Holy Curiosity in the Shadows -- A Message for July 5, 2026

 

This summer, our worship services are focused on our members and friends' favorite scripture passages. Today, we focus on the favorite scripture of the oldest member of our congregation: John Becker Senior. It is not every congregation that can boast we have a 101 year old member – and a World War II veteran at that. Since this is the weekend we celebrate our Declaration of Independence, it is a wonderful privilege to focus on the favorite scripture of a man who made sure other citizens of the world would be free from tyranny and oppression and evi – that they too would have access to independence.

Mr. Becker selected John 3:16 for his favorite scripture – 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jesus made this statement, this declaration, in the middle of his nighttime conversation with Nicodemus the Pharisee.

This morning, we will read the entire passage about their visit with each other, as we turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 3, and read verses one through twenty-one….listen now to the word of God. 

The Scripture Lesson John 3:1-21 

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 

He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 

You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 

Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our 

testimony. 

I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…

The Message Holy Curiosity in the Shadows

Nicodemus was an important man in Jerusalem… He was a devout Pharisee…. He was a member of the Jewish Ruling Council – The Sanhedrin – which made him both a religious leader and a politician. Years after the conversation we read today, Nicodemus defended Jesus when he was at risk for arrest by telling the other members of the Sanhedrin that they couldn’t convict Jesus of a crime unless they gave him a fair trial. And, when Jesus’ life was over after he was crucified by the Romans, Nicodemus brought a one-hundred pound mixture of aloe and myrrh to the tomb and prepared Jesus’ body – this was a very expensive mixture and Jesus’s body was prepared for burial like a king, not like a Galilean peasant. Nicodemus must have been a man of means in order to provide such a luxurious balm to anoint the deceased body of Jesus. So, Nicodemus was faithful, he was a religious leader, he was a politician, and he was wealthy…

After Jesus’ baptism, he started doing things that attracted attention – he turned water into wine…he cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem of money changers…he preached profound sermons..he performed miraculous healings….he got noticed. Nicodemus heard about Jesus. And, he may have seen Jesus in action – but the scriptures describe Jesus as always attracting a crowd…whereever he went, he not only had his disciples with him, but he also had others seeking him out and observing his every move. Jesus was never alone. 

Nicodemus wanted to talk to Jesus one-on-one.  He didn’t want a crowd of people to listen to their conversation. He wanted Jesus’ undivided attention. So, Nicodemus visited Jesus in the middle of the night.

Nicodemus wanted to find out what Jesus was all about…who was he and what was his mission?

We were not in the room with Jesus and Nicodemus, so we are missing many details – how long did they talk? Were they standing up or sitting down? Were they eating and drinking? Was Jesus wearing his outer robe or just his night shirt? How formal were they? There are so many things we don’t know about their conversation.

But, we do know the highlights – Jesus told Nicodemus that no one can achieve spiritual truths without being born again. This was a new term for Nicodemus…and a new idea for him. He initially thought Jesus meant that people needed to literally shrink down into the form of a baby and be reborn out of their mothers – an impossibility. But, Jesus didn’t mean a literal birth – he meant a spiritual rebirth….being born of the waters of baptism and the Holy Spirit. 

Whenever we baptise someone at Trinity, whether they are two years old or 92 years old, we invite the Holy Spirit and the baptismal waters to be present with them so that they are born again. When we confirm our young people, like we confirmed Crystal a few weeks ago, we invoked her baptism and invited the Holy Spirit to once again help her be born again. And, when people join our church, we do the same – we remember their baptisms and invoke the Holy Spirit, asking them to be born again as they become a part of our church. Today, when we celebrate communion, we will invite the Holy Spirit to bless the bread and the cup, and bless all of us in our eating and drinking at the communion table – in a way, every time we receive the bread and wine of communion, we are born again because we are filled with the Holy Spirit as we take in the body and blood of Jesus.

When we are born again, we ask the Holy Spirit to give birth to our spiritual life. We stop being religious spectators and start being religious practitioners. We become followers of the Way of Jesus ourselves. We start living out the teachings of Jesus as part of how we live our lives.

Nicodemus probably wondered if Jesus was the Messiah. The signs Jesus accomplished certainly pointed to him being the Messiah, but he wasn’t sure. Although Jesus was sometimes poetic in his language, and asked as many questions as he answered, he was the Messiah….sent by God to save humanity.

The second topic that Nicodmus and Jesus covered was Jesus’ authority. Nicodemus wanted to know how Jesus could make these statements…how did he know what he knew? Jesus then told Nicodemus that he is the Messiah – he was God born as a man. And, Jesus was going to die on a cross, and whoever believed in him would receive eternal life.

The late-night conversation concluded with the most famous verse in the Bible, Mr. Becker’s favorite: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. God loves the people of our world so much that God shared himself with us in the form of Jesus….God wanted to teach us directly. And, God didn’t shy away from pain – God knew Jesus would die a gruesome death. God sent himself as Jesus so that the world would be saved through him. Jesus’s words taught us about God and how God wants us to treat each other: with kindness, generosity and love. God wanted everyone to know about God’s love for us and achieve salvation – not just Jewish people, not just well-behaved people, not just pious people, not just do-gooders, but everyone. 

Jesus came to the earth to save us…all of us. He didn’t come to judge us – decide who was in and who was out. He didn’t come to cordon off the good people and separate them from the flawed people. He didn’t come and say only the Jewish people are saved or only the white people are saved or the rich people are saved or the people who eat beef are saved. Jesus came to the earth to save us all and to encourage everyone to believe in and follow the guidance of God. 

Jesus came to earth to heal and save people, not for condemnation. But, we sometimes forget this. People are guilty of picking sides, and thinking some people are winners and some people are losers. We like to imagine that we are the good guys and others are the bad guys. We sometimes follow false prophets and false ideologies. We sometimes think we belong to a superior group of people and everyone else is wrong. 

Jesus came to earth to break us of these tendencies. Jesus came to the earth to save all people – all of us. The good guys and the bad guys. The Jewish people and the Gentile people. The people of the Middle East and the Mediterranean and Europe and Africa and Asia and Australia and the Americas.  Jesus came to save straight people and gay people….women and men and trans people alike. People with resources and people who are struggling. People who are old and people who are young and everyone in-between. Jesus came to earth that the whole world will be saved through him.

This weekend, this summer, we are celebrating the two-hundred and fifth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. We live in a nation founded on principles of justice and equality and fraternity for all people. And, we are also believers in a faith that is thousands of years old - although we are proud of the achievements we are part of as Americans, we should even be more proud of achievements we have made as part of the Christian family. God sent Jesus to save the world and to call upon us to take care of each other – the people who believe and the people who don’t believe yet. The people of our communities and strangers who are joining us here. The people who are struggling and seeking healing and wholeness and the people who are doing ok. God sent Jesus to save the world – it is our work to help Jesus however we can – help Jesus to heal and restore the world and make it the creation God intended it to be from the very beginning of time.

May we do so with our whole hearts and very beings – today and all days. Amen. 

The Eternal Word -- A Message for June 28, 2026

 

This morning, we are turning to a familiar scriptural passage, the first twelve verses of the book of John. This is a passage we hear twice a year in worship – on Christmas Eve and on Maundy Thursday. These poetic and philosophical words summarize the mission of Jesus and God’s intentions for sharing the embodied Christ with the world.

This morning’s “favorite” comes to us from our own Janet Crossgrove – Janet lifted up a verse from this passage as her favorite scripture ‘’Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” This is a description of the Christian faith in one sentence.

Let us now listen to the entire passage as we turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 1 and read verses one through eighteen: 

. 

The Scripture Lesson John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

He was with God in the beginning. 

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 

He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 

He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 

children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…Living God, by Your Holy Spirit, let the same Word that was in the beginning speak to us now. Silence the noise of our minds and the distractions of our hearts. Let Your truth pierce our darkness, and let Your grace transform our lives as your scriptures are read and proclaimed. Amen. 

The Message The Eternal Word

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

Although we are focused on the Gospel of John today, we need to start at the beginning of the Bible...the beginning of time…the beginning, period.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.”

In the beginning of creation, God the Creator was present. God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, was Present. And, God’s word, the voice of God, was present. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

The Creator of Creation, The Redeemer of all People, and the Sustainer of all the faithful were together from the beginning.

This is Christianity in a nutshell – we were created – our earth was created – the heavens were created by our Triune God – As Psalm 19:1 sings: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” Jesus was always present as part of God – He is the word of God made flesh….God’s word embodied in a human form. 

The first verses of John explain, in very poetic language, that God decided to split off the Part of God we call Jesus to live on earth – for a moment in God’s time and for a human lifetime as we understand time and space.

God wanted us to hear directly from God. And for those of us who embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and who believe in God “...he gave the right to become children of God…born of God” As followers of Jesus Christ, as followers of the Way of Christ, we are God’s children.

And, because of our faith in God, and the illumination of Jesus Christ, “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” We receive Grace and Truth through Jesus Christ.  Grace is God’s unmerited favor – God forgives us and loves us even though we are deeply flawed and make mistakes. Jesus revealed God’s truth to us, and shares God’s grace with us.

 Jesus came to earth to teach us about God….that God is real…that God has a good plan for us as individuals and for us as the collective body of humanity. God wants us to live lives in service to God – caring for God’s creation and caring for those Jesus called “the least of these”: people who are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, or imprisoned...people who are often overlooked or marginalized. 

God wants us to have our faith at the center of our lives – not as an afterthought, not as something we do when we are not too busy, not as something we only think about a few hours a week on Sunday mornings – but at the center of who we are, how we live, and how we treat each other.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Jesus was part of the creation of the world, the creation of the universe, and our own creation from the beginning. Without Jesus nothing was made. There are no mistakes….no accidents…no forgotten corners of creation.  The same Word of God that engineered the creation of the cosmos and the oceans knit us together in our mother’s wombs. We are unique creations of our loving God…our personality, our gifts, our senses of humor, our senses of justice…everything that we are, our whole existence is crafted by God.

Sometimes, when we are feeling blue, we feel like we are worthless. We sometimes feel invisible. We sometimes feel like our mistakes are dominating our lives. We can feel unworthy or unloveable. In these hard times, we must remember we were created by God, on purpose, with our unique talents and personality and gifts. We are part of God’s creation. We are a gift from God.  

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Let us remember we are a cherished creation of our God, as is everything that surrounds us in the natural world and the cosmos. Let us care for God’s creation, each other and ourselves and remember we are loved and cherished by our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sustainer. 

Amen.

The Wisdom of the Creatures -- A Message for June 21, 2026

 

This morning, we welcome Nan Burch as our first Pulpit Assistant in a long time. You are invited to also lead us as the pulpit assistant – people have asked for us to have different voices leading worship, and serving as the pulpit assistant is a way for you to help enrich our worship time.

This summer, we are turning to Trinity’s favorites. After the message, Nan will tell us a little about her favorite hymn. And, for those of us who know Nan, we know that she is an animal lover. This morning, we hear one of her favorite scriptures, a selection from Job that highlights the trust the natural world has in God.

Nan: 

The Scripture Lesson Job 12:7-10

 

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

    or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

 

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,

    or let the fish in the sea inform you.

 

Which of all these does not know

    that the hand of the Lord has done this?

 

In his hand is the life of every creature

    and the breath of all mankind. 

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…

The Message The Wisdom of the Creatures

Job, the man at the center of the book of Job, had a very strange life. He was a man of faith. He was a hard worker. He was a good family man. But, he got thrown a curve ball that he didn’t expect, and the book named after him is focused on how he responded to that unexpected circumstance.

The book of Job starts out with an imagined conversation between God and Satan – they made a wager of sorts – Satan told God that if Job lost all of his possessions and family members, then Job would curse God….Satan theorized that Job was only blameless and upright and rejecting of evil because God had blessed him with abundance and possessions. Satan wagered with God that if everything was taken away from Job, he would no longer be blameless and upright – and he would become evil and curse God.

This is an imagined conversation – Job is a parable used to teach us a lesson about why God allows suffering – why God allows bad things to happen to good people ... ..why God allows evil to exist.

After this imagined conversation between God and Satan, bad things happened to Job. God allowed Satan to inflict harm on Job – his children all die, his wealth and possessions were lost, his health failed. And, then after all these problems, Job’s three friends came to “console” him, supposedly, but they tried to tell Job that his suffering was a punishment from God because Job had failed – the friends tried to tell Job he was deserving of his suffering because he had done wrong.

Despite every miserable and sad thing that happened to Job, he didn't curse God…   .he complained ... ... ..he bemoaned his situation…but he didn’t curse God.  Job’s friends told him to curse God and die (again, these friends were unhelpful)...but Job remained steadfast in his faith and his loyalty to God.

Finally, God spoke to Job (and his friends) out of a whirlwind, told Job he didn’t do anything to bring on his suffering, and then God restored Job’s health, possessions, wealth and children. God proved to Satan that people can remain faithful to God, and thankful to God, even when bad things happen to us. This book was written to encourage us to hold on to our faith in God even when our lives fall apart….No matter what befalls us, God is with us. God is real.

In the midst of the challenging conversation Job had with his unhelpful friends, we find the scripture we read today. 

Job told his friends to stop being so intellectual – to stop speaking about theories and ideas and to take a look around outside…Job said the natural world, and God’s creations, help us understand God’s character.

Job tells his friends to look at creation to see God at work. The natural world doesn’t question the existence of God – instead, God is the source of all life.  We are not self-sustaining – every single breath we take is a gift from God. Everything we need on earth is a gift from our loving God – the plants and animals we eat, the air we breathe, the materials we use to build our homes, the water we drink. Everything in our natural world is a gift from God.

We can also look to the natural world to calm our own anxieties.  A 2020 article published by the American Psychological Association (“Nurtured by Nature”) describes several ways time spent in natural settings can improve our mental health and sharpen our cognition. And, we don’t need to read an article to feel this for ourselves – our moods lift when we take a walk outdoors or spend time sitting on a bench at a park or watching the waves crash at the ocean. Walking through a forest or watching birds play can remind us that there is a grand, intentional design operating perfectly well without our control.

Sometimes. we can also fall into the trap of Job’s oblivious friends – we sometimes over-intellectualize things. But, looking at the natural world reminds us God is in control and we can depend on God. Sometimes, we need to tell our intellectual brain to quiet down and just return to simply relying on God.

We don’t always understand what God is doing in the world. We certainly don’t understand the randomness of life – sometimes bad things happen to the best people, and good things happen to deeply flawed people. But, no matter what we experience, God is our sustainer. God is with us, rooting us on, comforting us, listening to us, holding us up in the midst of our struggles. God’s presence is with us no matter what. God loves us and cares about what happens to us. God stands by us even when we feel alone. 

The book of Job reminds us that God cares about us even when our lives are hard. We don’t invoke bad things – our behavior doesn’t cause bad things to happen to us. And, even when we don’t understand how God’s plan is at work, God does have a plan. We must remember we don’t have to be in charge of everything – God is with us. 

Thanks be to God. Amen.  

Chosen Friends -- A Message for June 14, 2026

 This morning, we are turning to a passage that is part of the conversation Jesus had with his disciples at his last supper. Jesus knew he was about to be crucified, so he was sharing his final message with his followers, his final words of wisdom, his final instructions. He wanted his friends to embody his message to the world by how they treated each other and how they lived out their faith. So, Jesus gave them a new commandment: that they should love each other as Jesus loved them.

This passage was lifted up by our own Phyllis Schlotterback…four verses from God that command all of us to love each other. 

Listen now to the word of God as we read John Chapter Fifteen, starting at verse 9:

The Scripture Lesson John 15:9-17

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 

 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

 You are my friends if you do what I command. 

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 

This is my command: Love each other. 

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen

Let us pray…

The Message Chosen Friends

When we are children in elementary school, we don’t have a choice about who is in our classes…we have very few choices, period. The teachers often assign our seats – sometimes we sit in alphabetical order by our last names; sometimes we sit in alphabetical order by our first names; sometimes the teachers decide based on putting the trouble-makers close to their seats and the good kids further away. Our classrooms may have kids from different neighborhoods, kids whose parents have very different types of jobs, kids from a variety of ethnic groups, kids with different religions, kids who are only children or kids with lots of brothers and sisters. It all seems pretty random – yet, I recall, I often became friends with the kids who sat closest to my seat.

As we grow older, we have more control. The kids who want to be in band may be in classes with other band kids. The kids who are taking a lot of advanced placement classes may end up together. The kids who are into school sports may all be placed in classes together so that they can leave early for meets and matches. We may end up in classes with kids who are more like us because of the things we share in common.

And, then, after high school, some students go to college, and some go to trade school, and some start working right away. Some kids join the military, some go on long-term missionary trips for their faiths, and some stay in their basements and play video games. 

We end up spending most of our time with people who are like us….people with the same type of job training, people with a similar education, people who live in our neighborhoods, people from our families. As our life moves forward, we have fewer and fewer opportunities to mix with lots of different types of people.

Our worship centers, our churches, are one of the few places we spend time with people who may be very different than us….we may have different types of jobs; we may live in different kinds of  neighborhoods and housing; we may have different ethnic backgrounds; some of us earn a lot of money and some of us are barely getting by; we are married or divorced or widowed or single; some of us were born in Sellersville and some of us were born thousands of miles away; some of us are young and some of us are old…..yet here we sit, side by side, every week. 

And, not only do we sit side by side and worship together, we also work together to practice our faith, to put our faith into action. We have committed to loving God, following Jesus,and….strangely…loving each other. We love each other despite our differences.

This doesn’t always come easy for us. It is easier to love people who are just like us. It is more work to love people who are different. But, we are called by our God, and commanded by Jesus, to love each other. So, that is what we endeavor to do….to love each other. 

We live in a period of human history when people are more and more isolated. People work from home, so they don’t mingle with co-workers at the water cooler. Most of us have air-conditioning, so people stay behind the closed doors and windows of their homes….not really getting to know their neighbors. People watch screens all day long – and sometimes all night long – feeling lonely yet watching other people doing things 24-7. People are more and more isolated. 

 

Yet, we are here, choosing to sit alongside each other. We are here, working together to serve God. We are here, accepting and loving each other despite our differences. We are here, working to love each other.

This is a message other people need to hear. This is a welcome other people need to hear. We don’t expect people to become part of our church because they are just like us. We don’t expect people to become part of our church because they are perfect and don’t have any problems. We don’t expect people to come to join in our work on Christ’s behalf because we think we have the perfect solution to address every one in the world’s needs.

Instead, we are all people who are working on ourselves, working to do each day a little better than the next. We are learning from each other, and learning from our God, how to serve the people in our world who are suffering and learning how to support each other as we suffer. We are working to love each other despite our imperfections…despite our differences….despite our flaws.

And, we are bolstered by our belief that our God loves us, and loves all the people of the world, no matter what. We are loved. Other people need to hear this message, that God loves them. And we will endeavor to love them too.

May it be so, today and all days. Amen.

The Secret of Contentment -- A Message for June 7, 2026

 

This Summer, we are going to focus on the favorite scriptural texts of our congregation each week in our worship services. I pray that through this process over the summer, we will get to know each other better….and we will also learn more about how we can serve our community more. 

This morning, we will read a portion of St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Gary Gallagher highlighted Philippians 4:14 as his favorite scripture. This passage speaks to Paul’s sense of contentment despite experiencing hardships in his life – he counsels us that we can feel joy even when our lives are not going the way we expected. This is an important message for us – we also can feel contentment, and joy, despite our lives not going the way we always want or expect.

Listen now to the reading of our message from St. Paul, as he wrote it to the people of the Philippian church, starting at chapter 4, verse 10:

The Scripture Lesson Philippians 4:10-20

I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 

Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 

for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. 

Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. 

I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer: Lord, open our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear what you are saying to us today. Guide us out of our comfort zones and into your deep peace. Amen. 

The Message The Secret of Contentment

In Sweden, there is a concept called “Lagom (lah-gom). Lagom roughly translates to “Not too little, not too much. Just enough.” It is a societal practice of moderation and sustainability – the goal is to find contentment in equilibrium–having exactly what you need to live well without creating waste or excessive stress – true contentment.

Contentment is happiness and satisfaction….it is accepting our lot in life and fully adjusting to what we have.

Most of us Americans do not feel content. We are experts at the “if only” trap ....”I will be  happy IF ONLY I get the perfect job….” “I will be happy IF ONLY I get the 2.5 children of my dreams…” “ I will be happy IF ONLY I live in my suburban dream home with the white picket fence.”  “I will be happy IF ONLY I finish all of the craft projects I have started.”  “I will be happy IF ONLY I get my basement organized.” Most of us have our own version of the “IF ONLY” trap….we think that happiness will come when we reach a goal, but sometimes that goal is unattainable, and sometimes there are too many of those goals, and sometimes we add steps to the goal and move the goalposts further away. Contentment is unattainable.

Paul wrote his letter to the people of Philippi while he was locked up in jail. He lost his freedom to travel and his freedom to evangelize to the people of the world. He spent his days chained to a Roman soldier who was guarding him. He was imprisoned and was waiting for his trial. Yet, he wrote “...for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.” He wrote that contentment isn’t about getting what you want, it is about realizing what you have in Christ.

Paul’s faith in Jesus, his relationship with Jesus, and his trust in God, helped him experience true contentment….it wasn’t about being full after a hungry spell or having a lot of resources after a time of need….Paul’s relationship with Jesus gave him the strength to endure, and to thrive, despite challenges that would undermine other people.

As Paul was explaining that his relationship with Jesus was the source of his contentment, he made one of his most memorable statements: “ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” This testimony is the scripture Gary highlighted as his favorite, and it is a guiding claim for many Christians.  Our relationship with Jesus is the “spiritual superpower” that helps us endure whatever challenges we face – our relationship with Jesus can become for us a source of our contentment. Our relationship with Jesus helps us to have resilience despite whatever challenges come our way.

In Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, The Message, he translated the testimony found in verse 13 as “Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”  I can make it through anything because of the God who makes me who I am. We can make it through anything because of the God who makes us who we are.

We know that often, everything in our lives doesn’t go according to plan. We don’t get every job we interview for. Our hearts are broken by failed relationships or family disharmony. People we love die. Friends move away. Our feelings get hurt, and we hurt other people…..everything in our lives doesn’t go according to plan.

But, we can work towards contentment….we can deepen our faith in God and trust that God will give us the strength to endure…the strength to accept. God supports us during our challenges. God loves us when we fail. God helps us figure out “Plan B” when “Plan A” doesn’t happen. We must work to trust God’s plan for us and find joy in God’s presence in our lives. We can do all this through him who gives us strength.

Amen.