Jesus has been called many things, but when we get down to it who is he really?

Are you straining forward to what lies ahead or trying to drive on I-20 while looking in the rearview mirror? Our calling is toward today and tomorrow, not to look back with nostalgic longing for those good old days.

Paul placed his religious resume before the Philippians. Then he said, it is all rubbish. “What I did doesn’t matter any longer because of the excellency of knowing Christ.”

Do we have our own faith, or are we living out of a secondhand faith? What happens when we discover the difference of knowing Christ and his suffering?  Huh? Remember, Paul is in quarantine, it is more than inconvenience. It could mean sudden death.  Yet, nothing matters to Paul, but knowing and sharing Jesus.

What has become most important to you and your faith journey through this time? How do you suppose we move forward?

Paul used some foreign words to us Methodists, “we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” Is this right? Didn’t Paul know about the Methodist emphasis on God’s grace? We don’t do anything about our salvation, God does everything. What is going on here?  Is that theological bait and switch?  Or is Paul proclaiming the responsibilities and rewards of living in God’s grace.

Paul gave some other instructions for how to live under Roman domination. How to live in a way you can be light and life, even with your mask on. Are you shining like stars in the world, even with your mask on?

Paul was chained to a soldier. At any minute another soldier could enter the room and haul Paul off for trial and execution. Yet Paul told the Philippians “to make my joy complete.” How could they do that? By living upside down.

An important word in this time has been kenosis…. emptying. What have we let go of? How have we learned the truth of what Jesus said, “those who seek to save their lives will lose them.” How have we lived out this idea of emptying ourselves and becoming obedient.

Paul was in Roman quarantine (house arrest, which he paid for), which interrupted his plans, goals and aspirations. Yet he didn’t lose his joy. (Joy and Rejoice appear numerous times in the Philippian epistle.) His affirmation to the Philippians included the assurance that God’s work would not be interrupted. As we open up, do you feel this way about God’s working in your life? Is God completing the project he began in you? What was interrupted in your life by this quarantine?

What did you discover in your quarantine? Did you discover joy and blamelessness or as John Wesley said, “Holy and happy living.” What projects will God complete in you and through you?