Sermon

Walk as Children of Light

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

March 15, 2026

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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 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.”

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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.

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Your Kingdom Come

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

February 22, 2026

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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 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.

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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 11^th. 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.

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Clever Myths

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

February 15, 2026

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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, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” ¹⁸ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹ And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ²⁰ knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. ²¹ For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

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The letters written by Peter are not often used on a Sunday morning. At least not be me as I tend to focus on the gospels. And most of the letters that are included in scripture are referring to things that were occurring during the formative years of the church. These formative years were very important, and very strange. Unfortunately the historical record around this era are somewhat incomplete. We know that the apostles were writing about something, we know the general reasons as to why they were writing, but we often do not know what exactly they were writing about, or what that group might have been teaching that was in opposition to what we consider orthodox theology.

The past few weeks we have been listening to the testimony of Paul. He said that signs were often a stumbling block to those of Jewish spiritual heritage, and that to the Greeks the message of the Gospel was foolishness. We have some idea of what he was saying. We know people that demand signs. We know people that will say that if we have faith, we can force God’s hand into bending to our will. We know people that completely disregard any possibility of the miraculous because it is not natural. And we know people that will reject God because there is evil within the world.

These are the same arguments that Paul and Peter both faced in that apostolic age of the church. People want signs, people want answers, people want a reason to believe, and we feel obligated to providing that to them. We want to see God’s hand working within our lives.

But days have passed.

Moments have come and gone.

Peter wrote this letter, he wrote this not to one particular church, not to one known individual, but we know that he was writing it to provide some statement in reference to something going on within the church. I do not know if Peter was the actual first pope, but that is what tradition has taught, we do know that as the church became established he was often regarded as that one voice that bridged that gap between the Jews and that Gentiles. He was the unifier. And because he had this role, this role of trying to get both sides to work together, he was both respected and hated.

Paul said in one of his letters that he had told Simon to his face that he was wrong. He told him to his face. I want us to just imagine this for a moment. Peter the apostle that walked with Jesus, and Paul this punk kid that used to go around beating people up for professing Christ. Paul was saying that the Gentiles did not need to follow the complete Mosaic Law because even the Hebrews could not do it. And Peter in his role as unifier was like it would not be a terrible thing to just get circumcised to keep the peace. This is a scene that we see played out every single day. Where is it beneficial to compromise and where is it a detriment?

The church in those early days faced a great challenge. What is required? How can we stay true to God while not creating unnecessary burdens? Do the Gentiles need to become Jewish first, do the Jewish believers need to throw out their traditions? Do we form something completely new?

They met and prayed together. They sought the wisdom of God. Peter stood up within the council and said that God had given him a vision that we should not call anything common or unclean that God has made clean. And the church came to an understanding. Their understanding was that, God knows the heart, and made no distinction between Jew or Greek, and cleansed the hearts of those that have faith in him. And then James the leader among the Jewish faction of the disciples, stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name… Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15)

I want us to notice, Peter the one who God revealed an opening for all people, and James, Jesus’s brother and the leader of the Traditionalists came to an understanding. What is most important? Is it the following of the letter of the law or something else? I want us to look at the things mentioned for just a moment.

Food polluted by idols. Later Paul would say that it is fine to eat food that was given in the temples of these idols, but James and the council urged us to abstain. Is Paul rejecting the wisdom of the council? If we were to look at the reasoning Paul gave, he said that food is food. And that the gods that food is given to is not the true God, but if our eating of that food causes one of immaturity to fall away we should abstain. This nugget of wisdom is given not to give us a hard fast rule to follow but it is given for the encouragement of the community. From the dawn of the human age sin has been lurching at our doorway, and we need to resist it. And that resistance is not conforming to rules, but it is look out for our brothers and sisters. We should do all that we can to encourage them in the way they should go. We have liberty in Christ, but in our liberty are we providing someone with less maturity, less understanding or discernment to become trapped in the snares of sin? In our quest to do what is right are we throwing our brothers and sisters back to harm and darkness?

Sexual immorality. In recent years this has become a political flash point, in what conservatives like to call the culture war. I want us to again consider this from a perspective of the community. If we were to look at all the laws concerning human relationships, there is one common thread stretching throughout. There are some that would like to discredit scripture by saying that the bible commands a woman to marry someone that has assaulted her. Scripture does say this, and it does seem to be a terrible law, but I want us to take a step back. There is a reason for this law. The man in this instance has taken something from this woman. He has taken her future within that culture. He has removed from her an opportunity of security, a livelihood, and a family. The judgment is that he has one of two choices, he marries her or he dies. And if he chooses to marry her, this is the one instance where divorce is not an option. He must provide for her the rest of her life.

This on the surface seems harsh, but this teaching is again all about community. We are urged to treat those around us with dignity and respect. We are not to take advantage of them but commit to a lifestyle of mutual profit. We can get into the weeds as to what sexual immorality is but the council does not do this. They simply say abstain from it. If you are not ready to commit to a lifetime of self sacrifice for this individual then do not proceed, respect their body, and their future.

Then the council returns again to food. Abstain from the meat of a strangled animal. This is something that we might not understand, but the strangling of an animal was part of idolatry. And the point of this type of sacrifice was suffering. The council was urging the people of Christ to treat all of creation with respect. Not only the people we interact with but we should not cause undue suffering to anything created by God.

And the last item they encouraged us to abstain from, is blood. Blood was seen as the life force. If you lose blood you were dying, that is why in the law you were unclean. Your life was draining and death was overtaking your body. The blood of any being was considered sacred because it was their life, and for an animal to be considered kosher there was a procedure to handling the blood.

All of life belongs to God. Kosher cooking requires that as much blood as possible be removed from any meat, which is why we have kosher salt it is to draw the last amounts of blood from the meat. And what was to happen with this blood? It was given back to God. If you killed something in the wilderness you were to drain the blood and bury it. This is good because if you did not it would attract scavengers, but it was also there to remind you that all life is sacred. We should not take even the life of an animal without some hesitation, so when we take life we should praise and thank God for providing life for life.

To abstain from the eating of blood is two fold. In some cultic rituals they would consume the blood or the life force of something, to gain their life force. This is where the ideas surrounding vampires comes from, they are draining the life from their victim so that they can live forever. There were some ancient cults that believed if you consumed the blood of a lion you gained the strength of a lion. The second is that we do not control life only God is the true sustainer of life, so we give the blood back to God.

These were the teachings of the apostles. The teachings focused on two things, love God with all that you have and abstain from anything that distracts from God or gives you the idea that you can control God. And to enrich not detract from your community. Love your neighbor as yourself.

The church from that council in Jerusalem on used this wisdom to build the church. But soon the simplicity of that message began to twist. We began to take what was once a good illustration of a concept, and we codified it into some spiritual rite or sacrament. We see this with the Lord’s Supper of the Eucharist. Jesus took the bread and he broke it, saying, “this is my body broken for you.” He then took the cup of wine, and said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” It is a beautiful illustration of life given to sustain life. The elements were the very things that were found at every table for every meal. Jesus was telling them that He is the way, the truth, and the life. And we should remember this with every meal we eat, with every meal we share with those around us. But we have made that into a form of magic. There is teaching surrounding the Eucharist that will say as long as the body and blood of Christ is in your body you are immortal. That you will not get sick, that you will be protected from all harm, that you are without sin. We turned an illustration of unity, community, and sustenance into superstition and magic.

And Peter saw that this was happening at the very beginning of the church and he said, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

The mythology that Peter speaks of are the teachings and the superstitions that we place onto the gospel. We believe that God hears our prayers, but we also believe that God hears our prays better if we are in a church building, or if we kneel, or if we do any number of things. Does the place we pray matter? No, but the place may allow our minds to clear so that we can become centered on Christ. We believe if we say certain words in a certain order that God is obligated to answer our prayers, but Jesus taught us that we do not know what we are saying and that the spirit will carry the true words to the Father.

Then these mythologies skew just a bit more. And leaders begin to take the words that they say as having equal weight as the words of Christ because they have the spirit within them. So they begin to speak words of prophecy, claiming that they have heard the voice of God, and that God is using them as a conduit of truth. What does Peter say about these? “Fro when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Does prophecy occur. Yes, absolutely yes. God does reveal wisdom and guidance today just as he did in the days of the apostles. We as Friends believe this to such a degree that we have made it part of our decision making process. We come together in our meetings for business. We have items that are of concern, some of these concerns might seem trivial, and others carry great weight. But we do not vote, instead we are to sit in silence, and in prayer, we are to ask one another clarifying questions, and provide honest answers. And then as we pray out of that silence a sense of the meeting rests upon us, and we know the will of God in that moment.

Is this some cleverly devised myth? Some might say so, but there is something to it. Notice that Peter says, “We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven.” He does not say, I did this or I heard the voice of God, he says we heard. He might be claiming apostolic authority but I tend to think that he is instead calling us to community. Words of prophecy are confirmed within community. It is confirmed in scripture, and among others seeking among us seeking the will of God. And then there is an internal test to apply. Where is this prophecy directed? Is it bringing the community to Christ or does it adhere to our personal preferences?

What color should we paint the Meetinghouse walls. We might think that this is something trivial, but in our decisions there is much to consider. If we paint them one color are we purposefully causing division within our community? If we purchase our paint from one company over another are we supporting our community or are we supporting a practice we find inhumane? These questions we might not consider, and at times we might not even care. But everything we do should be devoted to loving God and our Neighbor. If we purchase paint that was tested on animals, are we contributing to the suffering within our world? If we buy coffee that is not fair trade are we saying we support the exploitation of human labor as long as I can get my coffee cheap? If we do…

We have cleverly devised myths. We have a complex world that we cannot possibility have complete knowledge to navigate. But what is Peter teaching us. Earlier in his letter Peter writes.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

Our focus, our faith traditions, and our actions should be focused on one thing and one thing only. We should love God with all that we have and all that we are, and love our neighbor as ourselves. We do this wherever we are with whoever is around us, because that is our community. We extend this to whoever we can because that is our mission.

So as we leave here today, I want us to consider how our actions are promoting this kind of love and faithfulness. If your political stance dictates one thing, how does Christ reflect in it. Is it a lamp shining in the darkness or is it something devised in the will of man? If our spouse upsets us are we upset because we are not getting what we think we deserve, or are we looking to see how we can increase their understanding of Gods love through our actions, and if you have caused them to become upset are you seeking to reconcile? If you are a student, are you rebelling against your parents’ teaching, are you causing hardship for your teachers, or by your actions are you shining a light into the darkness, giving them hope for the future and a reason to continue in faith? If you are a parent are your actions encouraging you children to walk with you as you follow Christ?

I could continue, but it all boils down to one thing. We can make clever myths, or we can live or lives. Peter says he and others saw this glory and he is sharing that. We have experienced things as well. We have lived our lives, we have suffered and have been released from bondage, we have been persecuted and we have persecuted others. We have lived, with and without Christ. But what drives you, what carries you along. Tell the world, encourage your community. And become a person, Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others.

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To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:

To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here: