back to that one true God. As we saw within Psalm 138. “I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise.”
Paul wanted both the Jews and the Gentiles of Rome to know the reality of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. It was not merely to make all people Jewish. It was to bring all people, all religions, all of humanity back to the place they were created to be. Restored to an Edenic existence, where all humanity lived as image bearers of that one true God.
The context is important. The people were reading the Greek translations. Books like Tobit, where a righteous man living in exile was given a quest by the angel Raphael. Or the book of Judith where a Jewish widow interacts and saves her people from the invading Assyrian army. These book gave those people living in exile hope, they provided direction and identity to people of faith living in exile. They often provided a bridge between the various cultures and allowed the righteous to live their faith in a problematic time. This is what Paul is getting at. All of humanity is in exile. All of humanity is living lives of faith as outsiders within an immoral worldly based context. Not only the people of Hebrew heritage but all people. And some of these people have been in exile even longer.
God does not repent of his calling of Israel, he needed them as the one people through whom he would reveal himself, but the ultimate goal was not merely Israel but everyone. And everyone that calls upon the name of Jesus will be shown mercy and grace.
He spent eleven chapters building up to this point. Drawing on language of the Law, or the teachings of God, to unify the church. We are not Jews and Greeks, but we are a spiritual family united under the one true God. And because we are one people, present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
I want us to slow down and consider this for a moment. I have just presented a bunch of historical context that we may not have been aware of. But what Paul is telling us is that everything we do should be devoted to honoring God. Every word we speak should be laced with encouragement and grace. Every time we go to work our actions should be reflecting the devotion we have to God. When we interact with people around us our mind should not be focused on the things our world focus on, instead our thoughts should be devoted to bringing honor to God.
We are to be living. But not just living, we are also to be sacrifices. I want you to consider this. Most sacrifices are not living. Instead, their life is given to bring honor and signify devotion to the deity being worshiped. Our life is to be given. It is not our own everything we do, and every aspect of who we are should be directed to give honor to God. If you call on the name of Jesus, you are no longer living to yourself. You belong to God. You are set apart for a different purpose.
Paul then continues, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
As I was studying this week, I opened a translation of the New Testament I forgot I purchased. It is called the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. This translation was formulated by a group of pastors ministering to various native cultures throughout North America. They wanted to present a translation of scripture into the context of their people. At first, we might think this is heretical, but I want us to consider how we learned about God. Very few of us know Greek, each of us listen from our own cultural context. We explain the gospel to children in language they understand. We do not use words they are unaware of like, “propitiation.” because most adults do not even understand that word to mean atonement. It goes over our heads.
This team of translators present it like this:
“So then, my sacred family members, because Creator has shown us such mercy and kindness, I now call on you to offer your whole beings, heart, mind, and strength, to the Great Spirit as a living sacrifice. Do this in a sacred and spiritual manner that will make his heart glad. Do not permit the ways of this world to mold and shape you. Instead, let Creator change you from the inside out, in the way a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He will do this by giving you a new way of thinking, seeing, and walking. Then you will know for sure what the Great Spirit wants for you, things that are good, that make the heart glad, and that help you to walk the path of becoming a mature and true human being.”
(Romans 12:1-2 FNV)
I sat reflecting on this passage from that perspective. I then considered what I knew of the various indigenous people groups. Their culture was not always like the cultures of European people, and neither are the cultures of Africa or Asia. I might not understand their culture, but that does not mean that they do not have some understanding that I do not have. I looked at these words from that perspective. And I was no longer looking at it systematically. Often European minded cultures look at everything from the rule of law perspective. We have hierarchies, departments, economies, and philosophies. We interpret everything from that western perspective. But that is not how everyone lives. The indigenous people of North America had a different rhythm of life. Their focus was on different aspects. Often their life revolved around survival of the community instead of individuality. They look at their place within a larger creation, and instead of conquest they instead strive to be a true human.
My understanding of their various cultures is lacking for sure, but this gave me pause. It challenged me to consider the words of Paul from a perspective that I was not used to. And I found it encouraging.
What happens to a group of people migrating around the prairies of Kansas and Missouri if those within the tribe are self-centered instead of focusing on the community? They will die. It is not a question of if, but when. There are so many factors in life that we cannot possibly be completely self-sufficient. When one person begins to become selfish, another person goes hungry. When one person demands the skins from the hunt, someone is left without clothing. When we become selfish we leave within visible sight someone without. What will eventually happen if we allow this to continue? We become weak. We become fractured. We become greedy. If the tribe continues down that path, how will they survive the winter? How will they respond to other tribes seeking harm?
Present yourself as a living sacrifice, Paul says, give yourself to something greater, something beyond yourself. Do not be shaped or molded by the ways of this world. This world is often devoted to sin. If we go back to the lives of Cain and Abel we see this. Cain was not accepted and Abel was. Cain wanted to be accepted, but he wanted it on his own terms. And God said to Cain if you do well will you not be accepted? That is the way of the world. We want things on our terms. We want it our way. We could not care less what anyone else thinks or feels as long as I have what I want.
It is short-sighted. And leads to destruction. God’s teaching his law is not for that short-sighted life. A few months ago I came across a discussion on the kosher dietary laws. The one presenting stated that we are not given a reason as to why certain foods are considered clean and unclean. So he explored possible reasons. Many of the reasons mentioned I had thought of, but there was one take that made me stop what I was doing to think. He said could it be that pork was unclean because there was only one reason to raise pork? Pork did not have multiple uses throughout its life like other animals. Sheep produce wool every year. So there is value while they live as well as value at the end of their life. Cattle also have multiple uses. They can be used as draft animals, for their milk, and at the end of their life meat and leather. But what is the use of swine? They are raised for one purpose and that is to eat. The point the presenter was making is God’s law in many cases was focused on continued existence, and not merely for short-sighted survival.
We can then look at other teachings within the law. How was Israel encouraged to build their dwellings? How were they supposed to handle mildew, and skin diseases? How were they to interact with individuals from other nations? Each of these laws point to something greater. Some laws have scientific explanations. Where some show us how to effectively assimilate others within our culture. But each of them teach us how to be true human beings.
Are we thinking about that type of life. A life lived to bring honor and glory to God while we live in service and ministry to others? This is the life and lifestyle that Jesus taught. He made it his custom to worship with the community. He often withdrew to pray in isolated places. And he would minister to the needs of the people. Providing healing to those with various diseases, feeding those without food, and providing teachings to draw us into a deeper understanding of life with God.
In all of this Jesus was encouraging us to explore where we fit and how we can become a blessing to others instead of living a life of self-centered consumption. Paul then expands on that thought as he writes to the people living in Rome. “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
He then speaks of us being one part of a greater body. And how each of us have different skills and gifts to bring health and wellness to that body. The point is that we have been blessed with incomes, with skill, with abilities, ideas, and many other things. We have been blessed, but that blessing is to be shared. The blessing, gifts, and our abilities are only fully enjoyed if we utilized them to benefit those around us.
What good is a painting if it is locked away in a closet? What good is being able to bake the best bread if it is never shared with another? How are we to enjoy a song that is never sung? Or find a use for a technology invented if that technology is never built? And how do we help others whose lifestyles are changed when new technologies render their gifts less useful?
We must give and share our abilities. If we do not put ourselves out there for others, there is no nation, there is no economy, there is nothing of value, and we are no more than animals looking for our next meal. We are not true human beings unless we live for others.
“If your gift is to speak the heart and mind of the Great Spirit, in a prophecy, then let trust guide your words. If your gift is helping others, then give yourself to help others. If teaching is your gift, teach well. If your gift is to speak courage and strengthen the hearts of others, then speak bravely. The one whose gift is giving should not hold back. If your gift is leading, lead with honor. And the one whose gift is showing mercy and kindness to others should do so freely, with a glad heart!”
(Romans 12:6-8 FNV)
Let us be a people united in Christ. Let us encourage one another to use the things God has given us well. And let us become a blessing to the world around us. Let us live our lives in such a way that people see that there is a better way to live. One that give hope to the hopeless, help to the needy, and mercy to the afflicted. Let us become a people of blessing, instead of a nation of condemnation. Let us become living sacrifices devoted to the things of God and a people loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. Let us not seek the end but to live for Christ now and until we take our last breath.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 23, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 12:1–8 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 16, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 08, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Last week we spoke about how from the beginning God counted humanity as the elect over creation. This might have caused some of you to think I had…
I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
Since I have been pastor here at Willow Creek we have been using the lectionary. I have given my reasons, one reason is because it is a three-year cycle of scripture readings that give a decent overview of the entire bible. There some limits though. If we stay with the lectionary readings we will not read much of the minor prophets, and it is possible that it will start feeling like I just repeat myself. I do repeat myself. I will largely speak out of the Gospels because I think the words that the apostles remember Jesus saying are very important. Then there was a year when I used only the Old Testament readings. I did this because I felt that there was some background information missing from many of the contemporary teachings I was seeing online and hearing on the radio. The problem with the Old Testament readings, is there is so much history and context that we just do not fully understand. I would spend hours and days reading and studying. I would follow rabbit trails through various word studies and commentaries, and then I would realize that our meeting for Worship was in eight hours and I had not written anything yet.
The main reason I started using the lectionary is that I know who I am. I know my weaknesses and I know that I am easily distracted. I do not have sermon series planned out for the next year like some pastors. I often wish I was like those types of pastors. It would make things so much easier if I only knew what I was going to do. But that is not me. My leadership style is almost like an amoeba. I just flow around and if I like something it becomes the next best thing, but if I do not like it I put up my defenses.
You might be surprised to know that this little Meeting is frequently marveled about at the Yearly Meeting office. I have been asked on multiple occasions what I have been doing over the past sixteen years. Because when I started many in the Yearly Meeting were sure that this meeting would have closed, yet we did not. Instead, we began to grow little by little. Our outlook began to change little by little. Instead of being one of the Meetings they worried about they began asking what we would do. The problem is I do not have a clue.
What have we done? We adapt. We listen to what the needs are, and we make honest attempts at meeting the needs. Do we get it wrong. Absolutely, but we do it together. We flow and adapt to what is going on around us. And we become what we need to be at that moment.
Back to the lectionary. I began using this list of passages sixteen years ago, because we have multiple people picking music. At times some of them want to know in advance what passage I am going to use. So the question came up, and I simply said, I will use the lectionary and if I do not tell you specifically, we will default to the Gospel reading.
It has worked well. For sixteen years those picking music can look through the lectionary, and they will know a general idea of what scripture I will be using, and they can pick songs accordingly. The interesting thing about this, I have always thought the lectionary readings have been the right verses for that Sunday. In sixteen years, I have spoken on some pretty hard topics, and yet they have been what needed.
Which brings us to today’s passage. Last Sunday I said that we would be gifted with what was necessary at that moment. This is a very Quakerly perspective on the spiritual life. When we began as the religious society of Friends, our spiritual ancestors would meet together wherever they were on any day of the week. They believed that every day was given to us by the Lord, and that each day should be lived to honor God. They did not always meet on First days, they did not necessarily meet on the 7th day either. Those early Friends would travel around the countryside, make an announcement, and people would come. They would meet in silence, waiting on the Spirit of Christ to move them to speak, and they would respond accordingly. They did not prepare a message, like I do. They just spoke.
I have often thought about that. I have been pretty harsh to myself for not having that level of faith. I would love to just come in and speak. I have done that during midweek services. I do that with the students during bible study. Sometimes we do not even get to the study I intended on doing because the questions that they have asked were too important, so we discuss them. But on Sunday, I am compelled to write everything down. It was only after our Congolese Friends started attending that I realized why this was happening. Our Friends came, and we as a meeting had to figure our how to respond. It was suggested that we provide some form of translation so that they could participate more fully. I did not want to put extra pressure on them, so I thought about different options.
In the writing software there is a translation tool where we can translate a document with a click of a button. I did not know anything about it at first. I did not even know it existed, because just a few years ago it did not exist. But not long after they started attending that feature was added to my document program. I wrote everything down because God knew sixteen years ago that we would need to translate everything today. It was not failure. It was preparation and being obedient even when understanding was not there.
Paul in today’s passage speaks of something similar. All through this letter to the Romans, Paul struggles with some fairly deep thoughts. He speaks of Israel, justification by faith, predestination, living by faith, and pretty much any other theological concept you can think of. But the past couple of weeks he has tackled the disparity between Israel and the faith of the Gentiles.
Is Israel saved because of their heritage? Do we need to become like Israel? Are Gentiles really saved? Is it necessary for all people to come to God through Jesus, or is there another way?
I want us to think about these things for a moment. Israel is important, but we need to keep the context. Israel has never, even in their golden age under King David, been a global superpower. They have always been this seemingly tiny nation at the crossroads of empires. This seemingly insignificant nation ends up at the center of many things. If we think about the great empires of the Ancient world, nearly all of them dealt with this tiny nation. And they had to, Israel was at the center of the available trade routes accessible to those empires.
I am someone that like to watch and keep track of various archeological findings. I actually subscribe to the Biblical Archaeological Review. And my dream vacation is to go on a dig somewhere in the lands mentioned within scriptures. The problem there are those types of trips are few and far between, and no one I know thinks that working in the arid sun all day digging in the dirt sounds like a vacation.
The thing is as these archeologists have conducted their various digs, they are finding things they did not expect. In Egypt, they are finding things from as far away as China. In India, they are finding things from Greece. They are evening finding bronze that contains tin sourced in Wales, that is found in the land that should have been ancient Persia. These things are changing our understanding of the world. We once thought that every culture was isolated, now we realize that there was ancient global trade. Some scholars have even gone so far as to suggest that the ancient world might have had trade routes to the Americas, because of the plants and seeds they have found. We have these global trade routes, but right in the middle of all the empires is Israel. A small inconsequential nation every culture must pass through to trade with the other empires.
Even before Israel existed, God chose them. God created this people from one couple who were unable to bear children. He called out to them while they lived in Ur, which we are finding out was a major city in the first great empire, Sumer. This empire is spoken of in the book of Job, the friends of Job come from all the major centers within this empire. And eventually those great cities form their own nations and cultures. But God selected for himself, not Egypt, not India, not Assyria, not even Sumer. He chose Abraham, a single man and his wife Sara. He called out to them to leave their family and their nation and to go out to a land he would give to them. They went. They trusted God. He said to them that they would be the parents of many nations, and that their descendants would be the light to all nations. Yet Sara was nearing ninety years old, and a child was not yet born. God promised Abraham, and Sarah laughed. And their small nation eventually did sit at the center of empires.
God made a promise, and God kept that promise. They did not understand at the time, yet God was working all things out according to his purposes.
In today’s passage Paul says, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” I sat with this passage this week and I struggled. Last week I said that we will be gifted with the things necessary at that time, and at other times those gifts may not be necessary. And then I read this, and I was thinking I had misspoken.
I began to look deeper. I looked at this word, “Irrevokable” and suddenly theological positions of many traditions came crashing in at once. Can Israel be saved apart from Christ? Is it absolutely necessary for Israel as a nation to exist? These are arguments that are thrown around in our current era. There are some that believe that the current war between Iran, Israel, and the United States is a divinely sanctioned conflict that must occur, and if we say otherwise we are rejecting God. And many of these arguments are made because of this word used in this verse, “Irrevocable.”
I looked in the various translations I have, and I consistently saw the word irrevocable. Nearly every modern translation gave the same reading. I looked at this word, and the first thing I saw was that normally this word is not translated as Irrevocable, instead it is translated to mean something like without remorse or regret. The ones that did not translate it that way was the New Jerusalem Bible, which is a Catholic translation, and the King James Version. In the New Jerusalem Bible it says, “There is no change of mind on God’s part about the gifts he has made or of his choice.” And the King James says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
To me the New Jerusalem Bible and the King James are more accurate in this case. But it bothered me to see that nearly every translation I looked at said irrevocable. I began looking even deeper. This word is used twice in the New Testament, once it is translated as irrevocable and the other time it is translated as without remorse. That did not help. So I opened the theological dictionary of the New Testament. This is a book where people write their entire doctoral thesis on one word, and they follow nearly every use of the world in known writings. Even here it seemed as if the vast majority of the usage of this word focused on without regret. But there was one usage in a decree during the early church era, where irrevocable was the proper translation. The leader of a city was calling for the end of violence, saying that anyone that would continue the violence against this certain group of people would face swift and harsh punishment. This punishment was irrevocable, because peace within the city was required.
I sat with these things in my mind. I looked at the notes scholars gave for their translation choice and I understood. The point is that God did not revoke his promises. He made the promise to Israel. And that promise will continue. It does not matter if they believe or not. God will stand by his word. But I still struggle with the translation. It suggests on the surface that Israel is saved because they are God’s chosen people. No matter what they do, God will forgive them. This is problematic because Israel is not perfect. Scripture is filled with examples of their kings honoring God as well as their leaders participating in idolatry. They were even judged and sent into exile. Does this mean that God was denying his own promise? And if we look at contemporary things, can we speak out against actions perpetuated by the nation of Israel, or is that being anti-sematic?
This does not mean that Israel is saved apart from Jesus. It only means that God will not remove the promise given, he will not change his mind. He is without remorse. Even though Israel often failed to live up to their end of the covenant, God will continue to preserve them as a people. And we see this throughout history. Israel remains. This seemingly insignificant nation has survived countless exiles, genocides, persecutions, and they still remain. They remain, not because they are perfect. No they remain because God is merciful and just.
Israel exists not because they are perfect, not because they deserve it, they exist and remain in existence because they are the people through whom God fulfills his promise to the entire world. They were chosen and God does not have regret for making that choice. He does not remove that promise because they failed. They are chosen because they were unlikely. God made them a people, he established them as a nation. He placed them in the land that sat on the crossroads of the entire world, and through them, he revealed his teachings, and his son.
But what does their gift, and the promise made to them reveal to us?
“For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.”
This is an enigmatic passage. It almost feels as if Paul is double speaking but once we wrestle with it once we are able to understand the conflict within it opens up to us.
God does not revoke his promise to Israel. He has preserved them in spite of themselves. Over the past few weeks I have had people send me messages saying to me that I should be careful with my words in this area, and I understand where they are coming from. When I say that Israel is not saved apart from Christ, it does sound as if I am being anti-sematic like so many religieuse leaders in the past have been. But I do not have any ill will to them as a people. I thank them for their history, and for the steadfast presence and faithfulness throughout history. But that does not mean that they are always right.
I love a great many people that I do not agree with. I believe in the sanctity of life. I believe that every person is created in the image of God. I hold my position, and I respect the position of others that do not share my belief. Some do not understand how or why I do this, but it is easy. I respect them because they have their own mind. I cannot convince them to change their mind without giving them a reason to. My pro-life position does not stop at birth, I am pro-life which means that I believe that every human being is an image bearer and because of that they have dignity and should be respected. It does not matter their social standing, religious background, nation of origin or any other definition we place to divide people. Every human being is an image bearer and has dignity because God loves them. And because they have dignity and are loved by my God, they should be treated with the same dignity that is given to each of us. Every baby has a right to be live, every child has a right to live, every immigrant, every enemy, every theoretical extraterrestrial has a right to life. Guess what everyone has some opposition to my beliefs.
Why even bring this up? Paul spent the past few chapters speaking about the promises to his own people, and where we as Gentiles find our place in that history. We do not replace Israel, nor does Israel have salvation in any other way except through the full revelation of God in Jesus. Each of us are held accountable to the knowledge we have. Paul says, “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”
“Prone to wander Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love,” the hymn writer once wrote. We are each prone to disobedience. Everyone everywhere is shut out, and separated from God. But wait Paul said that nothing could separate us from the love of God. This is true. God loves, that is his nature. God provided for each person a way to return to him. That way is irrevocable. It comes through the promise of God to Israel, and ultimately through Jesus. We can either reject the love God has for us or we can accept it on his terms. God does not regret the choices he made, nor does he repent of it. That is the way, the only way. Anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus will receive mercy.
Yet we still wander. Every single day we go back and forth. Every day we struggle. Trying to decide if we trust God or not. God has not changed, his teachings remain the same, we struggle not because God’s methods are so difficult. No we struggle because we are selfish. We want our way. Throughout the Psalms David laments that he followed God, yet his enemies seemed to gain power and influence. We lament because those making decisions in our society are unaffected by the choices they make as well. We lament and cry out for justice and mercy. Jesus said that the poor will always be with us. There will always be those that have and those that do not have power and influence. This is not the injustice of God, instead it is his mercy. Mercy? When Peter drew the sword on the guards when they came to arrest Jesus, Jesus told him to put the sword away. And he said one simple statement. “Those that live by the sword die by the sword.” He also told us, that in the manner we judge others will be the manner in which we will be judged.
Life is a cycle. We are born we live and we die. We learn and we forget. Systems therapists will take detailed family histories, and as they explore those histories they will be able to find issues and events that brought about responses that we struggle with today. It might be three generations back, but once we start on a path we tend to stay on that path, we teach that path to the people around us. We give to our children and grandchildren the fear and shame we experience. We pass on the hate and the selfishness. But what if we change the cycle. What if we confess and turn a different direction? We break that cycle.
God has promised, God has gifted. He does not remove, repent of, nor does he regret the promise he made. He will honor what he said even though we are disobedient. And he provides a way to change the cycles through Jesus. Jesus left the throne in Heaven to live among humanity. He was born within a family, and lived within a community. He worked alongside his relatives. He experienced the full human life, and yet he did not sin. He taught, and he provided and example. He became true Israel. And through him everyone can return to God. God stands knocking on the door of our life, will we respond? Will we turn toward him and enter into his life and lifestyle, or will we continue to live in our selfishness? Will we be the one that will change the cycle?
We might not understand what God is doing at this moment. We might not even sense that He is near. But we can know and trust. We can take on his life and lifestyle. We can look at history and see that empires rise and fall, but the group of people that God made a promise to remain. Through hardships, through persecutions. They remain. A small insignificant nation at the crossroads of empires. A people scattered and exiled through the world. They remain. They remain because God does not revoke his promises. His promise to us is just as irrevocable. Will we trust that he has us within his hands?
Matthew 6:31–34 (ESV) 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church July 19, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 8:12–25 (ESV) So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church July 5, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Hebrews 12:1–3, 12-17 (ESV) 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings…
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Last week we spoke about how from the beginning God counted humanity as the elect over creation. This might have caused some of you to think I had committed some sort of blasphemy, but I think it is important to remember. Israel was elect, yes, but election does not mean salvation. Election does not necessarily mean exclusively chosen. It does mean chosen but chosen for a purpose. Israel was the one nation, out of all the nations, to be the one through whom God would reveal His kingdom to the world.
This sometimes causes us to wonder what that might mean. There are some that believe that elect means chosen for all time. Others might think that is ridiculous. I want us to consider what elect really means. Honor and purpose.
Paul speaks about many things throughout his letters. He speaks about gifts in several. Gifts of healing, prophecy, teaching, hospitality, and discernment to name a few. This is by no means all the gifts that God’s Spirit gives as in the Old Testament we are told that some were given the gifts of craftsmanship in order to fashion the instruments and fabrics found within the tabernacle. These artistic gifts are not mentioned in the list of gifts Paul made, does this mean it is not a real gift? Not necessarily Paul said that these gifts are given for a purpose. It is not given to make you, or I look like amazing superheros, although that does sometimes happen. They are given to encourage the church. We are given gifts, we are given opportunities, and placed into situations where God will gift us with an ability to use at that moment to bring a greater influence to His kingdom.
Do these gifts remain with us forever? Not necessarily. They are given freely to those God chooses, to those God elects, for his purposes. We do not dictate to God who is gifted and who is not. We cannot choose which gifts we are given, but Paul encourages us to strive for the great gifts. This means that we should be so focused on God’s Kingdom purposes that we are where God needs us to be at the time we are needed. And we are willing to be obedient to his call.
But these things are not ours to control. We cannot wield the will of God like magic. We cannot command God to bend to our will. We cannot demand that God give us favor. Jesus himself said that there would be many that would come before the Father and proclaim all the good they had done, even miraculous things and yet God will say to them, “I never knew you.”
This is the backdrop, or the context, we need to consider today. We have these ideas of whom the elect are. We have ideas of what righteousness is. We have concepts of how followers of Jesus should look and act. All of these are in some ways correct, but in other ways they are lacking. They are lacking because of one thing. Where is Jesus?
“Moses writes about righteousness that is based on the law,” Paul says, “that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven? (That is, to bring Christ down), or Who will descend into the abyss? (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead)/ But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.”
I want us to consider that part of the passage for a moment. We have in these words an image of ascension and descent. The rising and lowering. One might even think of it as waves upon the sea. A frequency of sound, or a rhythm.
In the late 1600’s there was a physicist that noticed that when you hang two pendulum clocks on the same wooden beam the arms will eventually swing the same direction. It was weird, and because it was weird they began to notice it in other places. We still study this, if you place several metronomes together on a platform and start them at different times, eventually they will synchronize, they were able to determine how long this will take and defined it as the Kuramoto model. They even noticed that this model shows up within our bodies. When people are around each other long enough they begin to anticipate what the other will do or say. We see this on an assembly line as people work together or on a sports team a player will know exactly where their teammate will be without even looking. And the no look pass is cool no matter what level of play it is. It goes even deeper though, our enzyme production can synchronize as well. Meaning we get hungry when the people around us are hungry among other things.
It is fascinating when you think about it. It all revolves around what they call the coupler and the frequency. When the coupler is weak, things remain in disorder, but when that coupler is strong seemingly out of nowhere everything snaps into sync. There are several things that go into this formula, the distance between the objects and their current frequency as well as how many objects are involved. These all play a role within the process, but eventually, if no other forces added to this system, the objects will synchronize.
I will not claim that I understand the science or math behind all this. But I have watched it happen, and each time I see it I am just as amazed at the first time I saw it.
There are ups and downs. Rises and falls. Waves or frequencies that we measure in nature, in one moment they seem to be in disorder, but then eventually they unite. This is what I see when I read these words that Paul wrote. Well that is one thing I see, the other thing I see is a graphic that my theology professor always used in class depicting the vicarious humanity of Christ. Jesus came down from heaven to mankind, and then he lifts mankind up to heaven. Jesus became humanity so that humanity can be restored back to God.
Even this image of the vicarious humanity of Christ offers something like the Kuramoto model. What exactly happens when Jesus became incarnate?
Let us go to the beginning. God said on the sixth day of Creation, “Let us create man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; mail and female he created them.” At that moment creation was in sync. CS Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia depicted creation in the book Magicians Nephew. In that book Aslan created Narnia through singing. And out of the song various things began to emerge, depending on the resonance of his voice.
I have always loved the imagery Lewis creates with his words. And in the story as long as the echo of creations song remained creation continued. But there was a force of disorder that entered Lewis’s imaginary world. Discord, or disharmony. When Aslan was present the world sang with him, but where the White Witch was creation stopped. This eventually lead to Narnia being trapped where it was always winter but never Christmas.
God created humanity in a harmonious state. We were created to go out into the world to have dominion over it. We often look at dominion as being almost negative, we dominate bring it into submission. But dominion can mean lead, tread, have charge over, or authority. Everything points to something domineering, but we are looking at it from a place where disharmony rules.
When God created the earth, humanity and God were in sync. We were to go into the world and live within it while reflecting God to everything else. That is Godly dominion, it is synchronized and in harmony. But soon there was another force, that convinced our first parent that God was not being honest. This serpent convinced us that we should have the knowledge of good and evil. Prior to that moment we only knew good, we only existed in harmony. But the deception caused us to wonder if there was more. We began to resonate with evil.
Evil introduced a different frequency. Soon as humans moved closer to one another, they began reflecting what each tribe, or nation determined to be good. And another nation did the same. Each was disconnected and disordered for the other. And we began to build cities and empires to protect what we thought is best for us. Excluding those that were different. Eventually evil took hold, and we began killing those that threatened what we saw as good in our own eyes. We sought after knowledge that would give us power over the others. We conspired, lied, cheated. Even sought forbidden things that directly opposed God.
We made our own rhythms, we sang our own songs. We created waves that crashed into other waves and the entire world was worked up into a storm that threatened the existence of life. So to protect what God had created, God saved a remnant. Allowing the rest of the world to be overcome by its own sinfulness. Then God restarted the rhythm, he restored the frequency.
Again, humanity sought the things that opposed God. Again they wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted to become like God on their own terms. But we cannot become what we do not know. And God confused the languages. God did not give up, instead he chose one nation to work with, Israel.
Did he save this one nation? Yes, he chose them out of every other nation to be the one nation in the world to teach. They were set apart from every other nation to learn the rhythm of God. They were chosen to be reflect God to all nations.
Moses writes about it, Paul says. Moses said that it rises and descends, and that we can know it. That the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. Are we listening? Are we moving closer to the proper resonance so that we can become coupled with it?
Israel was given the sheet music so to speak. They practiced it, but eventually they got tired, and they wanted to improvise. When I was in college I took a class called music appreciation and in that class we listened to a lot of music. I even began to appreciate some of it. But there was one form of music that was fascinating, jazz. It was this free form of music that you could recognize, but each performance was different. I began to love Jazz. Then I went to a jazz concert on campus. I did not like jazz that much after that. We love the idea of improvisation. We like the idea that there are no boundaries and I can just do what I want. But unless we know the music, we are not playing a song. A good jazz artist knows the song, they know the cord progressions and what notes go with each other. They can fill the space with something completely new, and yet they do this within the rhythm and key originally set. Israel was given the key and the original rhythm. It began with them, but even they did not learn the song, even though the word was near, they wanted to go their own way.
God let the band break up. He let ten of its member so off to form their own band, he even let the remaining two members go off on their own journey. Yet God continued to keep the bass line going. And some living in exile began listening and playing once again. They relearned the music, the returned the instruments. Some even came back to the original stage and went on a reunion tour.
Tensions rose again. Discord entered the music, and the rhythm was once again lost. But God still kept the bass line going, but humanity was not quite getting the melody. So God sent his son, into the world. God came down from the throne in heaven to become Israel himself. God lived with us. He taught us the rhythm of life. First, He made it his custom to worship with the community. Second, he often withdrew to isolated places to pray. And third he ministered to those in need within his community.
Worship, prayer, and service. Loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. That is the rhythm of God. Draw close, feel it in our bones, and respond.
Jesus, God incarnate, came to show us this rhythm of life. He showed us the power and hope within it. And then he sent his disciples out to continue the ministry. There is a going out, and a coming in again. Another cycle, another wave. While we listen to the rhythm of the Spirit.
God became man, so that man can return to God. Jesus lived the rhythm, so that we could learn the rhythm. And God through Jesus provided the way to return through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God took on the very things that cause disharmony, and he restores them to life once again. That word is near you, in your mouth, and beating in your heart. The very name of God can be heard in every breath that we take. Yet, we cannot join until we return to him. We cannot be saved unless we synchronize to his life and lifestyle. We need to be coupled to the giver of life. Paul says that this is not only for Jews, they had the music, but the music was not only for them. The music belongs to God and was to be played throughout the whole world. To him there is no distinction between Jew or Greek. Paul also says there is no distinction between slave or free, or male or female. This means we are of the same substance. We are human, and God created man in his image, male and female he created them.
But Paul says, “how will they call on Him, in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”
This goes back to where we began today. Who are the elect, and who are chosen? Who has a gift, and how are they to use it?
Each of us are here today because someone somewhere did something that caught our attention. We heard the music so to speak. It might have been your grandparents, or maybe someone you worked with. Maybe it was someone in your class at school, or even your parents. Someone somewhere along your journey in life, was inspired by God to come alongside you, and while they walked that journey they reflected the life of Jesus to you. You began to hear the spirit’s whispers, and you desired more. Eventually you asked a question, and they provided an answer. You thought it was weird at first because it did not make sense, because it did not seem to sync with the life you had known. But they continued to live, and how they responded to the challenges of life caused you to question if your ways were really good.
Eventually, you were faced with a choice. Will you continue to walk your own path or will you synchronize your steps with those of Christ. It does not matter who you were or where you are at this time. God loves you, and no one can separate you from that love. But you cannot live in that love until you repent and return to God. You cannot return to God unless you confess that you have been living in sin and choose to submit to His life and lifestyle. And when we draw closer to him, that submission becomes easier because the Kuramoto model is at play. Our rhythm become his rhythm. And just as it was his custom to worship, withdraw to pray, and to minister to the surrounding needs. We begin to do the same.
Humanity was chosen to bear God’s image, and only humanity. We were the ones selected out of all the creatures of the earth to bring everything else under the rule and rhythm of God. Each of us must listen to the music and respond. Each of us must live the love of Christ where we are, so that everyone around us can hear of the love God has for them. Will we join in to that rhythm? Or will we remain instruments of dissonance?
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church June 28,2026 Click to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 6:12–23 (ESV) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church June 14, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 5:1–8 (ESV) 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church June 07, 2026 Click here to join our meeting for worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 4:13–25 (ESV) 13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through…
