Our faith says that Jesus Christ is Lord, and this is the one fact upon which we build our lives. And, it’s not simply that Jesus is Lord; it’s how He is Lord.

The apostle Paul tells us that this One who “existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with a God a thing to be grasped” (Phil. 2:6). This alone speaks volumes but there is more. This One “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant (Phil. 2:7). That pushes the envelope a bit, doesn’t it? God becomes a servant. In what universe does a god become a servant? In our universe gods have servants making over them twenty-four seven. They don’t serve; instead, they are served.

Jesus comes to us as the One who serves, and He served all the way to Calvary where He died on a cross. A God who dies on behalf of his kingdom, that’s strange, too, isn’t it? In our universe people all over the kingdoms are dying for the kings and the kingdoms. In the economy of Jesus only one has to die, and that One is the King Himself.

Because of the kind of Lord Jesus is it is said of Him that “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). This is true to such a degree that Paul says someday “every knee will bow….and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” (Phil. 2:11).

And, exactly why are we told all these things? Because we are called to have the same attitude in ourselves that was in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5). As He emptied Himself let us empty ourselves and live so as to reflect that the One we say is Lord is the One who comes to us as Servant.

Paul’s testimony was clear and concise: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). He believed that if he died he would “be with Christ” (vs. 23) and that if he lived it would “mean fruitful labor” (vs. 22). He was willing to accept whatever came his way and he would leave that decision to God.

I suppose, in the end, we do whatever our faith calls us to do, and leave outcome decisions to God. Our role is faithfulness. It is up to God as to where our faithfulness leads. It might mean death and to be with Christ now or it might mean life and continued ministry in the name of the One to whom we have entrusted everything.

To live in this world, according to Paul, is to conduct oneself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (see Phil. 1:27). For him this means “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (vs. 28). If we die, we go to be with Jesus. If we live, we go on to live together “standing firm…in one spirit…with one mind…striving together.”

Faithfulness is not about isolated and private obedience. It is about “striving together…for the faith of the gospel.”

On the way to heaven we really ought to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel, and we really ought to do it TOGETHER.

Don’t you want to be a part of a community of people who are standing firm together and who are striving together for the faith of the gospel? Sure sounds like the place I want to be. Sounds like the people of whom I want to be apart.

Jesus explains grace in such a way that one must conclude it is simply outrageous. It seems that a certain debtor owed a creditor more money than most of us will see in a lifetime -- ten thousand talents. Doesn't compute in my brain until we see that one talent was an amount exceeding a fifteen-year salary. Fifteen years of income multiplied by ten thousand. You do the math. It's outrageous, ludicrous, and absurd. And, you know what? The creditor had mercy and forgave the entire debt. Talk about winning the lottery without buying a ticket. This is huge.

Then, this forgiven but incredibly ungrateful man goes out and finds somebody who owes him one hundred denarii, about three months wages, demands his money, seizes the man, begins to choke him, demanding "Pay back what you owe" (Matt. 18:21-25). And, Jesus then makes it known that He is not a happy camper and says that if this is the game the man wants to play, so be it, but he will receive the punishment due one who was forgiven so much but who forgave so little; and off he went to the place where he would be held to the strictest accountability until his ten thousand talents were paid in full.

God stuns us by His outrageous generosity and then calls us to live in our worlds in that same outrageous generosity. Do you know who Christians are? They are people who have been stunned by God's amazing grace and then live stunning others by extending grace.

Don't you just love living for Jesus!

True Life in community is a tricky thing, including the community of those who believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Life in His community means a corporate uniting of individual “living stones” into “a spiritual house for a holy priesthood (See I Peter 2:1-10). Individuality is not Lord here. Rather, Jesus is Lord; and, it is His life in the midst of the community that makes the community what it is.

St. Francis said it was in dying that we find eternal life. In that light, it is in living, not selfishly but for the sake of the community of Jesus, that we find ourselves. It is together we pray and fellowship and work and praise and honor God. We are on the journey together. We’re not Lone Rangers; we are the fellowship of the redeemed.

Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in there in their midst” (Matt. 18:20). A community of two becomes a community of three because Jesus is there, and community of three becomes a community of four because Jesus is there IN THEIR MIDST.

Is it too much to ask that we live empty of self indulgence and filled with the Spirit of God so that Jesus may be in our midst? After all, isn’t it the presence and influence of Jesus we all seek?

Come, Lord Jesus. Come into the midst of your people.