By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
March 29, 2026
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Query 3:
Do you attend regularly the services of your church and participate in them actively? Do you prayerfully endeavor to minister, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in humble dependence upon Christ, the spiritual gifts with which you have been entrusted?
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage on another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25 NIV)
(Faith and Practice, The Book of Discipline; Evangelical Friends Church Mid-America Yearly Meeting. pg 60)
Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV)
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We live in a world that is often filled with dissonance. You might have noticed it. Dissonance in music is a lack of harmony, things are just out of tune and it makes our ears cringe. I struggle with this as I am nearly 70% deaf, I notice dissonance but I cannot tell what exactly is wrong. I cannot tell if it is too high or too low, I just know that it does not feel right.
There is dissonance outside of music also, a tension or clash resulting from the combination of two unsuitable elements. I have contemplated this over the past few weeks. And I feel like I do when I am speaking about music, I cannot put my finger on what exactly the problem is, but something just does not feel right. I have stopped and taken a step back, I have reevaluated things, I have moved forward again and the feeling begins again. Something is off. It sounds as if it should be right, but it just does not feel right.
When I was in high school, I was in band. I was not in a band like we have around here, our band was never offered any prestigious opportunity to march at any of the college football bowl game parades, or to participate in the Macy’s thanksgiving day parade. I take that back, we were invited to one bowl game. We joined with several other bands and played at the KCAC Wheat Bowl, which was a bowl game for several of the small christian colleges in Kansas, but that bowl game does not exist anymore.
With small schools, the band tends to be very heavy on certain tones, and lacks others. In our case we lacked bass. We had several flutes, clarinets, many trumpets and saxophones, but we had one trombone player, and no Tuba. I was one of the trumpet players, and our instructor asked if anyone would like to try one of the bass instruments so that we could have a more complete sound. I volunteered. The problem with that is I cannot hear bass. I could not tell you if I was playing the right note or not because I could not hear it. But luckily the tuba is a large instrument that either sits in your lap or is wrapped around your body. I cannot hear it, but I could feel it. I worked with the instructor, I sat on the piano as they played the base notes, and I tried to imitate the feeling with the tuba. It looked a bit weird, but it worked. It worked so well that the next year when it came time to go to the marching band contests at the state fair, were given top marks. We were the smallest band in the competition, but each of the judges commented how impressed they were with the complete sound we were able to deliver, and as a little brag, each judge commented how they enjoyed the tuba. That is a bit of pride I know, but I always found it humorous because I literally could not tell you for sure if I was playing right. All I could say is that it felt as if it fit.
We live in a world of dissonance. There are elements come together and the resonance does not seem to create something pleasant. It is in our schools, our communities, our churches. It is all around us. And it is as if we are all just as deaf as I am. We can tell something is not right but we cannot quite detect what it is, it does not quite feel right when combined with the rest of the world around us.
As I read through the Epistle Paul wrote to the Philippians, this is what came to my mind. This is one of my favorite of Paul’s letters as it has the verse that my great grandfather sent to me when he help fund my trip to Ukraine, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21). As I read through this letter I get a sense that Paul and the people of Philippi are dealing with cultural dissonance. Paul is in prison wanting to come to the people, the factors surrounding that desire have a resonance, but it is not in harmony because something is causing anxiety, or one of the elements is sharp. He cannot come because he is in prison for his faith. But he is writing this letter because he has heard things concerning the people of Philippi, when he is with them there is harmony, but when the conductor is missing everyone seems to get off beat. They begin to forget what their purpose is, they forget what the church is, they begin to go off on their own way. And suddenly what was once a beautiful orchestra has fallen into discord.
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” Paul tells them. This is where our reading began, but we need some context. Lets go to the beginning of the chapter. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have This mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”
I want us to think about this for a moment.
I want us to think about all the dissonance we feel within out culture, and within our relationships.
This is challenging to us all. In Evangelical theology we believe in a personal relationship with Christ. This is not wrong by any means, we are responsible for our own actions. You are responsible for what you do personally, you cannot blame your parents for the actions you do. You cannot blame your teachers, or your brother or sister. Blame cannot be transferred to your grandparents nor to your children. If you stole an item from the store, its on you. If you take a life from someone, it is on you. If you cheat on a test, or your taxes, you are responsible. This is what Evangelicals teach and it is correct, but it is not complete. As there are some decisions that are made by others that place people into a position they would not have chosen for themselves.
As Friends, we have had a long history opposing the use of military violence. We have this stance because we are pro life in the fullest sense of that phrase. All human life bears the image of our creator and because they bear that image, they should be treated with respect. It is not our right to use violence to force another person to do what we want. When we use violent force, that person or that nation is placed into a position they might not have chosen for themselves. This is something that the Friends of Kiev have struggled with, as well as the Friends in Moscow. It is something we struggle with in our own nation, and in our own families. We have to answer for our own actions, but when someone chooses violence against our community what are we to do? There is a difference between defense and offensive wars. Ukraine was invaded, they can respond in defense, but Russia as the invader is wrong because they forced Ukraine into that position. They forced Ukraine into a place where they either cease to exist or fight. As someone that has a strong testimony of peace, I struggle with this, that is why I say that war is never good. No matter what we choose, we must live with the consequences. No matter how justified we feel in the moment, we still must face the trauma and reality that fellow image bearers were marred, and we as a society have some responsibility. It does not stop with war, there are other aspects of life that we could say the same about. Immigration policy, taxation, employee compensation, loan availability, every aspect of life that involves human interaction has some bearing. How we treat the waitstaff, or the clerk at the store. Everything can honor or cast dishonor.
This is the limitation of Evangelical theology. What happens when we are given choices where no path forwards seems to glimmer with light?
As Evangelicals we can back off and say I am not involved. I am focusing on my personal relationship with God. And we can sit in our meetinghouses and churches hearing the dissonance, seeing the struggle yet not stepping up. We can see disharmony, disunity, disorder and stay unmoved. But the resonance of the earth, of the world seems off. Sometimes the authors of apocalyptic writings would describe it as earthquakes. The very foundation of what we have build our lives upon trembles with the dissonance. We do not know what to do, so we disengage, and pray that the end of the world would come.
Do we not see the problem? This is something that has plagued humanity from the time of our first parents, from the times of Cain and Abel, Noah and Babel. It is the very story of human existence.
What was the temptation of our first parents? We often hear the story, and we say they sinned by disobeying God’s commandment and they ate the fruit that was not meant for them. We are not wrong in that interpretation, but I ask again what was the temptation? They were told that God had knowledge of good and evil, and by eating the fruit they would have that knowledge for themselves. They were tempted as all of us are, to satisfy their own desire without any regard for anyone else. They ate the fruit, and death entered the world. Dissonance, the symphony of life moved from a major to a minor key, tension and separation became our existence instead of harmony.
This repeats with their children. Cain has a conversation with God, and God said to him if you do well will you not also be accepted? Yet Cain focused on his own selfish desires, he was not accepted and Abel was, so he decided if only he would remove his brother he would have what he wanted. He could force the hand of God, to do his bidding. But the blood of Abel cried out to God, it screamed about the injustice he endured. And God asked Cain, “where is your brother?” and Cain responds, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
We often regard these stories as just that, stories. But they are more than stories, they teach us something deeper. We are never alone. Everything we do reflects not only on ourselves, but on everyone around us. If we wish to force society to treat us better, this often comes with a cost. And the blood of our brothers cry out to God. Paul tells us, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is your in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”
I have often struggled with this verse. I struggle with it because it has dissonance. Paul wrote this way for that reason. The term grasped, is not exactly what we translate it as. It means to take hold of, or more accurately to steal. What Paul is saying is, even though Jesus was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God as something everyone around him would just automatically notice and give to him, or that he could force the people of the world to recognize. Jesus did not want to use force, he did not want to compel the world to recognize the truth, he did not want the nations to enact legal codes to force adherence to his teachings. He was and is equal to God the Father, together with the Holy Spirit they form the one True Triune God. Jesus came from the heavens, was born into human form, he lived, he taught, he served, and he suffered. He was and is God, through him everything in the world was created, He holds the physics of the universe in his hands, yet he did not count the recognition of being who he was as something that could be forced. God does not force us to believe.
But what did he do? “He emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
I want us to let that sink in. Jesus did not use the powers available to him to compel human allegiance. This is what grasped means. It is to take by force. Russia is grasping Ukraine, and I know I speak about that a great deal. I speak about it because it is a conflict between two similar but different ideologies, and we on this side of the world often do not recognize the difference. Many of us still call Ukraine, the Ukraine, as if it is some region like the Rocky Mountains. We do not see them as a distinct culture, instead we see them as Russia sees them, a lessor entity needing to be forced into compliance. We could say the exact same thing in reference to Venezuelan, Greenland, Palestine, Sudan, or any other conflict in the world. We often see them as something to be grasped, because we have the power and they do not.
Paul tells us, Jesus had the power, but he did not count equality with God as something to be used to force others against their will. Instead he emptied himself. The writer of Hebrews says, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels”. He left the glory, he left the unseen realm and entered our dimension of time and space. And he did this because under the direction of the angels, the fallen and rebellious spiritual beings, we entered into rebellion. We entered into death, a death that only God could redeem. We took something from God in that moment of rebellion, we took it by force, we grasped it. We wanted equality with God, but equality with God was not what we were created to be. Instead we were to reflect God to the created world.
This is what we have been struggling with since the nations were scattered. Israel was chosen as God’s inheritance, through whom God would shine his light into the darkness of that separation. At first he gave his teaching, his commandments. We were incapable to live a pure life, incapable because we were interpreting things through our own minds, our own cultures. As the writer of Judges said, everyone did what they though was right in their own heart. This is how we all live, and how we all would have continued to live until God humbled himself. God, himself, became human for us and through his humility provided the way to restore and redeem humanity to it’s rightful place.
He took on our form, our relationships, our suffering, our injustice, and he endured our shame to the point of death. He was not only obedient to God the Father, but he was obedient to human governmental systems. Showing us how to live within systems built to exploit and dehumanize others, while encouraging them to return to God. He did this not with force, not with power, but through humility.
Paul wants us to have this mind. I might be strong, just because I have that power does not mean I can force you to do what I want. That is not humility but tyranny. Paul instead encourages us to humble ourselves. To treat those around us as Jesus would have treated them. Sacrificing what we might see as being in our best interest, and giving what we sacrifice for the good of others.
This is why I read the third Query today. Do you attend regularly the services of your church and participate in them actively? As much as I agree with the Evangelical stance on personal salvation, we are not solitary beings. We live within community, we were created to live within community. When God created humanity He said it was not good for man to be alone, so God split humanity in half, not just a rib. God took one side of Adam and from that side God made Eve. We are two sides of a whole, and we are incomplete unless we participate in community. Meetings for worship are not only about worship, they are practice. It is practice for each of us to sacrifice for the good of others. It is practice, because we are to come together in unity worship, and serve as one and yet there are many of us. Each of us have our own ideas, our own concepts of what is right and wrong, and each of us have our preferences. Will we humble ourselves like Christ? And if our preference or our idea is rejected how do we respond? Are we willing to stand aside for the good of the community?
Then the second part of the query, “Do you prayerfully endeavor to minister, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in humble dependence upon Christ, the spiritual gifts with which you have been entrusted?” As we participate, are we reflecting Christ? Are we willing to sacrifice all that we have for those around us? Are we willing to pray for and continue to work with those we might have had an argument with? If so it means we are going to need to learn the art and discipline of reconciliation and humility again, and again.
This is what Paul is telling the church of Philippi. Do nothing out of selfish ambition but humble yourselves as Christ did, even though you might have the power, even though you might be gifted, even though you have Christ within you, that does not matter more than the image of God in the person across the aisle, down the street, or on the other side of the world. Everything we do should be done to reflect that of God in our lives and in theirs. Are we practicing at church, with these people around you right now. Are you practicing what it means to give, serve, help, and encourage with us so that when we go out into our wider community it becomes second nature?
Jesus humbled himself, even though the entire strength and power of God was available to him, he did not want to force those around him to comply with his will. He became a servant. He took our form, and became obedient to the systems of the world. He became obedient, but that does not mean he did not speak out against injustice. That is not obedience, He spoke out against injustice, obediently, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus humbled himself. He sacrificed himself. He gave of himself. And that is what Paul is encouraging each of us to have as the same mind. Emptying ourselves of all vanity and being honest. Admitting that I need each of you and you need each of us, because we are a community together, and only together will we be able to fully express the music God has called us to perform. Only together will our dissonance become harmonious. And when the church humbles itself, and serves those around us, that is when every knee will bow, and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Because in humility to Christ, and to each other the tones begin to resonate with each other, and the once small band gains its complete sound. It is in humility, in sacrifice, in working together so that all will find and thrive in their own giftedness, that we can fully reflect the fullness of God’s image to the world. We do not need to worry about what we do not have, or what others might do. Instead we should listen for the voice of God as individuals, and as a community, and respond accordingly. We should have this mind among ourselves. Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and Living the love of Christ with others.
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…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
March 15, 2026
Click here to join our Meeting for Worship
Ephesians 5:8–14 (ESV)
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Darkness and light. There is something about those words that are both ominous and hopeful. It does not matter where you are from or what belief system you espouse. There is fear in darkness, and hope in light.
I have always been a bit of a nerd. When I was in school my classmates would often draw characters of me with big thick glasses, wild hair, and a white lab coat. I never really had a nickname but the closest thing that I had to a nickname in school was “the Scientist”. I did not really mind it, they were not really making fun of me as my glasses are pretty thick. The wild hair was not very accurate but I was an elementary school boy so there were days where my hair just did whatever it wanted without any regard to social norms, and there are worse things in life than being compared to Einstein. And I loved science.
I loved science and I loved a good story. If you have been around me for any amount of time you know that my favorite movies are the ones that combine the two. I like Star Wars, because it has a good story and there are space ships. I like Star Trek because it speaks of boldly going where no one has gone before. That catchy slogan speaks about curiosity and science along with an adventure story. I love comics heroes and almost believe that it was divine providence that most of the Marvel movies have come out around my birthday. Why do I like these things? They speak of science and then there is the story.
The story is usually the same. Every good story has a similar theme. Jordan Peterson made his living pointing out that fact in his YouTube lectures and I often found myself agreeing with the basis of his discussion. There are characters, a problem, people that use the problem to gain power or some sort for their own gain, and another character finding a way to overcome the problem finding a solution that negates the exploitation and liberates the rest of the characters.
It does not really matter what the story its. I was watching a comedian on YouTube a few months back, probably a couple of years ago, and he said Star Wars and Harry Potter are the same story. He then went into all the themes within each. The worst thing about it is that the comedian is right. It really is the same story. An orphaned boy mentored by an older master to use this universal power, the have a dark side and a light side, and they both have sticks that often glow. But every story is basically the same light and dark. Good versus evil. Chaos verse Order.
Now I am beginning to sound a little like Jordan Peterson, sorry. This is truly something that is found throughout human existence. I am not promoting that culturally controversial figure, I am just saying that it is important to recognize truth when we see it. And he built his entire career on the phycology of order and chaos theories. Oddly though I did not begin to see this when he began writing, I was able to see it when I was in elementary school.
I read about it in the books that I obtained from the library. I saw it in the lives of the scientists I learned about. I saw that there was some deeper theme presenting itself in the lives of Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, and Jim Thorpe. Most kids just saw these awesome athletes but I saw the dark struggle they faced and the resistance that emerged into the light. They strove to overcome more than an opponent on the field or on the track, they faced a darkness the overshadowed the very foundation of their culture.
These stories, they can be the depictions of actual people or fictional accounts like Huckleberry Finn and Jim on a raft, they speak of struggle. They speak of facing the perception of what is right socially against something that does not sit well within our conscience. And this is what Paul is speaking about as he writes to the people of Ephesus.
Ephesus was a major port city in Asia Minor or what we know today as Turkey. It was an important city to the Hittites, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. It became a major ally to the Greeks during the conquest of Alexander the Great because they lead the revolt against Persia due to high taxes. Which is something we as Americans tend to respect as that is what led to our own revolt against the king of England. In Ephesus the land based trade routes from the East and the shipping across the sea met and everything that entered and left this port was taxed. This becomes problematic because it means that there is a slow down in the transportation, as well as a large amount of capital within the city as you can imagine crime, corruption, and conspiracies loomed within the streets.
There were other things happening in the streets as well. Sailor, traders, political figures, and people from across the empires from both the east and the west congregated within this city and where people gather the transfer of knowledge happens. Forums and theaters became a thing, where scholars and philosophers would share their teachings. Libraries and temples to various deities were constructed. And one of these temples, the temple of Artemis, was the key feature of this community.
Artemis was a goddess that was supposedly responsible for fertility. She granted fertility to the herds, the wild animals, the trees that bore fruit, and to women. And she was the huntress so she also provided protection to humanity from the wild beasts that might cause harm. And the most practical aspect of her cult was that she was believed to hold the lives of women in her hands while they gave birth.
This part of Turkey was filled with beasts, it had treacherous terrain, and the people were often nomadic herdsmen, and hunters. They needed the fertility of the animals. And even today the greatest risk to a woman’s health is during child birth. These things attracted people to this religious cult. And Ephesus was the place of rest for them, it was a calm place where the river met the sea, where they could enjoy the good things of life. They built a temple to their goddess that was grand. Many scholars call it one of the wonders of the ancient world, and it would have rivaled the temple in Jerusalem.
It is to this place that Paul is writing this letter. “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
Paul knows this city, he knows who lives there, and what they are capable of. The silversmiths of this city rioted when Paul came to their town because the message he brought threatened their trade. They made figurines of the goddess to sell to the travelers, and Paul spoke against their idolatry.
Paul was also from Asia Minor originally. Tradition tells us that he was born in Tarsus, which is on the south eastern coast of Turkey not too far from the boarder of Syria, where Ephesus was on the Western edge. Tarsus was along the trade route so it was likely that Paul would have traveled often to that city, since he was a Roman citizen.
He knows the superstitions and the fears that the people in this city had. He knows how they worshiped the goddess and what was required. I have often found it interesting that when we speak about the culture wars today, the verses that are often quoted are usually from the letters written to the people, or the ministers that severed in the communities where the primary religious cult was focused on the worship of a goddess, a female deity. We quote the list of sins found in the letters to the Corinthians, we take notice of the mention of immorality and impurity in this letter, and in the letters to Timothy and Titus, both of which were ministers in Ephesus, we get the most quoted verses in relation to our current cultural disagreements. Have we taken the time to ask why Paul gives these lists to these people? I want us to just think about this for a moment. Artemis of Ephesus, was a fertility goddess. There is no direct proof of what the cultic practices of her worship consisted of but there are indications that the leaders had to be female, or males that had given their fertility to the goddess. One does not need to make too much of a leap to understand why Paul gave those lists of sins to the people of these communities. That list was likely the list of what the worship of that goddess entailed.
In today’s verses Paul tells us do not become partners, or fellow partakers, with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
This brings us to darkness and light once again. In every commentary I read this week, they made mention of two things when revering to these verses. When they spoke about darkness, the first thing they mentioned was fear. And the second was a lack of understanding. When they spoke about light it was the inverse. It was hope instead of fear, and understanding or wisdom.
Walk as children of light.
I had us sing a silly song today, a song I learned when I was about Albert’s age, about George Fox and his teachings. Walk in the light wherever you may be walk in the light wherever you may be. In my old leather breeches and my shaggy shaggy lock I am walking in the glory of the light said Fox. Those that participated in the Talking Tuesdays that we did last year might have noticed some of the teachings within that song and recognized how deeply the early Friends held those beliefs. Will you fight for the Lord, they asked George and he said no, because you cannot kill evil with a gun or a sword. Will you swear on a bible? No because truth is more holy to me than the book because the Word of God, the Truth is not the book itself but Jesus, the word of God made flesh.
Light and Dark. Order and chaos. Good verses Evil. It is the common theme that has been playing out throughout human history. We do not know, we lack knowledge and we are afraid of that darkness. And people know that we fear that unknown, they prey upon that fear. The herdsman’s flock is nearing birthing season. The family and the tribe rely on this, will they have food, will they have hides or fleece to make clothing, will their herd grow or will the great unknown bring about destruction? They do not know. Did they do something that might have angered the goddess of the herd? Or did they do something to bring her blessing? They do not know, so they take an offering to the goddess to ease their fear. They participate in a ritual, they bring offering, they give their gold and their silver to the priestesses. And they go back to the herd. Did they do enough? They will never know for sure.
Empty superstitions. Devotion to fear. The world can only offer us fear. Fear sells. We spend money on insurance, supplements, and oils. Are these things necessary or proven? At times sure, but insurance sells because people know we are afraid of getting sick and losing everything. Supplement often twist valid research and market it to your fears. We are afraid of a neural divergent spectrum so we avoid vaccines and Tylenol, but have we looked up what that divergence actually is? Our world runs on fear. We are afraid of Iran attacking us, so we attack them. We are afraid of Russia attacking us so we do not help Ukraine. We are afraid. But what are we afraid of and what is the fruit of that darkness and fear?
“Walk as children of light,” Paul tells us, “for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”
The people devoted to Artemis living in Ephesus did not have knowledge, they did not have the hope that we have. All they had was fear. They lived in fear because that is all the rulers of this world can offer. Fear is what the forces of darkness want because when we live in fear they can control us. But Jesus tells us that the truth will set us free.
A child is scared of the dark, they come running to their parent’s room in the dark of night, running through the darkness to come and get you, and you pick them up and what do you do? You turn on the light. Where was the thing that caused the fear? The light shows us. The light reveals the truth, it was not a monster but the clothes you asked them to put away. Or the toy they were just playing with an hour before. We fear what we do not know but truth removes the fear.
Does this mean we should not have concerns? No we should have been concerned with Iran, as they are a very volatile nation. We should have concern because we do not know them well enough. But what if we considered this through the light of scripture. What if we were to discern what is pleasing to the Lord, what if we turned on the lights and allowed what was once cloaked in darkness to be revealed? The Japanese prisoners of war, knew that they were going to lose the second world war, not because of the power of the US Navy, but because they as a prisoner, were served ice cream on the ship. The Germans likewise knew that it was hopeless not because of the bombs hitting their capital, but because they saw the Americans eating a fresh cake sent to them from home.
Discern what is pleasing to the Lord. What would be pleasing to the Lord in our current situation? How did Jesus live among the people? What did he say and do? The passage attached to this week’s query comes from John 13. The context surrounding this verse had Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. The teacher took on the role of the lowest servant or slave of a house and washed the grime of life off the feet of his students. Peter looked a Jesus and said no you will not wash my feet, and Jesus responded to him, if you do not let me wash your feet, if you do not allow me to serve you, you will have no part of me. Peter then said not only my feet, but my head and my hands too. Jesus then said that Peter was clean but only needed his feet washed.
Our Query asks, “Do you love one another as becomes the followers of Christ?” Are we serving one another? Are we washing feet? Are we taking the time to understand what daily life is truly like for those around us so that we can provide rest and comfort? Are we turning on the lights?
It continues, “Are you careful of the reputation of others?” Are we letting rumors spread? Are we verifying the fear inducing news against reality? Are we actually doing the research we claim we have done?
And finally, “When differences arise do you make earnest efforts to end them speedily?” Have we spoken with the person that has offended us? Chances are they do not know that they have offended you and as soon as they know they would likely repent. Have we clearly expressed our expectations or are we assuming that they can read our mind?
“Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord,” Paul tells us, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
I will not say that the events that have transpired were unavoidable, but I can say that I am grieved. I am grieved because I know that often I fail to discern, often I sit in my big blue chair worrying and paralyzed with fear. I do not know how to handle the situations that face my own family so how can I honestly say I know how to salve world conflicts. But I do know some things. I know that clean water can save a community from illness. I know that if medicine was more widely available in parts of the world, the quality of life would improve. I know that if people are free to discuss problems and find solutions together they often can find a path forward. I know that when people have access to tools they can often find solutions. I have a lot of fear, I lack understanding, but I also have hope. Because the one that called me to follow him, lived within a community. He healed the sick, he freed those living in bondage, he provided light to those that lived in darkness, he suffered, and faced injustice. And he did not back away but faced it head on, even when that injustice nailed him to a cross. Jesus faced not everything we face today, but he faced things that were similar and just as difficult. And he faced the greatest fear that we have. He died, was separated from the living and was buried, but on the third day he rose again.
We can face the fear, because the greatest fear the darkness has to offer is death. And death no long has the grip on us as it once did, because there is resurrection. Hope and life will overcome even our darkest moments. And it can overcome here today and for all eternity. So we can boldly go out into our world shining light into the darkness. Seeking out knowledge and showing the truth of the shadows of fear. We can live because Christ lives. And as we live we can share the hope that we have with others by Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit and living the love of Christ with others.
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…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
February 22, 2026
Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship
Romans 5:12–19 (ESV)
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
The letter to the Romans is a letter that is filled with many interesting teachings. Paul wrote this letter not while he was in Rome, but when he was planning to go to Rome. Rome as you might have guessed was the capital of the Roman Empire. We often do not think about how big of a distance this is, but to walk to Rome from Jerusalem it is around two thousand one hundred miles, and according to google it would take 719 hours to make that trip, and this is only if you were able to catch a boat across the Adriatic Sea. That is non stop walking for nearly month. But we cannot walk non stop, at best we can probably walk thirteen miles a day so this trip would have taken around 162 days. If he started to walk on January 1, he might get to Rome by June 11th. But it would take a few extra days since he would not be traveling on the Sabbath, and I am fairly certain weather might become an issue along the way.
I say this because we do not often think of how far the gospel went during that first generation of the Church. We do not often think of how quickly this happened either. According to tradition Jesus would have been crucified around the thirty-three AD, and it is believed that Paul wrote this letter in fifty-seven. In twenty-four years the gospel went from Israel, to the very heart of the empire, and it became established enough that the apostles were writing letters to the church there. I want you to just consider what we have done in twenty-four years? I will have been a pastor for that amount of time. And when I consider what has happened in that amount of time, I think wow a lot has happened. And then I look at the span of work that first generation accomplished and I feel like I have done nothing.
There is a significant difference between then and now as well. The world had not yet heard the gospel. It was something new that not many people knew about. They listened and they were curious, so they listened to more. They began to ask questions, and they observed how the people that participated in this new religion acted. This is not how our world is today. There are pockets within the world that have yet to hear the gospel, but the vast majority of the world has heard something about Jesus. This is no longer a new religion. And because of this we have 2000 years of human existence and experience to deal with.
I am part of a theological book club and we recently read a book written by a former Muslim that converted to Christianity. In this book it spoke about his experiences and what finally convinced him to turn toward Christ. It was a profound book. It deepened my understanding of a faith tradition that I am not very familiar with, it showed me a glimpse at how people of that faith might view me and my faith. I bring this up because in most of this book the author spoke about things that he was told about our faith that were not true, and I think it is important for us to remember that we are probably guilty of this toward Muslims as well. My next door neighbor is a Muslim and they are currently in their holy month of Ramadan where they fast from sun up to sun down all month. Which is interesting that it is right during lent this year which only happens every 30-33 years.
I asked him a little about their holiday and how they celebrate it, and he said that they do not eat or drink anything, it is a complete fast during the daylight hours. And that those that drink coffee and smoke tend to have a tough time because of the cravings during the day. I let him know that I would pray for him during this time because that is tough.
But we do not always know, we might not understand where people are coming from. We might know something about what they believe, but often this comes from stories we are told about them, not from someone that is actually part of that community.
The Church is not new, but we have 2000 years of human experience behind us. Both positive and negative. And like most things, the negative concepts often get around faster than the positive. To this day people will talk about how America used to have slavery, and there are some within our culture that will respond to this dark part of our history saying we stopped that a hundred and fifty years ago can’t we just let it go already? Germany would like us to let go of world war 1 and 2 as well, but it is part of our history. We need to remember it and change. But there are things we are speaking about that go even deeper. When we speak about Muslims, what is the first thing we think about? In America, we think about 9/11, but if we ask a Muslim the same thing they would call us Crusaders. The Crusades were something that happened 1300 years ago, the United States did not yet exist, and the dominate culture in the Americas was the Mayan culture, but it would soon collapse and be replaced by the Aztecs. Over a thousand years, and they still call us crusaders. Not a single one of us participated in those activities and yet if we want to have any relationship with them we must speak to that baggage.
I bring this all up because we cannot simply overlook our history. It is part of who we are as a people. I am not Catholic, yet everything that happened prior to the emergence of the Friends Church is part of our history. Everything the British Empire did prior to 1776 is part of our history. Everything the Norse did, everything the indigenous people of America did and what we did to them, that is all part of our history if we like it or not.
I want us to consider that history. That deep history that stretches to the dawn of time, is ours. Paul says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” There are many theological understandings as to what Paul is speaking about here. Some will say that this speaks of original sin. And they use this concept to justify the baptism of infants. The waters of that baptism wash away the residue that Adam and Eve, our original parents left with us. But that does not change our history. Everything that happened from Adam, to Cain, to Seth, and all those genealogies we skip over in those early books of scripture. That is our history. That is who we were. That is our heritage and our culture. As much as some might like to say there is no evidence that any culture of Europe was one of the lost tribes of Israel, there is some evidence that some of the various tribes within Africa might have some ties to Israel. But the dominate aspects of our heritage comes from one of the dispersed language groups that left Babel, and very few of us can claim Abraham as a direct ancestor. I say few, because some of us can make that claim. But even Israel has similar heritage to that point.
“Sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.”
This is where the concept of original sin, in my opinion, seems to fail. Sin is not counted where there is no law, where we lack knowledge or the wisdom from God, sin is not counted. Even though sin reigned from Adam to Moses. What does this mean?
If we were to go back to the story of our first parents and our first brothers we will see something interesting between the interaction between Cain, Abel, and God. God comes to Cain and said, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” The first thing that is important here is that Cain knew God and God knew Cain. God spoke to Cain. They had a relationship of sorts. We sometimes forget that God does not leave anyone, God wants us to turn toward him. Paul even says while we were still sinners, Christ was there and died for us. Cain knew God, and Cain knew what was expected of him.
Cain went from that discussion with God, and he spoke to his brother Abel, and he killed him. God then spoke again to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain responds by saying. “I do not know; am I my brothers keeper?” To which God responds, “What have you done?”
What was the sin in this interaction? Most of us would say that it was the murder of Abel. But I want us to take a step back. The murder was the fruit of the sin. The sin was within Cain, the same sin that Adam and Eve had in the garden. They felt that God was keeping something from them, and they had to take it for themselves. Greed, envy, jealousy. These emotions that we all wrestle with. They are the temptations that are being used against us by the one that is drawing us away from God. The sin is turning away from God. All have sinned, because we have all listened to those whispers, and in our attempts to get what we think we want or need we have turned our backs on our brothers and sisters. All have sinned, we have all listened to the voice of the evil one, even when we know God was there encouraging us to to do well and be accepted.
This is how those without knowledge will be judged. Did you choose to do well or did you choose to let sin enter? When God judged the nations, he did not judge them according to the commandments given to Moses, because they did not have those, he judged them based on how they treated the people around them especially the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners. These three classes of people did not have status within ancient cultures. All property and status within most of the Mediterranean culture went through men. Wives had a future through their husband and their children. Children gained their status through the inheritance they received from their father. If a husband dies, the wife loses everything because she does not inherit anything as it all goes to her children. And if a father dies before a child is an adult, that property goes to the father’s brother to hold in trust for the orphans. But that brother could do whatever he wanted at that point.
Now the foreigners, I know this is a touchy subject in this climate, but it is important. Why would a foreigner be in the land? Where they traveling? Possibly, but probably not. People did not move around like we do now. Many probably did not travel more than a few days walk away from their hometown, so if there was a foreigner in your community, they were in need. It is likely that there was some famine, natural disaster, or war that displaced them from their homeland and now they are left wondering without anything. God cares about these people. He cares because they are people created in his image. And we are to do well to our brothers and sisters of humanity. We are our brother’s keeper, and when we allow greed, envy, and jealousy enter the door of our lives like Cain, God will hold us accountable for what we do to them.
Basic kindness is what God wants us to exhibit when we have no other wisdom. Basic kindness.
But death or sin reigned from Adam to Moses. Nations rose against Nations, cultures enslaved other cultures. Empires rose up to make a name for themselves. And they lorded that name over all surrounding nations. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Rome, France, Russia, China, Mongolia, Britain, France, Germany, Ghana, Axum, the United States, and more. Empires rose up throughout history they rose is strength, wealth, power. Those that worked with them prospered for a while but eventually were absorbed into their influence to the point one could not tell if they were independent or not, and those that did not often found themselves annexed or conquered. Sin and death reigned, because greed, envy and jealousy drove the empires. We want more, we want what we deserve. We want respect. And if we cannot have it we will take it by force. Sin reigns.
“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.”
God walked in the Garden with Adam. God was with Eve, and she said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” when she gave birth to Abel. They knew God, yet sin reigned. God spoke with Cain, God had regard for Abel, yet sin reigned. Cain took the life of his brother, yet God still spoke with Cain, he provided protection even though Cain did not deserve it. God is still with us, he visits with us, He calls out to us, his desire is for us to turn our ear toward him and to listen to his words of wisdom.
Yet we allow sin to reign. We reject our day of visitation and we seek to satisfy the greed, envy and jealousy. We seek wealth and power. We need it for our protection. We need it because we deserve it. We need it. But then God confused the languages at Babel, and he chose one people to be His inheritance, Israel. It is through this one people he would reveal his wisdom. It is from within this people he would shine light into the darkness. And through this people that all nations will be drawn back to him.
God took a man without wealth, and made him a migrant wanderer without land, or an heir. He blessed this man through the wandering and that man made friendships and became respected within the land God had promised him, yet had not yet given to him. This man lived for a hundred years before God had finally given him a son. And through that son, he had two grandsons, and his family began to multiply from there. Yet they had but did not have a land of their own. They went into exile in Egypt, they were enslaved for centuries, and God delivered them. They then again wandered in the wilderness for forty years, and during that wandering God taught them his words of wisdom, he gave them his commandments. He revealed to them how to love God and your neighbor properly. It goes beyond kindness, and becomes service to others.
This people became a nation, they sat at the crossroads between the empires, never being great in themselves, yet having influence greater than their size. They were loved and hated. Blessed and cursed. Because sin still reigned all around them. And eventually they too turned away, and began to follow the ways of the world. They too forgot the teachings God provided to them through Moses in the wilderness. And they were again delivered into the hands of a foreign power.
They recognized their sin. And they repented not just individually, but they repented as a culture. They recognized that they had all fallen short and needed to return to God, and eventually God allowed them to return to their land. And they began to shine the light once more. And the cycles continue.
Until one day a voice cries in the wilderness, “Repent for the kingdom is at hand.” And this wilderness preacher, then looks out at the crowd and says, “Behold the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” And that man comes to him to be baptized. John pleas with him saying, “I should be baptized by you yet you come to me?” John saw that sin still reigned in his life, even though he was turning toward God, he was not perfect, because all have sinned and fallen short.
This is our history. This is our heritage. We are a people that listen to sin lurching at the door, and instead of resisting it, we embrace it. We turn it upside down and justify it. Yet we know better. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
We know what is expected, from the very beginning we have known. “If you do well will you not be accepted.” Yet we do not do well, we want what is not ours, we take what is not ours, and we will do violence toward anyone that tries to prevent it. Sin reigns, but that reign has come to an end. It is defeated. Sin and Death no longer have hold on humanity, because God came to dwell among us. He showed us in word and deed the wisdom of God, and he took on our flesh so that he could restore all humanity back to God.
That restoration came not only to allow us to live for eternity in heaven. He came so that we can live that kingdom life here now in this community. Jesus came so that we might live. He hung on that cross so that we know that he is with us even through the injustice, even through the ridicule, and mockery. Jesus is with us even in the suffering. And though sin and death still reigns all around us, Jesus took the sting of death away, because death becomes life. The resurrected life has overcome death, death no longer has a grip on us. It does not hold us as we live facing our trials, nor when we do pass beyond this veil and enter the unknown on the other side. Death no longer reigns because there is hope. There is hope that one day greed, envy, and jealousy will give way to charity, respect, and encouragement. That wealth and power will become cooperation and mutual benefit. That we will once again do well to one anther as we begin to see that we are our brother’s keeper and our brother is ours as well. Let us allow grace to reign in our lives. Let us let righteousness carry us into life with our lord, our friend, and our savior, Jesus. Let us accept our history as being not who we are, but what we overcame.
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…
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