In what is perhaps one of his most well developed and mature statements of faith, Paul writes to the church at Philippi. Gone from this book are the anger he directed at some of the churches under his care, gone is the arrogance he showed to others … in Philippians Paul writes mostly about what it means to live as a reflection of Christ following his example. Hence we find in this book the beautiful hymn to the humility of Christ:

"If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

This morning's text from Philippians writes of Paul's hopes for the church: "Only live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."

When reading the epistles, it is tempting to relegate them to the realm of the esoteric … setting them aside as pertaining only to a few and having little practical application for us. But, remember, as obtuse as some of these letters can read, these were letters written to people like us … congregations who were dealing with very specific issues brought about by their time and circumstance. The letters were meant to be directives for behavior, not exercises in theological gymnastics. And so we are urged in this morning's text – live a life worthy of the gospel, a life that is a reflection of the light of Christ. What does that look like?

For the church at Philippi it meant standing firm in the midst of persecution, to never waver in the practices of faith that would lead others to believe, to treat others in the way Christ would treat them. In many ways, not a whole lot different than instructions that might be given today, yet I suspect if Paul were writing to us he'd add a few more specifics. For we are the 24/7 world … we are never "off." We can pretty much do or get anything we want no matter what the time. We are in a hurry … when is the last time you ever did just one thing? Anyone multi-tasking right now? I am often guilty of that – I'll be paying partial attention to a meeting, mentally making a to-do list, and at the same time writing out a letter or jotting sermon thoughts down. Perhaps Paul would pull us back to a more "attentive" life. He would remind us of John Wesley's rules for living: Do no harm, do all the good you can, and attend to the ordinances of God or love God. In our 24/7 world we go too fast – we do not live carefully, because there is no time. And so, we do not pay attention to what God would have us do, we miss God's direction. In his latest book, "From Members to Disciples," Michael Foss writes: "Move only as fast as you can on your knees." I am challenging the congregation to enter into a daily, five week time of prayer with me during which time we will all be reading and praying the same thing. My challenge is to get 100 families or individuals to join with me in a daily time of prayer beginning on October 20th. We will be using a book written by one of our Bishops on becoming an effective congregation. We already have 100 copies of the book and I invite you to sign up today for this challenge … just see me after worship this morning. After joining in prayer together, our Membership Upkeep and Growth Team, affectionately know as the MUG team will be challenging us to deepen our faith by practicing some of the other "ordinances" of God such as fasting. It is all part of the call Paul issued to the Philippian church: "live a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ."

The consequences of not living carefully, of trying to go faster than God … two things: First, we become like the squabbling disciples to whom this morning's gospel lesson is directed. We spend more time and energy on worrying about our place … .making sure we get our fair share and then some … that we are no longer living a life that reflects God's love. Second, when we do not take the time to pay attention to God, to wait on God's word then we also get swept up in the "crisis of the day," and lose our focus on living in the example of Jesus Christ. This is not to say the issues we face are not real and sometimes heart wrenching. It does not mean we bury our heads in the sand and pretend all is well. What it means to focus on the love of God in Christ Jesus is to look at the world and respond accordingly. It is to be continually defined by the love of God and not by the evil of the world, or say, the financial crisis of our country or whatever else life deals us. Again, those issues are very real, but God's love is bigger and stronger.

How different our livew would be if we took Paul's words to the Philippians as our call to living: "life a life worthy of the gospel," and perhaps lived it out through the rules for living of John Wesley, again: "do no harm, do all the good you can; and attend to the ordinances of God." As a start I challenge you to join me in our upcoming five weeks of prayer as we reflect together on what it means to be an effective congregation. Will you walk with me as we re-discover what it means to live carefully and prayerfully a life worthy of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

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