By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
June 07, 2026
Click here to join our meeting for worship
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 the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
The promise to Abraham and his offspring, is where Paul begins today’s passage. This is where so much of faith begins. What does it mean to be part of this community? Is it Christian, is it interfaith? Does it only apply to Israel or does it extend to all people? There is a great deal of debate around these very things. Intense debates that bring into question every aspect of life and how we interact with those around us.
This is important, because it gets to the very nature of human existence. Why are we here, and what is our purpose?
To begin we need to look at the promise given to Abraham found in Genesis 17. “Behold my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
God gave Abraham this promise after Ishmael was born, and just prior to the birth of Issac. Prior to this particular promise God had called Abram to follow him, and the benefit of following was that his offspring would be greater than the stars in heaven. There is some debate as to if this means the number of stars, which would be seen as infinite, or if the promise was that they would be greater than the stars, or the substance of the stars. In that ancient time, there was an understanding that the stars were not spheres of gas with such mass that nuclear fusion occurred to produce heat and light, instead they believed that the stars were heavenly beings, or Elohim. The stars were lesser gods, or angels that had power that could be wielded over the creatures of Earth.
The reality of the promise is that Abraham would become the father of many nations. God promised that his offspring, those that emerged from his life and his influence would become so great in power, or number that they would rule the entire world. Both interpretations are correct to various degrees.
But this promise came after a long history. It came after the fall in the garden, after the great flood, after the rise of a monolithic empire that held unitary power over all the known world. Those were the three falls of humanity that shaped early Hebrew thought. Out of those falls the children of Abraham held to the idea that the most high God divided the nations of the earth, that he scattered the nations, and from Israel he would bring them all back to himself. He chose Israel. He selected this small insignificant family to reveal his teachings and his ultimate redemption.
I want us to think about this for a moment. Does this mean that Israel is chosen forever? This is where the debates begin. I do not see this as being necessarily the case. But let me explain, it means that Israel’s God is forever. The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob will remain and through his patience and grace he will preserve a people of faith. God will preserve his teachings forever. And to preserve his teachings, he will ensure that Israel will remain as a testimony of his faithfulness.
This is what Paul is getting at in this passage. The influence, or the teachings of God through faith will remain. It will spread to the ends of the earth and that will influence the nations. But this influence does not come through direct inheritance. Biology does not spread the influence of God, nor does biology prevent the spread of God’s influence. We see this in the genealogy of David and of Jesus. Within their linage there are people that come from outside Israel. Rehab, and Ruth are examples. It is even said that Caleb, one of the faithful spies that Moses sent into the promised land, was not directly part of the tribe of Judah but was someone that became part of the tribe. He was a foreigner that chose Israel as his nation, and through him and his faith Israel became stronger.
If it is not direct biology, what then spreads the influence of God? Paul says in this passage that the promise did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. It was not the offspring, or the law but faith.
At this point we need to understand the law. In our western mind, we look at law differently than they did in region Israel developed. For us a law is legislation, and when we break a law there are certain consequences of those actions. In the ancient near east the law was less about black and white legislation, and more about teaching. I have spoken about this at length. But what I have not expanded on is how the understanding of the law changed as Israel matured.
The teachings should have encouraged a certain lifestyle. The lifestyle that it points to is a lifestyle where we love God with all that we have and all that we are. To express that love of God by treating the people around us as we would like to be treated. This is the teaching. It is the start of the conversation. As we converse many aspects can emerge. We begin to ask different questions, and we begin to seek answers to those questions. Eventually Israel could justify any sort of action within the law because they reasoned through it. These justifications began to look more like the world around them and less like original teachings. To such a degree that one could not tell the difference between Israel, Judah, or any other nation in the world. From this judgment came. The Northern kingdom of Israel was scattered like dust, and Judah was taken into captivity and lived in exile.
Upon return, they had devised a different understanding of the law. What makes us distinct? What makes us Israel? Their focus turned to the physical. Circumcision became even more important. The dietary laws became a priority. These were the things that the world could see that set them apart. As more persecution emerged they would double down on these aspects of the law. They used to marry outsiders and bring them into the faith, but in the past this led to idolatry so they outlawed marrying foreigners. They did all of this because they thought if they could just do the right things. If we could make rules and force people to comply to these rules, we could make the world righteous.
This is the interpretation of the law that Jesus and Paul both objected. The outward aberrance without true dedication. The rabbis taught that Israel went into exile because we married foreigners, so they outlawed certain marriages. They thought that they experienced judgment because we did not eat right, or perform the proper rituals. So they dedicated their lives to making sure every aspect of life was covered. Jesus described this as laying a burden on the shoulders of the people without lifting a finger to assist.
Paul then speaks of the law bringing wrath and then says where there is no law there is no transgression. I think it is important to look at this from the proper context. Law brings wrath. When we think of wrath, our mind goes to judgment. The wrath of God against Israel lead to the exile. This is not wrong, but it skews our perspective. Most of our view of wrath does not come from a Hebrew understanding of wrath, it instead comes from pagan perspectives. It is from a pagan perspective that a lightning bolt will come from the heavens to smite us if we do wrong. Why lightning? Zeus, Thor, Baal are all storm gods that control lightening. That is why Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to have the greatest God light the sacrifice, if Baal had the power of lightening it should be easy, but Baal was incapable. Our thoughts of wrath come from these pagan views, not from the character of the God of scripture. God is slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
The Hebrew understanding of wrath is not judgment, but is instead a picture. CS Lewis captured the picture in the description he provided of Aslan from the perspective of Mr. Beaver. He said that Aslan was a lion. The girls were concerned about this since they were going to meet the lion. So they asked if it was a tame lion. Mr. Beaver, scoffs and says not he is not safe, but he is good. This is the image of God’s wrath that is truly derived from scripture. The word is derived from the nose, and it sounds silly, but it is good. The wrath of God is snorts and scoffs.
It is like a bull casually standing in the sun of a pasture. Bulls are scary, but they are good. They are majestic and powerful, there is a reason that Israel used the symbolism of a bull at Sinai. But what if you go into the pasture with the bull and the bull does not want you there? That bull snorts. He gives a warning. If you are wise you would take heed, because if you continue down that path the bull will escalate, the nose becomes hot. The snort becomes deeper, the head lowers, and the air coming from the nose rises along with dust. The picture is smoke coming from the nostrils, or a hot nose. The bull is preparing to charge, but there is still a chance, we can divert the attention, or we can change course. But if we do not change course we face the horns. This is the mental picture of wrath. It is not a bolt of lightening coming from the heavens, it is instead the snorts of a bull.
The bull is scary, dangerous, but good. When I worked on the farm, the bull was my favorite of all the cattle we had. We had an enormous bull named Red. This bull would see me from across the pasture and run to greet me. I could call out his name and like a dog he would come to me and I could scratch him behind his ears. He was such a loving animal that you had to be careful because his eminence love could literally smother you. There were more than a few dents in our farm pickup with a distinct Jared shape, where Red became a bit to generous in expressing his love. But we could not take the love of Red for granted. We could not force Red to do things contrary to his own mind. When we needed to load cattle to move them to a different pasture, we could not force Red to go, we had to convince him. When we tried to force Red, he would snort, he would charge. There was one instance where Red came charging at me and I thought I was going to die, but instead of hitting me he jumped over the coral fence behind me. He cleared the fence that was seven feet tall without any trouble. That is the image of wrath.
“For law brings wrath,” Paul says, “but where there is no law there is no transgression.”
Is Paul rejecting the law? No. Paul loves the teachings of scripture. He quotes them, he tells the younger pastors that he trained that all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching and reproof. So what is Paul rejecting? Is he speaking of God, or of Man? Is he saying that anything and everything goes? No, the law brings snorts. These things annoy, they begin the process that leads to the use of the horns.
The question then is if it is God or man that is annoyed and wrathful. Paul, prior to this, speaks of righteousness. And almost exclusively the topic revolves around circumcision. This is an outward physical body modification that was used when God made his covenant with Abraham. This symbol we often associate with Israel, but they were not the only culture that used this form of body modification. The nations that surrounded Israel also practiced circumcision, but they did it differently and for a different reason. In Egypt only the priest participated in this ritualistic cutting, but they did not remove the skin only slit the skin. Among the Phoenicians, it was to ward off evil. To the people of Moab, circumcision was associated with marriage and fertility. This skin was taken and given to the wife so that she could bear his children. When Moses was going back to Egypt there is an incident where Moses’ wife is required to circumcise someone, and she calls God the bloody bridegroom. The passage is not clear as to whom she had to circumcise, if it was Moses himself or their son, but she is angry with God because God demanded the blood, and it was taken from her. Even outside the Near East there are cultural practices similar to this. Each culture has their own meaning. But what does it symbolize?
Most associate it with a marriage of sorts not between individuals but between God and humanity. The people of Israel are to do this to infants not adults, as other cultures did. And the Greek cultures saw this practice as obscene and immodest. In their perspective a circumcised individual was naked or exposed. Which philosophically provides more layers of thought. The Greeks outlawed the practice, and circumcision became a symbol of rebellion. And later after the Jewish people gained their independence from their Greek rulers during the Maccabean revolts, it became the law of the land. Every male living within Judea had to be circumcised, so that God would bless Israel. It did not matter if they were part of the religion or not. They forced compliance to this law.
This is the background of Paul’s argument. It is a mix between human mandates and the teachings of God. Some remember the brutality of the Hasmonean dynasty in this regard. They remember the teachings surrounding it. And the ritual that once held such meaning to the righteous people, became something akin to nationalistic scarification. There was no dedication other than to king and country. No faith, no repentance, no understanding, only obedience.
The law brings wrath, Paul says. This blind obedience, this adherence without knowledge and the nationalistic desires of theocratic statehood caused annoyance. It causes nostrils to flare and the nose to get hot. It annoys those that do not have belief and are being forced to follow, and it annoys those that do have belief because the ritual has lost its meaning. Eventually something will happen. There will be a revolt. There will always be a revolt because the requirement of obedience without the transfer of knowledge gives the perception of unjust control.
In other letters Paul says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…for you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another… Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 5 & 6)
We are not to participate in injustice. We should not be provoking others, we should not be living in envy. We should not be looking out at those around us, seeing them as sources of ire and blaming them for everything wrong within our world. This is wrath, this promotes and provokes wrath. Not only does it annoy everyone around, but it annoys God. It annoys God because the way we exhibit our love and devotion to God is in how we treat those around us.
I want to go back to Red the bull. If you were to go out into the pasture he would show you his wrath, because he does not know you. He is a giant of a beast, and yet he is good. I can walk into the pasture and call out to him. With me, he is like a pet. I know what makes him happy, I know what makes him upset. I know Red, but even I have been subject to Red’s wrath.
The same is with every relationship. Your cats only allow so much loving before they get annoyed, and you end up with claws and teeth. Your spouse can only be pushed so far before they snap. You must learn how to write an essay to for each of your teachers, because they tend to focus on different things which are listed in the syllabus. We can provoke, we can annoy and then cry that we have been subject to wrath, but are we the victim or the cause? To prevent wrath, we need communication, we need understanding, we need convincement not mere obedience. Love God with all that you have and are, and your neighbor as yourself. Against such things there is no law.
This leads us to Paul’s point. It is faith, not law, not biology, but faith. I have spoken about faith many times over the years. There are three stages of faith. The first is belief. We have looked at the lives of those around us, and we have looked at the scriptures, and we believe it to be true. The second stage is trust. We believe, then start to put what we believe into action. We trust that God will provide so we give out tithes. We trust that God will direct our path forward, so we take the risk.
Then there is the third stage, we entrust. Entrusting goes beyond trust, because the reward is not sure, and the path is not clear. Entrusting our lives to God is that place of faith where we have a clearness to our path forward, we have assurance that it is right and yet those around us may have the same perception. It is in this place that we entrust our lives to God, fully devoted to His will, be it suffering or blessing. We entrust because we know that by living for him at that moment he will bring about the necessary changes. Abraham entrusted his life to God. And it was counted to him as righteousness. It did not make sense to the world. It did not even make sense to his own family, yet he moved forward entrusting that God was worthy of that trust. When we step back from seeking our own personal gain and entrust our lives, our property, our future to God we are walking in faith. When we encourage those around us to look beyond, to dig deeper, to trust just a bit more, we are walking in faith. Seeking not to control but instead to encourage change even when it seems contrary to what society desires, we are walking in faith. But why do we do it? Why? We do it because we know the one we are entrusting ourselves to. We know that God is similar to a lion or a bull. God can be provoked to wrath, but God is also good. God is slow to anger, abounding in mercy and grace, and will bless those that trust him.
Where do we stand? Will we entrust our lives to God? Will we live into the things that there is no law? Will we become a people Loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others? Or will we be people of wrath?
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church October 25, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Matthew 18:1–6 (ESV) 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church October 18, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10 (ESV) 1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church October 04, 2026 Click Here to Join our meeting for Worship Philippians 3:4–14 (ESV) If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of…
To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:
To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 31, 2026
Click here to join our Meeting for Worship
2 Corinthians 13:11–14 (ESV)
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The past few weeks I feel like I have been being fairly preachy. We have been using the lectionary since I have been a pastor here at Willow Creek. If you feel like I am being preachy, just know that the verses that I have chosen to speak with are verses that are on a three-year repeating cycle. I have not purposefully gone to the trouble of seeking these out, it is the scripture on the list. And that list of scriptures are based on a calendar that was established a thousand years ago, which was based on a calendar that has been used for over three thousand years.
This calendar uses the seasons of nature, to remind us of the goodness of God. It uses the cycles of light and darkness to tell us about judgment and hope. It uses the growing season to teach us about life, and what is most important about life.
We are now in the season of Pentecost or the first fruits. This season of the liturgical calendar falls at the harvest of the first crop. This first crop sets the stage for the entire year. When the first crop is good, the second crop will likely be good. If the second crop is good then we will survive through the winter.
But this season is interesting religiously. It is place near the beginning of what would be wheat harvest in that part of the world. Harvest is a stressful time of year. You have a short window of time to bring all the crops into the storehouses. If you do not get it done within that window of time the grain falls out of the head and to the ground. Or even worse the grain begins to sprout while still it remains unharvested leaving the grain unfit for human consumption. Yet right as the grain matures and harvest begins, God demands that all the righteous bring their offerings to the temple. He does not say put aside the offering to bring later. The practice is to harvest the tithe, load it up into baskets, pack up the entire family, and travel across the nation to the temple to present your tithe and sacrifices to the priests.
We live in the city here, we may not fully grasp how stressful this requirement is for someone whose entire existence hinges on moving the grain from the field to the storehouses. We get paid once or twice a month. Likewise, we know exactly how much we will get paid. We know that on payday we will get a check, go to the bank, and we will have money available to us to use for the expenses we face. It is probably not enough money, but we know we have it. A farmer does not get paid once or twice a month, they have one payday and that is harvest. They work the entire year, not knowing what the future will bring. For months, they watch the plant grow, they worry about the rain, the temperature. They worry about the birds, and storms. Each day the watch the plants grow, and then they begin to harvest. And at the time when just about a tenth of the harvest is brought in, they are encouraged to make a decision. They before God and their community must make some declaration. They announce that they have faith that God will provide, or they physically show their community their concern.
Once a year they get paid, and before that payday comes, they must declare their faith.
That is just one aspect of Pentecost. It is a public declaration of faith. It is declaring to the community that you will trust God. You will trust that God will provide for you, your family, and your community. You make that declaration not after the crops are in, but right as harvest begins. You enter into the most crucial time of your year, you begin, you stop, and you praise. Then you go home to finish.
Then second aspect of Pentecost is the giving of the law, or as the church recognizes the giving of the Holy Spirit. The law is the wisdom of God. We often look at it from a western mindset of law, but to the Hebrew mind it is not as ridged as we make it out to be. For them, it was a conversation starter. It was teaching that we were use and apply to everyday life. The Rabbi would ask the students what God meant by do not covet your neighbor’s ox and the disciples would begin to discuss it. Then the Rabbi would probe a bit deeper, “Does this only apply to an ox? Could it apply to a chicken?” They would then circle around that aspect, how the teaching provided through Moses would or would not apply. This law, or teaching, became the framework upon which they built their society.
There were times when the teaching of God were the primary focus of their thoughts, and there were eras where they fell away from that teaching and chased after the things of the world instead. This falling away lead Judea into exile. They lived in captivity for an entire generation, and during that time they had a reformation. The temple was gone, how do we remain God’s people when we no longer have his temple? This is where the teaching of the prophets became more important. They saw the teachings about God writing the law on their hearts, so they began to read and study. They became a people that embodied the wisdom instead of a people that just went through the actions.
While in exile they became scholars, it was in exile that the Rabbinical methods of faith emerged. And when they returned to Jerusalem this rabbinic tradition did not end. It actually expanded. But one tradition that was added to the Pentecost celebration was that the evening prior to the feast of first fruits, they would read the entire Torah. They would do this to remind themselves that they were a sanctified people, set apart from the rest of the world. They needed to remind themselves that they were the people of God.
But there was a problem. They looked forward to the advent of Messiah, but in their understanding of scripture, the Messiah would not come until all of Israel returned. The missing tribes were dispersed among the nations, how would they find those lost tribes? The Pharisees as much as we tend to dislike them, were active missionaries. They went to the dispersed areas teaching, because in their mind they were bringing the dispersed tribes back in. Along with those dispersed children of Israel, they also had Gentiles that were convinced in faith. This activity did not stop with the followers of Jesus, instead they too joined in the activities. They joined and expanded it. They were convinced that not only were the dispersed children of Israel to return to God, but all people. Scripture taught that they, the children of God were to become the light to the nations, that they were to bring all people back to God. They were to participate in the restoration of Eden.
This idea of Pentecost, is necessary for us to understand the fullness of today’s scripture. Paul, this former Pharisees that was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah they were looking for, made it his mission to go to the ends of the earth to preach the Gospel. God had inspired in him a desire to take the Gospel all the way to Spain, which they believed was the edge of Earth. They did know of places like America, or Australia. In their mind the earth consisted of Africa, Asia, and Europe. And Paul had this unquenchable desire to take the message of Christ to the edge of the world.
He says to the people of Corinth, “Finally, brothers, rejoice.”
In this first verse of today’s passage there are six commanding verbs. There are six imperatives. Six things we need to focus on to be able to experience the life that God has for us. That first thing is Joy. Rejoice Paul says. This is an emotional response to stimuli. I want us to consider that. Paul is encouraging, not merely encouraging, but commanding us to rejoice. He is commanding us to override every emotion coursing through our body to reformat it to joy.
This is ridiculous. This church was a church of division. It required not one but two letters to be written to it, because it was messed up. Some scholars even believe that there might have been a third letter. The narrative within the two letters at times has a disruption to in flow, and their theory is that maybe there was a third letter that somehow we only have a portion of. Either way multiple letters were written to this church. It is divided. It is filled with people that have different understandings of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Every time they get together, it seems as if the division only increases instead of decreases.
Yet as Paul closes the final letter to them, he commands them to rejoice. Rejoice in the trials, rejoice in the divisions, rejoice in the suffering.
It is ridiculous. How can I be filled with joy when I know that there is someone saying something I believe is wrong? How can I be filled with joy when there is someone out there questioning my devotion? How can I be filled with joy when there are people within this community that seem to actively be working against the very things I believe God is calling us to?
Yet Paul commands us to rejoice anyway.
This does not change the reality around us, but it changes our attention. We are commanded to rejoice, so that means we must actively find something to be joyful about. If I am going to rejoice amid the chaos of division I need to find that singular bright spot of hope and direct my attention there. We need to actively redirect our attention away from the negativity or the stresses that are pressing in on us and find something that we rally around.
This is not easy. It is difficult to see find joy when the world seems to be falling down around us. It is just as difficult to do that, as it was for a farmer on Pentecost to load baskets up with grain, at the beginning of harvest before they had full knowledge of what harvest might yield. It was hard for them to begin the harvest and then drop everything to go to a party, a feast, and a worship service. It is hard to trust that God will take that seemingly minuscule ember of joy and allow it to burn brightly.
Paul does not leave us there with that seemingly impossible task. He says, “Rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.”
In this verse Paul is telling us how to find joy so that we can live into the mandate to rejoice.
If you were to go to any therapist today what is the most common advice you might be given? Take care of yourself. If you want joy they tell you to find that joy in yourself. Even Christian counselors might give this advice. I am not saying it is completely bad advice, but it is incomplete. When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was, what the most important teaching of the entire Torah was, he said it was, “Love God with all that you have available to you, and to love your neighbor as yourself.” The world teaches us that to find joy, we must find in ourselves. Jesus’ teaching would say yes sure, but there are a few more steps. We need to take that self-love, that self joy, and extend it to others.
Both Paul and Jesus are telling us, that it is not about you. It is not about what you think is right, it is not about whom you think is right. It is not about your argument winning or losing. In fact, it has very little to do with you. If you want to find joy, if you want to truly find the things you desire, you must get outside yourself. And that begins with restoration.
The idea of restoration is fascinating when we begin to look at it deeper. On the surface we might look at this to simply be a healing of sorts. If there is division then restoration would be talking through those things that are causing division and finding a way to bridge the gap. But as I began looking into this a bit deeper, I found that this word was often used in a mathematical sense to indicate balance.
I want us to think about this for a moment. Paul is telling us to balance the equation. Equality.
Restoration is about balance and allowing each member of the society to have the opportunity to contribute to the community according to their ability. To aim for restoration means that we need to become aware of various barriers that have been placed in the way of participation. Examine why they are there, and then remove those barriers when we recognize them as hindrances instead of protective guides. Should there be barriers? Yes absolutely. There are times when it is necessary to have some barriers because without specific training one can cause harm. We need regulations to ensure that those practicing medicine know the arts and sciences of medicine. We need to make sure that those that prepare our taxes understand the tax laws so that we do not go to jail because of their mistakes. There are times when barriers are necessary. But are these barriers being applied ethically, are they being enacted morally and justly. Are the regulations and barriers of entry being applied equally? This is what aim for restoration is point toward. Are we working together to make our society reflect the mind of Christ where there are no slaves or free, no Jews or Greeks, no males or females, but we are equal image bearers of God?
Comfort one another is the third command or teaching. There are basically two senses to this phrase. The first is to encourage. It was the type of encouragement given to soldiers before they entered battle, like in the movie Braveheart. The second sense of the word is to provide encouragement to those suffering grief or loss. Generally we tend to focus on the second aspect of the word, but we need to remember that the primary command is to rejoice, so really both apply. If we are facing injustice we need encouragement to continue to stand through the persecution. When we have loss we need comfort from those within our community to tell us and show us that hope remains.
The fourth command or teaching is to agree with one another. This seems about as ridiculous as rejoice. I command you to agree with me! The point here is to come to an agreement, seek unity or to find a fitting compromise. The command is to agree with one another, not agree with me. No one person is greater than the other. Some might carry a bit more weight or clout within a community, but we are all image bearers of God. We are all equal in God’s sight. This means that even though I might be seen as a leader among you what I say is not the law. We must come to an agreement with each other. We should be mindful that as we make decisions we are taking the entire community’s best interest into account, not merely what is best for myself. The more proper understanding is to be of one mind, or in unity with each other.
The fifth command is to live in peace. This is a difficult concept, all of these are difficult. They are difficult because to fulfill these commands or teachings, we must participate with the community. We cannot do any of these things on our own. The idea of peace though is to live without conflict. How is it possible to live without conflict? This really goes back to the core teachings of God at Pentecost. God spoke from within the cloud as the people of Israel gathered at Mount Sinai and gave them the ten words, sayings, or commandments.
When you look at those ten teachings four focus on our relationship with God and six deal with our relationships with each other. And at the center of the ten is honor your father and mother, which is the only command that carries a blessing. To live at peace we need to recognize that, I do not have the right. I do not have the right or authority to extinguish the life of someone. I do not have the right to fulfill my carnal desires with someone’s spouse. I cannot take your property without your permission. We could go on, but the point is made. I do not have the right, but we think we do. I want money, so I am going to try my best to convince you that my inferior product is of greater value so that I can have more. That product breaks, you are mad, and you come after me to demand a refund. I am unwilling to listen.
When we think of peace we often only associate it with warfare, but it is so much more than that. Peace begins with each of us. It begins with us realizing that I do not have more or less rights than the person next to me. And we should recognize that if I want my personal rights preserved I need to make sure that my neighbor is also being treated with the same human dignity. And when conflict does arise we need to make every effort to resolve that conflict while respecting the dignity of all parties involved.
The person yelling at the customer service counter is not living in peace. The person being yelled at may not be right either. I know that this happens because when I was in college I would always ask my sister to return items to the store for me, because they would always tell me no. I could have the receipt be within a reasonable window of time, and they would still say no, yet they never questioned her. Living in peace is resolving conflict, it is respecting the dignity of other, it is applying the rights you have to everyone around you. To live at peace means we need to actively aim for restoration, comfort and encourage one another, find a path forward together, and to respect each other as fellow image bearers of God’s image even when we might have a difference of opinion.
Paul commands these things. He commands us to rejoice even thought we are not currently living in these things. He says this because they do not just happen. If you do not have joy today what are you doing to resolve that? Are we pursuing a lifestyle where we can find joy or are we living within a framework where we are instead focusing on everything wrong around us?
This brings us to our query this month. Do you abstain from the abuse of alcohol, drugs, and any other substance or behavior that might lead to addiction or dependence? Do you intelligently and lovingly use your influence to minister to those already damaged by such abuses?
We often look at these questions as legalism. We look at them from a context of organized religion seeking to suck the enjoyment out of life, but this is not the case at least for Friends. Our abstention from the use of alcohol began long before the work of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. We began to encourage those within our scope of influence to abstain from alcohol because it was an industry that often opposed the very things we promoted, particularly slavery. But there was something more than just slavery involved. There was a three part aspect to this industry. The first part was that Europeans would take manufactured goods, clothing, alcohol and weapons to Africa so that the various leaders could continue their wars. And they would trade humans for these good. They would then take these slaves to America where they would force them to produce the raw materials, and then they would take those raw materials back to Europe. This entire triad of trade, was dehumanizing.
It dehumanized the African’s, it dehumanized the factory workers that they forced to work in inhumane conditions, and it dehumanized the Americans. And who profited? The Africans were seen as less than human, the factory workers we kept drunk so they would remain compliant, and the colonies were not being enriched but the resources were being pillaged so that others could profit. This triad of trade is dehumanizing, and aspect of it continue to this day.
The point of the query is not to keep you from having fun, it is instead to encourage you to be mindful of your actions. Your dependence on things to allow you to cope or numb our awareness of the surrounding injustice instead of actively working to overcome and bring true peace within your life. The point of this query is to encourage us to recognize those areas within our life where we have not dealt with things in a healthy manner, to seek help, to be willing to offer assistance.
Paul commands us to rejoice. He commands us to aim for equality or equal opportunity. He commands us to seek resolutions together, and to honor the dignity of those around us. And then he gives us one final command. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
I have heard a lot of debate as to what this means. I actually find it humorous. I have heard people explain it away as just a culture greeting, likening it to a handshake in America. I laugh at this not because it is inaccurate. I laugh because there is a reason behind this cultural tradition. What is required of us to give and accept a kiss? We need intimacy between each other, a closeness where someone entering into our personal space is allowed. Then there is another thing, we have to be willing to breath the same air as they breathe for a while. We have to endure their bad breath, their perfume, their skin, and whiskers. We do not do this. We cannot do this unless there is true friendship and love for one another. For Paul to be able to greeting one another with a holy kiss is the sign that we are in a position to rejoice.
I have been preachy for the past few weeks, maybe months. I have been preachy because we are allowing division to occur. We are justifying things within our community that we have spent a great deal of time and energy to overcome. Friends have had equity as one of our core tenants for centuries, and that is now being questioned. Peace has been part of our testimony from the beginning and many want us to stop being so dramatic. Our decision-making methodology requires us to seek out the spirit and to come to a sense of the meeting, and so often we abuse that to grand stand on our own personal agendas or pet projects. We have forgotten who we are in so many ways, and it grieves my heart.
Yet there is hope. We have been in this place before. And we have found a way forward. We have found that way because of the grace of God. We have come together time and time again, seeking the will of God, and the Spirit been our guide. I may be grieved, but I still rejoice. I rejoice because I know that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave is available to us. I rejoice because the same Spirit that preserved the saints of old through persecution is still active today. And that same Spirit is empowering us for the common good. I know even in my grieved heart that there is hope. I have faith that even in the darkest periods of disunity that we will once again be able to live in peace. And I pray that the peace will begin with us.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church September 27, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Philippians 2:1–13 (ESV) 1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the…
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…
To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:
To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 24, 2026
Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship
1 Corinthians 12:3–13 (ESV)
3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
This weekend in the United States, we celebrate Memorial Day. It is a day where we as Americans remember those that died in service of their nation. As a Quaker, I struggle with this holiday. I struggle because I believe that there are many types of service, and many of those aspects of service go unrecognized. I also struggle with this holiday, not because I am not proud of the service that people have given. I think it is honorable to give one’s life for others. I struggle because people have had to give their lives for our nation. To me memorial day is a holiday of honor as well as a recognition that we have failed. We have failed to bring peace. We have failed to make peace. We have allowed our young men and women to go off into battle because we were unable to find a resolution to a disagreement without the use of violence.
That being said it is important to remember. Memorial day has an interesting history. It began as a day to remember the men who had died in the American Civil War. I think it is important to remember the origin of this day. Those service members gave their life as their nation stood divided. We as a nation had let things get to such a point politically that instead of working out our differences we took up arms. Historians like to debate the various events and ideas that lead to the conflict. Some of those ideas have some value while others seem to be rewriting history, but there is something that historians will not recognize. The cause of the civil war was that people were unable or unwilling to submit to one another.
Today is not only a day we celebrate those that have given their lives for our nation, it is a day within the liturgical calendar called Pentecost. Yes the church also recognized special days, we even have our own memorial day, actually a couple memorial days. The first is All Saints Day, where we remember and honor those people in church history that have been recognized as saints. The second is All Souls day, which is the day that the church remembers all the faithful members of the community. These days are celebrated November 1 and 2. Today though is another important day within the church because it is the day that we celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit.
As Friends, we do not put a great deal of focus on specific days as being any more or less holy than another day. Our official stance is that every day is sacred and should be devoted to bringing honor to God, because this is the day that the Lord has made. But there are times where it is good to remember.
We need to remember that things did happen. We need to remember Memorial Day, reminding us that people have died in defense of our nation. We need to remember that we as a nation sent them into battle. We may have believed it to be justified, but we also need to remember that we took and spent their lives. We also need to remember the days that God has done something significant in our lives. I celebrate the birthdays of my children, not only because of cultural tradition, but because I need to remember that they are a blessing to me. A blessing given to me by God. I remember my anniversary, not only because my wife might be upset if I forget, but because it is the day I stood before my friends and my family and said that this is the person I take into my life to build a future with. And together we will serve our community, and enlarge our community through the gifts that we share.
We need to remember, because we so easily forget. We forget why we first embarked in a relationship with our spouse. We forgot why we had children. We forget why we became part of the community we joined. We forget.
The people in Corinth forgot as well. Paul wrote this letter to the people of Corinth in response to something that was reported to him by Chloe’s people. I often find it humorous how many churches are making attempts to limit the leadership of women within the church when Paul, the one often sited in their defense, often speaks of women within leadership. Some say that in this case Paul was speaking of the people that met in Chloe’s house, but Paul usually only mentions those that were in leadership, or who were purposely sent to speak. Chloe’s people brought a report to Paul regarding the divisions that had crept into the church and were causing quarreling among them.
At the very beginning of this letter he says, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” The people of Corinth were dividing, they were bringing things to mind that caused division among them. Some were placing the importance on who they followed; “I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ.” . Where others were bringing focus to other aspects of life.
We can see what was dividing this church by the points of discussion Paul makes. The first was the source of their teaching, or their school of thought. We might look at this as denominationalism, I am a Quaker, where someone else might be a Baptist. This is the framework surrounding the spiritual teaching I have received. This is not necessarily good or bad, but it is something we each need to be aware of for context. Even within the Orthodox and Catholic churches there are different schools of thought that are used to train their leaders. The previous Pope, Francis, was a Jesuit whereas the current Pope is Augustinian. Their branch of catholic teaching is derived from a different source and they each focus on different aspects of faith. Paul is telling us that the denomination is not the most important thing, instead we should focus on unity in Christ.
The next thing that is mentioned, is deals with liberty, particularly among human relationships. We quote these verse quite often when we are discussing various cultural trends within our contemporary society. But there is something that I want to mention about it. The sinful person mentioned was in a relationship with his father’s wife. We quickly allow our minds to make a judgment regarding this, but there is something we often forget, this man is using human intimacy as power. He is exerting power over his father’s house through his relationship with his father’s wife. This is the very sin that David’s son was involved in prior to his death. He was trying to take power away from the father. In this case the division was social. Who holds the power, how do I obtain the power, and what methods am I utilizing. Immorality is not the only thing mentioned in that section, but also the greedy, swindlers, and idolaters. From here Paul goes a bit deeper into what a proper Christian ethic might look in these human relationships. He speaks of lawsuits being brought, which speaks to the people using greed as their avenue to power. Then he speaks of marriage, immorality, and how we treat the unmarried and widows.
Then Paul begins to speak about the spiritual side of things. The gifts, how we use gifts, and how we worship. He does this because even within our spiritual practices we can cause division. People were abusing the Lord’s table, or communion. Which is important to note, the sacrament of communion was not always a bite of bread and a sip of wine. But early in the church it was a complete meals shared with all who came. This is one of the reasons as Friends we have moved away from the ceremonial aspect of the eucharistic, because we believe that all life comes from God, and since we must eat all food is given by God. Each meal we share should be eaten with others and should be a time where God can be glorified and remembered as our life giver.
But in Corinth some were being excluded from the meal, because the people that were in line before them were taking too much food for themselves. It had become less about sharing with the community and had become a place of selfish indulgence.
This brings us to today’s passage. There is division among the church of Corinth. Social division, relational division, ideological division, and spiritual division. In each of these divisive aspects of life the focus is placed on some human element and diverted away from the most important thing. Unity of the church in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We begin with, “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, ‘Jesus is accursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.”
The key point of this verse is, no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. In our culture we do not fully grasp the intensity of that statement. For us it is a simple thing, almost flippant. But what if we lived in Iran and said that? What if we lived in Israel and said that? It would be a bit harder to admit. As it was in first century Corinth. The Roman world at this time was a culture fully devoted to the empire and the head of that empire the emperor. In the frontier regions of the empire, like Asia Minor, or in areas with high foreign traffic like Corinth, one would show your devotion to the empire and Emperor by offering scarifies in the temple devoted to emperor worship. By going into this temple you were saying that Caesar is Lord, he is the one to whom all glory and honor is due. Caesar is the one to which I will devote my life. When Paul says that no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit, he is alluding to the rejection of empire worship. One cannot be completely devoted to one’s nation and completely devoted to Jesus. One or the other must take priority.
If we side with Jesus, the Spirit of God is with us. We cannot say Jesus is Lord without the Spirit of God being with us as the Spirit is the one that convicts and woos us to that point. The early Friends spoke of this as our day of visitation. It is a time our a situation that the Spirit uses to attract our attention and redirect our attention to Jesus. And once we have our eyes redirected toward Christ we can then move toward him, and that same Spirit will be our ever present teacher and guide.
Paul then says. “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
God has called us to himself, and we have recognized his voice and moved toward him. God is now going to empower us to participate in his kingdom work. Each one of us has a place. Each one of us has the ability to participate in whatever God has called us to because the Spirit of God will provide what is necessarily.
If we are to look at this day in history, if we are to look at that first Pentecost of the church, we will see what the power of the Spirit is for. Jesus had risen from the grave, and had spent forty days with the disciples. He spent those forty days expanding the scriptures to them, showing them why things had to happen the way it did. And then He ascended to the father. As they walked from the house they were staying to the mount of ascension, Jesus gave them what we know as the great commission, but first he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
They listened to their Lord, and they went to the room. In that room they sat together, “devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers.” During that time they decided they needed to replace Judas, so they chose Matthias because he had been with them from the beginning. Which only shows us that there were more than twelve disciples, and early in the Church woman were able to participate along side the men.
The on the day of Pentecost they were all there together. Pentecost is not only a holy day for the church but it was a holy day for Israel as well. The feast of Weeks or the Feast of the First Fruits was one of the three mandatory holidays that Israel traveled to the temple for. This festival celebrated the beginning of harvest, and it was on this day when Israel would bring in their tithe for the first crop. They would do this before they knew what their actual income would be.
After the Exile the day of Pentecost took on an additional meaning. It became the day that they celebrated the giving of the law. It was on Pentecost that Israel became God’s people and according to their tradition there was a wedding of sorts under the cloud at the foot of Sinai, between God and Israel. This is important to consider. This is day the law came to Israel, the wisdom and teaching of God. This is the day that Israel formally became the people of God. It is the day that God announced to the world that Israel was his people and they will become a light unto the gentiles to draw all people back to God.
This was the beginning the first fruits of the Kingdom of God.
The disciples met in that room, waiting for the Spirit of God to come. Then like a rush of wind a sound filled that room and the entire house, and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
All of Israel was in Jerusalem for the festival, and this event attracted some attention. People from every nation under heaven were there and in that moment they began hearing the Gospel in their native language. Luke lists off the various languages, and it includes people from the entire known world, every language found within the Mediterranean basin and Mesopotamia. The languages of the east and west, the north and the south.
On Pentecost, God gathered the first fruits of Israel back to himself, and again on Pentecost he began bringing in the entire harvest. Paul is part of that harvest, and it has continued throughout history to this moment. We too cry out “Jesus is Lord,” as we respond to the Spirit’s visitation. And we too are empowered to carry the message to those around us.
But there is something we need to direct our attention to. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” This phrasing can mean mercy, profit, possessions, happiness, land, just about anything that we desire. Everything we need is available through the Spirit of God, it is available for the common good. The life that we truly desire, the lifestyle and community we want in the deepest recesses of our hearts is available through the Spirit. And I know that makes me sound like a prosperity preacher, but the life you want is available right here all around you. But there is a catch. We must work together to obtain it. We must submit one to another as we submit to God.
Everything we do as a member of the Church should be focused on this one thing, the common good for our community. To one the Spirit gives wisdom, or knowledge that comes from experience. To another is given knowledge or learning. Each by the same spirit. To another is a gift of healing and one the working of miracles. All by the same Spirit. To another prophecy or the ability to perceive the will of God, and to another is giving discernment. And then there are those that are able to communicate and those that can listen and understand.
What are these things? And do we have them present today? The reality is yes, because all these things are the things that allow a community to develop and thrive. In the past century we have tried to make this into something more than it already was, but ultimately God is going to empower everyone within his kingdom with whatever is needed for this community to endure and grow.
But these too can become a source of division. A prophet or someone that may perceive the will of God, we sometimes consider them dreamers, or in some cases annoyances get ideas within them and they try to get people to get excited about it. At times these prophets or dreamers might think that they have the wisdom and knowledge but they do not. They will push the church to move, but the church may not yet be ready. This is where knowledge and wisdom come to play. The pastors and clerks among us. They are the ones that have experience and understanding. They begin to ask questions, and the ones with gifts of discernment are able to work through what the clerks and pastors question and what the prophet envisions. And then the people effective in communication spread what is discerned out to the wider community so that the church can become a blessing to all.
The gifts can be divisive if we are not humble. If we do not submit one to another. We need each other. We need the dreamers, and the accountants. We need the teachers and the caregivers. We need everyone. But each of us must use what is available to us for the common good. If we seek to use the gifts the Spirit of God has given us for our own profit, our own edification we have missed the point and we have become instruments of destruction and tools of the adversary.
Those are heavy words. I say them knowing full well that this can include me. I can be an instrument of division. I can become someone that can sow disunity just as easily as anyone else. Which is why we need each other. I need advise from the wise. I need prayers from the healers. I need interpretations from the communicators. I need everything that you need, if I want to participate in the common good within our community.
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
The church’s focus is for the common good. Every person using everything that is available to them directed to loving God and their neighbor. At times this might make us feel anger, disgust, pride, and joy. At times we might understand, and at times we might find everything mysterious. But the point of the Church remains the same. It remains the same as it was on the very first Pentecost when the law was given to Israel and they became the first fruits of God’s harvest. And it is the same as it was on the first Pentecost of the church. Our mission and our purpose to become a people loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit and living the love of Christ with others. We do this wherever we are doing whatever we are doing. Our Mission is to go into all the nations, to all the peoples and share the hope we have.
We do this not because we are better. Not because we have the best teaching or the most understanding. We do this not because we am rich or poor a slave or free. No we do this because every person bears the image of God, and we want them to be restored to who they were created to be. We want them to enjoy the common good that the Spirit of God created in them.
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…
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…
To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:
To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:
