Today’s Readings: Psalm 78; Exodus 17:1-7; Matthew 21:23-32; Philippians 2:1-13
Every person has a personal pet peeve. For some, it’s when a loved one walks into the room, grabs the remote, and changes the channel on the television without asking. For others, it’s when a family member forgets to do something like put the cap back on the toothpaste or put the toilet seat down. Ask anyone you bump into if they have a pet peeve, and I’m sure you’ll get an immediately answer. I have a couple of pet peeves myself. I hate it when someone in the household uses the last of something and doesn’t throw away the container when it’s empty. Just ask my partner Mike, and he’ll back me up on this. I have another pet peeve that’s a little more specific. It has to do with the way we live together as a faith community. My pet peeve is when people put up with intentionally unhealthy/destructive behaviors in a church, shrug their shoulders, and say, “What else can we do – after all churches are simply made up of people so we have to expect those kinds of behaviors.” I have no problem putting up with unhealthy behavior in other forms of community (i.e. sports or civic groups) that don’t aspire to be anything else than what they are – a collection of people brought together by common interests. I do have a problem putting up hurtful/harmful behaviors when we come together in hopes of becoming more than the sum of ourselves – when we come together to live as the body of Christ. Apparently I’m not the only one with this pet peeve - for in this morning’s passage from Philippians you can hear the author’s frustration with those who would settle for unhealthy behaviors in spiritual community. The author wrote: “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care – then do me a favor: agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends” (Philippians 2:1-2 from The Message). The next time you come together as spiritual community, remember today’s words from Philippians and aspire to be something more than just a collection of people – aspire to live together as the body of Christ and then see what happens. You may become something more than just a sum of your parts. Til next time…
Every person has a personal pet peeve. For some, it’s when a loved one walks into the room, grabs the remote, and changes the channel on the television without asking. For others, it’s when a family member forgets to do something like put the cap back on the toothpaste or put the toilet seat down. Ask anyone you bump into if they have a pet peeve, and I’m sure you’ll get an immediately answer. I have a couple of pet peeves myself. I hate it when someone in the household uses the last of something and doesn’t throw away the container when it’s empty. Just ask my partner Mike, and he’ll back me up on this. I have another pet peeve that’s a little more specific. It has to do with the way we live together as a faith community. My pet peeve is when people put up with intentionally unhealthy/destructive behaviors in a church, shrug their shoulders, and say, “What else can we do – after all churches are simply made up of people so we have to expect those kinds of behaviors.” I have no problem putting up with unhealthy behavior in other forms of community (i.e. sports or civic groups) that don’t aspire to be anything else than what they are – a collection of people brought together by common interests. I do have a problem putting up hurtful/harmful behaviors when we come together in hopes of becoming more than the sum of ourselves – when we come together to live as the body of Christ. Apparently I’m not the only one with this pet peeve - for in this morning’s passage from Philippians you can hear the author’s frustration with those who would settle for unhealthy behaviors in spiritual community. The author wrote: “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care – then do me a favor: agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends” (Philippians 2:1-2 from The Message). The next time you come together as spiritual community, remember today’s words from Philippians and aspire to be something more than just a collection of people – aspire to live together as the body of Christ and then see what happens. You may become something more than just a sum of your parts. Til next time…
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