Where’s Michael? September

The kingdom of love is coming, because:
somewhere someone is kind when others are unkind,
somewhere someone shares with another in need,
somewhere someone refuses to hate, while others hate,
somewhere someone is patient — and waits in love,
somewhere someone returns good for evil,
somewhere someone serves another, in love,
somewhere someone is calm in a storm,
somewhere someone is loving everybody.
Is that person you?(1)

In Romans 12, the Greek phrase translated as “spiritual worship” can also be translated “reasonable service.”(2) To be a living sacrifice is reasonable service.  That is compelling, because it challenges the current version of our extraordinary, most-valuable-player, me-and-my-tribe, scarcity-driven, red-and-blue, unreasonable culture.   New Testament scholar Marcus Borg calls this part of Romans the “so what”(3) section.  Here, Paul turns from theology about God and Christ to what that theology means in practice—his words are counsel about relationships, community, discipleship, and what it means to be Christian. And it begins with being a living sacrifice: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

As the old joke goes, when you put five Disciples in a room to discuss just about anything, there are eight opinions and eleven ideas.   That can be a weakness — when we decide it means we don’t have to be accountable to one another, or our Disciples identity and ethos. It is a strength — when we respect the boundaries of covenantal community and hold ourselves accountable to our history, our congregation’s structures, our denominational structure, the broader Christian community, and our common life in the world.  The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) celebrates the spirituality of service and study — whether we are painting a house, discussing how the way of Jesus is lived here in the 21st century, studying a story from the Bible or Church tradition, providing a meal for a grieving family, or helping a neighbor.  Disciples Mission Week and Hub celebrate, encourage, and connect us to what our siblings in faith are doing across the denomination.

Service and study strengthen faith and make life meaningful. As I have grown up in our little movement, I have come to believe that service and study are a compass, a winnowing stick, and a Geiger counter. Sometimes it takes more than one of those tools to help us reorient, separate noise from truth — even capital “T” Truth — and measure passion and commitment as we balance individual and communal need, staying grounded in the good news of God.  Service and study reflect our old ideal of unity, liberty, and graciousness.

I think Christian unity means holding all who profess the Christian faith to the highest standards of service in the world. Unity, not uniformity, is the commentary that embraces curiosity about our differences of belief, about our reasonable service, even our reasonable oneness, as we follow Jesus and proclaim the good news of God.

As hard as it is to imagine, it is reasonable that firefighters and first responders — and nurses and doctors — ran toward the Murrah Building after the explosion in 1995. Because that is what firefighters and first responders do, on behalf of neighbors they have never met. You have witnessed it, time after time, with your own eyes. What do you suppose non-believers, the nones, and the dones would say Christians do? I wonder, what do you suppose your neighbors find hard to imagine about your congregation’s reasonable service in your community?

That’s what Shannon and I see and experience as we travel around the Region and work with volunteers.  The banquets our congregations host are diverse: welcoming, expanding, celebrating, creating, mobilizing, and staying connected as we equip and empower one another for our reasonable service in our communities and through this covenant we share and claim as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma.  See you around the Region.

Thank you for being a voice of gospel. Stay centered in God’s shalom.

Disciples, you are a blessing.

______

Notes

1. Carruth, Thomas. “Somewhere—Someone.” Faith Formation UUCM, weebly.com. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.
2. Harrelson, Walter J, General Editor, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible. Abingdon Press (Nashville) 2003. p 2028.
3. Borg, Marcus. Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written. Harper One (New York) 2012. p 124.