In the Epistle-selection for this Sunday the apostle Paul inveighs against that spirit of carelessness and independence which forgets that “everyone of us is a part of a whole, a member of an organic body, with functions to discharge which can be discharged by no other, and must therefore be steadily discharged by himself,” and that “it is the beginning of all discipline and of all goodness to have fixed relations and fixed duties and a fixed determination to be faithful to them.” He censures severely that philosophy of life which holds that the world owes us a living, and a living to our liking, a life of ease and plenty, with the least possible exertion on our part. That is sinning against God’s command, giving offense to others, destructive of one’s salvation. – Paul calls it Disorderliness. He uses words that describe soldiers who were used to the march and the commands and the adherence to order, who suddenly seeing their discharge, become disorderly. He insists on God’s will; he points to our understanding that the world is coming to an end and a new beginning that we walk in an orderly fashion continuing our duty to God and our neighbors. Prof Laetsch
