Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army,
06 April 2014 by Captain Michael Ramsay
*Based
on the sermon, '1 Corinthians 7 21-24:Don’t Worry, Be Happy; It’s Just
Adiaphoron' which was presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on August 31, 2008.
By Captain Michael Ramsay. Available on-line:
Today’s passage speaks about
slavery. This is actually a big social justice issue in the Salvation Army not
only historically but right now as well. The Salvation Army has just sent a
letter to the Prime Minister of Canada advising him about sex slavery and
prostituted peoples in our day and age. There is a copy of the letter, for
anyone who is interested in reading it, just outside the sanctuary doors. I
invite you to take a copy and peruse it at your leisure. Trailview church in
town here is also hosting an event related to prostituted peoples on April 14
that we may be interested in attending.
Social justice issues like this are
important. It is too bad that sometimes social justice becomes more about
justice for ourselves than for the victimized, the marginalized, or anyone
else. I can remember when I was a child whenever I felt hard done by; whenever I
felt that the world was ganging up on me; whenever I would get a detention for
something that I didn’t do at school or whenever I got in trouble for something
that my little sister did at home – all of a sudden justice becomes important.
It is funny how important justice is when we feel wronged. Now, when I got
upset about this unjust world that was ganging up on me, I would do something.
I would do something: I would complain. I complain to my mom. I would rant on
and on about how life is treating me so poorly and about how my rights are
being trampled and about how I deserve so much more and when I inevitably
finish my whining and complaining and making much of an ado about whatever, my
mother would answer my complaints with these important words of comfort:
“Michael, suck it up – stop your whining – deal with it.”
In the 80’s there was a song that
would sum it up in a more positive phraseology – it was Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t
Worry. Be Happy.”[1] This is
actually part of what our text today, 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, is talking about–
and I’ll come back to that in a minute. First we should address a real social
justice issue here because if we don’t it may not sit quite right with some of
us. Verses 21-24 are speaking about slavery; so how can we sing “Don’t Worry.
Be Happy” about something as serious as slavery.[2]
One thing that we should make clear
in this passage is that Paul is not saying that slavery is good (cf. re
slavery.1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:28, 4; Ephesians 6; Colossians 3-4; 1
Timothy 1:10, 6:1; Titus 2:9; Philippians 1:16).[3]
Paul is not endorsing slavery here – but neither is he condemning it.[4]
Many people today when we think of slavery will immediately have images in our
minds of the movie and the ship Amistad[5]
and other such slave ships bringing kidnapped people, bound and subdued, to be
tortured and abused when they are sold on the US slave market. This – like the
illegal sex slave trade of today – was slavery at its worst and be convinced
that Paul is not explicitly addressing the 19th century American
slave trade or North America’s 21st century sexual slave trade with
his “don’t worry, be happy” as it were. He is not actually speaking about
important social justice issues in our text today and these events are way too
far in the future for Paul to even consider them anyway.
Also worth noting this the fact
that the term ‘slavery’ in the time and place of Paul’s writing this letter
referred to something very different than the American experience. Scholar
Richard B. Hays cautions us about what we do know about ancient slavery and
that how Paul is using the term in this illustration are important: He writes:
“Slavery in the ancient
Greco-Roman world was a pervasive institution but was not invariably perceived
as oppressive… Dale Martin’s book Slavery as Salvation has shown that
slavery provided for many people not only economic security but also upward
social mobility. To be the slave of a powerful master could be an honourable
station, and slaves were sometimes highly educated and entrusted with major
administrative responsibilities…many of the early Christian converts came from
these lower ranks in society, being either slaves or former slaves.”[6]
The institution that we refer to
with the word ‘slavery’ in First Corinthians isn’t the same as what we think of
when we think of the American slavery of recent history or the sex slavery of
today. In the Roman world of the 1st Century, the word ‘slavery’ did
not refer to something inherently bad as it does today. Then and there the term
‘slavery’ referred more generally to something akin to the difference today
between an employee and an independent contractor. Then and there, the word
‘slavery’ would simply refer to an alternative economic system and as that was
the case Paul did not outright condemn it (but cf. 1 Timothy 1:10) but neither
did he extol it. It was simply a common way to express one employer-employee
relationship of his day.
But how does this apply to us? None
of us are here are directly involved in the slave trade so far as I know and
not all of us here are even involved in employer-employee relationships. How
does this passage of scripture affect us? There are a number of ways.
One way is as it relates to the
prosperity heresy that is prevalent in parts of the US and South Korea today.
This heresy says that God, like a genie or good employee, is at your command:
‘God only wants you to be happy and rich; so if things are going well and you
are getting rich then God is blessing you but if your selfish desires aren’t
being met, if things are going poorly for you or if you can’t make ends meet or
if you even get ill (or go bald – like the prophet Elisha) then that must be
because you have sin in your life.’ Now we all know this is wrong from the Law
and the prophets (cf. Elisha and Amos) and we all know this is wrong from the
story of Job and we all know this is wrong from Luke’s account of the
Beatitudes (Blessed be the poor…Blessed are the hungry; Luke 6:20ff…). We all
know this is wrong and Paul intentionally strikes out against this heresy here
in this, his verse (cf. Ps 73; Acts 11:29;
20:35), as it were, of the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”[7]
Paul says here that whether you are
a slave or whether you are free, it is not an indication of favour with God. He
is saying rather that [spiritually and eternally speaking] it doesn’t really
matter. Paul is saying whether you are a salaried worker or paid an hourly
rate, it doesn’t matter. Paul is saying whether you are an employee or an
independent contractor, it doesn’t matter. The Greek word that Paul uses here
is significant; it is ‘adiaphoron’ and as anyone who attends Bible study should
be able to tell you, this word literally means ‘an indifferent matter.’ Paul is
saying, as he does elsewhere, that whether you are free or a slave, Paul is
saying it is ‘adiaphoron’. It is an indifferent matter so don’t worry, be happy
because all believers can experience the full freedom that we really do have in
our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 7:23, 6:20. cf. also Galatians 3:28).[8]
Now be assured that Paul isn’t
addressing social justice here at all really: we do definitely need to speak up
for the poor and the oppressed. Paul is saying here that we shouldn’t let the
enemy distract us from the word and work of the Lord by focussing on the circumstances
in our own life.
Now this next point is important
too as we look at this pericope (1 Corinthians 7 21-24) in the context of all
of Chapter Seven[9]. In verses
1-16, Paul is talking about marriage and how one should not get divorced –but
if one’s spouse dies then one is certainly free to re-marry (cf. Romans 7:1,2).
And then Paul talks about circumcision and slavery, (vv.17-20; 21-24) and then
Paul (v. 25 ff.) talks again about marriage and then about virgins and then
about marriage again and how one is bound to one’s husband or wife – no matter
what happens - until death do you part (7:39).
In the middle of this discourse
about being married for life – Paul brings up the topic of slavery. So what is
Paul saying? You've heard the expression, ‘the old ball and chain’; is Paul
saying that being married is like being a slave? Paul also brings up
circumcision; is Paul saying that marriage is as pleasant getting circumcised?
No, I don’t think so.
How this whole chapter ties
together is actually quite interesting. There is an early refrain that
Christians used to repeat when they were baptised. It went along the lines of
this: “for into one Spirit we were all baptised into one body – Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free – and we were all made to drink one Spirit”[10]
(1 Corinthians 12:13). Everyone – no matter what our station in life has equal
access to God. Or, as it reads Galatians 3:28 records, “There is no longer Jew
or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female;
for all of you are one in the body of Jesus Christ.” This is exciting because
in Chapter Seven here, Paul talks about the slave and the free (vv. 21-24), the
male and the female (vv 1-16, 25-39), the Jew and the Greek (vv.17-20). We all
have the same access to God. Paul brings this all together quite nicely; why
does he do it like this?
Why does he lump all of these
things together? He does it to let his audience know that none of these things
that mattered so much to people then and there – gender, nationalist (or racist)
pride, and status issues – he does this to let them know that none of these
things that are so important to people – none of these things really matter at
all. We all have equal access to Christ. It is important for us too today to
know that the things that matter so much to us today – gender issues,
nationalist (or racist) wars, wealth and status issues, our petty differences
with one another - these things that matter to us today are just ‘adiaphoron’,
a matter of indifference. They don’t really eternally matter. So we really
shouldn’t worry (Matthew 6:25ff; Luke 12:22ff; cf. Matthew 10:19, 13:11; Luke
12:11, 21:14) about these things; we should be happy in the Lord (Philippians
4:4; cf. Matthew 5:12; Luke 6:23; John 16:22; Romans 5; Philippians 2:17-18,
3:1; 1 Peter 4:13). He will provide so we should rejoice in all circumstances.
We all have access to Christ. We
shouldn’t be distracted from serving the Lord by side issues. Our needs in this
world, God will take care of. The concerns of this world: our employment, our
status, our wealth, our pride, whatever it is that is getting under our skin,
even theological issues like pre-trib, post-trib, a-millennialism; evolution
versus seven, six or three day creationism; even abortion or homosexual
marriage; eternally and salvificly speaking, this stuff that means so much to
people, are each ‘an indifferent matter.’ Arguing about any of these issues may
not save anyone from hell. It reminds me of a story.
At the end of last century there
was a revolution in an African country. As it became obvious that the
government was going to fall, the wealthy North Americans had to flee. They
really made it out just by the skin of their teeth. Some boarded the last plane
out of the country and others just managed to get on a foreign oil tanker as it
was leaving. Everyone got out just before the freedom fighters liberated the
country.
A disappointing thing happened on
the plane that left with the Americans on it. You see it was a commercial
airline which had a first class section that had so much more comfortable
seating than the rest of the plane. Now on this plane were all rich, famous and
important people. One of them first got it in her mind that because of who she
was she deserved one of the good seats. Then someone else thought, ‘if she
deserves a good seat than how much more do I deserve a good seat’; then the
next person, then the next; soon everyone on the plane was fighting. They were
so busy fighting that they did not notice that the plane was going down. In a sad
irony while they were fighting about who was the most important in this life –
the plane crashed and they all wound up facing the next life – where none of
the things of this world matter anymore. Do we fight over which theological
seat we are sitting in when our world, like that flight, is quickly racing to
its conclusion?
Our lives are like this plane going
down or like the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. Worrying about our wealth or
our status or our pride or the small selfish things that try to bother us in
this life is like, as the expression says, ‘rearranging the deckchairs on the
Titanic’. As Paul says, it is ‘adiaphoron’ - it doesn’t matter!
What matters is what will happen
when Jesus returns. What matters is not our personal preferences in this short
voyage on a sinking ship or falling aeroplane, what really matters is our and
others’ eternal salvation. Our life here is going to end – and as such our
position and our petty complaints and everything we are whining about doesn’t
matter – what really matters is what happens afterwards and afterwards, though
all may be eligible for heaven, some will choose to crash and burn and
experience the fires of hell.
Major Glenn Patey told us this past
weekend about an officer that he believes was stationed here in Swift Current
once upon a time. One Sunday morning a fellow showed up at the corps demanding
food and a bus ticket. The officer said, I don’t have the time or the money to
help you right now but after the service if you want you can join my wife and I
for lunch. This wasn’t good enough for the man. He said some bad words to the
captain but the captain said, ‘Suit yourself. You can come and enjoy the
service if you want and the offer still stands you can have lunch at our place
after we’re done, if you would like’. The man grumbled and complained but he
did stay quite noisily out in the hallway for most of the service. Near the end
of the Meeting in he came and lurked around the back as the captain was
preaching. At the end of the preaching, the officer gave an altar call and the
man came right to the front. He came to the Mercy Seat crying and praying; he
gave his life to the Lord. But that isn’t the end of the story. Later the
captain was posted somewhere else and a local pastor came into his office. This
pastor asked the captain, ‘do you remember me? I’m the man you led to the Lord
on that Sunday many years ago’ and he recounted the details of that day. This
man that came to town so antagonistic towards the gospel wound up not only
experiencing the gospel but also preaching and sharing the gospel of salvation with
others for the rest of his life. This is what matters eternally.
I am reminded also of the Empress
of Ireland. This was a ship that sank in 1914. “When the Empress of
Ireland went down with a hundred and thirty Canadian Salvation Army
officers on board [29th May 1914], one hundred and nine officers were drowned,
and not one body that was picked up had on a life-belt. The few survivors told
how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough life-preservers for all,
took off their own belts and strapped them upon even strong men, saying, ‘I can
die better than you can;’ and from the deck of that sinking boat they flung
their battle-cry around the world – Others!”[11]
Friends, the boat of our lives is
sinking. No man knows the time or the hour when it will end (Matthew 24:26,
25:13; Mark 13:32; Luke 12:39-40, 46). Are we more concerned with having a
comfortable deck chair or we are serving God by handing others the life
preservers?
This is very much what the
scripture today is saying: Nothing else matters compared to serving Christ and
experiencing salvation. Nothing else matters but serving Christ and pointing
others to eternal salvation. All else in this world by comparison is simply
‘adiaphoron’ –an indifferent matter.
So whatever it is that is getting
in the way of our praying for the salvation of the world; whatever it is that
is getting in the way of our praying for our friend; whatever it is that is
getting in the way of our praying with our friend; whatever it is that we are
so concerned about; whatever it is that we have been worrying about; whatever
it is that is stopping us from serving the Lord by giving our life-preservers
to the lost; whatever it is, I invite us now to come and bring it to the Lord
–who can take care of all our needs – so that we can focus on serving Him by
pointing others to that great salvation that he provided on the cross for us
all so many years ago.
Let us pray.
---
[1] The song reached number 1on the top 100 Billboard in September of 1988.
[2] JustSalvos: Men women and children are trafficked across
borders at a rate of one per minute:
http://www.justsalvos.com/userfiles/file/traffic_a4_LOWRES.pdf
[3] He speaks more than once in scriptures about how masters
shouldn’t mistreat their slaves.
[4]This is important because there is still slavery of the
worst kind going on today – Coming up this 28 September, The Salvation Army is
asking us all to pray for the victims of the sex slave trade. We are presently
fighting the sex slave trade and the Army has even appointed Canada’s previous
leader, Commissioner Christine MacMillian (a great women you can read about her
in the September edition of the Salvationist) as an ambassador to the UN on
Social Justice issues. Danielle Strickland, (another great women) who was one
of the Officers who sent Susan and I into training to be Officers holds The
Salvation Army’s social justice portfolio in Australia. Social justice is
important to The Salvation Army and slavery is one of the things we are
currently fighting. Now, historically, you know of course too that Christians
helped to end the legalized world slave trade (cf. 1 Tim. 1:10) and the person
who wrote the great anthem of the Church, ‘Amazing Grace’, John Newton,
himself, was a reformed slave trader who gave it up after accepting the Lord
and he was one of the influential Christians who worked to end this world slave
trade.
[5] There was a famous 1997 movie about the 1839 mutiny aboard
this boat.
[6]Richard B. Hays. Interpretation: First Corinthians.
P. 124.
[7] W. Harold Mare. The
Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1
Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/VII. Christian obligation to live
according to God's call (7:17-24), Book Version: 4.0.2: Observe, however, that the Bible teaches that Christianity does not guarantee
material or social betterment but makes it a matter of individual
responsibility (cf. Ps 73; Acts 11:29; 20:35).
[8] J. Paul Sampley. NIB X. ‘1 Corinthians’, p.881.
[9] Michael Ramsay. Mark 3:20-35 The Family of God. (Feb. 17,
2008) available on-line at
http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html: An
“inclusio” is a story within a story
and this is sort of like that here albeit in an expository letter form.
[10] J. Paul Sampley. NIB X. ‘1 Corinthians’, p.882.
[11]http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/36c107e27b0ba7a98025692e0032abaa/df2ca83194d5599b802568cd00377023!OpenDocument
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