Monday of 4th Sunday after Epiphany - Colossians 1:1-17

History is full of the rich and wealthy who have showered themselves and others with expensive luxuries. In flipping around, I’ve noticed several VH1 shows that go into exquisite detail about the prodigalities of the extremely wealthy. But for pure extravagance, it would be hard to beat the Roman emperor Elagabalus (or Heliogabalus), who ruled Rome from 218-222. The Rome of Elagabalus has been called a dream aflame with gold, a city of triumphal arches, enchanted temples, royal dwellings, vast porticoes, and wide, hospitable streets. The dining-halls had ivory ceilings, from which flowers fell, and wainscots that changed at every service. The walls were alive with the glisten of gems and with marbles rarer than jewels. In one hall was a dome of sapphire, a floor of malachite, crystal columns and red gold walls; about the palace were green savannahs; before it was a lake, eight acres of which Vespasian had drained and replaced by an amphitheater. Elagabalus devised garments more splendid and more bizarre than any that the Romans had found outside the temple at Jerusalem. He loved wearing a tunic of purple and gold silk gold, or an even more resplendent vestment which was woven throughout with fine gold and encrusted with gems.

Encircling his curls was a diadem of heavy gold, studded with jewels, one made after a Persian design, and rich, splendid, and brilliant with the numbers of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds which he thought became him. Unfortunately, his taste for precious stones did not stop here. He wore numerous bracelets, rings and necklaces, all as rich and costly as could be made: his shoe-buckles, complete with engraved cameo and intaglio, were the wonder of the beholder. Even in the relief of natural functions he was magnificent, using only vases of gold and onyx.

Once when a friend asked him whether he was not afraid that his prodigal lifestyle would bankrupt him, he replied with an astounding self-complacency, "What can be better for me than to be heir to myself?"

An emperor who gave himself over to such extravagance and who sought pleasure at all costs was not a fit ruler, and in the end he was killed by the Praetorian Guard. His corpse was mutilated and thrown into the Tiber River.

Elagabalus was a king with many jewels of light, but his kingdom was a kingdom of great darkness.*

In Colossians 1, Paul speaks of a great kingdom of light. It is, of course, the New Jerusalem of Revelation, the Church of Jesus Christ, in which God Himself dwells as the sun. This God who is the Light of lights has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light (verse 12) and has delivered us out of the kingdom of darkness (verse 13) and into His kingdom of Light.

While to the eyes of a decadent Roman or VH1 culture, Elagabalus’ jewels bewitch the eyes, in Colossians 1 St. Paul mentions 5 precious stones in the Kingdom of Light that will dazzle the godly soul with their light.

But they only reveal their glory as Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, shines
through each of them into your life. More than just wearing these jewels, as Elagabalus did, you are to be them.

The first is what I call the ruby of faith, red because a zealous faith is a glowing red thing of beauty. Paul commends the faith of the Colossians and gives thanks to God because of it. Such faith as Paul perpetually commends in his letters is indeed a rare and precious thing. It reflects the beauty of its Creator and inspires all who behold it. How beautiful it must be to God, the very definition of Beauty, to behold the people made in His image responding with a lively, glowing faith to His grace!

“While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light” (John 12:36.)

The second precious stone is the diamond of love, white because of its purity. It is the most valuable of stones and is to be the most sought after. It is the pinnacle of any collection of godly attributes and adorns all the others. Paul has also heard of the love of the Colossians and gives thanks for it as well. As we behold the dazzling brilliance of God’s love reflected in our lives, we are privileged to behold God Himself in action. In the diamond of love, we see the utilitarian and the aesthetic wedded because like a diamond, love is the hardest substance known to man and also the most beautiful.

The third precious stone is the onyx and ivory of hope. Hope is black and white because it comes from the word of the truth of the gospel (verse 5), which is God’s plain truth. It is the black ink and white paper of the Bible that we read and through which God brings us His message of eternal hope. Through the onyx and the ivory of hope we understand that God has indeed qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. It’s right there in black and white in Colossians 1:12.

The fourth precious stone is the emerald of fruitfulness, green because it represents the growth which all in the Kingdom of Light are to manifest. We are not the dead precious stones of the earth but are the precious living stones of heaven, with which God builds His Temple. God desires us to be fruitful in every good work and to increase in the knowledge of Him (verse 10.) We are to do the truth, and such truth is beautiful.

“But he who does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:21.)

The fifth and final precious stone is the blue sapphire of prayer. It represents our looking up into heaven to see the sapphire sea that is the footstool to God’s throne. It is the sky, the upward call of Christ Jesus, and the place where heaven and earth meet. Prayer is, like the atmosphere, the environment that is to surround our lives. At the beginning of Colossians, Paul thanks God for the precious stones of the Colossians, and then he proceeds to pray for the things they already have! Maybe they have it because they and Paul prayed for it. The sapphire of prayer reminds us that all of these stones are worthless and will, in fact, vanish - unless we see them in the light of heaven.

With 5 smooth stones, young David defeated the enemy giant Goliath. With these 5 precious stones of light, you – God’s holy temple - are to be filled with the glory of the God who is light.

With the red ruby of faith, the white diamond of love, the onyx and pearl of hope in God’s inheritance, the green emerald of good fruit, and the blue sapphire of prayer – God shows His glorious light to the world. They are God’s inheritance of the saints in light, for they are part of the inheritance that comes through being adopted into God’s family through Jesus Christ.

Welcome to the Kingdom of Light! With these 5 jewels of light may we so adorn ourselves that the world may see God through us, and give Him glory.

* This information was taken from a 1911 work by J. Stuart Hay on Elagabalus.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, that You have qualified me to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Thank You for delivering me from the kingdom of darkness and adopting me into the Kingdom of Your Son. Make me a worthy heir of Your kingdom by giving to me the precious stones of faith, love, hope, fruitfulness, and prayer, through Jesus Christ Your Son. Amen.

Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to consider what things I most treasure in life. Have I, like Elagabalus, valued too much the things of the earth? Choose one of the precious stones of God’s kingdom to meditate on throughout today. Consider of what value it is to you and to others.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Saturday of Epiphany 3 - Philippians 4:4-23

Rejoice - for the Lord is at hand!

I like to think of myself as saying this in a kind of John the Baptist voice (a la “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”), only with joy instead of penitence.

Now that the light of Christmas has passed to Epiphany and December has turned to January and soon February, it is easy to forget the lessons of Christmas. Do you remember the joy of Christmas? If we can’t even sustain it until the season of Epiphany (beginning January 6th) in some cases, what a pitiable people! Christmas is a season of joy because God is now with us, and therefore our lives are to be a perpetual season of joy.

Throughout his letters, St. Paul refers to the fact that the Lord is at hand. Now he might have meant it in an eschatological (“end things”) sense, but it’s obviously true in a here and now sense too. I like to think, therefore, that verses 4 and 5 ought to be connected in our minds. “Rejoice in the Lord always” of verse 4 is directly related to “The Lord is at hand” of verse 5.

Why should we always rejoice? Because the Lord is at hand. Because God has sent His Son to be with us, and where Jesus is there is joy.

The fact that the Lord is at hand, with us right here and now, should govern all our thoughts and behaviors. It should, in fact, produce joy in us. We all take joy in many small things in this life: children singing, opening Christmas presents . . . the perfect parking space. How much more should we have joy in God coming to us, to take away our sins, and the penalty for them, and to equip us for heaven?

Jesus Christ, God Himself made one of us so He can be with us, is the perfect Christmas gift – and the only one that keeps on giving, day after day. How many of the Christmas gifts you received (not just this year but from others as well) are still actively giving you joy? But Paul commands us to rejoice in the Lord always.

The joy of Jesus is like that of Christmas, only infinitely better. The birth of Christ has a way of making us remember to rejoice, in spite of our circumstances. The light of Christ is so bright, that it puts our troubles in perspective and makes us rejoice. One of my favorite paintings is the Nativity by Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1490.) In this painting the Christ baby is intensely bright in a scene and a world that is very dark otherwise. Mary’s face is light because it reflects the glory of her son. Advent is the serious and somewhat somber season that precedes the joy of Christmas, just like the Cross precedes the Resurrection. Advent, Lent, and Good Friday are the black background of the world, the black background of Geertgen’s painting, that makes the glory of Jesus Christ that much greater.

Here, let me show you what I mean: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng4081

(Click once on the image to get a larger image, or try the incredible Zoom feature! Paul Erlandson: try it on Holbein’s Ambassadors.)

Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is often based on mere human feeling; but joy is sterner stuff. It is delight in God and His presence and work among us. Joy is more eternal and steadier than happiness. While happiness can be like a roller coaster, based on emotions or situations, we are commanded to have joy always. Regardless of circumstances, Paul found joy because joy is based on what God has done, is doing, and can do, and not on what we do or cannot or do not do.

In spite of the litany of suffering in St. Paul’s life (read 2 Cor. 11:23-29), he was the most joyful man in the Bible. Paul wrote Philippians while in prison, and yet He uses the word “joy” or some form of the word 15 times! Paul’s joy is not a begrudging or calculating one, in which he says, “Let’s see: God commands me to be joyful, so I guess I’ll have to muster some up. But I don’t have to like it!”

Paul’s joy is superlative and almost uncontainable. He says: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” It is like the superlative joy of the wise men who “rejoiced with exceedingly great joy” (Matthew 2:10.) For both, joy came from being in the presence of Jesus Christ.
Paul commands you to rejoice, regardless of your circumstances, for God is near you. Paul himself has learned to be content, to be joyful, in all circumstances. Whatever state he is in, he is content (verse 11.) Whether Paul lives in heaven or on earth, whether he lives or dies (Philippians 1:20-26), whether he is full or hungry, and whether he abounds or suffers (verse 12,) he is content. No, he’s more than content: he’s joyful!

What a fanatic! How can Paul have joy in suffering and prison? Verse 13. “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.” How can Paul be content and even joyful in all things? Because Jesus Christ is in Him, working in him through all of his circumstances.
This all sounds good in theory, but how can we practically make it happen? Where is the Joy Button that I can push and make it happen?

Paul shows us two ways to find joy in Jesus. First, we attain and maintain joy in Jesus through prayer. Prayer is what draws us towards a God who has already come near to us. People are always looking for greater treasure in this world: a nicer car, a larger stock portfolio, a bigger house, or more power. But the most under-used, most overlooked, and most accessible treasure in the world is prayer.

Aladdin found himself enriched because he had access to 3 wishes from a powerful genie. But we have access to God Himself and His goodness, if only we would remember how close God is. How close? He’s only a prayer away.

When you are anxious because of the cares of this world, which are many, remember that God has allowed that circumstance so that you might more eagerly and quickly turn to Him. St. Paul found joy even, sometimes especially, in his suffering. And you can too, if you look for God and His joy through prayer in all your circumstances.

The second place Paul shows us where the treasure of joy may be found is in other Christians. What makes Paul joyful in this passage? In verse 10 it is because the Philippians have shown their love and care for Paul. All throughout the book of Philippians, Paul’s joy comes from Jesus through His Church. The way Jesus is often, if not primarily, present among us is through the Church, His house, His people. The way Jesus mediates His joy to us is therefore also often through the Church. Paul has joy in the presence and ministry of the Philippians, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. And all of these people have joy in Christ because of Paul’s loving ministry to them.

The next time you feel a lack of joy, consider what you have been doing to bring true joy, Jesus Christ, to others. We have this incredible ability to create joy in others because, as Christians, we are Christ-bearers. We are to bring Jesus to others. And where Jesus is there is joy.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

For the Lord is at hand!

Prayer: Father, help me to find joy today by finding Your Son, Jesus Christ. Give me Your grace to be joyful in all circumstances and to bring Your joy to others by serving them in love. Remind me to pray and make all my requests known to You, and make my service to You a sweet-smelling aroma to You. To You, our God and Father, be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Points for Meditation:
1. How strong is your prayer life? Have you found a way to remember to pray every day, and even throughout the day? If not, how might you work toward this goal?
2. Reflect on the difficult circumstances in your life. How might you allow God to turn them to joy by praying to God and seeking His joy in others?
3. Practice the presence of God throughout the day that you might better realize that He is at hand, offering you joy.

Resolution: I resolve to find joy today by turning to Jesus in every care of today.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Friday of Epiphany 3 - Philippians 3:17-4:3

St. Paul says in Philippians 3:20 that we are to set our mind on things in heaven, because our citizenship is in heaven. But what happens when we forget where our citizenship is?

What if the U.S. soldiers in Iraq forgot who they are and whom they served?

What if they forgot about their U.S. citizenship and became citizens there?

What if they chose never to come back home to their families?

What if they forgot which side they were on?


Too often we forget who we are: our minds are set on earthly things, and not the things of heaven. Too often, this is because we love the things of this world more than we love the things of heaven. Sometimes we are not very loyal to Jesus Christ but are more loyal to the world than to Him. And sometimes, we just find it hard it hard to see heaven or heavenly things.

I love the idea that I will get a new body and that I will live forever (verse 21.) I especially love the idea that one day I will be more closely in the presence of the Lord. But I find that for someone who grew up wanting to write stories and has tried his hand at novels, my imagination is dull. It’s hard for me to think for very long about heaven when I think of it in this way.

But there’s another way to keep our mind on things in heaven: and that is to spend time living with the things of heaven as they are already here on earth.

There are at least 3 things of heaven that are already here: God Himself, His Word, and His house, which is His people.

Though God is already here with us, sometimes we think and act as if He is only in heaven above. We wake up without reference to God. We do the things we want to do and live the life we want to live. God is not in our thoughts throughout the day. Some Christians even go to bed, and not a single thing that day has been consciously done for the love of God and so that He may be glorified.

I’ve discovered a little secret about myself (and you too!) I have a little default-mode button in my mind. Unfortunately, it has come with a factory preset that is set for self. And when, by the grace of God, I have managed to switch my thoughts to God and stay tuned to the God station all day long, the day comes to an end. Every night as I sleep, a little gremlin goes about resetting me to my factory setting, and the battle for the default mode in my mind continues. At least I know what the goal is: to have God be the default mode of my mind so that whenever there is an empty or silent moment, it is thoughts of Him and His kingdom that I naturally turn to.

We are to set our mind on heavenly things, which means that we must set our minds on God.

We must seek to spend time with Him each day. We should spontaneously thank Him for the many good things we experience each day: for His creation, for the day, for my life, for the people in my life, for the abundance I have, for helping me with my problems, for the salvation of my soul, and on and on. You should constantly be asking Him for help; praising Him because you love to be with Him; and thinking about what He wants you to do and then doing it.

God allows us to remember where our citizenship is and to keep our mind on Him because He has given us not only Himself but also His Word. We often hear about how much time children spend watching TV and listening to things that aren’t even real. And almost three-fourths of adults aged 66 years or older watched more than 2 hours of television per day. We find time to shoot the breeze with our neighbors and friends, and we even study to find out how to get better at golf or other sports, or at gardening, or at video games . . . and then complain that we don’t have time to read the Bible!

I used to do an activity in an economics class in which I asked the high school seniors at the Christian school I taught at to keep a record of how much time (a very scarce economic resource) they spent on various activities each week. Granted they were busy high school seniors, but they spend virtually no time at all reading Bible or praying. Of course school took up most of their time, but they found time for sports, the arts, hanging out with friends, etc. But they found no time for God’s Word.

God’s Word potentially comes to you in many ways: the weekly sermon, the worship service (depending on how your church worships), Sunday school, Bible studies, daily reading and meditation, and sharing God’s Word with others. If you want to keep your mind in heaven, then fill it with God’s Word.

A third way to live in heaven even now is to live in God’s house. David says in Psalm 24:1
that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. But too often we are like the Soviet cosmonauts who went up to space and when they didn’t see God they said, “See – we told you He wasn’t real!”

We look for just the right earthly house and carefully consider how much house we can buy; we look carefully at the neighborhood and environment we want to live in; we lovingly furnish our homes with things that please us; and we rearrange and permutate until we get it just right.

But how much time do we spend thinking about and building the house of God? We should be like David in Psalm 69:9 when he says that, “zeal for Your house has eaten me up.” Of course, this was just what Jesus said in John 2:17 when He cleansed the house of God. If you want to make heaven more real in your life, then spend more time in heaven on earth, which is God’s house, which is His Church, His people.

In seeking heaven on earth, our worship of God is essential, for this is the closest we’ll be to heaven in this life. In the Holy Communion service of the Book of Common Prayer the priest says, “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name . . . “ because when we worship as God’s people and His house, He inhabits us.

Our worship of God in His house should make us seek God so much that we seek to build His house, His people. Both David and Solomon made it their purpose to build the house of God. Ezra devoted himself to rebuilding the temple. St. Paul spent his life building God’s house, the Church, the people of God.

And God has called each of you to devote yourself to His house, that is, to His people, at your local church. If you don’t see enough of God and heaven in this life, then maybe we aren’t spending enough time among His people, in whom He dwells.

When we seek God Himself, especially through His Word and through His house, His people, amazing things happen. With the technologies available to us, this can happen to us in ways approaching the miraculous. When I started Daily Bread, my Dad told one of his friends about it, a man my Dad has been friends with for 40 years. So close was the fellowship of their small group at that church that 3 men from that group still keep in touch regularly. The amazing thing is that my father’s friend (whom I actually knew growing up) has been reading Daily Bread and even corresponding with me about it. And now we have a bond in Christ because we are seeking God, reading His Word together, and having heavenly fellowship, though separated by hundreds of miles.

You are a citizen of heaven. You belong to God. And while you are here on earth, you are to live in His presence. Set your mind on things in heaven, by seeking God each day, by hearing and living by His Word, and by building His Church, His people.

If you set your mind to do these things, I guarantee you will see more of God and heaven, and so will others around you.

Prayer: Thanks be to You, Father, that You have made me a citizen of heaven, which is where You live. Thank You that You have given me ways to see You and be with You even here on earth. Thank You for the promise of the resurrection of my body and my transformation into the likeness of Your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Point for Meditation: Meditate more completely on one way that you can practice setting your mind on heavenly things by seeking God as He may be found here and now.

Resolution: I resolve to find one practical way to be more heavenly minded today, by seeking God, by meditating on His Word, or by building His people. If possible, try to relate this resolution to previous resolutions.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Thursday of Epiphany 3 - Philippians 3:1-16

What is it about St. Paul that makes him so radical, so hardcore?

What has possessed him so that he seems like a fanatic even to Christians?

Some, such as Communists, become fanatics for the sake of an idea or an ideology. Some become fanatics out of fear. But St. Paul has shown us a more excellent reason to become a fanatic: so that we might know and live for Jesus Christ.

Actually, as every Christian should be aware, Jesus Christ was the original fanatic. He is the one who called Paul and calls you and me to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves, and follow Him; He is the one who resolutely set out to Jerusalem, knowing that He would be crucified; and He is the one who took upon Him all the sins of the world when He didn’t have to. That’s just, well, fanatical!

All St. Paul is doing is following Jesus in His fanaticism.

But fanaticism for Jesus Christ is not very fashionable or comfortable. If you take this Christianity thing too far you’ll make a lot of people mad, perhaps most of all other Christians. If you live out the radical call to discipleship, then you might make some of us Christians look bad. You’ll be called a bigot and worse, people will feel uncomfortable around you, and your motives will be questioned.

In some places, you might even lose your life.

So what could possibly compel St. Paul to be a fanatic?

It is simply this: Paul wants to know Jesus Christ by living in Him and for Him. Every one of us, even those who are not fanatics, have an ultimate goal. Often, we haven’t even expressed this ultimate goal or thought much about it, but it’s there. Some people live for leisure. Their minds are on what they will do when they don’t have anything else that they have to do. They often begrudge their work and complain about it because for them that isn’t their real life: they act (and sometimes) think as if the playtime they have earned is what’s most important. For others, the work is the most important thing because it is the only thing that gives them meaning. Others have money or possessions or power or prestige as their highest goals.

But for Paul it is to know Jesus Christ and live in Him and for Him. Why does Paul give up all else for Jesus Christ? He says it’s so that he “may gain Christ and be found in Him” (verses 8-9). He says that he is a fanatic so that he “may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (verses 10-11.)

When Paul explains his ultimate goal of knowing Christ, he reveals himself to be even more of a fanatic than we’d imagined! He doesn’t say that he wants to know Jesus Christ so that he’ll get good things in this life, such as health and wealth. He wants to know Jesus Christ because he wants to know Jesus Christ and have Christ live in him. Paul’s fanaticism in following Jesus Christ transformed him into a Christ-like person who is not pursuing himself at all but Jesus Christ, for the sake of Christ. More than this, Paul seeks Christ even though he knows that to seek Christ is to seek not only the power of the resurrection that we all crave but also the fellowship of His sufferings.

Uggggh! Hey, Paul, did you have to bring that in? Couldn’t you just have stopped at the part about the resurrection and then go on the other good part about the prize we might get? But for Paul to follow Christ and be with Him is to be with Him in all parts of Him. Paul understands that as Christ suffered for us, we must suffer for and in Him. This is actually a part of our redemption, and therefore Paul wants to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. He wants all of Christ.

But where does such fanaticism lead? Even if I were to theoretically accept in my head that I should make Christ my ultimate goal in life, what’s in it for me? Where will it lead me? I demand to know!

What Paul says his fanaticism has gotten him is the loss of all things. What a sweet deal! Whatever else Paul had gained in life, he counts it as loss for the sake of Jesus Christ (verse 7.)

He counts all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ (verse 8), in case we missed it the first time. Paul considers that all of the vain things that charmed him most are like garbage before the excellence of Jesus Christ (verse 8.) All of Paul’s attempts to save himself by his works, his zealousness for the Law, his persecution of Christians, and his great knowledge – he considers to be “rubbish.” But “rubbish” is much too English and gentlemanly. Paul is really saying he considers the things of his former life without Christ to be “refuse” (still too refined) or better yet: “dung,” “manure,” “excrement” or perhaps some more vulgar term for human waste.

Not only does Paul consider his life without Christ to be a loss, but he himself has apparently suffered the loss of many things for Christ (verse 8.) We have only to look back at 2 Corinthians 11 and Paul’s litany of sufferings to see what he might mean. Knowing that to choose Christ is to choose to suffer with and for Him, Paul still chooses Him. Of course, Paul is no fool. He also knows that to choose the fellowship of Christ’s suffering is to choose to attain to the resurrection from the dead (and to choose Christ’s resurrection is to choose His sufferings as well.) After Christ had humbled himself to be born a human and to die on the cross, the Father exalted Him above all else. Paul sees this clearly, and so should we.

How does Paul act as a result of his fanatic pursuit of Christ? He could, perhaps, retreat to mystic contemplation and seek Him that way. He could seek Him in his individual, personal, private life and make sure that he wasn’t obnoxious about his fanaticism. He could think that because he had found Jesus Christ and received His grace that the race was over and he could now coast.

Or, he could realize that he has not yet been perfected in Christ and therefore relentlessly press on toward his goal (verse 12.) Realizing once again the sovereign grace of Jesus Christ and also his own responsibility to respond faithfully, Paul says that he lays hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of him (verse 12.)

St. Paul is relentless. He is an Olympic athlete, training and exercising and racing so that he might be able to win the race he has been called to race. With every thing he has, St. Paul the Fanatic presses toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (verse 14.) Even though he surely already had a measure of the presence and power of Jesus Christ, Paul is not satisfied but seeks more of Jesus Christ.

So, do you still want to be a fanatic?

I do!

I want to so desire Jesus Christ – all of Him, including His sufferings – that I will be with Him and live in and for Him more and more throughout my life. I want to be a fanatic and subordinate every other desire I have to my desire to follow Him, wherever He leads me. I want to be a fanatic and sacrifice my life and all the stuff I want for myself so that His desires become my desires, and His will becomes my will.

I want to be able to say not only with my lips but also with my life that for me to live is Jesus Christ.

If this is what it means to be a fanatic and a Jesus freak, then sign me up!

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, who willingly gave up all things for me and for the salvation of the world, give me a fervent desire to seek You above everything else in my life. Help me to be willing to give up the things that lead me away from You and the things that are not good for my soul that I might know the fellowship of Your sufferings and the power and joy of Your resurrection. Amen.

Points for Meditation:
1. Honestly consider what is your highest goal in life. Judging by your thoughts and actions, what is that you pursue to a higher degree than anything else in life? Ask God to make Him your greatest desire.
2. What things are you unwilling to give up if God were to ask you to? Meditate on your response, and spend some time asking God to lead you away from any idolatry and toward Him through His Son.

Resolution: I resolve to set my heart to give up one of my things today for the sake of Jesus Christ and to use this as a means of remembering my ultimate goal in life.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Wednesday of Epiphany 3 - Philippians 2:19-30

I want to be in one of St. Paul’s churches! I want to be in a church where joy in Christ is found. I want to be in a church where members consider themselves ministers of the mysteries of God and who boldly assert that, “For me to live is Christ!” I want to be in a church where members lay down their lives for the good of others and make the choice to sacrifice their own good for the good of their brothers and sisters. I want to be in a church where members sincerely care for the state of each member and who minister to each other’s needs on a daily basis.

But to be in such a church, I have to be such a member of the local church where God is calling me. I cannot hope to be part of such a church if I myself am not such a member. And so I want all of these things for myself: joy in Christ, a serious sense of my high calling in Christ, bowels of compassion, a life of sacrifice, a love that spontaneously and zealously seeks out the good of others, and an intimate sense of Jesus Christ dwelling in me as I see Him working in His body.

Since it is no longer possible to be a part of St. Paul’s church, I want to press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Fort Worth. As much as is possible within me, I want to labor diligently to pastor a church that lives the way that St. Paul and his churches seemed to live. I want to be able to say at St. Andrew's that this is a church that lives for Jesus Christ and works out its salvation together with fear and trembling so that even the angels are instructed.

On the one hand, I don’t want any of you to be discouraged and think only of how great the pastors and the Christians were back in St. Paul’s day compared to our own. Whenever you feel the temptation to think that you are more unworthy and unprofitable as a servant than any Christian of the first century, go back and read I Corinthians and see the sins in the church that Paul had to deal with.

On the other hand, I do want all of you to be encouraged by the godly examples of Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. The same Jesus Christ who lived in them, and for whom they lived, is the one who lives in you. The same Holy Spirit that inspired them to love one another with the love of Christ and to sacrifice their lives for Christ is at work in each of you. The difference, therefore, may be not so much in the degree of God’s grace that we receive but in how we have received it.

If I had to summarize the secret of God’s blessings on Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians as contained in this passage, I would say that it was this: that these godly examples sought not their own things but the things of Jesus Christ (verse 21.) In fact, verse 21 is a good reminder of how imperfect some Christians were in Paul’s day, that “golden age” of Christianity that every one is looking for. What Paul says is not that he is surrounded with Timothys and Epaphrodituses (or is the plural “Epaphroditi”?), but that, “all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.”

But I want to be in a church, I want to help create a church, where the members seek not their own things but the things of Christ Jesus and do this by seeking the things of the people Jesus Christ has given them. I want to create such a church by first being such a person. I want to follow St. Timothy in his ministry.

Paul wanted to send Timothy to the Philippians. But he didn’t want to send him because he was such a great preacher, because he was such an outgoing and charismatic personality, or because he was a capable administrator and had experience in running a large church. Paul wanted to send Timothy to the Philippians because he will sincerely care for the state of the Philippians (verse 20.) Paul eagerly desired to know the state, the spiritual condition (by which I mean all of life), of the Philippians. And so he wanted to send Timothy who would not only report back to Paul but would care for the state of the Philippians.

Timothy is one who Paul could trust to not seek his own things but the things of Christ by seeking the good of the Philippians. As Paul wanted to remain on the earth because it was needful for the good of the Philippians, so Timothy sought the things of Christ by seeking the good of the Philippians.

If you want to seek the things of Christ, then seek to serve Him in the people He has put in your life – especially those in your local church.

I want to be in a church with St. Epaphroditus as well. It’s easy to neglect Epaphroditus when Paul and Timothy are around, but here is an “ordinary” Christian who Paul found to be extraordinary. Epaphroditus is another example of the love and zealous longing for one another that I hope is at St. Andrew's and which I am often privileged to see there. Epaphroditus longed to see the Philippians (26), just as Paul did in chapter 1, verse 8. Epaphroditus loved them so much that even though he was the one who was sick, he was distressed because the Philippians had heard he was sick, and he didn’t want to be a burden to them!

Epaphroditus is another saint who did not seek his own things but the things of Christ by seeking the good of others. For the work of Christ, he “came close to death, not regarding his life” (30.)

Hmmmm. Didn’t I just hear somewhere something like, “This is love: to lay down your life for another”? This is exactly what Epaphroditus did for the sake of Jesus Christ, by serving the saints. And it is exactly what God is calling you to do this morning.

It would be easy to read what Paul says and what I have just written, to finish the dregs of your morning coffee and get on with the rest of the day and immediately forget what Jesus Christ has just called you to do. But He is calling you, at the very moment of your reading this, to lay down your life for Him as He laid it down for you. He is calling you to sincerely care for the state of the brothers and sisters in Christ that He Himself has given to you. He is calling you to not regard your own life too highly, so that you may minister to Him by ministering to His Church.

But don’t think of this life of love and service as one of drudgery and the extinction of joy. Who was more joyful than Jesus, Paul, and Epaphroditus, the very people who gave up their lives for others?

What joy Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians must have had whenever they got together! I want to be at their reunions and celebrate with them (I guess I’ll get that chance in heaven!) I want to be in a church where the people continue daily with one accord in the temple and break bread from house to house, eating their food with gladness and simplicity of heart (Acts 2:46.)

Don’t look to the 1st century church or some other age as the golden age of Christianity which is lost and shall never be found again. We are in the golden age of Christianity because Jesus Christ is with us, if we are with Him. And Jesus Christ has offered to us all of His things which He offered to Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and the Philippians: joy in Christ, a serious sense of the high calling in Christ, bowels of compassion, a life of sacrifice, a love that spontaneously and zealously seeks out the good of others, and an intimate sense of Jesus Christ dwelling in us as we see Him working in His body.

Guess what? I’m in Paul’s church, after all, because I’m in the Church of Jesus Christ, his Lord and mine. And so are you.

Prayer: Father, thank You for giving to Your Church many faithful sons and daughters to follow the godly examples of Sts. Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. Make me such a saint by giving to me the mind which was in Your Son and the Spirit of humility and love. Increase my joy as I learn to serve You more perfectly by serving those You have given to me, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Points for Meditation:
1. If your local church were filled with members like you, what kind of church would it be?
2. What is the one thing that you know God is asking you to do to more faithfully serve Him by caring about someone around you?
3. Meditate on one godly example of a saint you know who has sincerely cared for the state of others. Hold this person in esteem. How can you labor to follow his or her godly example?

Resolution: I resolve to find one way today to sincerely care for the state of a brother or sister in Christ by giving up myself for his or her good.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Monday of 3rd Sunday after Epiphany - Philippians 1:27-2:11

“For me to live is Christ,” St. Paul says in Philippians 1:21. How many of you are willing to say this and live this, regardless of what it might involve?

I thought I’d get that out of the way because God is about to put you to the test. I was just talking 2 days ago in WalMart (of all places) with a young man who is spiritually seeking, currently on his way out of materialistic Wiccanism to more of an all-religions-are-the-same-Buddhist-spiritual belief. Actually, it was his girlfriend who suggested a test to sniff out true Christians. Her test was to ask Christians if they would be willing to die for their beliefs.

It’s a good test, and one that is related to what St. Paul is about to say.

Paul begins this passage by saying that we must let our conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Once again, our behavior (and not just our belief) is an essential part of our faith. Paul warns the Philippians (verse 29) that they have been granted on behalf of Jesus Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for His sake.

Here is where the test of our faith comes in. When suffering comes into your life, how does it affect your faith and life in Christ? For some, it will drive them away, as if to say, “I can’t believe in a God who would allow suffering – especially mine!” For others, suffering will discourage them, and they will slowly grow distracted and weaker in their faith. Some will treat suffering with a kind of Roman stoicism, attempting to bravely endure it while trying to wish it away. Others still will attempt human means of dulling the pain.

But the Christian response to suffering is to accept it as a means of participating in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we want to be able to say with St. Paul that, “For me, to live is Christ,” then we must be willing to accept all of Him. Some Christians and churches give us the idea that the Christian life will be all health and wealth and sunshine. When, naturally, this isn’t the case, then discouragement and a sense of betrayal set in.

But God has never promised those things in this life. What He does promise is that for those who are faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, His Son will live in and through them. This life in Christ, however, includes all of Christ. It includes being raised to new life with Him, but only if a dying to self is also included. It includes the promise of glory and the resurrection, but only after we have persevered with Christ in His sufferings as well.

Even, especially, the Son of God was not given a life of ease: instead, He suffered for us. And He expects that we will suffer with, for, and through Him.

But how will we be able to bear such a difficult teaching, one that sees all suffering as potentially redemptive, and one that requires that we rejoice in our sufferings because they are uniting us to Christ?

It requires humility. It requires that you pick up your Cross, deny yourself, and follow Jesus Christ wherever He leads you. If you want to be able to say that for you to live is Christ, then you must mean it, and you must mean that you are willing to give up your own life for Him, as He gave up His for you.

The pattern that Jesus gave us and that Paul presents is that the Cross precedes the Resurrection: Good Friday first, and then Easter.

Paul says that to be united to Jesus Christ, to live for Him, you must have the mind of Christ. And what was this mind? It was a single-minded devotion to do the will of the Father – whatever the cost. The Christian way, the Christian life, is the Way of the Cross, and like Jesus we must set ourselves resolutely to be willing to go up to Jerusalem to meet the Cross.

Consider the humility that the Son has given to you as an example for how you should live. First, though He was God Almighty and the Son of God from eternity past, He “made Himself of no reputation.” This is something a lot of us are not willing to do: to make ourselves of no reputation. The King James doesn’t do justice to the word kenosis, translating it as “reputation.” What it really means is that Christ emptied Himself. And this is what you must do every day before Almighty God if you want to say that for you to live is Christ.

The Son of God humbled Himself, or emptied Himself, first by born a human being. What it must have felt like for God to become a mere human is beyond my imagination, but I do know that it took humility. The Creator became a part of the creation; He who was infinite became finite and limited.

The humility of Christ is even greater than this, for when He came, He didn’t start life as a full-grown human being but was born a helpless baby. He was not born into the family of a king but of a carpenter. When He began His public ministry and most people expected He would rule like a human king, He took the form of a servant (verse 7.) He spent 3 years not being served but serving. He lived out a life of love, giving Himself for others, even though He had every right to command complete obedience and servitude to Him.

The humility of Christ grew even greater because when it came time for Him to save the world, He humbled Himself and obeyed the Father to the point of death (verse 8.) He who was the Giver of Life gave up His life that we might live with Him. He chose not the death we might choose, a quick and quiet death by old age in our bed, but chose instead the death of the Cross, the most vicious and painful death the Romans could devise.

This is the Christ that you just said you wanted to be your life. This is way of Christ that you as a Christian must take upon yourself, if you desire to live in Christ.

It’s not likely that Jesus will require you to die the death of a martyr for Him, and yet He still commands you to surrender your life to Him completely. There are many Christians who, if asked if they would die for Christ, would raise their hands. But Jesus Christ hasn’t asked you to die physically for Him, only to die to yourself in a hundred ways each day.

He’s not asking you for one single heroic and spectacular moment of faith but for a daily life of faithfulness that often seems unheroic and dull. In fact, only those who have been quietly practicing a life of sacrificing themselves daily to God are likely to be in a position to do something heroic for Christ if and when the time comes. After all, even Jesus had to spend a lifetime of perfectly obeying the Father before He was ready for the Cross – and even then it wasn’t easy for Him.

Our hope, in this life of humble sacrifice, is that as Christ was highly exalted by the Father (verse 9), we will be exalted with Him. If we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified with Him. “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11-12; see also Romans 8:17.)

Yes, I want to be able to say that for me to live is Christ - not because I want to suffer, but because I know that if I suffer with Him I shall reign with Him in glory. And I know that if I give Him my suffering He will share it with me and transform it into glory by His gracious love and presence.

For me, to live is Christ – every bit of Him.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I humbly ask that You would give me Your mind of humility and love. Give me the grace of Your Spirit to obey the Father and submit to His loving will. Give me the grace to follow You in Your suffering so that I might participate in Your resurrection and glory. Amen.

Points for Meditation:
1. Practice submitting the disappointments of the day to Christ as a means of humbling yourself. When there are daily frustrations or disappointments, use them as reminders to turn to Jesus.
2. Meditate more on the deepest suffering in your life. Pray that you might be able to see it as a means of participating in the sufferings of your Lord. Pray that God will use this as a means of your calling on Him more frequently and passionately.

Resolution: I resolve to examine the suffering in my life today and receive it as a means of humbling me and bringing me to God. It may be useful to choose one source of suffering or disappointment in particular.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Saturday of Epiphany 2 - Philippians 1:12-26

Every day we are faced with a multitude of choices, some small and some great. We often live a binary existence, having to make choices between two alternatives. Should I marry him or not? Should I take the new job and the risks involved?

Keeping in mind that tomorrow is Sanctity of Life Sunday, the most important choice we can make is a choice for life and not for death.

But when faced with the choice of living or dying, St. Paul is surprisingly conflicted. What a strange position to be in! But for St. Paul, it was not really living or dying in the body that was most important but living in Christ or not. That is the real choice in life, and everything else depends upon this one choice. The choice each lifetime, each day, each moment to live in Jesus Christ or not is always the most important thing because it will determine the goodness and holiness and joyfulness of each moment.

St. Paul makes a lot of odd statements in his letters, odd to those of us who are trying hard to follow him in a life of complete sacrifice to him. Paul says, “For me to live is Christ” (verse 21.) What a strange thing to say. It’s kind of like saying, “For me to live is Jackie” or “For me to live is Denny Roland” (a good friend of mine.) For me to live is the name of a person? How bizarre!

But Paul really means it. For him, life is really all about Jesus Christ living in him. Paul really believes what he teaches about Jesus Christ living in him through the Spirit, and he really believes that Jesus Christ dwells in him, and he in Christ.

For this reason, since life to Paul is all about living in and through Jesus Christ, whether Paul continues to live on earth or goes to live in heaven doesn’t make that much difference because in either case for him to live is Jesus Christ.

But then we’re faced with another strange statement of Paul’s. Not strange because it’s hard to figure out what he means but strange to think he could really believe and act on such a thing. And what Paul says is that he has made the choice to continue living on earth. Paul says this, knowing full well that he has a desire to depart this earth and to be with Christ in a closer way (verse 23.) And yet he still chooses to remain on earth.

What on earth could possess a man to choose this life instead of heaven?!

“Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith” (verses 24 and 25.) Paul makes his counterintuitive choice to remain here on the earth, in prison and chains we should remember, for the sake of the Philippians.

Paul doesn’t mention love here in this passage but this is still one of the greatest teachings on love in the Bible. For surely this is love: that a man lays down his life for another. People cling to life in this world for many reasons: to retire to the golf course; to enjoy the home and life they have created for themselves; because of fear; or because it’s all they have. But Paul chose to remain in this life because it is better for the Philippians. He chose to give up his life in heaven for a life of suffering and prison in this life – all so that he could further serve the Philippians and others.

For Paul himself, it meant more cold, damp prisons and more chains. It meant still having the thorn in his flesh, and it meant being weighed down by the cares of pastoring many churches.

But Paul made that choice because it was more needful for the Philippians. He traded the good life for a more painful one so that the Philippians would have progress and joy in faith.

This is the definition of courage that I give to my children: “doing what is right when you don’t feel like doing it.” Strange, but courage is actually a lot like love. And courage is what St. Paul had in abundance.

Where else could Paul have possibly learned such courage and love and have received the grace to make such an extraordinary choice than from Jesus Christ Himself? Paul learned this courage and love from Jesus, who gave up His glory in heaven to be born of Mary, and Jesus, who gave up His life on the Cross for each of us, who taught Paul so to love.

Because for Paul to live is Christ and because through Christ he has made the choice to live a painful life for the good of the Philippians, he is able to make another extraordinary statement: “the things which have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel” (verse 12.)

Wow! Do you really grasp the profundity of that statement? “The things which have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.” Brothers and sisters, Paul is talking about being in prison, and he says that this has turned out to further the gospel. Even here on earth, even in prison, when God’s people live in courage, love, faithfulness, and joy through Christ, then the gospel, God’s Great Mystery, will be furthered.

Putting this all together, Paul has given us a picture of the kind of life in Christ to which every Christian is called. You don’t have to be a super-apostle to be able to say that, “For me to live is Christ.” You don’t have to be thrown in prison to be able to live the love and courage of Christ in your life.

In whatever circumstances God has given you in this life, God is calling you to be like St. Paul. God is calling you to make a choice to live your life for Jesus Christ and in him. If you are living your life for Christ and making a choice to live in Him every day, then the startling news is that, whether you recognize it or not, the things which have happened to you have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

Whether you “win” or “lose” according to human standards is of little relevance. If the choices you make today are made for the sake of Jesus Christ and out of love for Him and for others, then the things that happen to you will give glory to God and in some small way contribute to the spread of His kingdom. Nothing is wasted in Christ’s kingdom: every moment of your life is redeemable. He means every event and moment in your life to be lived in Him and for Him, and if it is, you will be blessed by His presence. The good, the bad, and the ugly, the joy and the suffering, every bit of your life is an opportunity to live for Christ and to be able to say that it happened for the furtherance of the gospel and for the glory of God.

This is why we and Paul can take such joy in this life, even in suffering, because when we can say that “to live is Christ” and when we can say that we will live our life in Christ because it is needful for others, then we have the joy of Jesus Christ because we have the presence of Jesus Christ (see verses 18 and 19.)

In all sorts of human pursuits – sports, business, games, acting - some people achieve what is called “flow.” They are “in the zone,” and for a period of time have a joyful, almost timeless, existence in the task at hand. True flow is having a never-ending supply of God’s grace and being vivified by the Holy Spirit because of your labors on behalf of Christ.

St. Paul was constantly “in the zone” because he constantly lived for Christ because Christ was his life. The amazing thing is that if you live as if to live is Christ you can be in this same zone. And if you understand that everything that has happened to you, and everything that will happen, happens for your edification and the edification of others, for the spread of God’s kingdom and the glory of God, then you too will be blessed, because you too will have the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (verse 19.)

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I ask that You would be magnified in me today and that I might learn to say that for me to live is You. Grant me Your courage and love that was manifest in St. Paul that I might choose to live my life for the progress and joy of faith in others. Help me to realize that everything that You have given me today is my daily bread that you have given for the nourishment of my soul, the good of others, and the glory of Your Name. Amen.

Points for Meditation:
1. Practice reminding yourself throughout the day that the things which happen to you today are meant to draw you closer to Jesus that you might live in and for Him.
2. Pray throughout the day today for a supply of the Spirit of Christ to be able to live in Him.

Resolution: I resolve to find one way today to choose to do what is needful for another person.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Friday Epiphany 2 - Philippians 1:1-11

Among all of the other wonderful elements in The Lord of the Rings, it is perhaps a story more about fellowship than anything else. In fact, the second volume of the trilogy is called The Fellowship of the Ring. In that story, great fellowship takes place among many different kinds of creatures. If you know the story, you know that good wizards, men of old, elves, dwarves - and of course, the stay-at-home Hobbits – are all drawn together into one great fellowship to save Middle Earth.

Even the most unlikely of creatures find friendship and fellowship because this one common good has bound them together forever, and that common good transcends all of their differences.

But there is an even greater fellowship that takes place in God’s kingdom, one which could therefore be called not the “Fellowship of the Ring,” but “The Fellowship of the King.”
It’s this fellowship that St. Paul shows us this morning in Philippians 1.

As Christians, we’re supposed to have fellowship in the unity of the Spirit and a bond of peace that is so strong that others might say as they said of the early Christians, “How they love one another!” Sometimes we are creatures as different from one another as dwarves and elves, and yet the world should marvel at our unity, in spite of our differences in personality and experiences.

Our fellowship comes not from ourselves but flows from the fellowship we have with God our King, a fellowship we have in 3 ways: with His Person, in His purpose, and in His power. We have fellowship with God’s person, of course, through Jesus Christ. He is the King of kings, and if you’ve ever thought it might be a grand adventure to fight in Gandalf’s army then you might be glad to know that you are a part of Jesus Christ’s army (remember Ephesians 6 yesterday?)

This fellowship is much greater than in any other army, because we are saints in Jesus Christ (verse 1), whose affection we share (verse 8), and we are filled with the nourishing fruits of righteousness by Him (verse 11.)

Our fellowship in Jesus Christ extends to fellowship in His divine purpose, for we have fellowship with Jesus and one another in His gospel (verse 5) and strive together for the gospel in a cosmic battle that makes The Lord of the Rings look like child’s play. If you want to know more about the cosmic battle we are engaged in, you might want to re-read Ephesians.

The ultimate purpose of this cosmic battle is for the glory and praise of God (verse 11) – the highest goal a warrior could ever seek.

To fully participate in this fellowship with God’s person and purpose, we also need His power. For this reason, God has made us partakers of His grace (verse 7). We must never forget that it is God’s person and His power alone that will enable us to participate in His purpose – which is actually to participate in His person and power!

From our love of God and from our fellowship with God Himself comes our love for and fellowship with one another: in serving God, we are made one. As we each have fellowship with God in His person, He unites us together into one body, the Body of Christ. As we have fellowship with God in His purpose and by His power of grace, we labor together, and this creates a deep fellowship. This fellowship is like the fellowship soldiers in combat find together and like the fellowship that is only found in a family. It’s like the fellowship that Frodo the Hobbit found with Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf.

St. Paul is keenly aware of the oneness, the fellowship, he has with the individuals and churches committed to his care. All throughout his letters there is a sense that he considers that he and the recipients of his letters are laboring together for one glorious end – for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The remarkable thing is that he sees the Philippians as partaking in his work, even when he is miles away and in chains, and he sees himself as being with them in spirit. They are so obviously in his thoughts and prayers, and it is certain that the people he oversaw made constant prayer for him.

There are so many things to love about St. Paul and his letters: the Faulknerian sentences that go on for a page, the in your face theology that tells it like it is . . . . But what I love most is his amazing love, the love of Jesus Christ that so clearly goes through Paul to the Philippians.

Paul loves the Philippians by praying for them, remembering them, and thanking God for them (verse 3.) He has them in his heart and sees them as fellow partakers of the same grace Jesus showed to him (verse 7.) Paul sees the Philippians as a part of himself and himself as a part of them, just as Christ is in him, and he in Christ. What better way to fulfill the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself than to see your neighbor as part of yourself, as part of the Body of Christ.

Paul longs greatly for them, with the affection of Christ. Because God Himself is the one who first loved Paul, Paul knows that God sees his love for the Philippians (verse 8.) This “affection” with which Paul loves the Philippians is interpreted “bowels” in the King James Version. “Bowels” might not quite capture it for us today! – after all, it wouldn’t be very endearing today for a lover to say to his loved one: “I yearn for you with all my bowels!” And yet in that day the “bowels,” basically the internal organs, were considered to be the center of a person’s emotions, desire, and affection.

What Paul is essentially saying is that he has a visceral desire to be with the Philippians. It’s the same word (my favorite Greek word!) used of Jesus when he has “bowels” of compassion on the 5000 who have had nothing to eat for 3 days. This isn’t the kind of love you can manufacture: it’s one that comes from a life that genuinely loves with the love of God.

The Philippians have their part to play as well. Though the Philippians are mute to us – there is no record of what they might have said to Paul – their actions and lives still speak to us today. Their actions speak of a love for God and a love for Paul, their pastor. The Philippians, though not perfect, embody every pastor’s dream, for they made Paul rejoice for the progress they had made in becoming more like Jesus Christ in all things.

Paul is able to thank God for the Philippians because of their fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now (verses 3ff), and he has confidence in them because he sees Jesus in them (verse 5.)

Paul, and presumably the Philippians too, will not rest until the Philippians are filled with the fruits of righteousness, which is the common goal of both Paul and the Philippians. This goal, which is the divine purpose of God, can only be accomplished by the human fellowship that comes from fellowship with God’s person and His power.

It’s exciting to me that Paul’s letter to the Philippians could describe so well the fellowship I hope to have at St. Andrew’s and that every Church would have. It’s exciting that in the 21st century at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Worth, Texas or fill in your church name and city we are re-enacting the very things St. Paul and the Philippians did: their fellowship; their laboring together for the sake of Jesus Christ their Lord; and their common goal of living in love until the day of Christ.

In Henry V Shakespeare wrote of the fellowship around the King of England, on the eve of the historic battle of Agincourt in 1415:
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so lowly,
This day shall enoble his rank.
And gentlemen in England, now abed,
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here;
And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Shakespeare had Henry V say these stirring words to represent the kind of fellowship that war can create.

But how much greater fellowship can we expect from the Prince of Peace, in the Kingdom of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? And ours is to be a fellowship not of mere human blood but of communion through the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Ours is to be a royal fellowship of love, for all of us here this morning (wherever you are reading this) are bound together by the love of God, in fellowship with Him and with one another in the Body of Christ. For we are chained together by love, in the Fellowship of the King

Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, for the fellowship You allow me and other Christians to have in You. I thank You especially for those who share this godly fellowship of participating in Your person, purpose, and power, especially ______ (take some time to mention people in your life by name.) In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Points for Meditation:
1. Spend some time in prayer, remembering and giving thanks for those who God has made a part of His godly fellowship throughout your life.
2. In what way is God calling you to greater fellowship in His Church, especially in your local church?

Resolution: I resolve to meditate today on the Fellowship of the King that we have as Christians in Jesus Christ. I further resolve to find one way to actively contribute to this fellowship today (this might be a resolution or discipline the King has already been calling you to.)

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Wednesday of Epiphany 2 - Ephesians 5:15-33

We’ve come this morning to a difficult passage of Scripture – not difficult because it’s hard to understand, but difficult because it’s hard for us to accept what God wants to teach us. The passage is Ephesians 5:21-33, and in it St. Paul gives us clear commands about the relationship between husbands and wives.

Our passage this morning is part of a larger passage all about submission – and this will help us to see clearly what Paul teaches. Though many of us may choke on the command of wives to submit to their husbands, Paul clearly has real submission in mind. He tells us to be subject to one another (verse 21), wives to be subject to husband (22), children to obey parents (6:1), and slaves to obey their masters (6:5).

This morning’s passage, then, and the beginning of Chapter 6, is about submission alright. But primarily it is about submission to God and His will, for we all, husbands and wives alike, are to be submitted primarily to the Lord, as we walk in His ways and in His commandments.

Think of Paul’s teachings, then, as a challenge, a test. How willing am I to submit to God, by obeying His commandments? How willing am I to do His will, and not my own?

Paul’s teaching on the submission of a wife and on the headship of the husband is very clear. Wives are to submit to their husbands, as to the Lord. The Greek verb means to submit or make subordinate. It is a word used in Bible of following relationships: angels to Christ, the Church to Christ, Christians to God’s law, women to men, wives to husbands, children to parents, young to old, slaves and servants to masters. No wiggle room there.

“As to the Lord.” No wiggle room there either.

In 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2 Paul argues from creation – from before the Fall – that man is the head of woman and that the woman’s submission to her husband was part of God’s plan from the beginning, because He chose to create Adam, man, first, and to make Eve, woman, the man’s helper.

In Ephesians 5, Paul makes the headship of the man clear, arguing not from creation but from redemption. As Christ is the head of he Church, so is the husband the head of the wife. Again, no wiggle room.

Modern women find submission to their husbands increasingly difficult to accept because most of us have bought into the cultural assumptions about radical egalitarianism. Other times women may have difficulty because the person in authority may be wrong. This raises an issue for all of us who are under authority: What do you do if you think the person in authority is wrong? It would be tempting to fly to some sort of theory of civil disobedience: when I know my husband is wrong, I don’t have to submit. But is this really what God teaches?

Suppose we look at the authority of parents over children. Do we expect them to obey only when they feel like it, only when they think we are right? If so, then it is really the children who are in charge, because they are calling the shots. They are the ones determining the rules and when to obey and when not to obey. In a similar way, the wife is not to simply decide she disagrees with her husband and then go her own way.

Another problem is that somehow people assume that if you really believe in the submission of the wife to her husband that you must mean a “caveman”, unthinking, submission and a wife who totally submerges and sublimates her unique talents and wisdom. But good grief! Who wants a wife like that?! In fact, I’d feel insulted and cheated if Jackie were nothing but a Yes Woman, mindlessly rubber-stamping everything I said. How would that cause me to see more and to grow more wise? How would that manifest our one-fleshedness?

But there is a problem with the recent decades of feminism. Women insist on exercising the headship God has given to men, and this has caused many problems. There is a Great Pendulum of History that swings back and forth. For decades - no centuries - husbands mistakenly took these verses, and others like them, as a license to be petty tyrants. In the 60s and 70s the pendulum swung quickly past the middle to an extreme on the other side where these verses mean nothing. God didn’t say them or mean them and we don’t have to obey them. Women are like men in every way: there is no divine difference.

I find that women are often more competent, and in a wider variety of contexts, than men. But should we then argue based on human abilities? Precisely because women are capable and fully human and yet are called to submit (as are all of us in various relationships), they have a special opportunity to display the humility of Christ by submitting themselves to their husbands.

Watch out, men – you knew this moment was coming! St. Paul has even more to say to the husbands! The husband is to be the head, the authority. This is assumed and taught all throughout the Bible. Though there are different models of leadership he may legitimately use, he must take the authority God has given him and lead. In the house, husbands, especially, are to govern the household, to rule it. They should provide the vision and leadership and shape and protect the family.

In addition to women trying to usurp the authority of men, husbands’ abuse of their headship is a chief reason wives don’t submit to them. In the past, Jews considered a woman not a person, but property: in their morning prayer service, men gave thanks that God had not made them a Gentile or a woman. The Greeks were just as bad. The “enlightened” philosopher Demosthenes once said, “we have courtesans for the sake of pleasure; we have concubines for daily cohabitation; and we have wives to bear children and manage the household.”

Even Christian husbands have not always remembered that God’s commandment to them is not only to be the head but to do so by loving, which means serving.

But today, probably even more often than men have abused their authority over their wives, men have abdicated their headship. We see the consequences in young men adrift, who were not fathered except in a biological way and who have no good model of husbandly leadership.

Men commonly make three mistakes in avoiding God’s command to be heads. They confuse real courage and masculinity with machismo. Others become milquetoasts and in a cowardly way just give in to the world and people around them.

But the most common kind of abdication of godly headship that I see in men is being childish and cowardly. How many guys care more about their latest toys than anything else, whether it is technological gadgets or cars? It bothers me when I witness a wife working hard all day (and the husband may have too), yet when the husband comes home he assumes that somehow he’s “Off Duty” regarding the household and the kids, while the wife is “On Duty” 24-7.

To me, the real courage in being a godly man is in serving my wife and others. That cuts against the grain of my own selfishness, as well as against the grain of our culture. It takes no guts whatsoever to sit in the easy chair and let the wife serve you and the kids incessantly. What takes courage is to drag your butt off the chair and go help for a change and command your submissive wife to take a break!

Instead of being tyrants, instead of abdicating their headship, husbands are to love their wives, as Christ loved the Church. You guys thought you got off easy? Hah! You’ve got the harder task!

Husbands, yes God commands you to be the head of your wife, but you will search in vain to hear Him command you to by tyrannical or domineering or cruel. Your specific commandment from God is to love. You lead by your love, and if you want to lead as a Christian man, then you cannot lead without love. Love is doing what is best for another person. It requires sacrifice. You have been given headship for a reason – so that you can love and sanctify your wife – not so that you can satisfy your ego or become a little Napoleon or Stalin.

The real problem is that often we think of husbands and wives as 2 separate things, and therefore they are in competition and conflict. The solution is to think of marriage as a sacrament, an outward sign of an inward grace. Marriage is to be a means of grace, and a husband and wife are one flesh, even if they refuse to acknowledge this. There is a mystical union, just as there is between Christ and His Church. Paul’s point here is that marriage mirrors an even deeper mystery: how we live as husbands and wives teaches about and reflects the marriage of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church.

Wives and husbands, if you want a simple guideline to keep in front of you all the days of your life, you can do no better than the example of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church.

Wives, how does the Church submit to her Master? Use that as your example.
Husbands, how does Jesus Christ love and serve His Bride?

Prayer: O God, who has so consecrated marriage that it represents the spiritual marriage between Christ and Church, bless all Christians who are in marriage that they may so love, honor, and cherish each other and live together in godly love and unity that their homes and lives may be a haven and blessing of peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Point for Meditation:
Wives: Examine your attitude toward your marriage in light of Paul’s teachings. In what ways are you rejecting the Lord’s Word to you and do you need to learn submission? Meditate on the relationship of the Church to Christ.
Husbands: Examine your attitude toward your marriage in light of Paul’s teachings. In what ways are you rejecting the Lord’s Word to you and do you need to learn love? Meditate on the relationship of Christ to the Church.
Single People: Consider Ephesians 5:21-33 in light of either your call to be a godly leader or to serve in love.

Resolution: I resolve to meditate on how I can be a husband or wife as the Lord has commanded me to be. I resolve to find one practical way I can show my submission (wife) or love (husband) to my spouse today.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Tuesday of Epiphany 2 - Ephesians 5:1-14

Have you ever been on a walk that was more than just a walk?

Perhaps it was a romantic walk; or maybe an important business matter was discussed during a walk; or a life-changing decision was made during a walk.

I remember going on many walks with Jackie during which we discussed my many attempts to understand God’s call on our lives together. We have walked and talked about having children and what we will name them; we have walked and talked about my becoming a deacon and about my becoming a priest, and (during a month of uncertainty and confusion) we talked about the possibility of my studying to become a rare book librarian.

Sometimes a walk is more than mere walking.

The Bible is filled with admonitions for Christians to “walk” in a certain way. In Ephesians, the word “walk” occurs in 7 separate places.

For example in Ephesians 2:10 Paul informs us that God has ordained that we should walk in good works. In 4:1 we hear that we are to walk worthy of our calling, and in 4:17 Paul teaches that we should not walk as the Gentiles walk.

But what does it mean to “walk,” in biblical terms? It means “to live” or the manner of conducting one’s self.

Any time you walk, you have to have a destination and know where you’re going, and you have to know how to get there, the direction. But when you walk with someone, you also have to have a desire to walk with that person.

Our life with God, our walk with God, is the same way. Walking with God, involves 3 things:

1. a desire to walk with God – to Walk in Love (verses 1-7)
2. a direction as to how to walk with God – Walk in Light (verses 8-14)
3. a destination for where we are walking with God – Walk in Wisdom and Obedience (verses 15-21, even though they are technically outside of today’s lesson)

To walk with God, we must first have a desire to walk with God; we must walk in love as He first loved us (verses 1-2.) When walking with someone, and not just by yourself, or not just happening to be going the same direction, you have to have a desire to walk – to be – with that person. This was certainly true of Jackie and me when we were courting. Yes, we had places we were walking to, but the most important part of the walk was the being with Jackie. There was a great desire to walk with her. Just recently, on a Monday when I was not doing church work and the kids were in school, I had the best time just running (or should I say walking) errands with Jackie because I got to be with her. For me, being with Jackie, is something like being in heaven.

In the same way, we must walk with God – we must walk in love, desiring to be in the presence of God. Though Paul is primarily speaking of walking in love toward one another, this love begins by loving God. To walk with God, to live with Him and experience Him, we must be willing to imitate Him (verse 1.)

Children are born imitators. Whenever I do something silly at the dinner table, you can bet that child by child, wildly mutating as each takes a turn, my children will imitate what I have just done (and Jackie just shakes her head.) We even have a saying at my house: “Children See, Children Do.”

To imitate God means to walk in love, as He is love. Jesus Christ loved us and gave Himself as an offering for us (verse 2), and if we want to walk with God we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God by giving up ourselves for others. In verses 3-6 Paul shows us that lust is opposed to love. Unfortunately, our culture confuses the two, especially when it comes to sex. Lust is about pleasing oneself, but love is about doing what is best for others.

In every walk, you must not only have a desire but you must have a direction: you must know the way. Therefore, in walking with God, we are to walk in light, His light (verse 8.) Light gives us the direction to see where we should walk.

Once you were darkness, but now you are light (verse 8.) The fact is that as a child of God, you are light – not simply will be. Since you are light, walk as children of light.

One of the mistakes that Christians make, especially young Christians, is in walking with those who are in darkness. Paul says, however, that we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. This doesn’t mean we have no contact with those who are still in
darkness, but it does mean that we do not do what they do and that we don’t put ourselves in a position where those in darkness are determining the shape and behavior of our life.

Darkness is often seductive. The world tries hard to make it look sexy and glamorous. It’s cool to get drunk; it sophisticated to commit adultery; and everybody sleeps around. I’ve know too many Christian young people who keep making poor choices in friends and poor choice in entertainments, and in their lives the darkness overcomes the light.

Walking in the light means that we must expose their works of darkness. For those who are more mature Christians, we must stand beside those flirting with darkness and expose the darkness. An interesting thing happens when light meets dark, even when the dark is menacing and intimidating: the light drives away the darkness.

Too often we find ourselves drifting into the darkness, and the reason we do is because we have stopped walking with God and are walking with someone else. I remember one time when I was young we were in New York City walking together as a family. I followed my Mom so I wouldn’t get lost, and since she was wearing a beige skirt I kept my eyes focused on the beige skirt. When I finally looked up, my real family was 100 yards away, and I had been following the wrong beige skirt!

To walk with God we need one more thing: we need a destination. Where are we going on this walk with God? In verses 15-21, Paul reminds us to walk in wisdom.

I think a lot of us are like someone who was put in the middle of a desert and told to start walking, and so we walk because we’re supposed to. But we haven’t sought and found the map, the direction, for where we are to go. Even if someone gave us a map, we still wouldn’t know where to go because we wouldn’t know what our destination was supposed to be.

Our destination, our map, is to walk in wisdom, which means doing the will of God, for this is the destination, the goal of our walk. St. Paul gives us 3 ways to walk in wisdom: we should redeem the time (verse 16), discern the will of God (verse 17), and be filled not with spirits but with the Holy Spirit (verse 18.) There is so much that could be said about each one of these, but it’s up to you to learn, in wisdom, how to apply each.

In the early chapters of Genesis, it appears as if it were the custom for God to walk in the cool of the day with Adam, before he fell. In Genesis Chapter 5, we read of righteous Enoch, who “walked with God” and walked so faithfully that he was translated into heaven and did not even see death!

This is the way I want to walk in my life: to walk so closely with God in His love, in His light, and in His wisdom, that I am translated into heaven because heaven is being in His presence.

Prayer: Father, teach me to walk with You by walking with You in love. Give me a desire to be with You and to love as You have loved me. Keep me in Your light and fill me with Your wisdom that in all things I may dwell in Your presence all the days of my life. Amen.

Point for Meditation:
Meditate on and apply Paul’s command to walk in wisdom in one of the 3 ways which Paul discusses.
1. How can you “redeem the time” in your life? What are the time-wasters in your life? Are there opportunities to walk with God by serving Him that You have not been taking?
2. Have you spent adequate time discerning the will of the Lord? In what area or areas of your life should you be seeking God’s will more actively?
3. How can you be more filled with the Spirit by engaging in speaking to others with spiritual songs, by making a melody in your heart to the Lord, or by giving thanks?

Resolution: I resolve to seek to walk with God today. In particular, I resolve to find one way to practice walking in love, light, or wisdom. You might want to relate this resolution to the specific things God has been asking You to do lately.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson

Monday of 2nd Sunday after Epiphany - Ephesians 4:17-32

The drama of good vs. evil grips us because it hits so close to home. Some of the most compelling myths today – things like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings – grab us precisely because they dramatize the battle between good and evil.

But the most dramatic version of the battle between good and evil is not lived out in a galaxy far, far away or in an age that is long, long ago: it is lived out in each of us every day. It is a battle to which God has called you this day and of which St. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:17-32.

“This I say, therefore,” Paul says in verse 17. Did I miss something? What did he just say? What he just said was Ephesians 1:1 – 4:16. He said that God has adopted us and made us His children; that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places; that we have a high calling to be like Christ as stewards of His mysteries; and that we are to walk worthy of our high calling, the calling of salvation.

Therefore, because of all that Paul has just said, we are to do 2 things. There are 2 steps in participating in God’s mystery:

First, put off the old man, the sin nature, and defeat evil in your life (verse 22.)

Second, put on the new man, Jesus Christ and His righteousness, and multiply good in your life (verse 24.)

There is true evil and real sin in the world. Often, we see it most in ourselves. This evil is related to what Paul calls the Old Man, the sinful nature and sinful deeds that we do. This Old Man that Paul talks about is the way that the Gentiles without Christ lived in Paul’s time, and it is the way all of us live without God in our lives. The Old Man lives in the futility of his mind (verse 17), has its understanding darkened and has blindness of heart (verse 18), is alienated from the life of God (verse 18), and is given over to lasciviousness, uncleanness, and greediness (verse 19.)

This is what we were and would continue to be without the righteousness of Jesus Christ in our lives. And it is this – a life apart from God, a life lived our own way – that we must get rid of and put off.

The evil of sin and the Old Man requires courageous and vigorous action to slay it, though. And it is not possible to simply put off the Old Man, to get rid of sin: you must also put on the New Man. In fact they must happen together, for the good displaces the evil. Trying to take off the Old Man without putting on the New Man is a little like downing a bottle of antibiotic pills all at one time without ever eating any yogurt or probiotics. You might temporarily get rid of the bad bacteria, but there are no good ones to replace the bad ones. If taken this way, the bad bacteria will be back and all you’d have to show for it would be a massive case of diarrhea.

If you think Christianity is another 12-step program to help yourself get over sin, or if you think the Bible is another self-help book – the do-it-yourself way to get right with God – then you’re in for the shock of your life!

It is only by putting on Christ and His righteousness and His Spirit and His life that we can hope to put off sin and put on righteousness. When you put on the New Man, you become one with the New Man, and He lives in and through you. Behold, you are a new creature! God expects to radically transform each of us so that we look more and more like His Son. Our transformation may not be as rapid or as dramatic as that from Saul of Tarsus to St. Paul – and God doesn’t intend it to be so. But God does expect and has equipped each of you, over the course of your life, to experience a transformation of your character as great as Paul’s. In terms of spiritual development, St. Paul may have been a hare, and most of us are tortoises. But the truth is that even St. Paul knew the Law and something of the Messiah before his conversion, and he spent many years learning the new life in Christ from the apostles.

Sometimes we have a casual attitude toward this process of sanctification, of putting on Jesus Christ the New Man. Suppose you had been invited to an evening dinner with the President, but earlier that day you decided to catch up on some chores. You planted your garden and mowed the lawn and changed the oil in your car. Wouldn’t you take off your dirty, smelly clothes and put on your best suit or dress?

In the same way, you are to put off the Old Man of sin and put on the New Man, which is Jesus Christ and His righteousness – before you can go and meet with God.

To me, it’s exciting that by doing something as simple as turning from my sin and doing what is right, by doing the very thing that I deeply desire to do, that I can: be holy as God is holy; participate in His eternal plan; become a new creature and become like my Lord and Savior; and can actually please my God.

In each of you, the most gripping and incredible drama is being played out. Your body, mind, and soul are the places where the cosmic battle between good and evil is being fought. The battle is not out there in a galaxy far, far away or back in Middle Earth. And you are not permitted to be a spectator: you are the actor, or, more accurately, Christ in you.

But how can you practically put on the New Man? Of course, we all know the traditional and good answers of worshiping in the Church, reading the Bible, and praying. But Paul’s remedy is to practice acting righteously. The other things are all necessary, but when it comes down to it, we must go out and act righteously, like Jesus Christ.

Paul gives 3 examples, though the specific prescription for you may be different. In each example, Paul gives us one sin we must put off and one righteous action we must put on.

In verses 25 and 29-30 Paul says, in essence: “Don’t use your mouth for evil, but use it for good.” The tongue, James says, is a restless evil: be on your guard against it. It might seem as if lies, or a little gossip, or the complaining about life that we all do is no big deal. But God puts the sins of the tongue right up there with all of the other ones we tend to think about more.

There’s a simple test for use of your mouth: does it glorify God and does it edify your neighbor? If your mouth is grumbling or lying or hurting, then maybe it’s time to shut your mouth.

A second example of putting on the New Man, Paul says, is to not lose your temper, but to ensure that your anger is righteous (verses 26-27.) The truth is that most anger is selfish, and most of it is over small things. Most anger, by far, does not work the righteousness of God.

Paul’s third example of how to put on the New Man is that you should not steal but should instead work and give to others (verse 28.) It goes without saying that we shouldn’t steal, and I’m willing to bet that not a single one of you snatched a purse or bumped off a 7-11 this past week. (Of course, there are a lot of you I don’t know very well!)

So maybe we can all safely skip over this commandment. But, how many of us have worked and saved, not just for ourselves, but so that we may give to those who are more needy? How many of us see our wealth as all belonging to God and actively think about how He might want us to use His money? (And by the way – it’s not just money that can be stolen.)

In Malachi 3:8, Malachi asks: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.”

Much more could be said about all of these ways of taking off the Old Man, but these are meant to remind us of how prevalent sin is and how many opportunities we have each day to obey and to grow. The point of each is that we seek to take off ourselves and our way of doing things and put on Jesus Christ who is the New Man.

Put on Jesus Christ – every bit of Him on every bit of who you are. He wants you heart, mouth, and hand. The right use of your anger is representative of your heart; not lying but speaking truth is representative of your mouth; and not stealing but working and giving is representative of your hands.

Put on the New Man: put on Jesus Christ every morning.

Prayer: I humbly ask you, Lord, that being dead unto sin and living unto righteousness, and being buried with Christ in His death, that You may crucify the Old Man in me and utterly destroy the whole body of sin. As You have made me a partaker of the death of Your Son, may You also make me a partaker of His resurrection and the New Man; so that finally, with Your holy Church, I may be an inheritor of Your everlasting kingdom. Amen.

Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to practice taking off the Old Man and putting on the New Man Jesus Christ by choosing one thing God is asking me to do. I resolve to pick one behavior God is asking me to give up and to choose one thing He is asking me to do instead. In doing this, I will seek to remember that this is one way that I can put on Jesus Christ every day.

© 2009 Fr. Charles Erlandson