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 November 1, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Thessalonians 2:9–13 (ESV) 9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of…
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…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 10, 2026
Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship
1 Peter 3:13–22 (ESV)
13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
We have been looking at the words written by Peter for a few weeks now. This letter is considered the first catholic epistles. And I mention that for one reasons, mainly it gets us a bit excited. What it means is that it was not written to one church in particular like most of Paul’s letters, but it was written to the universal or catholic church or all the churches in general. That being said it was written for a reason. There was an area of the church, particularly Asia Minor, that was facing intense persecution.
It is not something that was new to the church in the first century. We see throughout the writings of John that there was persecution from the established religion within Israel. John would write things like, “for fear of the Jews.” This has given that Apostle some criticism because they see it as being anti-Semitic, but it is important to remember that the early Christians were fiercely persecuted by the established religion. They were stoned, thrown off the roof of the temple, and many faced ridicule or were disowned by their family. They faced this because the established religion thought them to be heretical. They saw Jesus as heretical. They saw the miracles, they listened to the teachings, they saw the crowds, but they did not understand.
We need to be mindful of this in our own lives. I am often examining my response to traditions I am not used to. I examine my response because at times I will judge groups without looking a bit deeper. I will also examine what they say and teach and make an attempt to understand. I do this with many faith traditions. I used to work with several people of Muslim faith, and we had great conversations at lunch, I asked them many questions and they asked some of me as well. After about a year, I asked one of them to read a book that I had read about their faith. I asked them to do this because I found that book to be beneficial but I wanted to make sure the author was accurately portraying the basics of their faith. I told them that it was written by a christian, and I went so far as to tell them which chapters because I only wanted to know if the history and basic beliefs were accurate. It surprised me that he took the time to read the book, he made comments, and asked if it would be alright if he read the rest because he was curious about why this man was writing about the Muslim faith to Christians. I let him keep the book and let him know that I would love to talk with him after, if he had questions or concerns that might be presenting things in a light that might not be true.
We need to examine and study. We need to explore and interact. We as humans were not created to live alone but we were commissioned by God to go into the world name the animals, gain understanding of the earth, and to use what we have to be fruitful and multiply. This is more than just having big families. It is studying science. It is exploring interpersonal relationships, and systems of government. We were created to live in community for the benefit of the community. We cannot do this well if we do not develop understanding and discernment.
The early Christians in Jerusalem faced persecution. The persecution they faced was expected, they had the resources to speak to it because both the established religion and the early Christians were using the similar teachings and scriptures. They were also living among people that had similar life experiences. When the Church was dispersed throughout the empire they faced something different. They were not living among their countrymen anymore. They were no long just one branch of teaching within the established religion already being practiced within Judea. They were foreigners. They were the minority.
They were forced out of their homeland and were living among people that had completely different lifestyle, and religious practices. There were Jewish communities within these lands, but even these communities rejected them. They would come to Ephesus or Corinth, thinking they could join the Hebrew communities. The people within those communities would see them as Jewish, but the Jews rejected them. This then caused the ones outside the Hebrew faith to look at them suspiciously. It did not help that many of these communities were built and dedicated to the worship of other deities, and once the Christians began to teach people began to neglect those temples.
They accused them of being antisocial for not attending the celebrations of the roman gods. They accused them of being atheists, because they did not worship with idols. They made laws attempting to keep them on the outside of the community and potentially to encourage them to leave. Laws that would force them to prove that they had made sacrifices to the Roman gods, before they were able to purchase the things they needed. They were wrongfully accused of causing earthquakes, or other disasters. And the leaders were hunted and at times killed.
Peter wrote this letter to the churches of Asia Minor because they were the ones that were feeling this pressure. Widespread persecution had not yet begun throughout the empire. It was focused mainly in this one area.
Peter tells them, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.” This word blessed, is the same word that Jesus used in his teaching. And that is what Peter is reminding them of. In just a few words he is reminding them of the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor, the meek, the sorrowful, the peacemaker. Why? Why are we blessed when we suffer for righteousness’ sake?
A few years ago there was a ministry that was taking food out to those that did not have homes. This ministry had been doing this for years, but one day they had trouble. The city decided that the food was not prepared in a kitchen properly licensed and they followed the vans out into the community confiscated the food, and in front of the hungry people they poured chemicals in them to make it inedible. I was shocked when I first read that story. I was shocked because they were doing good things to help people. I was shocked because to me it was excessive. Now do not get me wrong, the city did have concerns that needed to be addressed. The kitchen should have been licensed and the ministry should have been doing all they could to ensure that the food was safe.
They were persecuted in a way, they suffered. What happened from that? People were motivated. They could not believe that such a horrendous thing happened, and they for a while provided additional funding. It stopped the ministry for a day, but the ministry continued, and it continued more safely.
If we are doing good, if we loving our neighbors with all that we have and all that are, who is there that can really cause us harm? Peter goes on to say, “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,”. It is important to look at this portion of scripture more deeply because it almost seems like Peter is repeating himself. “Have no fear, nor be troubled.”
The word fear is one that has multiple and often contradictory meanings. It can mean being afraid of something or someone because it could potentially cause harm. But it can also mean having respect or honoring something or someone. Scripture says in Proverbs, that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the lord. We can twist that to do our bidding if we would like, telling our children that God is always watching so you better be good. But that is not what that means, the writer of Proverbs is encouraging us to honor and respect God first, or before everything else. Honoring God, putting ourselves into a proper position or mental framework of knowing that who ever we are or how important we are, God is still greater is the beginning of wisdom. So Peter is saying have no fear of them. He is telling us to not give them any greater honor nor respect than they deserve.
Why is this important? How many of us have heard of Romans 13? “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” This is a passage that is often used during campaigns. I say used, but in reality it is misused. To be subject to the governing authorities does not mean to accept everything they do as being blessed by God. It means that if you oppose injustice being committed by governing bodies and you do resist, which scripture also tells us to do, then we are willing to submit ourselves to what the governing body sees fit for punishment. Basically it means you are not to use violence.
Peter says, “Have no fear of them.” Do not give them greater honor or respect than they deserve as they too are subject to the justice of God. Peter is saying be zealous for what is good, be bold even if the people around you speak out against you. Be zealous for what is good all the more, and do not be troubled by what others will do. Be zealous, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.
In our zeal, are we honoring Christ the Lord as holy?
This is where I have found myself stopping as I prayed and studied this week. I can be a very outspoken person on things I care about. This has gotten me into some trouble at times, but usually I am willing to accept the rebuke. But in my zeal for what I perceive to be good, am I honoring Christ the Lord as holy? I have had to stop and think deeper about this. I have often said that we can be right and still be wrong. We can be right but if we take improper actions to achieve the goal it does not matter because we have closed the door of opportunity.
“Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. This was where I spent much of my young adult life. I wanted to have all the answers. I wanted to be able to win every debate. I wanted to prove to everyone what was true. This is part of my argumentative nature. And I gravitated toward people that I thought had good answers. I wanted to live in a black and white, right and wrong world. There are classes and books that you can take that focus on these very things. The word defense here is apologia, which is what forms the word apologetics. The sense of the word is to give a legal defense, or to be able to prove something.
It would be nice to be able to have all the answers, unfortunately from all my study of apologetics the questions that are often covered in the books are not the questions I have received. Occasionally I have been asked the typical can God make a rock so big that he cannot lift it. I have read the defenses of that question and have found them laughable, because there is not an answer. But usually the questions that we are really asked have nothing to do with our knowledge of scripture. The questions we are asked are usually not even expressed in words.
Twenty-seven years ago, I had one of those questions. I was mourning the loss of my little sister. I was questioning my faith. I was studying genetics and crop science and the things I was reading in the science books and the things I was hearing at church were not coming together. I was struggling and I could not formulate questions let alone ask them. In that state I had to admit to my mom that I had sinned. My girlfriend was pregnant and we were not married. What was I going to do?
There are countless answers to that question. Some we might agree with and others we might find appalling, but what is the person in that moment actually asking?
It is not black and white, right or wrong in that moment. The real question being asked is am I still loved? Am I still part of the community? Am I still accepted? Will you be here for me when everything seems to fall apart?
“Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”
You can make a defense for whatever position you have but those are just words. Will you be there, zealous for what is good, no matter what happens? I was asking questions I did not even know I was asking, and my church was giving me answers. They did not gloss over the sinful aspects of my actions, but they also did not let that define who I am. I was a confused young man looking for a reason to go or to stay, they gave me hope. They did not have fancy words or arguments that could convince me one way or the other. They expressed their beliefs and I knew they were true because they were ready to help no matter what.
We are not going to know what someone will need. We are not going to know the questions that they might ask. That is why we should always be prepared. We should always be actively learning, asking questions, finding solutions. We should always be looking around to see a place or person that needs some attention and strive to shine light. We should speak out when we see injustice, but we should not only speak out we should be zealous for what is good, meaning our words and our actions should resemble one another. But we should know why we do what we do.
When I was in Ukraine, I was asked a lot of questions. But one of the funniest questions I was asked was, “Is that why we do this in church?” I grew up thinking that the Soviet Union was filled with a bunch of atheists, and that is not completely wrong, it is not completely right either. They were facing the very same struggles that we in America and everyone else in the world was facing. They like us, were looking at the technology, the various social practices and philosophies, science, and everything else and they were trying to make sense of it all. An author I respect once said this, “science excels at explaining ‘how’ the universe works (mechanisms), while faith and theology address the ‘why’ (meaning, purpose, and the existence of God).” This is what the students of Ukraine were wrestling with. It was what I was wrestling with. I would go through the things the we were supposed to share, and then we would just talk. I did not know anything. I was just a punk kid, but I would share stories of my life and they would ask why I did what I did and I would answer. Eventually it came down to the, “Is that why we do this in church?” They were Orthodox and I am a Quaker. I answered honestly. I have absolutely no idea why your church does that, but from what you are saying I would make that assumption. Ukraine is filled with Christian. It is filled with people that are asking the same questions we are. It is filled with people looking for answers and looking for a reason to believe.
I presented the 4 spiritual laws more times than I can remember, and not a single person was convinced by my arguments. But I saw light. I saw people turn back to God. I saw God change lives. It was not the arguments, it was the conversations. It was the honesty of me being there zealous for what is good, and being willing to talk to them not as a project but as a friend. And together a bunch of confused college students found hope.
Peter wrote this letter to a church that was facing struggles that not many had yet witnessed. He encouraged them to learn as much as they can about everything around them so that they could speak. And he encouraged them to be zealous for what is good. What is good, and how do we honor Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts? It is found within the rhythm of life Jesus taught us. Worship with the community. Withdraw often to isolated places to pray. And minister to the people around you with words and actions. We as a meeting of Friends have translated that into our mission or purpose statement. We encourage each other to become a people: “Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and Living the love of Christ with others.” It is the same thing that Peter is encouraging. Know God’s ways by learning the depths of his teachings. Spend time in conversation with God, not only talking to him but listening to the Spirit as his teachings peculate within us. And then take what we have learned and apply it.
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…
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…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 03, 2026
Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship
Click to read in Swahili
Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili
1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV)
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk.” I am often floored by the use of language that the writers of our scripture use. They have a way to verbally construct an image within out minds that with only a few words can explain a concept that would take me an hour to get across.
Peter tells us that we should be like a newborn infant, longing for the pure spiritual milk. I want you to just imagine what that looks like. Unfortunately today we do not have infants among us, as they have grown up and now they run around and help us sing. But we remember just a couple of years ago, when they were at that age. An infant longs for milk every couple of hours. They long for it. This verb long, is not merely a desire, it is a feeling of deep necessity, something so needed that one cannot keep quiet until the need has been met. We understand that longing if we have ever been around a baby. They let us know what they need, and when they receive what they need, they quiet down, they are at peace, they grow, and mature.
This is an amazing image of the spiritual life. This is how we begin. Just like a infant we do not know anything. We make a lot of noise. We get food and we end up throwing it across the room and wearing all over us. But little by little something gets inside, it begins to nourish us and we grow. We begin to see beyond the words on the pages. We begin to see them enacted and lived around us. The words of scripture are not supposed to remain on the page. They should become who we are. They should become what we do. We are to embody every aspect of scripture, to grow into them.
There is another word image that scripture has used to describe this concept. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
In this Moses is telling us that the word, the law, the commandments, or the teachings of God should become so much a part of you that you literally cannot speak without the teachings of God coming out of your lips. You cannot sit down to relax within you house without the teachings of God becoming like your recliner, giving you the rest your body needs. You cannot raise a child without the commands of God reflecting to them. Those commandments should wrap themselves around your arms like a shirt you wear in public, it should hang down over your eyes like the hair upon your head. Everything about you should be filled with the teachings of God.
It truly is a beautiful images composed on the pages of a book. And the various writers expand this even more. John wrote this in his Revelation of Jesus Christ, “Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” (Revelation 13:11-17)
I want us to consider what these words are painting before us. In the first written by Moses, the commands of God are to be embodied in every thing we do. In the second the words of or the name of the beast is written upon humanity. It is his teaching that they embody. So often we are told not to take the mark of the beast as Christians, we think that it is an end times prophecy but in reality it is the inverse of God’s teaching. It is the kingdoms of men replacing that of God. It is and has always been part of this world. For those that are found within the kingdom of God, they embody the teachings of God in all they do, but those within the kingdoms of the world embody the desires and the teachings of that kingdom.
Peter tells us in this second chapter of this letter to put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. To put away all the teachings of this world. And like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk. Long for the justice of God. Cry out for grace and mercy to flow freely into our bodies so that we can grow into that being we were created to become, and image bearer of God.
I have begun today with some fairly heavy concepts, but this is the human experience. This is what every person upon this earth must endure. We were born within a rebellion, we find ourselves living within a battlefield caught within the crossfire between the beast and a lamb. Some of us will become the embodiment of the beast, while others will clothe themselves in Christ. Those are the only two options, we can embody the rebellion or bear the image of the creator.
Peter tells us to cast off or to put away, rip off and remove the dead skin of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. And to put on instead something different. To become like a newborn infant crying out for milk. We should long for the teaching of God, and clothe ourselves in them, seek the things of Christ as if our very existence depends upon it. And we should do this because we have tasted the things of Christ. We know that his life, and lifestyle is good.
Peter then continues by saying, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
I want us know to consider the idea of living stones. I want us to think of them not so much from our frame of reference but from the mind of the ancient world. The culture of Israel, was similar but different from ours. The things they had available to them were slightly different. We often read scripture and see that Jesus was the son of Mary, and she was married to Joseph the carpenter. We get this translation because of the culture surrounding England when they were translating the first English Bible. The actual term is builder or handyman, in most cases it would have been used as a reference to stonemason instead of carpenter, but more people in England in 1611 were familiar with carpenter instead of stonemason, because to build in stone was a luxury, where stone in Israel at the time of Jesus was common. It was a luxury in first century Israel to have something made of wood, because there was not an abundance of trees in Israel. Stone was a common building material for Peter, and for the people Peter was writing to in Asia Minor. These early Christian knew stone work, they carved cities within the rocks and lived underground to hide from persecution and I assume heat.
They used stones to build their houses and communities. They also used stones to build walls for defense. The temple of God was also constructed out of cut stone. I mentioned that Joseph was likely a stonemason. Tradition says that he worked on the temple during Herod’s expansion project. I do not know if this is accurate, but it is interesting.
Peter says that we are to put away the things of this world, and to long for the nourishment that comes from Christ. He then calls Jesus a living stone. Each of those concepts of stone: the home, the community, the protection, and the worship, are wrapped up in this one idea. Jesus became, he embodied, or he became the living incarnation of all these things. In Jesus we find rest. In Jesus we find safety from danger. In Jesus we find access to God. He is the living stone, but he is rejected by men.
I began with putting on God’s lifestyle, and how Moses described it. How it marks us through our words and actions and how everything revolves around God. I then showed how the mark of beast is not something to be feared necessarily, but it is a life and lifestyle lived contrary to lifestyle of God. We are either marked with God, or with the beast of this world. The worldly systems look at the things of God and they reject it. They look at the teachings of Christ and they say that it is weakness.
Scripture tells us that true religion protects the widows and the orphans. These were the words written by James the brother of Jesus. True religion, true faith protects widows and orphans, this is coming from a man that had once told the crowd that his brother was out of his mind. Yet once he tasted that the lord is good, something changed within him. He became known as James the Just. He became the most well respected leader within the church in Jerusalem, and he gave his life for his faith. He once rejected Jesus, called him a mad man, and then he went to the grave proclaiming the gospel of Jesus.
Widows and orphans are what James focused on, but there is another group of people that is spoken of often within the pages of scripture, the foreigner. Scripture speaks of these groups because these are the groups that are often excluded in worldly kingdoms. In ancient cultures the family was extremely important. We think it is important today, but in the ancient world the family was not only a place to live and raise children. It was your community, your career, it was your hospital, and your social safety net. Everything needed to survive was to be found within your family. What happens when that breaks down?
When the husband died, the widow was left with nothing. She could not just go out to start a career because that was not an option available to her. All the property would legally be transferred to the husband’s heir. In a perfect world this would be the eldest son, and that son would keep the family intact and care for his mother. But there were rare occasions where the widow did not yet have children, and everything her husband had was transferred to his brother or the next nearest living male relative . Once that brother had possession of the property he could do whatever he thought was right. And the care of his brother’s wife may not be high on his list of priorities. Often women in this situation lived on the charity of others, or they would submit to exploitation in every form just to survive.
Orphans are similar. In Jewish law a child would be someone under the age of thirteen. Once they became a teenager, they would begin to work as an adult and were no longer under the direct care of the parents. This does not mean you no longer have to listen to your parents, because in that culture honoring your father and mother was required until your parents died. You were an adult meaning, if you were a daughter you could be given in marriage at that age, and if you were a son you were required to join you father in the family business. You were no longer a child but an active participant in the survival of your community. But if your father died before you came to that age, you did not have rights because you were not yet an adult. If your father had property that land would be given to your uncle to manage until you came of age to inherit the property. You and everything your family had owned went to a relative to manage.
This system usually worked out, but there is a vulnerability. What if you father did not have enough property to raise your uncle’s children and you? You became a source of financial difficulty and you could be sent away to satisfy a debt. To become a widow or an orphan means that you exist at the grace of those around you. You are vulnerable. You are not necessarily an asset, but you are a liability. The foreigner is also vulnerable.
Boarders in the ancient world were not exactly as they are today. Yes there were laws about where plots of land were, but in reference to nations there were no boarders. Instead there was influence, and most of that influence resided in the extent you could exhibit force. The Roman Empire stretched from Britain to Spain, down into Northern Africa, and across into the Middle East today. They might say they reached beyond that, but even Israel was questionably ruled because they did not have a firm hand of control, which is why they often treated the people so violently. For a foreigner to come into the land it could mean one of to things. The first is an army was approaching. And the second there was a famine and this person had lost everything. People usually do not move unless they have to. If you were able to provide for your family doing what you loved to do there would be no need to leave home. The only reason to leave home is if you cannot do that. Your homeland is either unsafe or lacks the opportunity. The foreigner within your land does not have property, they do not have status, they do not have a family to fall back on. Their continued existence requires mercy and grace.
If you were to read through scripture you will see these three groups mentioned often. And I know I am sounding political right now, but it is important. God judges the nations and the people of nations based on justice. Justice is often determined by how we treat the widows, orphans, and the foreigners within a nation. You see this written in the teachings of the prophets over and over again. The kingdoms of humanity often turn away from these because there is no profit only extra expense.
But Jesus is a living stone. He once taught, “come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” He once commanded his disciples not to exclude the children but to let them approach because any that receives a child receives the kingdom of God. Jesus became the community, the protective wall and the place of divine acceptance for the weary, he became the place of refuge.
Peter goes on and says, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” And he goes on by quoting the words of the prophet by saying “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Jesus began the work. That is the meaning of the cornerstone. It is from that one stone that the entire structure’s foundation is set. Jesus is the living cornerstone, and we are the living stones that align with him to build the church. We together with Christ, become the place of rest for those that have had a hard day. We together with Christ, become the wall of protection surrounding those that are vulnerable. We are the living stones laying along side Christ to build up the place of worship and together we become the church.
I want us to think about what it means to be a living stone. We are to be common places of comfort. We are to be the strong fortress for those that are threatened. We are to be a lighthouse attracting and warning those out in the darkness of the danger that surrounds them.
Do we protect the widows, the orphans, the foreigner? Are we stones or are we like those in Jesus’s day rejecting the precious stone that is Christ. Do we reject his direction, his teaching and his grace?
The world stumbles because they reject the teachings of God. They were born into a world of rebellion. Their words, their actions, everything about their lives are focused on that. They are marked. They live in fear and are easily swayed because their foundation is not built on the standard of whose image they were created. They broke that stone and everything built upon their ways will eventually come crashing down.
But we, we have been marked, we have been sealed, we have been formed to a different life. We might face rejection and ridicule, but we are living stones, built upon the rock of Jesus Christ the son of the living God. We are members of his living temple and church that the very gates of hell cannot overpower.
We stand at a crossroad, and we must choose a path forward. What will we be? And whose name will be etched into our lives? Will we put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander and be living stones? Or will we remain marked by the beast?
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…
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…
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