Corinth and Us

    

      Back when I was Dean of the Middle District, the Bishop asked me join a consultation committee

—to listen and make recommendations to a church that so conflicted that they needed outside mediation.

         If there was any congregation in the ancient world in need of such a committee, it would be the Congregation in Corinth.

         Paul’s relationship with this Church was never a smooth one; in fact, he almost dives into a depression by the time he gets to writing 2^nd Corinthians. 
Yet, these challenges he runs into make for rich theological fodder. 

         Doing the hard work of reconciliation and calling to account, 
naming as precisely and pastorally as he can 
the conflicts, misunderstandings, and mistakes, 
makes for a timeless sort of letter. 
The kinds of Church conflicts in Corinth, have for generations helped the whole church interpret who we are 
and how we can be in relationship with each other and the wider world.

         The opening chapter of 1^st Corinthians addresses: 
-divisions, 
-the relationship between the -church and culture, 
-the nature of Baptism, 
-and the centrality of the cross.

Let us pray

 

         When Paul writes that he wished there to be 
“no divisions among you” 
he does so with his tongue in his cheek… 
after all he knows there is not simply two factions, 
two divisions among the Corinthians 
but, up to 20 different factions fighting, over 11 different issues… 
and that’s just the stuff he gets around to addressing.

         If you read the letter closely you might notice that there are two separate families who write letters to Paul explaining what’s wrong.
Corinth fights about everything from: 
who can marry who, 
to who manages the money…

         Just in today’s portion of the letter, we hear of the community lining up in cliques based on who baptized them 
and that they thought Paul spoke too plainly, 
unlike Apollos
—a famed Christian rhetorician.

 

         Now many of these divisions can be traced back to one particular place
—the Culture of the city of Corinth itself… 
the Church was a new thing, especially to these Pagan converts… 
And as such, they imported their categories of thought and ways of doing things into the church… 

(This isn’t that hard to imagine, is it? 
Even using Robert’s Rules of Order to run a meeting is importing a parliamentary system… 
For that matter, it should come as no surprise that most protestants in the United States have some type of three-fold governance
—in our case the National Church, the Synod, and the Congregation, 
mirroring the Federal, State, and Local governance of the United States of America)

         -Why did the they assume Paul would speak with unparalleled eloquence? 
Because Corinth was famous for a yearly speech and debate competition, 
so no one was taken seriously in that city if they didn’t speak following the formula of Plato’s Rhetoric.

         -Why did they assume the person who baptized them was the leader of their faction, a sort of guru?
Because that’s what traveling philosophers did, 
they collected disciples and centered their own person and philosophy as the end all be all, 
and encouraged vigorous, even over the top, debate between rival philosophical schools. 

 

         Questions of Church and Culture are always with us…

         The church ought to try to speak the Gospel in ways our neighbors can hear and understand. 

         BUT there is also a danger of confusing the cultures around us with the message of Jesus.

         The church always ought to struggle with the tension between 
being relevant and contextual, 
and selling out or losing our voice.

 

         The good news is that Paul offers an example of how to navigate the tension between Christ and culture, 
and division in the church, as well… 
the lodestone, 
our true north, 
the measure of all things, 
is Christ crucified.

         Whose Death and Resurrection do we join in Baptism? Jesus Christs!

         Does God want a debate society? No, God wants disciples.

         Was God presented to us in fancy speech? No, God hung on a cross.

 

         The power of Christianity is never that we’re the height of religion or culture, (we’re salt and light)
never that we’re the best of any generalized phenomena, 
we should not be looking to be top of the heap. 
Being cool, or outwardly successful, 
allied with the politically or socially powerful,
those are not marks of the Church. 
         Ultimately the Church exists only because God wills us to.

 

         The God we find enthroned on the cross. 
The God whose cradle is a manger.

         The God whose Wisdom is found not when King Solomon is at the height of his power, 
but at the end of his life when he can no longer grasp it.

         The God whose prophets included among them Ezekiel struggling with PTSD and Jeremiah, so young he worries he wouldn’t be taken seriously.

         The God who spoke through stuttering Moses, 
gave a child to Sarah and Abraham in their old age, 
saved Hagar and Ishmael at the point of death in the desert... 

         Ultimately, at the very start, God creates from the formless void
—ex nillo
—out of nothing. 
All that is, seen and unseen, an unparalleled gift from God!

 

         All these examples assure us that it is God who acts. 
Sarah, Ezekiel, Solomon
—none of them, 
save by the Spirit’s action, 
would be wise, prophetic, or mother of God’s people.

         It is always by God’s grace that we are saved… 
is a gift of God for the people of God. 
Thanks be to God.

 

         Yes, Paul’s relationship to Corinth can show us how to be faithful people of God. Grounded in God’s Grace, 
the power of God clearly seen in the cross. 
Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, 
united in one body, 
telling the world of God’s love, 
however we can. 
A+A

Testimony, need, experience, testimony

          John’s Gospel is likely the most sophisticated of the four Gospels. It tells the story of Jesus in a pattern-rich way…

         If the first three Gospels are a thread
—telling the story straight and plain, 
John’s is a woven garment. 
Repeating points and setting up a series of set pieces that build one upon each other 
until the Gospel’s pattern becomes your pattern.

         One such reoccurring pattern is how people meet Jesus. 
Be it Andrew or Peter, 
the Samaritan Woman or the Man who took up his mat and walked… 
they all follow the same patterns. 

         Testimony, need, experience, testimony… 
for John that’s how the Gospel is proclaimed, 
how the faith is formed.

 

         First someone points to Jesus. 
They testify about him to others, 
they tell people about Jesus.

 

         Then, the person who hears about Jesus, has a need.
They need something that Jesus can, and will, provide.

 

         Next, they experience Jesus first hand,
They meet him, and receive what they need, 
but in a deeper way than they ever expected. 
For example, the woman at the well needs water, and receives it, 
but also enters into relationship with Jesus
—the Water of Life.

 

         Finally, this causes them to repeat the pattern, 
they themselves go out and tell people about Jesus! Testify that they know him.
They become the catalyst for someone else to meet Jesus.

 

Testimony, need, experience, testimony

 

Prayer

         John proclaims, “Behold, Jesus the Lamb of God,” testifying to another odd feature of John’s Gospel
—you see, John shifts the date of Jesus’ crucifixion to coincide with the slaughter of the Passover Lambs
—in order to make sure we hear John the Baptist’s proclamation
—Jesus the Lamb of God.

         Have you ever fallen short? 
Do you feel your guilt? 
Have you been enslaved to powers beyond your control? 
Are you a stranger in a strange land? 
Do you fear Death?

         Well, come and see! Experience the Passover Lamb, the one who saves as the people were saved down in Egypt. Death looks upon the blood on the doorposts and passes over. The one who is an offering for sin, 
he puts away guild and shame. 

         Let’s tell folk about our good news. 
We’ve been found by the Lamb of God, 
who is overcoming the power of Sin, Death, and the Devil!

 

         Another near obsession of the Gospel of John is dwelling… and we know that the Spirit dwells with Jesus
—heaven is pulled apart so that heaven and earth might come together
—Look! He is the Son of God!

         Does God seem far off, or even abstract? 
Has the connection you once had to the Divine feel far off? 
Does it seem like the stories of God are just that, stories, that they have nothing to do with you? 
Is Transcendence just too big?

         Well, come and see! 
The one who can say I AM and put a period after the statement, 
is state side, 
is here with us! 
The Creator and the creation are not far from one another. Heaven is open, and God has come to dwell with us. 
The Invisible God is made visible in Jesus Christ!

         Let’s tell of this truth, heaven has drawn near. 
God knows us as intimately as a new parent knows the scent of their baby’s head.

 

         They call him Teacher… They trade question for question
—“What are you looking for?” “Rabbi, Teacher! 
We want to be with you, 
we want to dwell with your teaching so that it becomes who we are! 
Where do you dwell?

         Does it sometimes feel like you don’t know the way to go? 
Are there so many options that they all blur together? 
Do you lack a goal or habits that help? 
Do you want to know how to be human? 
Do you wonder what it means to live a good life?

         Look to Jesus. 
His teachings are excellent, and their burden is light. 
It is the Law of Love. 
There is a flow to it
—Spirit breathed, addressing his era, and also giving us a pattern to live our life even today.
There is a connection to a community practicing how to be little Christs in every age.

         Let’s try to follow Jesus’ teaching, 
so people will know us by our love, 
and come join us in discerning together what is right, 
how to follow the way of Jesus.

 

         Something incredible must have happened during that day they dwelled with Jesus. 
By 4pm Andrew went from calling Jesus Teacher, to declared, “We have found the Messiah!”

         In this world where everyone claims to be something special, 
every event is billed as one of a kind, 
every scrap of news “breaking news”, 
wouldn’t you like someone to be the real deal? 
When every authority figure has feet of clay
—they are human, o’ so human, 
wouldn’t you like to see someone with real authority, 
legitimacy and gravitas because they are good?

         Look to Jesus, 
the Chosen one, 
the one upon whom authority rests, 
who’s presence is the reign of God, 
the righting of the world.

         Let’s tell folk that the Kingdom of God has come near!

         

         I hope our own ears are open to the Gospel, 
sometimes we’ve heard it so often, or in such a particular way, that we don’t truly hear it anymore.

 

         I hope we can be honest about our needs… 
when I first was called to Spruce Run, 
I set up “one-on-one” conversations with various long time residence of Lebanon Township
—“community stakeholders” is the formal term
—and I asked them about this place, specifically I wanted to know what people here need

and I think they wanted the new pastor to feel like he and his wife had moved to a good community… 
so to a one they said, “There are no needs here.”

         But that’s simply not true. 

We have young kids committing suicide, 
parents who can’t provide for their children, 
young adults who feel they have no role models to follow and no vision for a better future, 
families just barely holding it together, 
old folk who genuinely are casting about looking for a purpose to their lives… 
being honest about our needs.

 

         I also hope we can be honest about how God has already showed up in our lives. 

         Some of you have amazing stories about God bringing you through 
astonishing situations, 
harrowing journeys, 
and the depths of despair…
         Other with humble stories of finding meaning in your life on account of your faith,
Catechisms keeping you grounded well into old age,
Prayer lives richer than what’s on the surface 
there is so much Godly wisdom stored up here among us…

 

         I hope we can find a cure for what is often call “Lutheran Laryngitis” 
that is, the average Lutheran talks to someone about their faith once every 22 years… 
you all have some amazing experiences of God in action
—testimonies that truly could move people and be good news for them 
if you would only share your stories… 
share the good news of the God we find in Jesus Christ.

 

         I pray John’s pattern of meeting Jesus might be a pattern for us as well.

Testimony, Need, Experience, Testimony.

Amen.