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The Leftovers – John 6:1-15

John’s intention in this account is to minister to the mature Christians, as opposed to Mark’s account, which was written for the catechumens. It is a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. No one will be dissatisfied – as we pray in the Lord’s prayer.

This is also a message for all generous people who have given their time, talent and treasure to the Kingdom of God, both priests and laypeople. What gifts and blessings have your received from God? If you do not appreciate what you have, how can you share it?

The disciples did not appreciate the little food they had because it did not seem like enough. Jesus, though, did appreciate it, and it turned out to be more than enough. The generosity of a little boy was turned into a miracle, with basketfuls of leftovers.

Bread must be broken in order to be shared. That is how it fulfills its mission. We are reminded of this every time we receive the bread and wine.

Why did Jesus have the leftovers gathered? The leftovers are all those who have given of themselves to the Kingdom. And they will be gathered up by God in the end. This is what is so beautiful in this gospel.

– Homily Notes, Church of St. Katherine of Alexandria, Riverside, CA, July 29, 2018

John 6:1-15

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A Work in Progress – Philippians 1:1-11

The theme of Philippians is “death to self and life in Christ” It can be frustrating because it requires a significant level of commitment. We tend to resist commitment, even when it is something as simple as an RSVP for a party or choosing a show while browsing on Netflix.

But the church in Philippi is committed to something greater than themselves. Here, like in all but two of his letters Paul begins with a section of thanksgiving and praise for the church he is writing to. He specifically cites their continued partnership with him in the cause of the gospel. From Paul’s first visit, when Lydia and the Philippian jailer opened their homes to Paul, to their recent generosity, they have done this consistently.

But not just on material resources – he is thankful for their continued development in Christ. The work of transformation that Christ began in them continues and will be completed.

The Philippians share with Paul in joy and God’s favor, extended to them and us through God’s grace. To be partners in the gospel is both an example of that grace and a mechanism for it. The Philippians are partakers in the grace of God by spreading the message of the grace of God.

Paul loves them for it, and then goes on to pray that they also will grow in their love in general – for Christ, for each other, for the world around them. This love is the foundation for much of what Paul will go on to call the Philippians to do in the rest of the letter.

But while the target of the love is general, the type of growth itself is rather specific: knowledge and depth of insight. As our love abounds in greater insight, we become better at loving the things that are worth loving, because when we love something we tend to devote ourselves to it.

Paul calls us (and the Philippians) to this because he wants us to be pure and blameless. Pure, meaning righteous within ourselves, and blameless meaning righteous on the eyes of those around us.

Paul here is setting the Philippians up to understand that they are a work in progress. This will be important for them to understand as the letter progresses.

It is also important for us to understand. In inventory management, there are three stages: raw materials, work in progress, and finished product. As believers, we were once raw materials, but now Christ is at work in us and we are looking ahead to being a finished product. We must be willing and even eager to be molded and changed.

It can be tough to accept that we are unfinished and incomplete, and frustrating to not yet have full mastery of our passions and sin. Paul shows us through his thanksgiving and prayer that Christ is working on us and we must work with Him, discerning our purpose and participating in our growth.

Are we willing to do this, or will we sit back and how hope that this growth will happen without us?

– Sermon Notes, Jeff Krabach, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, July 22, 2018

Philippians 1:1-11

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Introduction to Philippians

A person’s story tells us a lot about who they are. As we go into the book of Philippians, it is wise to understand the story around the city, the church Paul is writing to and Paul’s relationship with them.

Philippi was originally named Crenides, which means “fountains” because of all the natural springs in the fertile plains. It was originally settled by the Thasians who also discovered gold and silver nearby, making it a wealthy colony. When the city came under pressure from Thrace, they went to Philip of Macedon for protection, which is how it got its name. Philip built a mint there, and it remained as an autonomous city within Macedon under Alexander the Great.

Eventually Rome conquered Macedon, and when Julius Caesar was assassinated, Brutus and Cassius fled to Philippi, and the Battle of Philippi was fought on the plains nearby. Octavian (eventually Augustus) won the battle, and eventually integrated Philippi more directly into the new empire. It became a “miniature Rome” under the municipal law of Rome, with comparable rights and nearly identical culture to Rome. It was tightly connected to Rome, along the Via Egnatia, and their Roman identity was core to their self image and culture.

It was also the first place in Europe that Paul preached, as described in Acts 16, and the first convert there was Lydia, a wealthy merchant. It is a dramatic story of dreams, prayer, demons, trials, imprisonment, earthquakes and vindication.

The story closes with the Philippian church set on a solid foundation. They would go on to be one of the most generous churches mentioned in the Bible, sending Paul gifts at multiple times, including when he is imprisoned in Rome, which is when the epistle to the Philippians was written.

The book is basically a thank you note to the Philippians, combined with strong encouragement founded in deep theology. It contains some of the most well-known verses is Scripture, and is seen largely as a book about joy in the midst of hardship, with the word used 16 times.

But a more careful study shows that this is a sub theme, a byproduct of the grander theme. Other sub themes include community and hospitality, unity in Christ, gospel participation, humility, self-sacrifice and warnings against Judaizers.

The overall theme, though, is the source of all that joy, unity and humility – namely, the theme is death to self and life in Christ. Even the opening calls out Paul and Timothy as servants of Christ and specifically highlights all the other leaders with him as servants in Christ.

Paul wants the lives of the Philippians to be so intertwined with the life of Christ that it is impossible to tell the two apart.

There are four ways we may struggle with Paul’s words in Philippians. The first is a mindset of independence and isolation, rather than living in community. Another is believing that joy comes from our circumstances. Third, a prioritization of the things of earth rather than those of heaven. And most notably, our tendency to put our comfort and desires ahead of the life in Christ that we are called to.

It is easy to say “death to self and life in Christ,” but it is difficult to actually live it out. The second half sounds good, but the first is very difficult. But true living only happens when we do this, we’ve that will be our focus over the next few weeks.

– Sermon Notes, Jeff Krabach, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, July 15, 2018

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The Sufficiency of God’s Message, Christ – Hebrews 1:1-3

Often in our lives, we wish God would just speak directly, concretely, telling us exactly what we should do or say, especially in the midst of major life decisions. It can be frustrating when He doesn’t do this. But God does speak to us, and here the author of Hebrews talks about how He does this.

This letter, though we don’t know the author, was written to Jewish Christians who were struggling to understand the nature and superiority of Christ versus the incomplete picture given to the Jews in the Old Testament.

In the past, God spoke through prophets, but that was not sufficient. There was a break of 400 years without any prophets, until the appearance of John the Baptist, the Herald of Christ, the new and final message, a message so vital that it came not merely as words but as a Person.

We are told several things here about Christ as the greatest message of God that we should remember when we seek to hear from God.

First, Christ is the heir of all things. He is bound to rule and care for His family. Ultimately, we are all His, as is everything around us. He is Himself the creator of all things. All the beauty of nature and all the genius of humanity has its origin in Him.

Second, He is the radiance of God’s glory. Like the light of the sun, we see the glory of God by the actions of Christ. He is, according Hebrews “the exact representation of God.” Christ himself said, “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” Separate from the Father and yet unified in the Trinity. Even coming as an infant, a carpenter and itinerant preacher, the glory of God shone out of Him.

Third, Christ sustains all things. Everything we take for granted is granted us by the love and grace of Christ. This gives us hope, because our trust in Him rests on the same thing that supports the very universe.

And He doesn’t merely sustain the universe, but purifies it, and us. This work of purification was complete and full, and afterwards He rested at the right hand of the Father.

The message God spoke through His Son was amazing, complete and sufficient. Christ’s life is the message that is sufficient to guide us in our lives.

Like in the garden, though, we question the sufficiency of this message from God. Like children who haven’t finished their dinner and yet are hungry, we think we have consumed all of what Christ is and want something more and new. Rather than asking for a new message, we should seek to better know and understand the message God gave us through His Son. It is not a message that comes to us once and is then finished with us, but a message that progressively reveals more and more to us about how we should love and love and find satisfaction in Christ.

– Sermon Notes, Jeff Krabach, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, July 8, 2018

Hebrews 1:1-3

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Jesus is a Big Lego Baseplate – 2 Corinthians 13:5-14

All through this letter, Paul has been defending his apostolic ministry – not just himself, but the message he brought to the Corinthians. In this last section, he shifts to more directly addressing the Corinthians’ relationship with Christ, and the question of what living like Christ actually looks like. The calls them to examine and test themselves, to see if they are showing evidence of the gospel of Christ.

Paul is not asking in order to say no, but rather, calling back to the opening of the letter, the answer “is always ‘yes’ in Christ.” He believes that they will indeed pass the test, despite everything. He asks the Corinthians to see what he sees in them. Paul sets up this final examination as a righteous trap, designed to shift their attention from themselves to Christ within us, and to seek the evidence of Christ in our lives. We should be able to see this evidence, as should others. This introspection should not be self-absorbed, but rather focused on Christ in us. As a result of this self-examination, we should see where we are living like Christ, and where we are not, so that we can change that.

Paul then moves to his prayers for the Corinthians, but he twice interrupts himself to emphasize that this is not about him. He may well have failed on his part, but that does not matter as long as the Corinthians change their ways and live as a restored church in the light of Christ. Paul’s whole goal in this letter is to build up the church in advance of his arrival.

This is why he spends so much time defending his apostolic ministry. Not for his own sake, but for the sake of the gospel and its impact on the lives of the Corinthians. Paul is far more concerned with the actions of the Corinthians than his own reputation.

This leads to Paul’s hope, not just for the Corinthians but also for us. He ends with five works he wants to see erupt in the church, moving them towards a unified community centered on Christ.

First, he calls them to rejoice, because of the great gift Christ has given them. Second, he calls them towards restoration, the same call he has been making all through the letter. Third, he calls them to comfort one another. To comfort one another, we must know one another. Fourth, he calls on them to agree with one another. This doesn’t mean complete agreement in all things, but rather that we consider the choice between “being right” and being unified. Fifth, he calls them to live in peace – in Shalom, with each other and with Christ.

Overall, he calls them to a community that builds each other up upon the foundation of Christ. Christ is like the big Lego baseplate upon which all of us, as Legos, build up the church. The task of living in peace and community is a big one, but Paul promises that the God of love and peace will be with them in that task. We are not to try to enlist him in dissension or disunity.

Paul closes the letter with a Trinitarian call for the grace of Christ to make itself known to the Corinthians, and the infinite love of God the Father, and all this to express itself through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. This triune God, in community with Himself and with us, is both the model and the empowerment for living in community with each other. This means we must look at our interactions with each other in the light of Christ, not in light of our own agendas.

This brings us back to the notion of self-examination, seeking Christ within us. There are two ways we do this wrong. We can live our lives without ever looking for God, running on autopilot and focusing only on the things of this world. “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.” It is a passive neglect of this vital relationship.

Sometimes, though, the neglect is more active. Jesus is in us, but we do not want to look at him. Either way, God is patient and persistent, and always working to restore us to right relationship with Him. He is with us, and we do not need to live like He is not. Take advantage of the fact that He is working in you and amongst you. Where is Christ at work in you?

– Sermon Notes, Jeff Krabach, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, July 1, 2018

2 Corinthians 13:5-14

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Paul’s Resume of Suffering – 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Paul here reflects a “divine jealousy” for the Corinthians, continuing from earlier in the chapter. He is hurt by the rejection of the people there in favor of the “super-apostles” who are preaching a false gospel, adding works to the grace of Christ.

So Paul responds with pure, uncut sarcasm. The Corinthians put up with these false teachers who are authoritarian (“enslave you”), who exploit the church for financial gain, who puff themselves up and overall abuse them. He apologizes, sarcastically, for not having mistreated them in the same way, since that is apparently what they respond to.

Behind this sarcasm, we can sense some pain – these are people Paul has known and loved and led to Christ, and they are turning down a dark path.

So, since they respond to foolish boasting, Paul jumps in with his own foolish boasting. He lists facts and anecdotes about both his spiritual status and the price he has paid for his ministry. “Do you want to play? Let’s play.” He lists out the trials and pain and agony he endured for the sake of the gospel, at the hands of both Jews and gentiles, from mobs and governments, bandits and nature. Many of these stories are recounted in Acts, though the shipwrecks he mentions don’t even include the shipwreck story in that book! (Paul was not someone you wanted to go boating with.)

Paul is more concerned, though, with the spiritual lives of the people in the Church, not just in Corinth but everywhere. He feels intensely the weakness and shame of those in the church who struggled – including the Corinthians themselves. All this is in sharp contrast to the Super-Apostles he opposes.

Paul’s last physical boast is about the time he was lowered in a basket to escape the city of Damascus – possibly to set up a moderately clever contrast with being “caught up” to heaven watch he gets into in the next section.

So this is Paul’s “resume of suffering.” We all have our own resume of suffering. We go through things and we don’t know why. Even though our circumstances are very different than Paul’s, and usually are not derived from persecution like Paul’s, there is still much we can learn here. First of all, even though we may suffer and not know why, God’s love never wavers as He identifies with us in our pain.

It is easy to believe that if we do everything right, we will have an easy life. But as Paul’s life makes clear, that is not how it works.

Bart Ehrman, an atheist, has a book called “God’s Problem” where he examines the reasons for suffering in the Bible and decides that because there are multiple reasons given, the Bible is contradictory. As Christians, and adults who are able to understand things slightly more complex than a child’s story, we can understand that, hey, maybe there are just a lot of different reasons for suffering?

But Ehrman does a good job of breaking down the different kinds of suffering seen in the Scripture. “Classical suffering” is that which results from the consequences of sin, which we see in Genesis as well as the results of sin in the nation of Israel. “Redemptive suffering” is suffering that results in the ultimate alleviation of suffering, like the story of Joseph or, of course, the Cross. There is “meaningless suffering,” which is suffering without a comprehensible purpose, at least in this life (Job, Ecclesiastes.) And finally, “apocalyptic suffering” which is the result of taking a stand for God, as described in Revelation, and Paul here is describing the as well.

Across these types of suffering, we must grapple with why a good God allows it to happen, the problem of “theodicy.”

However you interpret that, one thing Paul makes clear is that suffering is not the result of a “lack of faith.” While we may not be able to understand why we are being allowed to suffer, we must understand that God still loves us in that suffering, and in fact knows intimately what it is like to suffer. The Gospel is not put on hold because we suffer.

As a body, we are not called to understand or even categorize all the suffering among us. We are called to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice, to follow the lead of our very Creator in entering into and coming alongside the suffering in our midst.

– Sermon Notes, Dave Lester, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, June 10, 2018

2 Corinthians 11:16-33

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The Negotiators – 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

The tone of the letter has shifted significantly from previous section. He starts with a brief attempt to be placating, before shifting into a fairly strong defense of himself and his ministry and attack on those leading the Corinthians away.

The bride deceived:
Paul compares himself to the father of a bride, betrothed to Christ, who he himself had introduced to his daughter, the Corinthians. He had responsibilities to ensure that they upheld their own responsibilities. Betrothal was a stronger bond than engagement today, and any philandering would have been considered adultery.

The comparison then moves on to Eve and being deceived by the serpent

The great guys:
The Corinthians, set up by their Greco-Roman culture, long for a traditional patron-client relationship. Paul refuses to play into that and insists the Christianity not become a political system. Then, these “super apostles” come on the scene, ready to tell people what they want to hear, be who they want them to be, and preach about a Jesus who sounds like who our humanity wants Him to be. They were showmen preaching a different gospel.

Self-support:
It appears that these showmen didn’t like that Paul worked as a tentmaker and supported himself during his ministry to the Corinthians. Paul didn’t treat all churches the same way. The church in Philipi supported him financially, while he was preaching in Corinth. More than that, the Macedonian churches like Philipi were poor, and yet funded ministry in the rich city of Corinth. Paul knew that the motivations of the Philippians were both joyful and holy, as opposed to the more worldly, grasping motives of the Corinthians.

Focus shift & false apostles:
Paul turns the tables on his opponents in Corinth, calling them out for their greed and deceit. He had alluded to Satan in the Eve comparison earlier, but now he is overt about it. There is no walking back this set of attacks.

The Corinthians knew the truth of the gospel Paul had preached, but allowed themselves to be swayed by the flowery words and negotiation skills of the “super apostles.”

Like those Corinthians, there are many things pulling us away from the gospel. The truth of Christ puts a mirror up to our sin, and it can seem easier to adjust the mirror than to change our behavior. This is all the more true when there are “deceitful workers” in our midst.

To avoid these issues, we must know God and His word well enough to be able to distinguish the true gospel film the false, and God’s servants from Satan’s.

We must be shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves. Paul demonstrates this, shrewdly avoiding taking any money for himself from the Corinthians, cutting the feet out from under the false apostles there.

We must be careful about who we take advice and counsel from. This is even more true in this digital age with so many different influences from so many different sources, most of them opposed to the gospel.

How do you make time to have the kind of solid relationship with Christ that will defend you from the harmful influences around us?

– Sermon Notes, Aaron James, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, June 3, 2018

2 Corinthians 11:1-15

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Commending the Gospel – 2 Corinthians 10:12-18

God, through Paul, is constantly beating the drum that human achievement and esteem is worthless compared to the work of Christ. Here, it is in the context of Paul defending the legitimacy of his ministry against the “super apostles” who are preaching a gospel of style, success, comfort and self. It is exactly the gospel that the Corinthians wanted to hear.

The gospel the infiltrators preached was man-centered, and Paul and his associates counter it by commending themselves only as servants of God, lowly and abused. Paul is using himself as an illustration of what matters to God, putting Christ on display as he becomes nothing.

Paul was the first to preach the gospel to the Corinthians, and uses that as a reminder that he is the one responsible for their salvation, while his opponents are taking what he laid in place and twisting it, then taking responsibility and accolades for the entire thing.

Paul, however, seeks the spiritual health of the Corinthians, so that he can move beyond them and preach in Rome and beyond. But he wants to ensure that before he moves on, he leaves the Corinthians in a position to succeed without his direct leadership.

He goes on to quote Jeremiah, who criticizes the strong and the wise, not because of their strength and wisdom, but because they live as if those are the attributes God truly cares about.

The cross of Christ is where human ability and excellence are brought low, and the foolishness of God is exalted.

To boast in yourself is to betray the cross, to set yourself up in opposition to the sacrifice made there. The world does this on a regular basis, seeing the truth of the gospel as mythology and their own intelligence and education as superior to the power of God.

But we trust in the sacrifice of Christ and the grace of God for our sustenance and salvation. God exists to exalt himself, not us, and we, like Paul are created to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.

Like Martin Luther, we struggle with the notion that we do not bring anything to God. Instead, through His grace, God brings things to us that we then give back to God and to those around us. When we look upon the cross, the success and abilities of the world melt away and a naked 33-year-old man hanging on a cross in the 1st century becomes our everything.

– Sermon Notes, Brian Bailey, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, May 27, 2018

2 Corinthians 10:12-18

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Affections for Christ – 2 Corinthians 10:1-11

To correct the false teachings swirling around the church of Corinth, Paul had earlier sent the “severe letter” to shake them out of the influence of the False Apostles. Many in the church responded, and repented, but not all. For much of 2 Corinthians, he is writing with encouragement to those who responded, but in this chapter he shifts to responding to those who remain out of fellowship with him.

It is not a complete switch, though. In chapter 9, Paul sets up the theme of this chapter in the context of giving. He was more concerned with affections rather than specific amounts. That theme continues here. Affections matter, because affections ultimately guide our actions.

Paul’s teaching style of humility and gentleness had been attacked by the false apostles, who saw bold, articulate rhetoric as the marker of true leadership.

Paul calls for unity in affection for Christ, in opposition to the False Apostles who were seeking to divide the church. This letter would have been read to the entire church, including the False Apostles and their followers. This means he is speaking to multiple groups at the same time.

He calls on the false leaders to repent, but in the knowledge that some will not, he gives the congregation the tools they need to determine the affections of those leaders. That is the reverse of the False Apostles, who pointed to how Paul did things, not why. They put their style and swagger against Paul’s humility and gentleness.

Paul is not defending himself here, but rather defending the presentation of the gospel in a manner that mirrors Christ, in “the meekness and gentleness” that He modeled. He is defending the notion that it is the affection for Christ that matters, rather than articulate speech or showmanship.

The alternative to affection for Christ is affection for ourselves.

Good leaders come alongside and point to the splendor Christ, rather than to themselves. And we are all leaders, in one form or another. Someone is watching all of us as an example in some way.

If you have never given your affections to Christ, know that the sacrifice of His death and power of the Holy Spirit offer you the opportunity to shift your affections from the empty things of this world and the unsatisfying affection for yourself.

If you do know Christ, today offers the opportunity for repentance and reorientation towards Him and away from yourself.

– Sermon Notes, Matthew Gisle, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, May 20, 2018

2 Corinthians 10:1-11

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Cheerful Generosity – 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

The Corinthians had talked a good game about giving, and Paul had passed that on to other churches. As things progressed, though, the actual generosity of the church looked like it was going to fail to live up to the lofty rhetoric the Corinthians had used.

Paul then has two problems to solve. On the one hand, there are real needs and real expectations. If the Corinthians fail to keep their end of the bargain, both they and Paul will look foolish.

But even more importantly, Paul wants the Corinthians to have a generosity of spirit that spills out into giving in this way, not giving because they were forced or cajoled. He cites both Proverbs and Psalms to encourage this, holding out the blessings of God as both a cause of and a response to the generosity of Christians.

This should not be considered a transactional arrangement, nor an opportunity to achieve selfish desires by giving up others. This is certainly not the prosperity gospel, but rather the enablement of all people to participate in this generosity, with the promise of God’s care in response

God Himself is the ultimate giver, having given us the indescribable gift of grace. As we are made in God’s image, our giving of our time and resources is a picture of that gift. The converse is also true – we are also mortal and built to receive as well.

Are we willing to surrender our will and material goods to God in an increasingly materialistic culture? And beyond materialism, there is the anxiety around our bills, expenses and saving for the future. How do we give sacrificially in this context?

First, we should budget it, both financially and in terms of the time we give. Giving should probably hurt a little bit, if it is really to be sacrificial. On the flip side, God wants it to be both voluntary and cheerful. We can only do both by recognizing that everything we have is itself a gift from God, and that loving others is, in fact, loving God.

But the first step to becoming a sacrificial giver is by receiving the sacrificial gift given by Christ.

– Sermon Notes, Dave Lester, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, May 13, 2018

2 Corinthians 9:1-15

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