ISSL Reflections November 19 2023 Colossians 2:16–23 Post 2

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IV.
As we return to this passage, please notice the last sentence,

“These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.”

What does this suggest to you is the goal of practicing the “regulations” identified here?

V.
Colossians 2:16-23 (NRSVue)

Therefore, do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food or drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the body belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental principles of the world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.

VI.
What do folk think they gain by practicing these “human commands and teachings”?

Do they want to improve their lives? Do they want to become more Christlike?

Do they want to become “wise, pious and humble” or do they want to appear to be so?

What do you think leads Paul to consider such “of no value in checking self-indulgence”?

What “self-indulgence” do they want to put behind them and what “self-indulgence” do they embrace?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections November 19 2023 Colossians 2:16–23 Post 1

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I.
As we turn to these few sentences to the Epistle to the disciples in Colossae, do you hear Paul tell them,

“Do Not submit to regulations.”

Take that waring from Paul and listen to him speak of “regulations” that are “simply human commands and teachings.”

What “regulations” does he identify in these paragraphs?

II.
Colossians 2:16-23 (NRSVue)

Therefore, do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food or drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the body belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental principles of the world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.

III.
What did you notice?

  • Food, drink
  • Festivals
  • Self-abasement
  • Worship of angels
  • Visions

Do you ever notice such “regulations” taking a priority in the life of disciples today?

What other “regulations … commands … teachings … ,” do you notice that take on an inflated importance in the life of discipleship today?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections November 12 2023 Romans 13:8–10; 1 Corinthians 13:8–13 Post 3

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VII.
Let’s give another reading to both of these passages.

Take note that Paul speaks of what fulfills, what never ends, and what ceases.

Read the passages again, looking for how the eternal might break into our lives that are often held captive to the momentary.

VIII.
Romans 13:8-10 (NRSVue)

Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (NRSVue)

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.

IX.
“… for the one who loves has fulfilled the law … love never ends … I have been fully known … faith, hope and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.”

Where does the One who fully knows you, see faith, hope and love in our life?

Where do you see faith, hope and love in your life?

What does Paul offer you in the way of hope and the three, faith, hope and love, can increase in your life?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections November 12 2023 Romans 13:8–10; 1 Corinthians 13:8–13 Post 2

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IV.
Today, let’s read both of these passages and then return to the 1 Corinthians passage and reread it.

In part this passage deals with time. What do you hear it telling you about time and the ending of things?

V.
Romans 13:8-10 (NRSVue)

Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (NRSVue)

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.

VI.
What does Paul tell us will end?

And on the other side, what does he tell us will not end?

After he mentions “… knowledge … will come to an end…” he introduces the idea that some things are partial or incomplete, and yet, he tells us “the complete” can come. And apparently to offer another illustration of this he references what a child can think, reason and know as opposed to an adult who “put[s] and end to childish ways.”

And to still give another illustration he contrasts seeing a reflection and seeing “face to face.”

I can’t help but think Paul is trying to help us catch a glimpse of the eternal and at the same time, hold what we think we know with a sense of humility.

What do you think? Does Paul offer you any reassurance that we can know something of the eternal given we live in a world where things will come to an end and cease?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections November 12 2023 Romans 13:8–10; 1 Corinthians 13:8–13 Post 1

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I.
This week we will focus on passages from two of the Pauline epistles, Romans and 1 Corinthians.

Both passages stress “love.”

After you read both passages, come back to the Romans passage and listen for how love “fulfilled the law.”

II.
Romans 13:8-10 (NRSVue)

Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (NRSVue)

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.

III.
Paul tells us “the one who loves has fulfilled the law … love is the fulfilling of the law.”

What does love do that fulfills the law?

How does love take one beyond keeping the commandments?

Maybe we could even ask how love takes us beyond doing and on to being the person that loves.

Can you identify something you “owe” to another person? Can you think of how love can “pay-off” what you owe?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections November 5 2023 Acts 15:1–11 Post 3

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VII.
“After much debate Peter stood up and said to them …”

As you read this passage today, think of what those who wanted the Gentile believers “to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses” wanted to hear from the meeting of “the apostles and elders” and what they did hear.

VIII.
Acts 15:1-11 (NRSVue)

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers,you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us, and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

IX.
What does Peter claim about his part in what brought this issue to the point the apostles and elders faced here?

Did he claim too much or was he reporting the situation accurately?

Is he right that the “yoke” the “believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees” wanted to place on the neck of the Gentile believers was so heavy that no one had been able to carry, and no one could carry it?

What “yoke” of discipleship can you manage?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections November 5 2023 Acts 15:1–11 Post 2

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IV.
From where we stand in the history of the spread of the Christian religion, I think we know which side “won” this argument? Right?

What if it wasn’t resolved in the way it was?

V.
Acts 15:1-11 (NRSVue)

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers,you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us, and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

VI.
What was the mantra of the “believers who belonged to the sect of Pharisees” we see here?

“It is necessary … “
“… to be circumcised …” is necessary
“… to keep the law of Moses … “ is necessary”

You do see this disagreement was between two “sects” (or groups, or factions) of believers? It was not coming from those outside the fellowship of Christ followers.

What do you think was most important to this group of believers who wanted circumcision and keeping the law of Moses to be required for all Christ followers?

Take a moment to think about various groups (or factions or sects, or denominations or communities of Christ followers – pick the description you like) of Christ followers today and notice what divides them and what doctrines, or rituals, or practices or behaviors or dress is required as necessary and essential for Christ followers?

Why?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections November 5 2023 Acts 15:1–11 Post 1

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I.
We find some tension here – “… certain individuals came down from Judea … others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem …”

But it is not merely a tension in geography – “… were teaching … unless you are … no small dissension … discuss this question with the apostles and elders….”

So it ranges all the way from “teaching” to “dissension” to “discuss this question with …”

Take time to not only read this passage but also to sense the tension, the argument, and the importance of this matter to those on both sides of the argument.

II.
Acts 15:1-11 (NRSVue)

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.”

The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers,you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us, and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

III.
Why was it important for those “certain individuals who came down from Judea” to make the journey and teach what they were teaching?

What do you think they thought was the danger in what was happening in Antioch?

Do you think they wanted to halt the teaching of the Gospel to these folk or was it something else?

How do we decide what is so important it must become a matter of dissension among the disciples of Jesus?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections October 29 2023 Galatians 3:23–4:7 Post 3

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VII.
What does Paul say about those who are no longer “under the law”?

VIII.
Galatians 3:23-4:7 (NRSVue)

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be reckoned as righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than those who are enslaved, though they are the owners of all the property, but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God.

IX.
What catches and holds your attention the most –

  • Faith has come
  • We are no longer subject to a disciplinarian
  • You are all children of God
  • Have clothed yourselves with Christ
  • All of you are in in Christ Jesus
  • You belong to Christ
  • The fullness of time [has] come
  • Redeemed
  • Receive adoption as children
  • God has sent the Spirit into our heart
  • [You can cry] “Abba Father?”
  • No longer a slave
  • Also an heir through God

What of the above do you find the hardest to believe?

What seems the easiest to believe?

What do you claim and live into day to day?

What is missing from your daily life?

What do you need to do about what is present and what is absent from your life?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections October 29 2023 Galatians 3:23–4:7 Post 2

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IV.
Let’s look at this passage again and notice how Paul writes about being “imprisoned,” “enslaved,” “minors,” and even “heirs.”

V.
Galatians 3:23-4:7 (NRSVue)

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be reckoned as righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than those who are enslaved, though they are the owners of all the property, but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God.

VI.
Yes, he speaks of prisons and slavery but he also speaks of law as our “disciplinarian.”

What images does that bring to mind for you, especially as you think about “the law,” i.e. The Torah?

What is translated in the New Revised Standard Version as “disciplinarian,” other translations have “guardian,” “tutor,” “schoolmaster,” and “custodian.”

Here is how it is presented in the Phillips translation:

“… the Law was like a strict governess in charge of us until we went to the school of Christ and learned to be justified by faith in him. Once we had that faith we were completely free from the governess’s authority.”

What has it been like for you to attend the “school of Christ”?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}