"Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." Romans 15:7, NRSV Welcoming someone is more than just greeting them when they arrive. Welcoming someone is more than just saying they're allowed to be there. Welcoming someone is more than just smiling at them and not saying mean things or being passive aggressive. Welcoming someone is about making space for them. It's about carving out a place for them in our midst. This is one of the biggest challenges for human beings. We are notoriously tribal and territorial, and even when we desire to be welcoming, hospitality is not in our nature. If we follow the laws of nature, we would continue in tribalism and exclusion. If we would welcome people for the glory of God, we will have to work at it constantly.

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14, NRSV What a beautiful blessing: the grace, love, and fellowship of the Trinity for his brothers and sisters in Corinth. There's been a surprising amount of derision between Christians this year, and there seems to be a decent chance that will continue. Let’s remember some things. Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we could lord anything over anyone else; grace isn’t compatible with condescension. God didn’t give the Son out of wrath; God so loved the world. The Holy Spirit is not a spirit of dissension but unity. The Lord bless you and keep you. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

"O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before." Joel 2:23, NRSV The Lord vindicates people. When we trust in God, we receive a kind of vindication because of God’s faithfulness. This is the kind of blamelessness that scripture talks about in the New Testament. Not a sinlessness but a trust in God that vindicates us and justifies our choice to trust in God. The resurrection had that kind of power. Where the cross brought scandal and shame, the resurrection brought vindication. If Christ hadn’t risen from the dead, none of it would have mattered, but when Christ rose from the dead, his disciples were justified.

"Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29, NRSV This is another one of those passages that, at a glance, may seem straightforward but is actually so ambiguous that Christians easily use it to justify doing the opposite. What counts as "evil" talk? Is it simply anything that tears people down instead of building them up? What counts as tearing people down? Is it just about the way they feel, like when we hurt someone's feelings? What if they're offended when we tell them the truth about something? What if our affectionate words still cause them emotional pain? How do we know when our words are building someone up? What about when our words seem harsh, at first, but end up being beneficial? So many of the possible answers to these questions are subjective. Because of that, it's easy to make the answers out to be whatever we ...

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4, NRSV Practical application of love: less about ourselves, and more about the other. We can ask ourselves, "What’s good for others? How can I participate in lifting others up?" Or, "How can I be present with others in solidarity?" This isn't about ignoring your own well-being. It’s about living with the understanding that our own desires and ambitions are rarely the most important things. As far as scripture reveals, Jesus invested the majority of his time in others, earnestly listening and responding to their needs. Of course, we all have our limitations, and setting healthy boundaries is important for life-long participation in communities, but in order to truly understand our limitations, we have to be willing to pursue humility and putting oth...

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children..." Ephesians 5:1, NRSV If you've raised children, you might remember how they imitate their parents, but you might recall that they also often miss the point. Sometimes, children will think that they're imitating their parents but not understand significant contextual aspects of what they're imitating. Something that might be appropriate in one situation might be inappropriate in another. Other times, they might misunderstand the tone of something. It might matter how something is said. They might imitate an action or posture, but they might misunderstand the reasoning behind that action or posture. They might think that things are arranged merely for decoration and miss the functional purpose of an arrangement. Conversely, they might attribute more significance to something than it actually has. In our imitation of God, we are often as children. We imitate God the way that children imitate their parents. T...

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom." James 3:13, NRSV How interesting that James calls out those who think themselves wise and understanding by challenging them to live out that wisdom through works that are characterized by gentleness. This is consistent with a discipleship centered around "God is love." James argues that the gentleness of one's works are born from wisdom, and Solomon, in Proverbs, tells us that wisdom comes from God. God-love, wisdom, gentleness; and, as John puts it, the one who claims to love God but hates his brother is deceived. Don't be deceived: if you want to seek wisdom, then seek gentleness, because gentle works are evidence of love.

"If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." Philippians 2:1-2, NRSV Having one mind prompts the question, "Who's mind?" People who are familiar with this passage and some others in the New Testament might say, "The mind of Christ." I think that's a good answer. Unfortunately, what we say with our lips doesn't always match what we live with our lives. "Whose mind" is often modeled as "my mind." When people disagree with us, we get uncomfortable, angry, defensive, or condescending. Paul says his joy will be complete if the Philippians have one mind, and not just any mind. It's only the mind of Christ that unifies Christians, because Christ is the head of the body. The climax of Christ's earthly ministry is found in the cross an...

"Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind." 1 Peter 3:8, NRSV The power of this final desire is found in the communal love it emphasizes. These are things the readers do with and for one another as they emulate the nature of God in self-denying, other-focused love. It’s the kind of love we see lived out on the cross. It’s the kind of love implied in the story of the lost sheep. It’s a selfless and reckless and porous love. Too often, a disservice is done to this communal love; "unity of spirit" is turned into "legalistic agreement," and then everything that follows falls apart. Unity of spirit isn’t about intellect but about love; love is book-ended on either side by aspects of itself. Unity, sympathy, tenderness, and humility are born of love for one another. Finally...love...

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." Philippians 4:4, NRSV When our relationship with God is purely transactional (I'll do this for you if you do this for me) it's difficult to find joy, especially in the midst of suffering or disappointment. But, when our relationship with God is not transactional, when it doesn't depend upon any kind of quid pro quo but instead is built on the understanding that God loves us, then it becomes possible to rejoice in the Lord always. It becomes possible to rejoice in God, because we’re able to stop blaming God for some invisible contract that we believe God’s broken. This is often what we do with family, the ones who love us and in whom we rejoice and with whom we suffer, because we don't perceive them as being present merely to do something for us. We have a relationship with them first, and everything else is second.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2, NRSV Perhaps the hardest thing for people who are marginalized by society or stuck in systemic cycles of oppression or poverty is that they are almost always trapped. They have been abandoned by the people who have the means to help them escape those cycles. The psalmist, here, lifts his eyes to the hills, toward the horizon, searching for help that he hopes is coming but that he knows isn't coming from the people around him. The psalmist declares that what help arrives is from God, the maker of heaven and Earth, the Lord of Israel. It was that very same Israel from which no help came, but the God of Israel arrived. Sometimes the people who ought to help are not the ones who do it, but God is not those people. God is a helper and a hope and a shelter for the needy. God desires after the marginalized and oppressed.

"Even to your old age I am he, even when you turn gray I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save." Isaiah 46:4, NRSV If we think about all of the things in the world that have been created by humans or by animals, it's not difficult to see that creations don't necessarily hold any intrinsic value for the creators. Animals abandon homes, people abandon cars and couches on the side of the road, and even things that we need or use often can easily become misplaced or simply disappear. How many times have you been looking for something in your own home but been unable to find it? How many times have you misplaced your car keys or thrown away a sock that had no match or left your house without your wallet or driver license? Just because something is created doesn't mean that the creator has to care about it at all. Yet, God is consistently present with us and all of creation. As cathartic as it might be, sometimes, to treat God as ...

"Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, prudent, and sound in faith, in love, and in endurance." Titus 2:2, NRSV It would make sense if the older we get (the more time we spend pursuing wisdom from God) the more temperate, prudent, and loving we become. At least, that's the hope. In America, however, we so often underestimate the value of being the kind of person described in this passage that it seems increasingly rare to find someone who is even pursuing these characteristics. We talk a good game, but temperance and prudence aren't normally what we emulate. We should examine ourselves carefully and consider whether we're advancing in things like temperance, endurance, faith, and love. Eventually, we all get a chance at being the older ones, and we shouldn't take it lightly that our temperance and our love might be a critical part of someone else's formation.

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path." Psalm 143:10, NRSV The idea of a level path is about consistency. It's not level as opposed to inclined or declined. It's level as opposed to rocky. It's a flat path, one that is free of unexpected inconsistencies that might cause someone to stumble. It's the kind of path that allows someone to be sure-footed while walking along. What the Spirit offers us is a consistent life rooted in God whose will is level at every step. Jesus boils it down like this: devote yourself in love to God, and love your neighbor as yourself. It's not that love will always manifest in the same way. Rather, God's will is always going to be rooted in love. That consistency makes for level ground.

"Jesus answered him, 'Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.'" John 14:23, NRSV One of the questions that gets asked the least is, "What does it mean to keep Jesus's words?" I think a lot of Christians take it for granted that keeping the words of Jesus means obedience to the things we find Jesus commanding in scripture. While this is true in a general sense, I'm reminded of the young man who asked Jesus what must I do to be saved? Jesus didn't give him a vague answer. He gave him a very specific answer, and he enumerated for the man several things that would lead to his salvation. If you're wondering about your own life, I suggest you decide what is at the heart of God's mission and see what Jesus says related to that. Here's a brief overview of what that looks like for me: God is love, and God's love for creation is at the heart of God's m...

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" Matthew 28:18-20, NRSV It's strange how often people confuse discipleship with conformity. There's no doubt in my mind that obedience and discipleship go hand in hand, but conformity isn’t necessarily synonymous with obedience. To learn the commands of Jesus and obey them requires a dedication to discipleship first. A person has to decide to pursue Christ-likeness. Conformity is simply looking and acting like everyone else, and forced conformity breeds enmity and rebelliousness. What Jesus is proposing isn't just conformity. We aren't supposed to go into the world and force everyone in every nation to look...

  "Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us." 2 Timothy 1:13-14, NRSV The challenge in this verse isn't in holding to the teachings or guarding the good treasure. A lot of people are willing to stand their ground for what they believe and for what's important to them. The challenge is identifying what sound teaching it is that we've received and what good treasure we have. People use vague or general terms like "the gospel," "commandments," or "the teachings of scripture," etc. It's important that we identify what it is we believe we've actually been taught and what it is we believe is actually good treasure. It's important that we learn to talk about those things in specific ways, because the more specifically we can talk about them, the clearer we will see ...

"This is what the Lord says — your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.'" Isaiah 48:17, NRSV There's a first premise from which a relationship with God is built: God is good. For me, this means that God is love, but even if you don’t equate "good" and "love," good still implies that God is beneficial for us by God's very nature. When God says that God teaches us what is good, we have to decide whether we trust in that first premise. If we begin with a different premise — for example, that God is not good or that God will have to prove God's goodness — then we can’t accept what God is saying. We shouldn't, then, be surprised when people don't take God's word that God is going to teach them something good. Whether or not they're willing to believe that depends on where they’re beginning in their understanding of God. If y...