By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
August 23, 2026
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Romans 12:1–8 (ESV)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
The past few weeks I have made a point to encourage us to use context as we read scripture. To observe more than the mere words within the passage, but to also consider the rest of the book, and even scriptures outside the book. Not just scripture, but also culture and history. It is even important to understand science, contemporary spiritual practices both inside and outside Hebrew influence. We need to do this because the writers of scripture were inspired to write within a historic and cultural context. The words were written to encourage and inspire those of their age, as well as us today.
This is significant when we consider the passages associated with eschatology. Imagine for a moment if the prophets of ancient times were only speaking of events that were to occur 3 to 4 thousand years in the future. Would the people of that age be able to recognize them as sacred texts, or would they only see them as the ravings of a mad man? The words were primarily for their time and place, but also allude to something more. But this something more, these future events, were understandable within their context.
I bring eschatology up not because this passage speaks of it, but because sometimes our thoughts on eschatology permeate through our lives to such a degree that our primary focus is on the end instead of the present. We are not called to merely prepare for that great day, but as we prepare we are to live today. We are to work, teach, serve, and share now.
Before we move on we do need to consider the context of our passage. When we look at the letter to the Romans we often assume that this was a letter written to the people of Rome. We are not wrong, but we sometimes forget what Rome was. Rome was the capital of an empire. There were people from every corner of the empire living within this city. There were representatives from the provinces of Africa, from the Central Europe, from Spain, and from across the lands surrounding the Mediterranean basin. There were also envoys from other lands. Envoys from the Persian remnant, diplomats from Ethiopia, merchants from the Far East, and even traders traveling down the rivers of Eastern Europe and Russia across the seas. Rome was not a homogeneous community but diverse.
The church within Rome was also diverse. There was a large Jewish population within Rome and many of them responded to the gospel along with those from the gentile nations. This is why Paul exerted such energy and thought to explain the reality of the grace of God. The church at this time did not have the scriptures that we have today. What they did have were the writings of the Old Testament, but they did not have the Hebrew scripture, they had the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. And because they had only the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, those are the scriptures that were used and recognized within the ancient churches.
When I was a child I was often taught that the Catholic Church added books to the bible. They are not wrong in that teaching, but they are not correct either. The Catholic Church added the New Testament, but they were not the only church that did so. The Church of Antioch, Ethiopia, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Alexandria also added the New Testament. These however are not the book we are speaking of. Protestants frequently say that the Church of Rome added the Apocrypha, or the deuterocanonical books. These book were part of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, so they were not added, instead they were already part of the Jewish community that lived outside Judea. The reason they are not included in our Protestant bibles is because during the reformation the leaders of the Protestant churches wanted only the books that were represented in the accepted Hebrew text. The texts they used, the Masoretic text, was only accepted around the 7th century of our current age, seven hundred years after the church began. One could argue that the Masoretic texts, could have been made in opposition to the church just as much as one could argue that the text was the Hebrew Bible used within Jerusalem.
So when Paul was writing to the church of Rome, everyone present only knew the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. The understanding that both the Jews and the Gentiles had of scripture was from those first century era of history. They believed that the nations were divided among lessor deities, under the leadership of the one true God. And that the entire purpose of the Messiah was to bring all people back to that one true God. As we saw within Psalm 138. “I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise.”
Paul wanted both the Jews and the Gentiles of Rome to know the reality of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. It was not merely to make all people Jewish. It was to bring all people, all religions, all of humanity back to the place they were created to be. Restored to an Edenic existence, where all humanity lived as image bearers of that one true God.
The context is important. The people were reading the Greek translations. Books like Tobit, where a righteous man living in exile was given a quest by the angel Raphael. Or the book of Judith where a Jewish widow interacts and saves her people from the invading Assyrian army. These book gave those people living in exile hope, they provided direction and identity to people of faith living in exile. They often provided a bridge between the various cultures and allowed the righteous to live their faith in a problematic time. This is what Paul is getting at. All of humanity is in exile. All of humanity is living lives of faith as outsiders within an immoral worldly based context. Not only the people of Hebrew heritage but all people. And some of these people have been in exile even longer.
God does not repent of his calling of Israel, he needed them as the one people through whom he would reveal himself, but the ultimate goal was not merely Israel but everyone. And everyone that calls upon the name of Jesus will be shown mercy and grace.
He spent eleven chapters building up to this point. Drawing on language of the Law, or the teachings of God, to unify the church. We are not Jews and Greeks, but we are a spiritual family united under the one true God. And because we are one people, present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
I want us to slow down and consider this for a moment. I have just presented a bunch of historical context that we may not have been aware of. But what Paul is telling us is that everything we do should be devoted to honoring God. Every word we speak should be laced with encouragement and grace. Every time we go to work our actions should be reflecting the devotion we have to God. When we interact with people around us our mind should not be focused on the things our world focus on, instead our thoughts should be devoted to bringing honor to God.
We are to be living. But not just living, we are also to be sacrifices. I want you to consider this. Most sacrifices are not living. Instead, their life is given to bring honor and signify devotion to the deity being worshiped. Our life is to be given. It is not our own everything we do, and every aspect of who we are should be directed to give honor to God. If you call on the name of Jesus, you are no longer living to yourself. You belong to God. You are set apart for a different purpose.
Paul then continues, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
As I was studying this week, I opened a translation of the New Testament I forgot I purchased. It is called the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. This translation was formulated by a group of pastors ministering to various native cultures throughout North America. They wanted to present a translation of scripture into the context of their people. At first, we might think this is heretical, but I want us to consider how we learned about God. Very few of us know Greek, each of us listen from our own cultural context. We explain the gospel to children in language they understand. We do not use words they are unaware of like, “propitiation.” because most adults do not even understand that word to mean atonement. It goes over our heads.
This team of translators present it like this:
“So then, my sacred family members, because Creator has shown us such mercy and kindness, I now call on you to offer your whole beings, heart, mind, and strength, to the Great Spirit as a living sacrifice. Do this in a sacred and spiritual manner that will make his heart glad. Do not permit the ways of this world to mold and shape you. Instead, let Creator change you from the inside out, in the way a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He will do this by giving you a new way of thinking, seeing, and walking. Then you will know for sure what the Great Spirit wants for you, things that are good, that make the heart glad, and that help you to walk the path of becoming a mature and true human being.”
(Romans 12:1-2 FNV)
I sat reflecting on this passage from that perspective. I then considered what I knew of the various indigenous people groups. Their culture was not always like the cultures of European people, and neither are the cultures of Africa or Asia. I might not understand their culture, but that does not mean that they do not have some understanding that I do not have. I looked at these words from that perspective. And I was no longer looking at it systematically. Often European minded cultures look at everything from the rule of law perspective. We have hierarchies, departments, economies, and philosophies. We interpret everything from that western perspective. But that is not how everyone lives. The indigenous people of North America had a different rhythm of life. Their focus was on different aspects. Often their life revolved around survival of the community instead of individuality. They look at their place within a larger creation, and instead of conquest they instead strive to be a true human.
My understanding of their various cultures is lacking for sure, but this gave me pause. It challenged me to consider the words of Paul from a perspective that I was not used to. And I found it encouraging.
What happens to a group of people migrating around the prairies of Kansas and Missouri if those within the tribe are self-centered instead of focusing on the community? They will die. It is not a question of if, but when. There are so many factors in life that we cannot possibly be completely self-sufficient. When one person begins to become selfish, another person goes hungry. When one person demands the skins from the hunt, someone is left without clothing. When we become selfish we leave within visible sight someone without. What will eventually happen if we allow this to continue? We become weak. We become fractured. We become greedy. If the tribe continues down that path, how will they survive the winter? How will they respond to other tribes seeking harm?
Present yourself as a living sacrifice, Paul says, give yourself to something greater, something beyond yourself. Do not be shaped or molded by the ways of this world. This world is often devoted to sin. If we go back to the lives of Cain and Abel we see this. Cain was not accepted and Abel was. Cain wanted to be accepted, but he wanted it on his own terms. And God said to Cain if you do well will you not be accepted? That is the way of the world. We want things on our terms. We want it our way. We could not care less what anyone else thinks or feels as long as I have what I want.
It is short-sighted. And leads to destruction. God’s teaching his law is not for that short-sighted life. A few months ago I came across a discussion on the kosher dietary laws. The one presenting stated that we are not given a reason as to why certain foods are considered clean and unclean. So he explored possible reasons. Many of the reasons mentioned I had thought of, but there was one take that made me stop what I was doing to think. He said could it be that pork was unclean because there was only one reason to raise pork? Pork did not have multiple uses throughout its life like other animals. Sheep produce wool every year. So there is value while they live as well as value at the end of their life. Cattle also have multiple uses. They can be used as draft animals, for their milk, and at the end of their life meat and leather. But what is the use of swine? They are raised for one purpose and that is to eat. The point the presenter was making is God’s law in many cases was focused on continued existence, and not merely for short-sighted survival.
We can then look at other teachings within the law. How was Israel encouraged to build their dwellings? How were they supposed to handle mildew, and skin diseases? How were they to interact with individuals from other nations? Each of these laws point to something greater. Some laws have scientific explanations. Where some show us how to effectively assimilate others within our culture. But each of them teach us how to be true human beings.
Are we thinking about that type of life. A life lived to bring honor and glory to God while we live in service and ministry to others? This is the life and lifestyle that Jesus taught. He made it his custom to worship with the community. He often withdrew to pray in isolated places. And he would minister to the needs of the people. Providing healing to those with various diseases, feeding those without food, and providing teachings to draw us into a deeper understanding of life with God.
In all of this Jesus was encouraging us to explore where we fit and how we can become a blessing to others instead of living a life of self-centered consumption. Paul then expands on that thought as he writes to the people living in Rome. “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
He then speaks of us being one part of a greater body. And how each of us have different skills and gifts to bring health and wellness to that body. The point is that we have been blessed with incomes, with skill, with abilities, ideas, and many other things. We have been blessed, but that blessing is to be shared. The blessing, gifts, and our abilities are only fully enjoyed if we utilized them to benefit those around us.
What good is a painting if it is locked away in a closet? What good is being able to bake the best bread if it is never shared with another? How are we to enjoy a song that is never sung? Or find a use for a technology invented if that technology is never built? And how do we help others whose lifestyles are changed when new technologies render their gifts less useful?
We must give and share our abilities. If we do not put ourselves out there for others, there is no nation, there is no economy, there is nothing of value, and we are no more than animals looking for our next meal. We are not true human beings unless we live for others.
“If your gift is to speak the heart and mind of the Great Spirit, in a prophecy, then let trust guide your words. If your gift is helping others, then give yourself to help others. If teaching is your gift, teach well. If your gift is to speak courage and strengthen the hearts of others, then speak bravely. The one whose gift is giving should not hold back. If your gift is leading, lead with honor. And the one whose gift is showing mercy and kindness to others should do so freely, with a glad heart!”
(Romans 12:6-8 FNV)
Let us be a people united in Christ. Let us encourage one another to use the things God has given us well. And let us become a blessing to the world around us. Let us live our lives in such a way that people see that there is a better way to live. One that give hope to the hopeless, help to the needy, and mercy to the afflicted. Let us become a people of blessing, instead of a nation of condemnation. Let us become living sacrifices devoted to the things of God and a people loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. Let us not seek the end but to live for Christ now and until we take our last breath.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 23, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 12:1–8 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 16, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 08, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Last week we spoke about how from the beginning God counted humanity as the elect over creation. This might have caused some of you to think I had…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
July 5, 2026
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Hebrews 12:1–3, 12-17 (ESV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
Query 6
From the Faith and Practice of Evangelical Friends Church Mid America Yearly Meeting.
Do you consistently practice Jesus’ spirit and teaching of love and goodwill to all people?
Do you support every Christian movement to do away with war and preparation for war?
Do you endeavor to make clear to all whom you can influence and especially our own youth, that war is utterly un-Christian and cannot be reconciled with the spirit of Christ?
Romans 7:15–25 (ESV)
15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
War Within
We have been speaking of righteousness, the law, sin, justification, and sanctification over the past few weeks. I do not know if you have learned anything worthwhile, but for me this has been a period of examine in my personal spiritual life. As I have read through the writings found in Paul’s letters to the churches, I have also revisited the Sermon Jesus gave while on the mount and on the plain. I have revisited what the commandments, words of wisdom, or teachings God gave to Moses when Israel was encamped at Sinai. And while I considered these things against my current experience, I have come to a great conclusion. Life is difficult.
I do not want to sound cliché or simple with those words. We as a church gained a sense of purpose or mission together when I first came to Willow Creek. I would love to say that it emerged out of good leadership, but no. It came because I as a new pastor, and us as a meeting needed to know who we are and what we needed to do to move our meeting into the future. We sat on that topic for months. We shared, considered, prayed, argued, and laughed together as we devised a simple statement that we felt explained who we are and what we want to do. That statement is: Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and Living the love of Christ with others.
I love that purpose statement. I love the depth of its simplicity. I love that it captures the teachings of Christ and the wisdom of God as taught throughout scripture from the beginning to the end. I love it because I have seen those words in the very rhythm of life that Jesus lived. I see those words in the heart-wrenching pleas that Paul writes to his friends across the Mediterranean world. It is a call to worship, prayer, and ministry.
I have contemplated those words over the past few months. And I wonder, is this still our calling, our mission? Is our point of existence as a community of faith still driven by those words, or have those words been replaced with something else?
This is one of the reasons I love the discipline of considering the Queries within our Faith and Practice. When I was younger I did not even know what these were, I learned about them when I began exploring the possibility of becoming a pastor and actually read the Faith and Practice. And when I saw that the Faith and Practice said we needed to read them every year and answer them, I thought it was one of the most ridiculous things I had heard. Why should we read a bunch of weirdly worded questions that have yes or no answers. But then I eventually became a pastor. It did not take long before I recognized that the core of our faith depends on the questions we ask, the questions we allow ourselves to ask, and the honesty we give when we try to provide an answer.
Twenty-three years ago as I became a pastor I began to fall in love with the queries. They are not God breathed scripture because they are written by people like you or I, but they facilitate contemplation. The ones we have in our faith and practice were first written shortly after the civil war in America, during a time of expansion, healing, and hope. We as a culture had just endured one of the largest struggles we had ever had to endure, a struggle that defined who we as a nation would be in the future. And when our spiritual ancestors gathered in Richmond, Indiana they too were struggling to determine who or what the Religious Society of Friends would be. Friends from around the world came to gather, and we made our Declaration of Faith. The majority of Yearly Meetings accepted this Unifying document, some opposed because they said it sounded too much like a creed and as Friends we do not make creeds.
Those that started our Yearly Meeting, held to that Unified Discipline of what was once called the Five Years Meeting, and would eventually be renamed Friends United Meeting. And one of the things that they included in that first unify document was the queries. Queries have been used since the time of Fox, and each yearly meeting has their own queries. Some have several and some have very few. The queries in our Faith and Practice have come to us from that first Unified Discipline with very few changes. I mention this is because these are the same questions that were being asked of Friends since the 19th century. They were questions asked of Friends that had participated in the Underground Railroad and of Friends that had aligned themselves with the other side of the debate. It was asked of Friends that had fled to the West to avoid conflict and those that had endured the hardships of war along the boarders of the North and South.
Do you consistently practice Jesus’ spirit and teaching of love and goodwill to all people?
Do you support every Christian movement to do away with war and preparation for war?
Do you endeavor to make clear to all whom you can influence and especially our own youth, that war is utterly un-Christian and cannot be reconciled with the spirit of Christ?
I include this query today, because I do think we need to re-examine things of faith. We need to ask ourselves if the faith we claim is the faith we live. But I think it speaks to something deeper. It speaks about the war within each of us.
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So no it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”
Paul looks at himself, he sees within himself that there is a war waging. He yearns to be righteous, he longs to do right in the eyes of God or to be justified in his own efforts. But he finds himself failing every time he turns around. This passage although it is one of the most difficult to read for me because it is almost a tongue twister, is one that I often find myself thinking about. And it has been one that has been on repeat for several weeks.
I want to do this. I want to do that. I want, but why do I want? Are my desires being driven by faith? Are my desires filled with ideologies? Do I want this because of some selfish desire? Am I just wanting to justify my own sin?
Paul says, “Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.” This is one of those places where it seems like Paul cannot decide if he like the law or not. This is why I have made such an effort to explain that the commandments of God are not merely the do’s and don’ts of faith, but they are the teachings, or the wisdom of God. They are lessons and conversation starters. Paul has noticed that he wants to do one thing, but seems to do the thing that he does not want to do instead. The teachings of God in scripture do not necessarily provide all the answers to every problem we will ever face, but it does give us a framework of how to think, and directs us to asking better questions.
I want to please my wife, I want to give her everything her heart desires. But somewhere in the course of our conversations I thought I heard that she did not care what we ate, so I purchased McDonald’s. Then I purchased it again because in my mind I know where McDonald’s is located in this city I do not know. Then I do it again. She keeps saying she does not care yet each meal it seems like she does. I know I am not pleasing her and now after twenty-three years, she still thinks the only thing I want to eat is McDonald’s when the truth is I did not know where any other restaurants were in Winnipeg. Scripture does not tell us exactly what to do in this situation, yet it does tell us other things, things like “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4).
Was I being vain, or conceited? No, but I was not taking into account that my desires and those of my spouse might be different. I grew up on a dirt farm in the middle of nowhere, you ate what you ate and you were grateful, where she grew up in Kansas City where there are options available. We came from different cultures, different experiences, different understandings. And the first few days of our marriage, we were caught in a dilemma.
This early marital spat may not seem similar to the geopolitical crises we face, but every relationship is similar. What do we do when resolving a conflict with a spouse, and how do we resolve a conflict with someone outside? If we treat those closest to us with violence, eventually when pushed too far we will respond to others with violence. Our families and the local meeting or church is a training ground for geopolitics.
Paul tells us when we begin to pursue our desires, but the results of this are not what we imagined we need to take a step back and re-examine what we are doing, and why. We need to ask different questions, see where we might have made an erroneous assumption. Go back to the teachings of God, study the scriptures and let them speak to you.
Paul continues to say after this, “So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” This is the picture of a person that is in that process of sanctification, or theosis. The desire is to do good, yet there are aspects within us that have not been fully entrusted to God. So often we as disciples and friends of Christ seek to follow him, but we have spiritual boarder-line disorder. We want to do something great, but we sabotage ourselves.
Some might say that Paul is excusing sin in this statement. That he is proposing a dualistic philosophy like the teachings of Plato. This is not what he is saying. There is a dualistic aspect, sure, but he does not excuse our actions. We are responsible for what we do in our flesh, because that is who we. We are flesh as well as spirit, they are not separate, but they are a combined whole. Just as Jesus is fully God and fully man, we are spirit and flesh, but our spirit is disconnected from God our life giver. We have no spiritual nourishment because our sin dams the flow, leaving our souls stagnate toxic swamps.
We have a desire to do good, to be righteous, yet without the flowing waters of the Spirit we are stuck in the mud. Paul says, “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” I am stuck. I can only go so far. I am throwing my weight forward and back but instead of proceeding, I am sinking deeper. I get off balance and fall. My shoes are pulled off and now I am covered from head to toe in the muck. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
I want to stop here for a moment. Some will say that Paul is saying that you cannot be moral without Christ. This is not the case. We can be good people socially and culturally. I can be faithful to my spouse, not kill anyone, and pay for everything I want and need just fine with or without Christ. We can be seen as good. But our self morality will only go so far. Remember the story of the Rich Young Ruler that came to Jesus asking what he must do to enter the kingdom. Jesus told him to keep the commandments, and the man responded that he had done this since childhood. Jesus then told him that there was one more thing, he must sell all that he had, give it to the poor, and follow him. That man walked away.
He was moral. He was good. He had done everything right in the eyes of his society. But he was missing one thing. He was doing all of those things for himself. He was working for his justification, but we do not hold the power to declare righteousness. Only those outside of ourselves have that power, the one with whom we have a relationship.
I can stand here and say I am a good father, and a good husband. I can claim to be a good pastor, or a good employee. But who can actually declare those things? My sons are the only ones that can declare me a good parent. My wife is the only one that can declare me a good husband. My supervisor is the one that declares my effectiveness on the job. And the church is the one that can declare my value as a minister. I cannot do this on my own, I cannot do this because I only see my own self. If I am doing everything according to my self-interest I will somewhere along the line cause harm to someone. I will cause harm because I am incapable to consider every aspect.
Our nation celebrated its 250th anniversary this year. Many of us look at those founding patriots as giants, they were the mighty men of old, that stood against tyranny. These men of old forged a new nation claiming these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and have certain unalienable rights endowed by our creator to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I love my country. I read those words and when I hear those words it still fans the flame of patriotism in my heart. We look at those men we see them as great, but they were not perfect. The men that held the self-evident truths of equality, enslaved others they denied the unalienable rights of fellow humans by denying them their own life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. These men were moral in their historical context, but the context has changed.
They failed just as we fail. They, like Paul, and like us cry out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” We cry out, because we want to do good, but evil emerges. We want to live at peace with our families, our friends, our communities yet somewhere along the way we will do something that is focused on our own self-interest that will cause harm in some manner to someone else.
We cannot live a completely moral life, because our flesh gets in the way. We can justify our actions and remain in good standing socially, yet we know or someone knows, we have the capacity to be wretched.
“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
I want to do good. I want to be righteous. I want to be someone consistently practicing Jesus’ spirit and teaching of love and goodwill to all people. Yet, sometimes people are really annoying. I want to support every Christian movement to do away with war and the preparation for war, yet there are people that do not agree with me. I want to tell everyone that the use of violence is un-Christian and cannot be reconciled, yet there is part of me that knows that I am very capable of justifying violence because I cannot think of a way around it. But my human justifications do not change the truth.
Every human life is sacred, because every human life is created in the image of God. And God so loved every human within the world that he gave his one unique son to die for us, that who soever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. We are loved. We are loved by God the creator of all things visible and invisible. We were created in the Image of God, meaning we have the capacity of physical and spiritual life. But do we recognize it. Do we recognize it in ourselves and do we recognize it in the person we currently see as an enemy?
There is much more that I want to say. Things I feel like I need to say. But I want us to again consider our query. And look at the things we are doing. Examine them in prayer, and in humility. Are we as a community recognizing the sin we have caused against others that might cause them to act in violence against us? Are we seeing the life situations that people around us are living in that might lead them to believe that there is no other way except violence? Are we actively pursuing the things that will alleviate tension, or are we throwing fuel on a fire? “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Let us renew our purpose and vision as a community to become a people Loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit and Living the love of Christ with others.
Matthew 6:31–34 (ESV) 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church July 19, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 8:12–25 (ESV) So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church July 5, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Hebrews 12:1–3, 12-17 (ESV) 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings…
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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 June 28,2026 Click to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 6:12–23 (ESV) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church June 14, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 5:1–8 (ESV) 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church June 07, 2026 Click here to join our meeting for worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 4:13–25 (ESV) 13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through…
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