Proper 23A’26
11 October 2026
Philippians 4.1-9
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Rev. Carey Stone <+>
Loving God, in a hostile and divided world, your Son is The Way: Enable us so to follow in His steps, that your light may brightly shine through us to welcome, heal and restore all who are weary, and come within our influence and witness, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Think about the best Christian you know or have known in your life? What stands out to you about them? What were some of their qualities that affected you the most? If we were to compare our stories about all of these people, I’ll bet we would come up with some similar profiles. What they stood or stand for that’s to say what they believed, surely found expression in the way they lived. Their orthodoxy (right beliefs) found their way into orthopraxy (right practices). In other words, I’ll bet they all had a tendency to practice what they preached. Every aspect of their life was affected and directed by the transforming Spirit of God – they were the Real Deal!
This morning our reading from St. Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi is a powerful invitation into a whole new way of living, that stood out from the pagan world. To follow the Way of Christ means that it really is all about love! One of the first points he makes is there is unresolved conflict between two faithful women of the church that had been helpful to Paul in shared ministry. Listen to the way The Message translation puts it:
My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you.
You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.
I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn’t want his children holding grudges. And oh, yes, Syzygus, since you’re right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the gospel hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans – worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the Book of Life.
[I’ll break in here for a moment to reflect on how much everyone valued each other, Paul was brokenhearted to hear that two dear women that he had worked side by side with were at odds and causing trouble for other parishioners. Reconciliation is what the Way of Christ called for. Now back to the Message:]
Don’t fret or worry, instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. [Philippians 4.1-9 The Message translation]
That’s why it’s no accident that the first piece of furniture we encounter upon entering the church is the baptismal font, a place where we admit our need of a savior, and where we turn from a life of self-centeredness to a life of self-sacrifice and service.
I like what I heard from the paster of another church in our city who tells all who come, “You can visit as long as you would like. You aren’t required to be anything, or do anything, and giving money is not required. But if you want to join as a new member then there are expectations. The expectations center around your way of living patterned on the life of Jesus Christ. The love of Christ, and the love of neighbor as we love yourselves becomes the yardstick by which our lives and conduct are measured by.
We are called to live together as a community, and guard the unity, and offer a safe place where grudges are released, estrangement turns toward reconciliation, gossip and slander ceases and affirmation and gentle good will becomes the norm in our dealings with each other. Both the physically and spiritually hungry are welcomed that they may find the food they need, the wounded so they can find healing; and where the poor in spirit can find living waters for their parched souls.
As we have been welcomed by grace, so we keep extending that same welcome. We are transformed to where our entire lives become a welcoming invitation to the world. As we as individual members of the body of Christ and of St. Luke’s combine our time, financial resources, and diverse talents we are able to create and sustain a thriving, beautiful community where others can encounter the love of Jesus. God is building a beautiful community out of the members of St. Luke’s. To illustrate this shift from being an admirer of Jesus to follower I’d like to tell the story of Bobby.
Bobby bought a historic, but severely run down 100-year-old home. It had beautiful bones, but it was falling apart. Because he couldn’t afford a full renovation all at once, he decided to hire a master carpenter to fix up just one room—the front parlor.
Bobby thought, “I’ll give this carpenter access to the parlor. He can fix the drywall, paint it, and make it look beautiful so that when guests come over, they are impressed.”
The carpenter came in, and he did an incredible job. The room was breathtaking. But a week later, Bobby noticed the carpenter wasn’t in the parlor anymore. He heard hammering coming from the kitchen. Bobby walked in and saw the carpenter tearing up the rotted floorboards.
Bobby said, “Whoa, hold on! We didn’t agree to this. The kitchen isn’t part of the deal. I only paid you for the parlor.”
The master carpenter stopped, looked at Bobby, and said gently, ” I am a restorer of entire homes, not just individual rooms. If I leave this rotted wood in the kitchen, the structural damage will eventually compromise the beautiful parlor we just built. I don’t want to stop with the parlor; I intend to restore the whole house.!”
When we are welcomed into the Christian community, Jesus doesn’t just want the “parlor” of our Sunday mornings. He looks at our lives and says, “I want the kitchen, too. I want the office. I want the wallet. I want your calendar. I want your unique skills.”
This morning, as we’ve looked at Philippians 4, St. Paul is giving us the blueprint for what happens when we stop treating faith like a Sunday obligation and start treating it as a comprehensive way of living. It is a lifestyle that we are called to, where we radically welcome others, just as we were welcomed, and where we with open hearts, and open red doors, surrender our time, our money, and our talents back to the Master Craftsman who is rebuilding our lives from the foundation up, and from the inside out! Amen!