Tag: arguing

Rejoice instead of Complain (Philippians 2:14-18, 3:1-4a)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me…

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. (New International Version)

Here is a simple observation: Complaining and rejoicing cannot come out of the same mouth at the same time. The two of them mix about as well as toasters and bathtubs.

Everything is to be done without grumbling or arguing. Sheer willpower is insufficient for the task. Instead, you and I need to replace words of complaint with words of joy. Rejoicing is the antidote to murmuring. The world already has more than enough curmudgeons who crank on about everything from politics and religion to the weather and social media. Grumblers seem to always find the negative in just about everything.

Any fool can complain. It’s easy. Complaining takes little effort, and even less brains. Joy, however, takes some work. The sage person practices gratitude and joy so that it becomes the default response to most situations. We need a lot more folks with joy in this sad world.

Yesterday I visited a dear woman who was just diagnosed with cancer, and is expected to have only months to live. She had many tears, yet she also had lots of smiles. In fact, she was either crying or smiling most of the time. And her smile was genuine, not forced.

Whenever I encounter folks like this, who do not complain but rather rejoice, I ask them, “What gives you such joy in the midst of such sorrow?” This particular woman answered, “I have a simple faith. I trust God. I believe the Lord is good. I am blessed with many friends, a supportive family, and a God who loves me.” May her tribe increase.

On this same day, I visited another woman. She also had just been diagnosed with cancer and was facing a shortened lifespan. She yelled at the doctor and argued with the nurse, screamed at and quarreled with her family, and cried without any joy in my presence. Eventually, she left the hospital against medical advice because all she did was complain about everything and everyone.

Although I believe it is quite appropriate to have anger against disease, it’s inappropriate to rage against other people. The woman was miserable and had no smiles. I couldn’t help but see the incredible contrast between the two women in a single day of visits.

For all the talk we hear about how important it is to be positive, it is, unfortunately, negativity that sells, wins elections, and moves people. The irony of it all is that a large chunk of people continually grumbles, complains, and argues about all the negativity in the world. *Sigh*

Complaining and arguing are nasty practices; they breed disunity and division within groups and families. Murmuring only warps the ones who do it and infects others with spiritual disease.

Grumbling is always the first building block of a crooked and depraved generation. Conversely, being blameless and pure is winsomely attractive and unites folks together as a cohesive force for the world. Joy inoculates people from divisive pathogens. A people who rejoice together produce generations of individuals who impact their culture with delight and satisfaction.

Not even suffering and hard circumstances can curtail the comfort and cheer of the joyful. Rejoicing is a way of life – a path which no one and nothing can take away from us. Unwanted situations can be imposed on us, yet a person’s joy cannot be dislodged.

Eleanor Porter’s 1913 storybook character, Pollyanna, learned to take such a look upon life from her parents. Even after losing them to an accident and being orphaned, she honored their memory by saying, “… there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it.” Pollyanna went on to teach an entire community about her way of life:

“What people need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened…. Instead of always harping on a person’s faults, tell them of their virtues. Try to pull them out of their rut of bad habits. Hold up to them their better self, the real self that can dare and do and win out! … The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town…. People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a person feels kindly and obliging, their neighbors will feel that way, too. But if a person scolds and scowls and criticizes—their neighbors will return scowl for scowl and add interest! … When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good—you will get that…”

Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter, 1913

I wonder what our world would look like if we all took such an approach of finding joy in our lives. We are meant to guard ourselves from those who boast and brag, who belligerently bully others with their bellicose blustering and bellyaching.

We are designed by our Creator for better things. Joy is more than the spice of life; it is life itself. Moving mindfully and without rush through our days, setting aside times for contemplation and rest, offering gratitude to God and encouragement to others, and exploring our own heart’s desire are all ways we can tap into the large hidden reservoir of joy within each of us.

Complaining is cheap and easy. Joy is rich, full, satisfying, and takes practice to master. Rejoice in the Lord, take joy in the presence of the Spirit, and exult in Christ our Savior. In doing so, we shoo the devil away and create a better society.

God is good all the time. And all the time God is good.

O Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You mark out my journeys and my resting place and are acquainted with all my ways. Lord of creation, whose glory is around and within us: Open our eyes to your wonders so that we may serve you with reverence and know your peace and joy in our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Insiders and Outsiders (Romans 11:13-29)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

But I don’t want to go on about them [the Jews]. It’s you, the outsiders, that I’m concerned with now. Because my personal assignment is focused on the so-called outsiders, I make as much of this as I can when I’m among my Israelite kin, the so-called insiders, hoping they’ll realize what they’re missing and want to get in on what God is doing. If their falling out initiated this worldwide coming together, their recovery is going to set off something even better: mass homecoming! If the first thing the Jews did, even though it was wrong for them, turned out for your good, just think what’s going to happen when they get it right!

Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there’s bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to gloat over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you.

It’s certainly possible to say, “Other branches were pruned so that I could be grafted in!” Well and good. But they were pruned because they were deadwood, no longer connected by belief and commitment to the root. The only reason you’re on the tree is because your graft “took” when you believed, and because you’re connected to that belief-nurturing root. So don’t get cocky and strut your branch. Be humbly mindful of the root that keeps you lithe and green.

If God didn’t think twice about taking pruning shears to the natural branches, why would he hesitate over you? He wouldn’t give it a second thought. Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God—ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot. But don’t presume on this gentleness. The moment you become deadwood, it’s game over.

And don’t get to feeling superior to those pruned branches down on the ground. If they don’t persist in remaining deadwood, they could very well get grafted back in. God can do that. He can perform miracle grafts. Why, if he could graft you—branches cut from a tree out in the wild—into an orchard tree, he certainly isn’t going to have any trouble grafting branches back into the tree they grew from in the first place. Just be glad you’re in the tree, and hope for the best for the others.

I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what’s going on and arrogantly assume that you’re royalty and they’re just rabble, out on their ears for good. But that’s not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the outsiders so that we end up with a full house. Before it’s all over, there will be a complete Israel. As it is written,

A champion will stride down from the mountain of Zion;
    he’ll clean house in Jacob.
And this is my commitment to my people:
    removal of their sins.

From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded. (The Message)

A big reason a lot of people don’t go to church anymore, is that they can’t stand the bickering, backbiting, and belligerence amongst the people. It’s sad that so many have had a bad experience of Christians squabbling with each other. It’s not supposed to be this way.

Paul disputing with both Gentiles and Jews, c.1175 C.E., (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

The letter to the Romans reminds me of two siblings going at it, always at odds with each other. Gentile and Jew both together in one church, constantly arguing, and never stopping to listen to the other. The Apostle Paul, their spiritual parent, had enough of it. So, he wrote a lengthy tome, often alternating between speaking directly to Brother Gentile and then to Brother Jew.

Wisely, Paul never took sides and avoided favoritism even though he himself was Jewish. In today’s New Testament lesson, Paul speaks pointedly and forthrightly to the Gentiles in the church. He gets to the issue of Brother Gentile’s attitude and view toward Brother Jew. Father Paul’s instruction to Brother Gentile is also instructive for us, as we navigate a pluralistic world and a diverse church.

Brother Gentile tended to look down on Brother Jew as stuck in the past, too concerned for tradition, and unwilling to change. Brother Gentile thought it was high time Brother Jew understood that all that Jewish stuff is no longer needed; Gentiles were the future of the church.

For Brother Gentile, God has accepted him, and Brother Jew has been rejected as an unwanted anachronism. But Father Paul would have none of it; he was not going to allow Brother Gentile to eviscerate Brother Jew of his identity.

Notice Father Paul’s reasoning to his son, Brother Gentile, utilizing the lesser to the greater argument:

  • Brother Jew’s stumbling and bumbling has already caused Brother Gentile to come to faith in Christ.
  • Brother Gentile’s deliverance and acceptance will cause Brother Jew’s jealousy to kick in.
  • Brother Jew’s response will bring even greater spiritual blessing to the world.

Paul insisted that Brother Jew still has a prominent place in the family, and that a time is coming when the entire human family will have their socks blessed off because of him. Just as an olive tree is pruned and has branches grafted in, Brother Gentile needs to understand he’s a graft, and not part of the original tree.

Therefore, there is no place for arrogant pride. Grafted branches get broken off and pruned, too! And pruned branches can also be grafted back on the tree.

So, Father Paul wanted his sons to understand and appreciate one another as the one tree in God’s family. There is room for neither Brother Gentile’s complacency nor Brother Jew’s despair. Both brothers share together in one equitable tree of life, enjoying the blessings of renewal and restoration.

Let us take these lessons to heart in our interactions with folks who are different from ourselves! There is no room in God’s benevolent kingdom for simpletons who fail to see beyond the end of their noses. Instead, we are to appreciate our brother who looks, thinks, and lives differently than us.

God is only intolerant about intolerance. The Lord desires mercy and justice toward those distinctly offbeat from our own path. Just because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life does not give any follower of Christ a license to misinterpret, misrepresent, and mistreat another group of people who subscribe to various jots and tittles other than me.

Neither you nor I are the Gardener. We do not get to do the pruning and grafting. That is God’s job, not ours. Love is our business, while the Lord will show both his kindness and sternness when and to whom he will.

Simply assuming we are always on the right side of things only produces a lack of listening, a lack of like-mindedness, and a lack of love. It creates a worldly system of demagoguery, inattention to suffering, and narrow policies, procedures, and laws which benefit only one brother, and not all the siblings.

Father Paul said earlier in his letter, “God doesn’t have any favorites!” (Romans 2:11, CEV)

Father James said in his letter, “Don’t treat some people better than others.” (James 2:1, ERV)

Father Peter said, “I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another. Rather, in every nation, whoever worships him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35, CEB)

And the witness of the Old Testament says, “Cut away the thick calluses from your heart and stop being so willfully hardheaded. God, your God, is the God of all gods, he is the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. He doesn’t play favorites, takes no bribes, makes sure orphans and widows are treated fairly, takes loving care of foreigners by seeing that they get food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:17-18, MSG)

For our failure to realize that the whole world is a family, that Christ is all and in all: O Lord, forgive.

For our prejudice and self-consciousness of race, color, or language: O Lord, forgive.

For our indifference and lack of concern for our neighbors living in poverty and unemployment and for children who are ill-clothed, illiterate, and ill: O Lord, forgive.

For our unwillingness to understand the needs and problems of other people, the bitterness of those without power, and the groans of the oppressed: O Lord, forgive.

For our readiness to acquiesce in the ways of the majority, to seek the path of least resistance, and to prefer popularity to fairness: O Lord, forgive. Christ have mercy on us all. Amen.

Inclusion vs. Exclusion (Acts 15:1-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:

“‘After this I will return
    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
    and I will restore it,
that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’—
    things known from long ago.

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” (New International Version)

The Council of Jerusalem, by Franz Mayer of Munich, 1883

What happens when new people come into a group who are different? How does any church or faith community deal with long time members alongside new ones? Is there a way to work through differences without becoming like the Borg, trying to make others to be just like me? (“Prepare to be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”)

Differences of thought, opinion, and practice are inevitable. Conflict cannot (and should not) always be avoided. Anyplace there’s people, conflict eventually happens. Put a bunch of sinners together in one place (like in a church), add a few grumpy old people, a few know-it-alls, then sit back and watch the fireworks. 

It seems to me that every church is about one or two good fights away from being non-existent. It’s a miracle that more congregations don’t call it quits every year, especially after their annual congregational meetings! I myself have a long resume of handling ornery folks, family squabbles, and cantankerous curmudgeons that could make your head swim – or just get you downright angry.

What is the source of conflict among you? What is the source of your disputes? Don’t they come from your cravings that are at war in your own lives? You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight. You don’t have because you don’t ask. You ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings. (James 4:1-3, CEB)      

Within the church there are expectations, whether they are reasonable or not. If those expectations are not fulfilled, people feel unfulfilled. So, they look to put unnecessary burdens on those entering the faith – to make them pay their dues by observing rules that they themselves aren’t even able to keep.

Conflict begins with some kind of desire. If unmet, it becomes a demand. And demanding something usually leads to judging other people. After all, if you really care about me and my group, you will meet these demands (desires). If left unchecked and unresolved, the progression ends in trying to punish others by simply withdrawing from a relationship with the intent of hurting another.

A focus on reaching out, on rebuilding and restoring lives, puts our efforts where they need to be – and puts us on the same page together, acting out of a sense of purpose, not preservation.

Today’s New Testament lesson deals with the conflict and debate surrounding gentile inclusion into the family of God. The success of Paul’s missionary journeys in reaching non-Jewish peoples and establishing churches, created tension as to whether these new believers ought to become Jewish in order to be Christian.

This question was at the heart of why the Council at Jerusalem was convened. Those who believed that Gentiles need to become Jews, demanded that the they be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses. Others, including Paul and Barnabas, believed that sort of thinking and approach was contrary to the gospel.

The Apostle Peter was there and gave his own experience of observing God work among Cornelius, a Gentile. Peter’s story was more than personal testimony; it was a powerful theological argument about what God was doing and what God is up to with all people, not just the Jews.

Peter’s story demonstrated that God (and not Paul or anybody else) is responsible for including Gentiles among God’s people without making them Jewish. It was God who called and cleansed Gentiles – making no distinction between them and Jews.

People are justified and made right by God’s grace, and not by human judgments of who can be in or out. The upshot of the whole thing is this: We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, both Jew and Gentile. Period.

The only thing needed from Gentiles is to believe, because salvation is an act of God’s grace, and not the result of human effort.

What’s more, the inclusion of non-Jewish persons as the people of God is nothing new; it has always been there in the Old Testament Scriptures. And they were never called to become just like Jews in order to be the people of God. (Amos 9:11-12)

This is instructive for all contemporary faith communities. Our mission is not to make followers of me or you or of a particular faith tradition, but to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Grace brings us in, grace keeps us in, and grace will lead us home.

Our focus is to be on openness, connection, and inclusion, and not in seeking to be closed-minded and closed-hearted – separating from those different from us and practicing exclusion. The following ways may be helpful in fostering a more generous gospel:

Talk less, listen more. Don’t interrupt. Do give focused attention. Use respectful language. Ask how others prefer to be addressed and how they refer to themselves. Asking is a sign of care and respect for the person you are talking to, and is also a way to help them feel safe and comfortable.

Be open. Don’t stereotype. One person doesn’t represent an entire group of people. There are different Christian traditions throughout the world. And there are also different traditions and ways within all major religions, as well as within all people groups, institutions, organizations, communities, races, ethnicities, and genders. Seek to learn, rather than superimpose what you think onto someone else.

Become self-aware. Understand that, although all persons are created in the image of God and are equal before the Lord, there is not equity in human organizations and systems. Being aware of our own privileges is a crucial first step to adopting a more inclusive attitude.

Stay curious. To remain curious means to seek people and situations that allow us to challenge (both in a positive and negative way) our beliefs and our cultural and personal patterns of thinking, worshiping, working, and living.

Generally speaking, exclusion creates conflict, whereas inclusion gives space for others to explore and discover what it means to live into their faith and spirituality.

Loving Lord, give us strength so that we can build places of belonging: To create a community for all to share their gifts, to know that each of us is loved, to help us to see the light of Christ in all that we serve. Help us remember that each of us is loved and important. Amen.

Get Rid of Grumbling (Numbers 16:41-50)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Grumbling broke out the next day in the community of Israel, grumbling against Moses and Aaron: “You have killed God’s people!”

But it so happened that when the community got together against Moses and Aaron, they looked over at the Tent of Meeting and there was the Cloud—the Glory of God for all to see.

Moses and Aaron stood at the front of the Tent of Meeting. God spoke to Moses: “Back away from this congregation so that I can do away with them this very minute.”

They threw themselves face down on the ground.

Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and fill it with incense, along with fire from the Altar. Get to the congregation as fast as you can: make atonement for them. Anger is pouring out from God—the plague has started!”

Aaron grabbed the censer, as directed by Moses, and ran into the midst of the congregation. The plague had already begun. He put burning incense into the censer and atoned for the people. He stood there between the living and the dead and stopped the plague.

Fourteen thousand seven hundred people died from the plague, not counting those who died in the affair of Korah. Aaron then went back to join Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The plague was stopped. (The Message)

grum-bled, grum-bling, grum-ble:

  • to murmur or mutter in discontent; complain sullenly
  • an expression of discontent; complaint; unhappy murmur; growl.

Out of all the bad things in this old world, grumbling and murmuring aren’t typically at the top of our list of heinous sins. Yet, they’re bad. The reason grumbling needs squelching is because complaining is like a gateway drug – start using it and it will surely lead to worse things, unless stopped.

A surefire way to divide a community of people is by grumbling and complaining. This was the deliberate tool of Korah – a Levite who was angling for more power and authority amongst the Israelites in their sojourn in the desert. His stirring up rebellion through constant complaints was a high-handed sin, meant to undercut Moses as the leader.

The revolt he incited resulted in a dramatic intervention of God in causing the earth to open up and swallow Korah and the rebels. The Lord has a zero tolerance policy toward satanic plans of upending godly leadership and replacing it with a lust for power.

The Punishment of Korah, Holman Illustrated Bible, 1890

Unfortunately, this was not the end of the story. Aftershocks of grumbling erupted around the community. And it was dealt with by God with the same sort of wrath that Korah experienced. A plague broke out and many more died.

So, why all the death? This was far more than a bunch of malcontents who were griping about how things were going. It was an assault against the Lord – in the same way Lucifer once brought rebellion to heaven. In both cases, swift action was taken.

Please keep in mind that we need a nuanced understanding of complaining, grumbling, and arguing. A great deal of complaining is an expression of grief, of pushing back against the hurt. There’s also the grumbling that comes because everybody else is doing it. But then there is the sort of grumbling that is intended to topple God as the authority and place oneself in that position. That’s the nasty sort which will get one in a heap of trouble.

I once had a parishioner, several years back, who continually complained about me. More than that, he seemed to be always trying to get others to join him in his constant grumbling. I certainly tried to be as meek as Moses. Whether that happened, or not, I’m not sure.

It got bad enough that one Sunday, the grumbler invited me to come outside after church and settle things “like men,” which meant with fisticuffs. Oy.

About a month later, the man was standing in his driveway, then fell straight over. He was dead before he even hit the pavement. I’ll leave it to you for an interpretation. I’ll also say that, obviously, the grumbling and rebellion stopped.

The people’s grumbling and revolt against Moses was tantamount to rebelling against God.

Grumbling is not okay. Whenever folks dig in and complain in order to overturn something or someone which the Lord has established, their plans for destruction get turned in on themselves. In other words, what happens to themselves is what they were planning all along for another.

The New Testament author of Hebrews picked up this tone of grumbling from the ancient Israelites, and offered a warning to his own contemporary audience:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.
That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:8-12, NIV)

The author also provided some simple yet profound exhortation for keeping grumbling and murmuring at bay:

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:13, NIV)

Encouragement is the daily practice which prevents a hard heart and soul rot – the very things which lead a person to begin complaining and rebelling.

If there is no encouragement, complaints will take root. And if complaints take root, bitterness begins to grow. And if bitterness begins to grow, it will feed itself on grudge-bearing. And if grudge-bearing persists, it will have very unpleasant results.

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Hebrews 12:15, NIV)

So, let us cultivate the fruit of the Spirit, and put aside the shameful deeds of darkness. Let us look for ways to encourage one another, rather than tearing down each other. Let us:

Fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3, NIV)

Holy God, you work in us to will and to act in order to fulfill your good purpose. Help us to do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that we may become blameless and pure, without fault in a warped and crooked generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.