This letter is from Paul, chosen by the
will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes. I
am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be
his own holy people. He made you holy by
means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. May
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. I
always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now
that you belong to Christ Jesus. Through
him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words
and all of your knowledge. This
confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. Now you have every
spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He will
keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day
when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he
says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:1-9(NLT)
Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his
cage. The next he was sucked in, washed
up, and blown over.
The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to
clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner.
She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the
cage. The phone rang, and she turned to
pick it up. She’d barely said
"hello" when ssssopp! Chippie got sucked in.
The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off
the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie -- still alive, but
stunned. Since the bird was covered with
dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet,
and held Chippie under the running water.
Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any
compassionate bird owner would do, she reached for the hair dryer and blasted
the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never
knew what hit him.
A few days after the trauma, the reporter who’d
initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird
was recovering. Well, she replied, Chippie
doesn’t sing much anymore – he just sits and stares. It’s hard not to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . .
That’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart.[2]
In many ways the residents of Corinth 1950 years ago
were as happy as the pre-vacuumed
Chippie. The culture was economically
prosperous, well educated, and religious.
That parallels our society too.
In fact the comparison is scary. Our economy still surges past the rest of the
world; our education is accelerating – we have more religiousness in America
than ever before. We are so much like
first century Corinth – they had so many different religions, everybody could
have had his own.
One other identity twin – Corinth was as obsessed with
sex as America. They even combined sex
with their religion. The Aphrodite
temple had 1,000 prostitutes. It was
part of their cult rituals to provide sexual encounters as part of worship.
Sexual intimacy was understood to cultivate the divine.
One historian noted that the prostitutes served their
shifts at the temple, and then moonlighted in the marketplaces. It’s not so far-fetched…our temples are attached
to cable – operated with a remote control!
The Church in Corinth
On Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 18) he
wandered into Corinth – on purpose – and met Priscilla and Aquila. With their help Paul set about winning folks
to Jesus. He spent longer there (18
months) than at any previous stop.
He stayed because God was blessing. The Spirit gave
many gifts and the church at Corinth was founded. And when Paul left, this young group of
converts was strong in their commitment to win that part of the world for
Jesus.
What Happened?
Three years later, Paul wrote to his loved ones in
Corinth. They had started strong, but
divisions within the church, and the influence of their culture had mixed-in
with their Christianity – the result was not pretty.
They were polarized and paralyzed
Disagreements over which hero to follow, Paul,
Apollos, Peter or Jesus had taken what was a loving bunch of new converts, and
turned them into vipers, nipping at each other’s throats. From a spiritual perspective, this crew was
blessed.
But far from progressing – growing in the faith, they
were spiritual catatonics. they had slipped back into the cradle roll. In matters of Spiritual-growth and progress
they were like Chippie – sitting and staring off into space.
So What Did Paul Do? Spanked ‘em, right?
Well, let’s say Paul did bring their wayward and
mis-directed activity out into the open.
But, spank? No! Threaten?
Definitely not!
Listen to the words:
Grace to you…and peace…I thank God for you…you are second to
none in gifts…! Those are
not unkind words. Paul was positively
celebrating his connection with those folks.
They were Corinthian Chippies,
and Paul’s attitude was one of patience.
Is there a message in that for us?
Paul shares an important perspective here. He “always thank[s] God”(1:4)
for this divided, flawed church, for he knows that potential exists. When we’re discouraged with others, let’s
remember Paul’s example. Let’s join him
in thanking God for the potential that, in His time, God will help even the
dullest Christian realize.[3]
As we come to the table this morning, let’s do so with
the same attitude Paul had. If we will
do so, we will also accomplish what he told them later in the letter, to
examine themselves – and then eat! Two
examples in the attitude:
#1.
Be Thankful for What is Done
Cicero, the great Roman orator and philosopher, said, A
thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all other
virtues. Perhaps that explains
the large part gratitude plays in Paul's letters.[4]
Paul was thankful, not only for the friendship of the
Corinthian church, but for their salvation (and his). He was thankful for what had been done. It’s a matter of attitude and outlook.
On a news show nearly 20 years ago Diane Sawyer
interviewed the sister-in-law of Osama bin Laden. She had been estranged from bin Laden’s
brother and was seeking a divorce. For
27 years she put up with abuse; she wanted out!
Diane Sawyer asked her, Do you hate Osama bin Laden? Her response was a classic picture of the Christian
response to anger, hatred, and the evil actions of terrorism. She said, Hate him? No I cannot hate Osama bin Laden. He hates, and look at what he does. I must not hate.
How about that?
If I was Osama’s brother I might be tempted to sit in a corner like
Chippie the parakeet – stare off into space and have a pity party.
But grace and peace gives you a different response –
an outlook and attitude of thanksgiving, no matter the circumstances of life. Paul was thankful for what Jesus did on the
cross – dying for our salvation. Are you
thankful enough to God to come to this table willing to put your
hatred of anyone in His hands? Do that,
and be thankful for what He has done.
And, a second example in Paul’s attitude…
#2.
Be Positive About What is Coming
How do you feel about the future? Is it settled with you that God is going to
take care of you? I cannot recall the
number of good people we’ve buried here, or that you’ve lost in the last few
years. But they now see clearly what we
only see as possibility – or as Paul put it – through a glass, darkly. Remembering this can make us search our own
hearts – consider our own mortality. That is good!
Do you have trouble being positive with what’s coming?
Well, if you are up to speed with the first part – being thankful for what He has
done in the past, allow me to remind you about the rule of lesser and greater when it comes to being positive about what’s coming
tomorrow…
It works like this… the lesser is always contained in
the greater. That is like ping pong
balls and bowling balls. If I can lift a
bowling ball, I can certainly life a ping pong ball. The ping pong ball (lesser) is contained in
the bowling ball (greater). The fact is,
when it’s my turn to die, I am the lesser, because God has already raised the
greater – Jesus! The future is
secure. I can be positive!
Paul looked down the road for the Corinthian chippies,
and he saw the faithfulness of God – having provided a witness of Christ for
them to be saved, and the willingness of God to keep them saved and spotless in
Jesus’ righteousness. He called us, and
He’ll keep us.
That’s what this table is about. We celebrate Calvary’s shed blood – thankful
for what He did.
And we look for our coming King. We look forward, positive our hope is
well-founded, positive the homesickness we feel for a country we’ve never seen
before, is the longing to be with our king….and our loved ones.
We look forward, positive that in just a few days, a
few more labor-filled days, we take our heavenly flight…Beulah land, home
eternal, sweet Beulah land.
In the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Let the
church say “Amen”!
[2]
Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm,
Word Publishing, 1991, p. 11.
[3] Richards, Lawrence O., The Victor Bible Background Commentary, NT
[4]Robert
C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cinn,
Ohio: Standard Publishing Co. 1997).
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