Even in the church in Philippi, known as the “happy church,” we find two women. Euodia and Syntyche fighting. We are told they were good people, great servants of the Lord and a big help to the Apostle Paul. We are given no details about what the conflict was, but it was big enough to stir up much concern and anxiety. Paul writes to the whole church saying in verse 2 “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, [referring to the beloved congregation,] help these women…”
I wonder if the people started grumbling, “That’s
none of my business… it’s between the two of them…I don’t want to get involved…
they are beyond help…I don’t like conflict. I am too nervous to say anything…”
If Rodney King were a member of the happy church, we
know what he would say, “Can’t we just all get along?”
No, we can’t, Mr. King. We cannot just do what it
takes to get along. We cannot. At least, we can’t do it without the power of the
Holy Spirit working in us, guiding us to a place of justice and peace. We
cannot do God’s will in bringing unity, harmony, togetherness in this or any
church without letting the Holy Spirit get inside of our heart and mind to help
us. God wants to help us!!
Billy Graham said if you really, really, really want
to do God’s will, “…the key is to become more and more like Christ. If we are
ignorant of God’s Word, we will always be ignorant of God’s will. When we are
at a point of decision about choices in life, and it is not contrary to God’s
Word, start moving in that direction. Ask Him to close doors and open others.
What grieves the heart of God is when we deliberately make a choice that is in
conflict with His truth. God will never—never—lead us to do something that is
contrary to His written Word.”
Christians in churches everywhere all the time pray
the Lord’s prayer – thy will be done….thy will be done!…it’s hard to pray a
prayer I pray from time to time “God, help us to do your will, and not our
own.”
Greats like King David was led to pray in Psalm 143,
“Lord, teach me to do your will.” Mary, the mother of Jesus surrendered
her will, saying to the angel Gabriel, “Let it be done to me according to your
word – the word that God had chosen her to bear the savior of the world. We
have all sung that song from time to time, “I surrender all, I surrender all.
All to Jesus, I surrender. I surrender all!
There is an urgent need for us to surrender our all
to Jesus, as best we can. For practicing our faith makes us better Christians.
It does not make us perfect Christians. We see how things work when we go our
own way instead of God’s way. This week there was a violent plot to storm the
Michigan State Capitol and kidnap the Governor. More than 50 people have driven
cars into peaceful protestors. Can’t we all get along?
One of our United Methodist churches wants to
disaffiliate. They believe that LGBTQ
persons are not treated equally. They are praying people. If they leave, I
believe they will leave in peace. If they stay, I believe they will stay in
peace. I believe they have carefully and thoughtfully surrendered to God’s
will. No matter what things look like in the end, God can be glorified!
We cannot look at circumstances in life to determine
that God’s will is being done or not being done. Circumstances may be in favor
of one situation while God uses it as a stepping stone to another situation. As
soon as we draw one conclusion, we may be surprised that there is a lot more to
the story.
Paul Harvey had a program called The
Rest of the Story. He would share mysterious and little known facts
about history that were surprising. We can’t put God in a box and decide that
when something bad happens to someone that it is God’s will and judgment. A
situation that we run from may turn out to be the best thing that ever happens
to us. Our attitudes often change for the better when bad things happen. We
learn valuable lessons and we try to pass something good on to others. Bad
things happen for us, not to us.
Covid is a nightmare filled with all kinds of evil
demons and hardships. Yet, there are still blessings to be counted as well as
tears to be shed. We are still finding ways to be a blessing, every day in ways
large and small.
There are also situations that seem good, but they
can be the worst thing that could ever happen. Stories are of told of youth
hanging out in malls. Some may be lonely or running away from abusive home
lives. I heard a man who I think eventually became a state trooper, say he was
once a sex slave trafficker. He talked about going into malls and finding
troubled youth, especially girls who were good looking but did not believe they
were pretty. He made them feel good. Then he would trap them into his wicked
snare to make money. The innocent victims, believed the love and attention they
got at first was good, but it was really bad.
As this country elects a president as we have done
since 1789, 231 years, we will vote…but in the midst of the chaos and confusion,
God elects one person in the hopes that we could agree with God and be of one
mind while we watch the rest of the story unfold, while we wait for God to give
us guidance that we might do what we need to do to be a part of the story that
glorifies our God.
Paul pleaded with Euodia and Syntyche to be of one
mind in the Lord and he pleaded with the church to help them. What’s a church
to do? We must foster an atmosphere or harmony, peace, unity, oneness, respect,
peace and joy. We must give or give up some things, and other times we must
take some losses, take what we get or take up our cross.
We must decide to agree on one Godly thing to do –
even if it is a bitter pill to swallow for one or the other or even both
parties. For, there is no better peace than the peace God gives us when we
decide to do what God is telling us to do because by faith and the power of the
Holy Spirit working in us, we can all just get along. May it be so today! Amen.
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