The shadow side of being a Pharisee was a tendency to be too scrupulous, to get fussy about things related to religion that are peripheral to God’s love and God’s call to us. I don’t think it’s possible to be Episcopalian without a bit of pharisee in each of us. But I think it’s always important to ask ourselves: are we intentional Christians or habitual Christians? Our habits tend to attach to the forms of worship, the trappings, rather than to God who is the object of our worship. 

Persistence means remembering our baptismal promise to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being every day. We live in a time when our capacity to keep this promise is constantly under threat. But living in the kind of persistence and hope we see in Jacob and in the widow means keeping these promises. 

When our nation was founded (not all that long ago) it would never have occurred to the writers of the declaration of independence or the constitution that anyone would ever have to choose between God and country. But if we choose the Jesus who came for the last, the least, and the lost, following Jesus may be interpreted by some as unpatriotic. 

What if the gospel contains an invitation to be surprised, rather than expectant, of grace? Because when we expect it, it ceases to be grace. When we think about our deserving, it ceases to be grace. And it is in the grace of doing the work God gives us to do, without expectation, that we can let go of all that stands between us and God’s purpose for us.

In coming among us, Jesus gives us a different way to respond, with love and with hope. Often, responding with love and hope is about as countercultural as one can get. There are ways that church is outside of culture, and there are ways that the church is created by God to transform culture. In either case, we cannot be church if we cannot stay together.

Choosing life calls us to stand with those on the margins whom no one really wants around. Choosing life calls us to stand with those who are in danger, and even to get in between them and those who would do them harm.