By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
March 17, 2024
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Jeremiah 31:31–34 (ESV)
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Today is the fifth Sunday of Lent. For most of us this does not really mean a great deal. For me, it does not really mean too much, since as Friends we do not put much emphasis on Holy Days and seasons. We do not emphasize these traditional church seasons because of our belief that every moment of every day is holy and sacred in the eyes of God. I believe this. I believe that a Tuesday in June is as important as a Sunday in March. I even believe that any random day of the year holds the same importance as Christmas or Easter.
I believe this in my own life. If that is how I live, many have asked why I even mention the traditional church calendar. There are not any required special observances during this season among Friends. We do not believe that we are required to participate in fasts or penance during this time. But the traditional liturgical calendar gives us something. It allows us to join with all those who claim the name of Christ, to join together as a greater community and remember our shared history and faith.
Lent is a season of forty days, where we remember significant events in our faith’s history. These forty days remind us of the forty years Israel journeyed in the wilderness. These forty days remind us of the period of time Moses spent on the mountain of God, where he received Torah. These forty days remind us of the forty days Jesus spent in the desert undergoing every form of temptation that we as humans face.
This number often occurs in scripture. I just listed several instances, but there are more. We observe periods of forty, and usually they are accompanied by a trial or struggle. This is why I want us to remember lent, even though we may not participate in the wider Lenten traditions. We face struggles personally. We face struggles as a community. Our nation faces struggles, and is facing struggles. What do we do? Where is God?
Jeremiah understood struggle. We frequently forget that the individuals God inspired to write the words we have within scripture, lived. I mean this in a very real sense, not only that they were once alive eons ago, but that they lived. Just like each of us they had relationships. These inspired authors lived through difficult times throughout their history. We forget the humanity of scripture because we focus so much on the authority. Jeremiah knew struggle, personally.
We understand this in a scholarly sense. We call him the weeping prophet. But do we recognize it personally? There was a reason Jeremiah wept. He wept because his nation was apathetic to God. He wept because he could perceive where their current path was taking them. Jeremiah wept because God had given him a message to share, and many did not want to listen. I hope we can identify with Jeremiah to some degree.
Jeremiah watched as the kingdom fell apart. He watched as armies amassed on their boarders. He watched as kings made treaties based on personal interest. He watched as the religious leaders twisted words and lead people away from God. He watched, he wept, and he attempted to speak out.
I believe that we all can understand a bit of Jeremiah’s situation. We each feel an overwhelming responsibility as we near another election. The news constantly conveys various reports of doom if we allow one side or the other to gain power. We listen to reports of battles, attacks. We see celebrities taking a side that we might not agree with. We look out at the current events surrounding us, and we question what might happen.
My entire life, I have been taught that the end is near. Twenty-five years ago I watched my community filling storage containers with nonperishable food items and other items for survival. Our community did this because we were being told that when the calendar moved from 1999 to 2000 all the computers would crash and society along with it. I was taught that in the chaos that would follow this collapse, the events depicted in the Revelation begin. I was terrified.
Looking back now I can see how we were all caught up in an apocalyptic mania, but at the time it was very real. We needed to be prepared. We did not want to be one of the virgins from the parable of Jesus that failed to have oil for their lamp as the bridegroom approached. We should be prepared. We should always be prepared, but we should also be wise.
I saw during that era of history, just how easily we can be distracted by fear. I saw just how easy we can take our eyes off the true goal and refocus our attention on temporal affairs. We, and I mean all of us, can be distracted. In our honest attempts to be righteous and responsible we miss the larger goal.
Are we again approaching an apocalyptic mania driven by fear?
The prophets all struggle with this. They have this divine inspiration that tells them that something dramatic is approaching. An existential crisis that threatens their existence. It would be easy to be driven by fear. I would venture to say it would be prudent to take it serious. And they did. Jeremiah and the other prophets wrote, and spoke out against the coming storm. They did not go quietly toward the dark horizon. They wept, plead, urged and demanded for people to listen. And all to often the people looked at them as we so often do, they were crazy.
Many people during Jeremiah’s days spoke of the coming storm, but their words have not been preserved. Many spoke, but why did the message of Jeremiah remain?
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah…”
Throughout the verses recorded by Jeremiah’s scribe, Baruch, we are given things that cast fear, along with words of hope.
Jeremiah said the days are coming. Days of doom were approaching. Days of suffering, days of sorrow. Judgement will meet the houses of Israel and Judah. But the struggle will not be eternal.
I want us all to understand this. There will be eras of darkness within our existence. This can be something that we experience personally or collectively. And we have all been there at some point in our lives. We might be there right now, or it may come upon us unexpectedly. Our temptation is to hide these experiences. Bury them beneath a joyful facade. We know that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This fruit is what we want. It is what we desire people see in us, but it is not always what we feel.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah…”
We will face trials, we will face struggles. We will come to the end of ourselves. We may even experience a moment where we cannot fathom a way forward. These are emotional responses. And our emotions are important. They are what NT Wright might call a sign post. They can give us direction, but they are not the whole story.
As many of you know, I am not perfect. In the grief I experienced over the loss of my sister, I succumbed to various temptations. I did not realize that I was struggling with the emotions of grief at that time. All I was aware of was that what I felt, what I saw did not match what I thought I was supposed to be feeling. I wanted to turn my back on faith. I wanted to just walk away. I wanted to simply enjoy life. And I pursued that. I went through a period of time when I did not believe. I did not leave the church, but I did not believe. I questioned everything, and that path led me to consequences I did not anticipate. I had a child outside of marriage and the mother did not want to marry me.
My world was falling apart. I was angry at God. I was angry at the universe and everything in it, except for one little child. That child brought everything into focus because I now experienced something I had not yet experienced. I felt parental love. The grief, the anger, the confusion, and the love all swirled around within me and I realized at that moment that there had to be something beyond.
Behold, the days are coming…
Jeremiah spoke of the darkness Israel would face, but he does not stop there. Hope remains even in the darkness. There is something just beyond. God is going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
At this point in time generations had lived in the divided kingdom. Israel had cut ties with Jerusalem and had gone their own way. Judah had written the northern tribes off as heretics and apostate because they would not worship their way, or submit to their rule. This division had placed a wedge of separation that no one could perceive overcoming. Yet Jeremiah does not say one or the other will have a new covenant. He does not say God will restore the covenant of David, he says I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. What once divided them, what once caused separation, God would again unite.
A new covenant will be made, not like the covenant that he made with their fathers on the day he took them out of Egypt. We have considered this covenant over the past few weeks. This old covenant that Jeremiah speaks of was the one given at Sinai. The presence of God had rested on the summit of this mountain. And from the cloud that provided shade for their journey all the tribes had heard the ten words, and they proclaimed together that they would live by those words. They would be God’s people and he would be their God. Then after this proclamation was made, Moses was called up to speak with God on that mountain and for forty days, Israel waited.
They waited for forty days. Their leader was nowhere to be seen and they waited. When they could wait no longer, they went to Aaron and demanded that he make them a god to follow because they did not know what had happened to Moses. In forty days they had turned their backs on the promise they had made. Yet God did not give up on them.
For forty years, they wandered through the wilderness. Learning to be a covenant people. For forty years they had to learn to be the people God called them to be. And for those forty years Moses led them, taught them, showed them that life and lifestyle.
Then they entered the land promised to their fathers. They drove out and conquered the people that opposed the most high God living in the land. Only to then be swayed by their ways once they took possession of the land. Very soon, a people zealous in their righteousness became a people who lived only for what they thought was right in their own hearts.
The division began. Slowly they began to turn, and soon the nation was completely divided. They were divided because they entrusted or put their faith on humanity instead of God.
Jeremiah reminds them of what lead them to this place, but he does not leave them in that darkness. He tells them that it may seem hopeless at this moment, but just beyond our current perspective hope remains.
God had given them his wisdom on the mountain. He had etched them in the stone tablets, and they had carried them within the ark of the covenant. The law, the wisdom of God was sealed in an ark that they could not touch.
God tells us through Jeremiah, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”
The tablets were sealed in the ark. The wisdom was separated from the people.
I want us to stop for a moment and look at the larger picture. Why was Israel called, or chosen? What is the point? This goes back to the very first book of scripture, we were created in the image of God, but out of our desire to equal with God, with the knowledge of good and evil, we turned away from Him. We separated ourselves from God. We relied on our wisdom instead of the wisdom of God. What Jeremiah is showing us is the reintegration or redemption of humanity.
God called Israel not because they were better than any other people, but because they were not great. He selected Abraham, a man without an heir, to be the father of a nation. And through this nation, God would reveal his goodness to all people, and reverse the curse that had been initiated in Eden.
Slowly God reveals himself. First to one man, then to that man’s son, then to that son’s twins, and then to the twelve. With each generation the message spreads and yet separation remains. The people go into slavery, and they cry out to God. God brings them out of slavery and establishes the covenant, yet there is still a separation.
God patiently waits. He incrementally provides revelation, and draws humanity toward him. God is met with resistance. We again separate ourselves from God. We hold him at a distance. We continue to rely on our own knowledge of good and evil. The wisdom was there. It has always been there, sealed in the ark. But we kept God at a distance. We, as humanity, wanted the separation. We demanded that Moses stand in our place, and just let us know if something important happens.
This separation, as it always does, leads to greater and continued separation. When we pass our responsibility to others we pull away. When we pull away, we allow the distraction to come because we are no longer mindful. Soon selfishness and greed take hold. Jealousy and envy. Violence, and war. And the prophets weep over us as they proclaim the coming day.
But a new covenant is upon us. God will write his law, his wisdom, on our hearts, not on stone tablets that can be sealed in an ark, but our hearts. The wisdom of God will be integrated within us. His wisdom can become our wisdom. His hope our hope. We can know God.
I sat with this passage this week. I prayed with it. I visualized several ways of presenting this message. And for some reason I was drawn to the fruit of the spirit. Paul tells us of this fruit and I mentioned them earlier. He wrote about them to the church of Galatia, saying:
“Now the works of the flesh are evident; sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: against such things there is no law.”
I sat with these words, and I considered them with what Jeremiah says. We can get hung up on the legalism of the words and say these are the things Paul says we cannot do. But what if Paul is saying something deeper? He says, “Now the works of the flesh are evident.” These are our desires, and the things we do to fulfill our desires. What if Paul like Jeremiah is telling us of a different perspective, or a new hope. When we seek what we want, when our focus is on ourselves even in our desire for righteousness we can often resort to the works of the flesh.
We can see this all around us. Even within the church there is division and dissensions. Even within the church there is envy and strife, at times there might even be fits of anger. This is human nature, unfortunately there are times we are as savage as the beasts of the field.
How do we move from the flesh and allow the fruit of the spirit to grow?
Let us look at this fruit. Love, joy, peace, patience…each of these come through trial. Each of these take mindful participation. We do not just love, we must actively participate in love. We do not just have patience, but patience is obtained through continuous trials. Self-control just does not happen, it instead comes to us through discipline and sacrifice. We obtain the fruit of the spirit by living lives with the spirit. We gain these things, when we integrate the wisdom of God into the very core of who we are and allow him to write it on our hearts.
The fruit grows when we turn away from our own desires, and instead turn to God. Yet even this is a desire. Even this can cause distraction from the very one we hope to draw closer to. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant.” I have read these words multiple times, and yet I frequently miss the most important part. Who is the one doing the work, who is initiating this new covenant?
It was humanity that caused the separation when they joined rebellious spirits in the garden. It was the serpent, the shining one, the elohim that was supposed to be the messenger of Yahweh that deceived humanity into their rebellion. God’s messenger deceived, and because the deception came through that fallen angel, God himself has to come to redeem. Jesus, God incarnate and God with us, came to live a full human life. He faced the same trials we face. He experienced the fullness of injustice that results from our attempts of harnessing power over good and evil. And he suffered our trials with us and for us. He lived, he taught, he showed us what life with God can be, and he took on the curse we inherited from our first parents. He made the new covenant himself, through the Life, death, and resurrection of Jesus his one unique son. And all who believe in him will not perish but will have life with him. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jesus knows our struggles because he experienced them. He knows what hell we can go through because he endured it on the cross. He knows despair because he was sealed in the darkness of a tomb for three days. But we are not left in the dark. The day is coming and is here, because hope has risen. And God’s spirit dwells with us as our ever present teacher and guide. Let us entrust our lives to his wisdom and direction, and let us be enlightened by his hope.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 05, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili John 20:1–18 (ESV) 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 29, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 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…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 15, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 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…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friend Church
March 3, 2024
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Exodus 20:1–17 (ESV)
1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
It was not too long ago that we sat with Israel as they heard the ten words from God. All too often we look at this passage thinking in our minds that they are The Ten Commandments. We think this because someone a century or two ago added subtitles to our translations that says that. By thinking of these verses as commandments we might not see them fully for what they are.
When we use the word “Commandments” we think of law. We think of rules. We tend to have mixed feelings about rules. We push rules. We as humans like to define rules, finding where the limits are so that we go right up to the edge. Not breaking the rule, but bending it just enough to get what we want. We often look at the ten commandments in that manner.
When we push the rules, when we justify them in our own minds, when we bend and twist, we are implementing our wisdom instead of listening to the wisdom of God. I admit that I am just as guilty. As I speak today, I am probably doing the very thing I encourage us not to do. We are human, and because of that we approach the words of scripture through our own minds. We understand only with the extent of our wisdom. We think we know what it says, but there is always more.
A few months ago we listened to these words. I encouraged you to consider the original scene. Israel was not yet a nation. They had just recently left bondage in Egypt. They were in the process of learning what it meant to be free, to be a people or nation. We might not be capable of understanding just how important this is since most of us have never experienced real oppression.
When you live in bondage, you do not have a true identity. You are not free to think, you are not free to explore or innovate. Obedience is the only requirement. We often say that the church in America is being oppressed. We are not. We are not even close to facing real oppression. What we are currently experiencing are consequences of actions taken by current and previous generations. What we are experiencing are the consequences of ignorance and a lack of empathy. We once had influence, now that influence is waning. It is waning not because people do not understand our position, but our influence is waning because we have used our influence to do great good only to stop. We have not followed through and because we have stopped others are taking us forward, and unfortunately they may not have the wisdom they could if we walked along with them.
Israel was oppressed. They lived in a cultural system that was perverted from the original plan. God created humanity. We are told that God created humanity in his image. He began this creation of humanity with Adam. When Adam was created he was a complete expression of humanity. And if we are to believe scripture Adam was both male and female. The story is expressed in that manner for a reason, there was unity. There was no separation. Race, gender, and everything else we divide our human existence into is not the way we were created. Humanity is humanity. Those divisions began after creation.
Adam was one complete human within one being. Unfortunately,Adam did not have a companion other than God. God could create. God could build a garden and fill it with things of beauty. Adam was singular. He was a complete expression of God’s image on earth, but he could not fully participate in creation. God recognized that for humanity to be fully free to express God’s image in the world we needed to be free to love in the same manner God loves. We needed to be able to create similarly. We needed companionship just as the Triune God had companionship in himself. So God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and out of Adam’s side God formed woman.
Often we see in scripture that God fashioned woman from a rib bone, but the word “sela” is more literally translated as side. In every other place in scripture this word is used to describe a side of a hill, equal parts, or an opposite and corresponding portion. Only two times in Genesis is it traditionally translated as a singular rib bone. I find this interesting. I think that maybe we have misunderstood something. Adam was created as unified humanity, but to provide companionship God split humanity into equal sides.
I mention this because it is easy to have a perverse understanding. For centuries, we have been taught divided genders. We have been taught that woman was created from the man’s rib bone. We have explained it as being rib instead of foot, so they are not beneath. We have explained it as not the skull so that she is not over man. But the rib so that she can be by his side. I think we have missed the point. We are equal. Humanity is Humanity. Together, within community, we fully express God’s image. When divided, when we perpetuate division, we neglect unity and hinder complete humanity.
Israel was oppressed. They were enslaved. Slavery is also a perversion of our true identity. If humanity is humanity, and together we bear a complete image. If man and woman are two equal parts of a whole. Then how can enslavement even be remotely be a possible expression of God’s Image?
It cannot. These divisions are perversion. Racism is a perversion. Sexism is a perversion. Nationalism is a perversion. Partisanship is a perversion. These are divisions that humanity has implemented in their fallen state to control and manipulate. This is not what we were created to be, but this is what the kingdoms of mankind have given us.
Egypt enslaved Israel. They did not see them as equals. They did not see the God of Israel as being the Most High God. The leaders of Ancient Egypt did not see it because they served spirits of rebellion.
In the ancient world, each nation, each people group saw themselves as servants of a deity. Scripture informs us of this. We are told that the nations were divided at Babel. They were divided and each of these divisions were allotted to one of the sons of God according to Deuteronomy 32. They were subject to these lessor gods, or spiritual entities. The nations were created out of division and rebellion. And this rebellion began the perverse notion within our combined societies that some people are better than others. It is rebellion, and sin that creates status within division. It is a sin to be sexist. It is sinful to be racist. It is deplorable to perpetuate status within division when we were created to be equal parts of a unified whole.
Israel had been oppressed. They have lived generations believing that the Egyptians were their masters. For hundreds of years they were told that they were slaves, only created to serve. We were not created only to serve. We were created to bear the image of God. We are not slaves but each of us are image bearers, and together we are to reflect who God is to all creation. Yet Israel, sat enslaved.
God sent Moses to speak to Pharaoh. Moses did not initially ask for the people of Israel to be freed. We often forget this aspect of the story. He initially asks for permission to worship God. He initially asks that the people of Israel be granted what we in America regard as the unalienable right to worship our God, according to our own traditions.
Pharaoh refused to allow the people of Israel to worship. Pharaoh did not want the idea of liberty to worship to gain a foothold in his society. Pharaoh and the kingdoms of mankind want us to be obedient to their systems and to suggest otherwise weakens control and power. The plagues that Egypt endured were self-inflicted consequences of spiritual rebellion. The plagues are spiritual warfare, God the Most High in combat against the gods of Egypt. Each aspect of the polytheistic worldview of Egypt was defeated and brought to its knees. Resulting not only with allowing Israel the liberty to worship, but their complete redemption from the bonds of slavery.
Now Israel is free. They are in the wilderness between Egypt and the nations of the East. What will happen to them? Who will they become? Will they go out into the land and be absorbed into one of the empires of men?
We often look at the Ten Commandments as being rules, but the from the perspective of the Hebrew people these are words or teachings are not rules. They are lessons of wisdom. They are a guide to become the people we were created to be and that begins with knowing who we truly are.
A couple of months ago I focused on what we commonly call the first three commandments. No other gods, no idols, and not taking the name of the Lord in vain. These three commands or lessons of wisdom are telling us, no they are reminding us of who God is and who we are. God proved that he was more powerful than the gods of Egypt when he brought them out of the land of bondage. He is reminding them of that. “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me.”
He is not demanding allegiance, he is reminding them that He is the Most High God over all creation. If we begin to think that something other than God can rise to a greater status than him, he can easily cause it to crumble before our very eyes. He then says do not make a carved image, or any likeness of anything in the heavens or on the earth and serve them. It would be wise not to begin to serve the things of mankind, is what he is saying. If we begin to do this, we will see within a span of a couple of generations that we will lose everything we once had.
He then says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” This command does not speak to the vocabulary we speak, but it is speaking about our life and lifestyle. God in these first three commands is reminding us of who he is and who we are to him. We are his representatives to creation. We each bear that image. We each contribute and have responsibility in the initial work that began with Adam. We are to represent that of God everywhere we go. And we should not bear that responsibility lightly.
Now we go to the fourth command or lesson of wisdom. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
This word of wisdom transitions from who God is, and who we are to him, and begins to focus on who we are to each other. We often split the ten commandments into how we interact with God and humanity, but they are all one complete lesson that should be taken together. And sabbath is right in the middle of it all.
Remember the Sabbath.
Again I want us to return to the land of Egypt. What was Moses’ first request to pharaoh? It was not let my people go, hard stop. It was let my people go out to the wilderness to worship and offer sacrifices to God. Moses plead with Egypt to allow the people the freedom to worship.
What is Sabbath?
“Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates”
If we were to look at various religious expressions most include some cyclical structure to their calendar that recognizes days for work and days of rest. There is a difference in the observance of these days of rest outside the Abrahamic cultures. In most cases only certain people could participate in the day of rest, where in the wisdom of God all creation should participate.
The one aspect of Egypt that most angered God was the prohibition of worship for all people, and God knew that Egypt would not ever allow them to worship freely. This exclusivity in worship angered God.
It is common for many people outside the church to say that the worship of God is just a reinterpretation of mystery religions like that of Mithras or Isis. I admit that there are similarities in some aspects of the religion, and when I say similarities I really mean wide lens similarities. If you go a step deeper than surface level observations you will see that the differences are vast. And the main difference is mystery religions are exclusive. You must be initiated into the religion before you can learn anything about it. You join before you know. This is why when people ask what Friends believe I generally give them a physical copy of our Faith and Practice because I want you all to know that our beliefs are open to everyone. Everyone can participate to their desired extent.
Remember the Sabbath day, God encourages. Not just for yourself but for everyone. This day is extended to males and females, adults and children. The Sabbath is for citizens as well as for those that are visiting. It is for the landowner as well as the servants within the household. The Sabbath is for all creation.
You might say, but they did not practice like this. Not everyone could enter the temple. And you are correct. Not everyone could, go into the most sacred parts of the temple, but everyone could come to the temple courts. Everyone,including the emperor of Rome was able to offer sacrifices and could pray. The only restriction was for who could go inside, but even there what they were doing in the inner portions of the temple were explained.
Worship is important. We should always remember to take time to rest and worship God. God does not require our worship. He accepts our worship, but he does not require our worship. Jesus taught his disciples that he was the Lord of the Sabbath. He said that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. This one statement tells us a great deal.
Man made for the sabbath would indicate that God required or needed our adoration. This is what the vast majority of religions teach. We worship to appease the gods. We offer sacrifices to gain favor of the gods. We give our tithes to gain the blessings of the gods. We worship because if we do not worship we will anger that spiritual realm. This is not the wisdom God gave to Israel. He tells them, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”
When Jesus says that the Sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath, this is what he is speaking about. On the seventh day God enjoyed the fruits of his labor. We are more than what we produce while we are at work. We have more value than our wages in the eyes of God. We are his image bears in creation.
He labored six days, we labor six days. He rested on the seventh, we too should rest. When we do not take time to rest, our bodies fail us. When we do not slow down and relax on occasion we become a detriment instead of an asset to those with our various communities. When we do not include days of leisure in our work schedules, we risk losing those people we employ.
The sabbath was made for mankind. We should enjoy life. We should enjoy the fruits of our labor. We should be able to have a life outside of work or school. And we should extend that to all people, even if they do not believe as we do.
This is probably the greatest difference. The sabbath is not merely for Israel. This day of rest extends to your sons, your daughters, you servants, your livestock, and to those aliens that live among you. There is not one prohibition from this day, and if you bear the name of the Lord you will work diligently to promote rest within your society.
Remember the sabbath.
God is telling us in his wisdom that everyone bears his image. The highest king among the kingdoms of men, and the lowest servant held in chains. Each human being that breaths is equal on this day. Each of us have labored, and each of us should enjoy time to rest and worship.
Remember the sabbath. Remember it because you were once slaves in Egypt. You were once prohibited from worship. Remember because it is so easy to deny the image of God in others.
God tells them who he is and that nothing in this world can replace him or even come close to being his equal. He then reminds us of who we are. “Do not bear his name in vain.” Now he is reminding us that it is everyone’s right as image bears of God to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
The next commands, or teachings also deal with aspect of equality among people. If, in God’s wisdom, we should enjoy the fruits of our labor. If, in God’s wisdom, we all should be given one day out of seven where we are not required to work, there are other things that we should also enjoy because we are image bearers.
Honor your father and mother. Why? Should we honor them because they brought us into this world, and they can take us out? No. Should we honor them because they are placed in authority over us? Again no. Not all parents are good parents. I have been accused of being the worst parent on the face of the earth, and that is ok. We as children should continue to honor. Not merely obey but honor. There is a difference. We honor our fathers and our mothers because we are the fruit of their labor. We honor them because that honor allows them to participate in sabbath rest, and by honoring them we learn to treat those around us as bears of God’s image. We do not get this from mere obedience.
There is a flip side to this wisdom. If children are to honor their parents. We as parents should be mindful of that. We should live our lives in such a way that our children do not question the wisdom of this command. Children honor their parents, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your god is giving you. God is giving us something, and we are free to receive it if we live a life honoring the dignity of those around us.
Remember.
Remember your father and your mother, they have labored for you. They have given of themselves so that you can survive. Honor that. Remember that the person next to you also bears God’s image, honor that. You honor that image by protecting their life, so you shall not commit violence against their life. Remember that the person across the room that you are attracted to also bears the image of God, so do not disrespect them and do not disrespect your spouse by making them into instruments of gratification. Remember that the person that lives across the street has worked hard for what they have. They have worked hard to provide for their family, and should enjoy the fruits of their labor. Honor them by protecting their property. And do not covet what others have because this will lead toward violence and theft.
Remember.
Remember that the girl in your class bears the image of God just as you do. Remember the coworker that you might disagree with on the job bears the image of God. With a word we can encourage or discourage, with a word we can be a blessing, or we can cause damnation. Respect them and yourself by speaking truthfully, even if you would like to cause harm. Remember and honor.
Each of us bear the image of God. Each of us that sit in this room have taken on the name of God. Each of us struggle, each of us strive. We all have days we wonder if we will make it. And each of us long for a time when we can just relax. Remember and honor.
Take a step back from what we are doing and look at things from a different perspective. Remember and honor.
These are not legal commands but words of wisdom. Words reminding us what it means to be human, and what it means to live together. To live is to work, to toil and labor. This was the curse given both to Adam and Eve. Remember that everyone around you is dealing with similar issues, they are subject to that same curse. God is urging us to not increase their burden. Instead, remember the sabbath, keep it holy. Love God with all that you have and all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself. Become a people loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit and living the love of Christ with others. Remember. If we do not remember who will?
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 22, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 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…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 15, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 2 Peter 1:16–21 (ESV) 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 8, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship 1 Corinthians 2 (ESV) 1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
February 25, 2024
Click here to join our Meeting for Worship
Genesis 17:1–7, 15-16 (ESV)
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Today we go once again to Genesis. I have mentioned before that I love the Book of Genesis. If I were to rank my favorite books of Scripture, this book would be near the top. People often wonder why I say that because they know my background. I have a science background, not just science but life science. Because of that background and education, when I read Genesis, I read it a bit differently than some. Where some might see this book as equal to science. I do not, it is not because I do not believe that God created. I look at it differently because the people of this ancient era asked different questions than we do today.
We ask how we got here. They did not necessarily care about that question. They did not care because they faced drastically different challenges than we do today. We ask why and how we were created, where they wonder why life is so hard.
Even the most impoverished person in our community has a lifestyle abundantly better than anyone in ancient days. In ancient times, every day was a struggle for survival. Every moment of your day revolved around finding food, making clothing, and protecting your community from predators.
They did not bother with asking how we got here, they were more concerned with why. Why do we have to struggle for survival when it seems as if the animals are just eating? Why are certain plants edible while others might kill you. Why do snakes, bears, and the big cats seem to want to kill us. Why does the village of people a few days journey away constantly seek to destroy us while the one in the other direction seem so friendly?
We ask how, because living to tomorrow is not as much of a challenge. So, when the writers of Genesis composed their stories, we need to understand that we ask very different questions. We ask different questions, but there are powerful lessons to learn from this book. If we are able to look deeper, we find that there are times when their answers speak to the condition of our souls.
I want us to stop arguing over the first three chapters of Genesis and begin to look at the rest of the story. Genesis begins with the phrase, “In the Beginning.” That phrase should tell us something profound. Yes, there was a beginning. And it is important to know how that beginning emerged. But our textbooks in school are not written like this. Stories start with a phrase like that. Once upon a time, or long ago in a galaxy far away. The literary genre of Genesis is not written in the format of contemporary science, it is written as mythology.
That might scare us, because when we here that word, our minds are directed to the writings of ancient Greeks, the Egyptians, or the Nordic pantheons. We see story and myth, and we equate those writings with fiction and make believe. We as educated, enlightened people no longer need the superstitions of ancient mythology, we now want the truth. We misunderstand mythology when we take that approach. The point of mythology was to convey morality and provide an explanation for the things that were unexplainable.
Why do we have to struggle so much just to eat? Scripture tells us a story. God once created a beautiful garden filled with food to eat. We could eat to our fill, never going hungry once but there was one restriction. That tree of knowledge of good and evil was not to provide nourishment. Why do we now struggle to eat? It is because our forebear, Adam, we translate this as meaning man or mankind, but a more accurate rendering of the word Adam would be of earth or my favorite mud man. Adam, mud man, was told not to eat of that one tree, but he did not listen. And because of this God said we would struggle.
“Cursed is the ground because of you, in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
This answer gives us not only an answer to why we have weeds and plants that can cause harm, but it also gives us an answer to our human condition. Why it is so hard to just live? But there is more to that story. Adam was not the only person given a curse. Eve, his wife, also faced judgement. God told her, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing, in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
I thought about these over the past couple of weeks. I thought about them because I was not preparing a sermon, so I just studied out of my own curiosity. The word we often see translated as pain in reference to Eve, is labor, sorrow, or toil. The curse of Adam was labor, as was the curse of Eve. Eve was the mother of all living; her purpose was to bring or to bear life. But her name can also mean tent or village in some cases. Adam, the mud man, was to work the soil and bring or provide food. Eve was to create a village; she was literally supposed to be home. Not in the home, but to be home, or a sanctuary.
When the word Eve is used as a verb, it is in reference to bowing down and worship. This I find fascinating. Eve was to draw Adam back in an awe-inspiring manner. Adam would be drawn home in reverence, it was his joy to bring the food as it was Eve’s joy to be home. This union of life was not just marriage, but it is society. It is culture. It is why we are here. We can look at this and assign gender roles, but that is not the whole point. The point is that it requires work to provide the things for life. And it will be just as much work to build the relationships that will make a home.
Genesis goes on and speaks of two other events where life took a drastic turn. In the days of Noah, something happened that caused the wrath of God to grow. The sons of God found the daughters of men to be pleasing and they lusted for them and caused them to bear their children. This brought about the Nephilim, or the giants. These were men of great power. And they brought about corruption and filled the earth with violence. Sound familiar? War, the quest for wealth and influence. Charismatic individuals that take advantage of others to increase their own power? That quest for power caused global destruction.
Then there was this story of a tower, that was built to make a name for a people. They wanted to build a mountain to the heavens so that humanity could dwell on the same plain as the gods. This angered God and he divided the people and confused their languages. But out of all the nations of the earth God allotted to the sons of God, he kept Israel as his portion. Israel did not yet exist. Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon all existed at that point in time. It is believed that Babylon is the very group that attempted to build that dreadful tower, and there are people that are searching for its ruins. But Egypt also manufactured mountains. These structures were used in worship and pointed to their various mythologies or stories of moral virtue.
This brings us to Abraham, and the covenant from the most high God.
It was from one of those ancient empires from which God called Abram. He came to this man. God made a promise that if he followed Him, he would give him land and number of his offspring would be greater than the grains of sand.
This goes back to the beginning. Why do we struggle, why do we fight? Why is life so hard? Life in ancient times was difficult. Food was scarce and land was important because it could provide the needed food. Abram did not have land. God came to him with a proposal. If you follow me, I will give you the land you need to provide for your family. He offered Abram hope.
It is from the land we obtain the resources we need for our lifestyles. Food, oil, lithium for our cell phone batteries all of this comes from land. Wars are fought over land, not just the land itself, but for the future possibilities that land can provide. My ancestors came to America because of the hope that could be found with land. Some of you made a similar journey maybe not for land itself but for the hope and possibilities for a future that land could provide. Abram was like us in that case. He had a desire for a better life. He needed land, he needed possibilities, he needed hope.
He made that journey. He followed God, and he still faced struggle.
God promised land, and he was a nomad. God promised offspring yet his wife was barren. At times he struggled so much that he left the land God promised because life seemed hopeless. He went to other lands seeking the resources he needed to survive. This led him to Egypt. But even more struggle followed him there.
God convinced Abram to return to the land he promised him. He looked around and became afraid that it would not be enough, so he sent his nephew away. God promised land, he promised offspring and influence. God promised, but Abram, this great man of faith, allowed fear to lead him again. As fear gripped him, he divided his family. He did not have children himself, but he had a nephew. He sent his nephew in one direction, and Abram would go in the other. Abram’s nephew soon found himself caught amid a battle.
Why do we struggle? We need resources, we need food. Land provides for those needs, and people are willing to fight to obtain those resources. Every tribe, every nation, every people group wants and needs land. They will do whatever they can to secure the possibilities land can provide. Lot, Abram’s nephew occupied land others wanted for themselves. And Abram was not there to help. He was soon over run, and all he had labored for was taken. Abram heard of this and came to assist his family redeeming Lot and his family.
That battle shook Abram. This offer of land, this present of hope was beginning to become blood-soaked work. It is after this battle, God came to Abram in a vision, telling him not to fear, because He will be his shield and reward. God renewed his promise, and in that vision, he took it to the next step. He made a covenant, or a sacrificial treaty, and again promised land and offspring.
Abram no longer worried about the land. In fact, he began to prosper. But the offspring was becoming a greater concern. He was getting older; his wife was getting older. God had promised a son, but that hope was vanishing with each passing day. Sarai suggested that they do what anyone in their situation and in that era of history would do. She offered her servant to be a surrogate. This household slave did bear a child for her master, but as with many relationships, jealousy crept in. And this jealousy threatened to rip the family apart.
Labor, the curse on Eve was an increase of toil and sorrow in the bearing of children and in the raising of children. Relationships take a great amount of work. It is never easy and at times we wonder if it is even worth it. Sarai saw that the slave was becoming the home of Abram, her husband. And Abram was focused on providing for his family. Distractions and obligations all threaten to pull our families apart. And we must work to maintain and overcome.
These stories are not just history, but they are teaching. They are wisdom and bread of life. They teach us why we struggle and why we should continue to strive. We long for land, for the potential of fulfilling our needs. We work and strive to make things happen. But what happens as we struggle through toward the goal that is set before us? We can lose sight of the larger picture.
There are times when I just move one Sunday to the next. Just one more message, one more week. We live paycheck to paycheck. Day to day. What are we really working for? Just one more meal?
Abram settled for one more meal. He settled for a child through a surrogate instead of relying on the promise of God to provide the heir through his wife. He got comfortable in existing and distracted from the promise.
And when he was ninety-nine years old God appeared again to Abram. “I am God Almighty, walk before me, and be blameless.” In all of today’s scripture there are only two imperative verbs or commands. The first is to walk before God. The second is to be blameless.
I want us to consider these for a moment. We might wonder why God appeared to Abram and spoke these words. Had Abram not walked? He left the land of his father and went to this land. He had lived ninety-nine years doing the exact thing that God had asked. Has he not been walking? This word, walk, is not the act of putting one foot in front of the other in forward momentum. In this sense walking is how we live. God had promised Abram land and a family, God is reminding Abram to continue in that life, to not give up, to remain loyal and to continue in that life. God is reminding him. Walk the walk, talk the talk. Live your life so that your words and actions resemble each other.
This is a core principle in our Friends’ belief. To walk before God is to live a life of integrity and humility. It is to live our lives bringing honor to God. There is more to walking than just walking. This is the second command, be blameless.
The first command focuses on a relationship between God and Abram, or us. The second, being blameless, focuses on the relationships we have with others.
It is at this point that this story takes a different turn. And that turn is found in the very name of Abram.
Abram means exulted father. Up to this point in Genesis Abram is longing for the land and the potential life that land could offer him and his offspring. He is an honorable father. He is taking care of his family. He is living day by day content. But that is not the extent of why Abram is in this story. God made the covenant with Abram for a reason he would provide land and a family, but this land and family comes with a price, he would not only be the exulted father, Abram. He would now be called Abraham, the father of nations.
Abram is the walk. Abraham is the be blameless. Our lives and our lifestyles are not merely for ourselves, they are to encourage everyone around us. Our walk, our loyalty to God will be a blessing to our families, but we are not only living for our families. We are the offspring of Abraham; we are heirs to the nations. We are here, at this time and in this place for a reason. That reason is to be blameless.
This is an interesting concept. On the surface we might think that it simply means that we should be good people. That is true, we should be good people. But there are several good people that participate in activities that could contribute to blame. There were many good people that participated in a culture of slavery. These good people may have seen the inhumanity of slavery and they themselves may not have participated directly, but did they actively participate in the abolition of that vile practice? There were many good Germans that lived within the Third Reich, but their lack of opposition to the inhumanity of that system did not eliminate them from blame. There are good Russians, good Palestinians, good Ukrainians, good Israelis, there are even a few good Americans. But all these good people carry blame, because we live in nations and among people with unclean lips as the prophet Isaiah says. Walk and be blameless.
To be blameless means that we should strive for our families’ well-being, as well as the well-being of the family down the street or on the other side of the globe. If we stand here and say that we were endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights, those rights apply not only to us but to all people. We are not blameless if we limit others from the same opportunities that we ourselves enjoy. Walk and be blameless. Work and labor not only to provide opportunities for our children, but for all children. There is power in that name change within scripture. Abram became Abraham. Sarai became Sarah. God gave them an identity, and he gave them a purpose.
Why are we here? We are here to Love God, Embrace the Holy Spirit, and to Live the Love of Christ with others. We are here to walk before God and be blameless. We are here to encourage the children within our community to walk the walk, and we are here to encourage everyone around us to recognize the need for change. Why are we here? We are here to give hope to the hopeless, health to the sick, encouragement to the brokenhearted. We are here to walk. And we are here to show the love of God through our words and action.
Do you earnestly seek to maintain a life in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you practice the daily reading of scriptures in your families, giving time for waiting upon the Lord? Are you watchful not to be unduly absorbed by temporal affairs? Are you careful to avoid places and activities inconsistent with a Christian character?
Do you love one another as becomes the followers of Christ? Are you careful of the reputation of others? When differences arise do you make earnest efforts to end them speedily?
Are we walking before God? Are we blameless?
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 01, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 (ESV) 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church January 18, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Corinthians 1:1–9 (ESV) 1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church January 11, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Acts 10:34–43 (ESV) 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him…
If you would like to help support the continued Ministry of Willow Creek Friends Church please consider donating online:
To help support the personal ministry of JWQuaker (Jared Warner) online and in the community click to donate.
