Thursday, May 29, 2014

1 Corinthians 6-10: In Tents Storm of Life: Everything is Permissible but Not Everything is Beneficial.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 01 June 2014 
by Captain Michael Ramsay

The other week Susan the kids and I went down to Montana. We saw Pompey’s Pillar. Do you know what that is? You know Lewis and Clark – the 2nd or 3rd explorers to travel across North America to the Pacific Coast; Mackenzie was first and Thompson may have been second. Lewis and Clark, we’ve heard of them, right? We saw a rock that Clark famously signed in the 19th Century as he was traveling through. It was really quite interesting. We also saw the Little Bighorn. We are all familiar with the Battle of the Little Bighorn right? That is where the Sioux had their last successful resistance to American conquest and US General Custer famously had his last stand. As we were leaving that area, we stopped by the gift store and Rebecca showed me this bumper sticker:


 Our adventure was quite an enjoyable time – at least in the daytime. The nights were an entirely different story. As Susan mentioned last week to those of you who were here, the nights were quite dramatic. To recap: Night Number 1 at the campground, Rebecca and I managed to set up our giant three-room, 15-man tent in the rain and everyone managed to get to sleep only to awaken when one person wets not only her sleeping bag but many other things in the tent as well. So we toss the items out in the rain and walk down to the Laundromat first thing in the morning to wash everything.

Night Number 2, there is a horrible wind and rainstorm and one person wakes up terrified and another wakes up vomiting not only on her sleeping bag but also on many other things in the tent. So we toss the items out in the rain and walk down to the Laundromat first thing in the morning to wash everything.

Not quite Night Number 3, there is a terrible storm with hailstones twice the size of quarters and a powerful enough wind to drive those stones with force at anything caught outside. We head back to the campground and the campsite to where we pitched the tent… it is not there. The ropes from the tent are still tied to the tree and to the pegs in the ground but the tent has been torn apart and blown over a building and/or some trees and landed – with our stuff mostly still in it – in a culvert outside the campground.

As the hail turns to rain, I stand straddling the culvert and steadying the tent as we lower Rebecca down into the remains of our tent to salvage whatever can be salvaged. We save most items – not our tent though. Now we had paid for one more night at the campground and we could stay there longer but we thought, ‘enough is enough’ and after we load the car, we head towards home and stop in a nice hotel room for our last night on the road so we can all get some much needed rest. We all get to sleep nicely in a bed… only to awaken when one person vomits all over the carpet and the side of a bed. I wash the items in the bathtub, scrub the carpet, and clean up. It was nice to be home from our trip.

When we had reached the penultimate night of our trip, because we had already paid for it, of course we were permitted to stay for one more night but – as it was storming and we were without a tent - it was not beneficial to do so. The Apostle Paul says that everything in life is like that. Everything – he says – is permissible but not everything is beneficial and he puts this in a number of different ways in Chapter 6-10 of this letter to the Corinthians.

Paul talks about our response to the storm that is hitting the 1 Corinthian tent in a number a different ways. He reminds us that it is permissible to stay in the metaphorical tent but not really beneficial with everything that is blowing around out there. As recorded in Chapter 6:9-15, Paul says pertaining to this and specially referring to the storms of idolatry and sexual sin:

 …do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
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Everything is permissible.] “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?

In Chapter Six of this letter here, Paul speaks about our quote – ‘everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial’ – encouraging us to avoid sin. Referencing the body: implying, inferring, alluding to, and acknowledging that it may be permissible to do anything even something as drastic as chopping your hand off but then you have to realize that you won’t have a hand. It is permissible to overeat and eat bad foods but then you have to accept that you might get fat, get diabetes, have a heart attack, and die. If you treat your body improperly it won’t work and - as you are a part of Christ’s body (which is the church) - if you abuse the body, the church won’t work. In Chapter 3, Paul comes right out and says that those people who do destroy the church will be destroyed themselves.[1] If we destroy ourselves then we will be destroyed.[2] Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. That makes sense, right?

The example Paul gives is that we are a part of Christ’s body. Should we then join Christ sexually with a prostitute or with someone else in sexually destructive ways? Even more than that: how can we be both a part of both the body of Christ and the body of sexual sin?[3] How can we be a part of the ocean and a part of the prairie at the same time? How can we be a part of the wind and a part of the doldrums? How can we be a part of the sky and a part of the land? How can we be a part of the body of sin and a part of the body of salvation? It may even be allowed – Paul says – but that doesn’t make it possible and even if it is possible, it certainly doesn’t benefit the body of Christ; and anything that destroys the body of Christ (the church) like spiritual junk food, metaphorical overeating or excessive drinking, symbolic STDs, etc.; Christ says He will ultimately destroy, as amputating a limb to save the body. So while some things may be possible to do - or even permissible to do - in our culture that doesn’t make them useful, helpful, or even non-destructive. You are allowed to go for a long walk in the prairie summer in a snowsuit but it may not be your best option; you are allowed to go for a long walk in the winter prairie wearing only your bathing suit but it might not be your best option and really, it will impede your salvation; you might not survive. If you destroy yourself, you will discover that you are destroyed. Paul uses this expression, “everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial”, to point out to us that there are some things that we really should not do. This all makes sense so far, right? But just when we think we have this whole thing sorted, Paul comes back to this thought in a little bit more puzzling way.

Paul speaks about some other important items and then he comes back to this idea in Chapter 8:1-12 and he comes back to the same phrase again in Chapter 10:14-30: “everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial”; he uses the phrase this time to more thoroughly address food sacrificed to idols. And some have pondered potential contradictions in these thoughts.[4]

1 Corinthians 8:4-6&8, Paul says reassuringly and almost nonchalantly to the Corinthians: So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols:
We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”  For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live….  But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

But a few moments later as we read on, we come to 1 Corinthians 10:14-15: “… my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.”

In one moment Paul is saying, “What does it matter if we eat food sacrificed to imaginary idols? They don’t exist anyway;” and in the next he is saying, “Flee idolatry! Run away from it!” One moment he says that an idol is nothing at all in the world (1 Corinthians 8:4). 1 Corinthians 10:19-20a: “Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No …”

Then – Verses 21-22 - Paul continues on in seemingly a completely different vein – “ but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s Table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than He?”

And then Paul says,  [but] Verse 23, “Anything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial.” So what does Paul mean? Verse 23, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive.” What does Paul mean when he says, 10: 21, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons” when he also says 4:8, “But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.” When Paul said “anything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial” in Chapter 6, he is doing so to encourage us NOT to partake in sexual sin and idolatry and now as he uses this phrase further in relation to idols, is he saying that we should or that we should NOT partake of idol food; is he saying that it really matters or is he saying that it really doesn’t matter because idols are nothing anyway? He seems to be saying both things; so what is he saying?[5]

I do invite you to keep your fingers in all the passages we have read here today where Paul is speaking about this same matter in this letter: 1 Corinthians 6:9-15, 8:1-13, 9:18-23, 10:14-31. It is important: Paul in the same letter is not going to be disagreeing with himself and changing his mind. He is making the same point so what is the point?

I think there are two bits of cultural-historical information pertaining to meat sacrificed to idols that we need in order to fully grasp the meaning attached to this discussion. One is this: almost all meat sold in the marketplace was meat sacrificed to idols.[6] If there was a Safeway or a Co-op in Corinth of Paul’s day, much of the meat there would have been sacrificed to idols and they didn’t label their packages so you would have no idea if the package that you were buying was meat sacrificed to a pagan idol or not. Just like Israelites and Judeans sacrificed animals to God in ancient times, so too did pagans. And priests were the butchers in ancient Corinth; so just like people bring animals to the butcher shop today, people then and there would bring their animals to the temple to be butchered for eating; they would bring their sacrifice to the pagan temples and the priests would dedicate the animal to a pagan deity and the priest would then butcher the animal. The family would eat some, the priests would eat some, but inevitably there would be a lot of meat left over and that meat would wind up in the marketplace. Paul knows that if anyone buys meat in the marketplace, they will have a really good chance of eating meat sacrificed to idols.[7] The only way that they can avoid eating meat sacrificed to pagan idols is to become vegetarians and Paul is definitely NOT promoting that here. He says, Chapter 10 Verse 25-26, “Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.’”

So then, why in the next breath of Chapter 10 (V.28) does Paul say, “do not eat meat sacrificed to idols”? As we look at Verses 27-31, I think we will see what is the difference. Verses 25-26 are talking about buying food at the market or even eating food in the restaurant (early restaurants were in pagan temples as well!) Paul is saying that it doesn’t matter if you eat that food because the other so-called gods are just make-believe anyway. Verses 27-31, on the other hand, speak to going to eat at someone’s home for dinner. This, we see has the potential to be quite different. Verse 27-29a:

If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours.

If your friend invites you over for dinner and he tells you specifically that they have dedicated this meal to a false god, do not eat it. The reason that you shouldn’t eat it is as a witness. Eating this meat, in this manner, would – in essence- be taking communion with pagan gods (or demons as Paul calls them) and your non-believing friends.[8] You certainly don’t want to lead other people astray by having communion with demons.

Paul, Verse 24, says, “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” And Verse 31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Do you see the difference? Paul is saying that, “everything is permissible for him but not everything is beneficial.” And the criterion that he is using here to help him determine whether or not something is beneficial seems to be the life and the soul of the people around him.

We don’t have a lot of meat sacrificed to idols around here – though in Vancouver it would not be uncommon to see a Buddha or a Buddhist cat statue in many local restaurants. Here and now, especially for those of us in The Salvation Army, I think one of many examples as to how this relates to us is the following way. Soldiers in The Salvation Army do not drink– not that I believe that there is anything inherently scripturally wrong with drinking strictly speaking. The potential problem arises in that many people who come to The Salvation Army have struggled and are struggling with addiction. Can you imagine if God uses you to lead your friend to the Lord and the Lord delivers him from alcoholism and then your friend sees you in the pub having a pint? What might that do for them relating to their addiction? And more importantly what might that do to them relating to their salvation/holiness? What might that tempt them to do or think relating to their faith? Paul says, 1 Corinthians 9:18-19, about putting aside his freedom to eat and drink what he wants, he says, “What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible”

And so it should be for us as well. Though we are free in this culture to do so much, some things are quite frankly - like Chapter 6 records - very harmful for us and so we should avoid them for that purpose; and some things – even though they are not inherently harmful to us – some things are very harmful to others and so we should avoid them for that purpose: to make straight the path to salvation. I would hate for my freedom to be used to condemn anyone to bondage in sin. Though I am free and belong to no one, I would rather be myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

Let us pray.



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[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 1 Corinthians 3:9-17: Building the Building. (Swift Current, SK, Sheepspeak, 04 May 2014): http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/05/1-corinthians-39-17-building-building.html
[2] Cf. Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 7), S. 98
[3] Cf. W. Harold Mare, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/VI. Paul's Answer to Further Reported Problems in the Church (5:1-6:20)/B. Christian Morality Applied to Legal and Sexual Matters (6:1-20)/2. Christian morality in sexual matters (6:12-20), Book Version: 4.0.2
[4] Cf. R. Simon J. Kistemaker, ‘1 Corinthians’ in New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 62-63., 69-71
[5] Richard B. Hays, 'First Corinthians' in Interpretation, ed James L. Mays, et. al. (Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997), 169: among other things he argues quite convincingly that this pericope is not so mauch speaking of pagans sacrificing to demons as Israelites.
[6] Cf. N.T. Wright, '1 Corinthians' in Paul for Everyone, (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 98.
[7] Cf. N.T. Wright, '1 Corinthians' in Paul for Everyone, (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 98.
[8] J. Paul Sampley, ‘1 Corinthians’ in The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 10, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002), 918.

Monday, May 12, 2014

1 Corinthians 1:17-25 (Romans 1 and Philippians 1): God Will See Us Through The Storm, We Will Proclaim the Gospel with Power

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 11 May 2014 and 05 July 2009. By Captain Michael Ramsay.
  

Two very interesting things happened last week – well a number of very interesting things happened last week but two combined to make me think – one good, one maybe not so good. 1) I had my birthday – thank you to everyone for the well wishes and the cake. This is good. 2) It snowed. That is not so good. Growing up in Victoria, if it ever snowed anywhere near my birthday, I’m sure they would call in the Navy from Equimalt thinking that this was the end of the world or some foreign plot or something like that. May in Victoria is the time when students spend their spare time spread out on the lawn - not looking for a toque or a pair of mitts. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love it here in Saskatchewan where we get all four seasons instead of just Spring and Fall but there comes a time when Winter just needs to be over.
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I really did enjoy a couple of the good days that we have had recently here as the seasons are changing. At times when the air smells a certain way after the rain, I am reminded of growing up on the Island. I remember one Canada Day in Victoria when Rebecca was very little. We went to some Canada Day celebrations at Fort Rodd Hill (which is an historic fort). It was fun: they had a lot of things we could see and do from days gone past. We could see people dressed up in historical costumes. They even had various mascots dressed up like animals walking around: great for kids, right? There was even one person who was dressed as a tree giving balloons to the children and telling them about the environment and this tree came to say ‘hi’ to us and leaned over to offer Rebecca (who was 2 at the time) a balloon and asked her, “Do you like trees?” and she answered – as sweet as can be – “not trees that talk and walk.”
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Young kids are great for innocently speaking their minds. They may not have great fancy words of wisdom but they do have the power of wisdom that can really make us stop and think. We all know the expression, ‘out of the mouths of babes...’ This is actually some of what Paul is speaking about in the passage we are looking at in 1 Corinthians 1:17: “…[Christ sent me] to preach the Gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” And 1 Corinthians 2:3-5:" I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."
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We are talking about being willing to preach the Gospel today and – just like a child – with boldness, confidence, and power but first can anyone tell me what the Gospel is?[1] (This is important) The word Gospel literally translated means ‘good news’ – it is a rendering of the Greek word euangelion, which means ‘good news’ or ‘good message’ (cf. Isaiah 40:9, 52:7) - so the Gospel is good news. And what is this good news? The good news is that we can be saved from eternal death and damnation.[2] We can actually be bodily raised from the dead to eternal life and even more than that: it is the totality of the Christian message[3] and through the power of God we can start to experience that new life this very day! Today we can begin living a life transformed with Christ. And this is good news and we should definitely not be afraid to proclaim this boldly with the confidence and power of Christ! But sometimes some of us, sometimes, are afraid.
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What are some of other things about which people are commonly not so bold… what are some things that some of us are hesitant to speak about? I know that many people are not forthcoming about their weight either because they have too much of it or not nearly enough. I know that I was caught off guard once when a reporter asked for my wife’s and my ages – I gave him mine. As far as Susan’s was concerned, I told him he’d have to asked Susan himself.
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Similar to this, it is Susan and my anniversary soon and I was reminded the other day of a story relating to our honeymoon. On our Wedding night, we had reservations at a bed and breakfast (Abigail’s’ in Victoria, BC) that was a grand old building and looked just like a castle from the brochure. It was in a really neat area of the city too with a number of castle-like buildings but none of these castles seemed to want to put their addresses where they could be easily seen; so after quite a little bit of driving around we find the one that looks like the brochure and I leave the car out front and go up the main entrance in my kilt, in my full wedding regalia. I knock on the door. I tell them that we have reservations for the night. And the lady who answered says, “not here you don’t” – it is at that time I realise that she is dressed in a Nun’s Habit…I had knocked on the door of the Nunnery…an interesting place to wind up on your honeymoon. Whoops. She was kind enough to direct us to the correct castle though…this event was more than a little bit of an embarrassing mistake: one that at times certainly curtailed any boldness of spirit in me.
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I have also attended more than a few Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in my time. I can tell you that their meetings provide a very safe place for people to tell stories that we would certainly be otherwise ashamed to tell. The format for discussion there is very much like a testimony Sunday. We mention what we were like, what happened, and what we are like now. The reasons we wouldn’t want to share the stories in too many other places are twofold. 1) We wouldn’t want anyone to think that we are celebrating our sins and as a result tempt anyone else into the life of a drunkard (Deuteronomy 21:18-21; Proverbs 23:21, 26:9; 1 Corinthians 5:11, 6:10). And 2) we have changed. In many cases we are ashamed of what we have done. We are ashamed of how we were before we allowed God to deliver us from our addiction.
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The Gospel: Jesus died and rose again so that we can be free from sin. And we can be free from death. There are some people who don’t realise this yet. They aren’t yet experiencing the power of the gospel of Salvation. They live as if they are not free. It reminds me of an Emergency Disaster Story. A few of us just got back from Saskatoon last night, where I was a course on CISM: ESC in Disasters. I shared this experience with my class
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In 2008, After Hurricane Ike struck, I was asked to head down to Galveston Island in Texas as part of a team from Canada to help out with Emotional and Spiritual care.[4] More than 1 million people were saved from the hurricane and flood that followed as they obeyed the evacuation order but some refused to evacuated. No one needed to die but some refused the offered salvation and around 100 people were found dead as a direct result of Hurricane Ike. Bodies were still being found while I was down there. I spoke with people whose family members had refused the provided salvation from the storm and suffered the natural and logical consequences.

Homes were destroyed. Businesses were destroyed. The sewers, the water, and the phones were still not working when we were down there. People were housed in shelters both on and away from Galveston Island. Many still had no place to go. Power was still out in some of the parts while we were posted there. The power outage means that even for families that did not lose their stoves and refrigerators in the hurricane and the subsequent flood  - and most did: there were many refrigerators destroyed and lying on the side of the road for pick up – they were unable to keep or cook any food. They didn’t have food and they didn’t have water.

Food and water: this is a big part of the salvation that the Lord provided through The Salvation Army mission down there. We had around 30 food trucks (called canteens) from which we help to serve around 75 000 hot meals every day and give the people water and ice. Ice is very important. It was around 90 F during our time there. And the food: many people told me that without The Salvation Army they wouldn’t have eaten at all. They wouldn’t have survived. We thank the Lord for the service He provided to this community through many people. We prayed for them. We continued to pray that the Lord would continue to save the people down there. Our work there was very much His saving work through us.[5] This I think is also very much a part of the totality of salvation – the real salvation for both the here and now as well as forever in Jesus’ impending, proleptic Kingdom.[6]
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We were honoured and privileged to see many people saved not only from their suffering here and now but we were honoured and privileged to celebrate with people as they gave their lives to the Lord so that they could experience that salvation forever. We didn’t shrink from sharing the gospel: we shared the good news and some people grabbed hold of it and chose everlasting life.[7]
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In our own daily lives here  - in our regular Monday to Friday and Saturday and Sunday lives - do we point people to that same salvation that is offered to all or do we deny the power of the Gospel? Jesus tells us that if we deny Him before men, he will deny us before God (Matt 10:33). That sounds fair.
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How do we do at proclaiming the gospel? How do we do at presenting the gospel even if it is in weakness with fear and trembling, as 1 Corinthians 2:3, says? Do we overcome our fears as the Apostle Paul extols us? As our friends or colleagues are speaking about life, do we tell them what we have heard from God or what we have read in the Bible? When someone shares their struggles with us do we share with them the strength to persevere that is offered through Jesus Christ? If we feel that God is prompting us to ‘lead someone to Christ’ – do we do it? I have one friend of mine who didn’t. The next day he heard that fellow he was ashamed to share the gospel with died. No more chances.
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There is even more than this - of course - because Salvation is about the future but it is also about the present. We were missionaries in Vancouver’s infamous Downtown Eastside a few years ago; Salvation is this: Can you imagine if you have a friend who is living on the street? He is very poor and suffering from various illnesses and struggles through the most painful of lives thinking that he is all alone. Now, imagine that you know his father. Imagine that you know that his father wants your friend to come home and live with him. Imagine that his father is very well off and in his father’s house there are many, many rooms (John 14:2). Imagine that you know his father’s first born – his only truly begotten. Imagine that he told you to invite your friend home and imagine that you don’t and imagine that your friend lives out his whole life alone and sick when he doesn’t need to. Imagine that you don’t share this information because you are afraid? Imagine that you don’t share this information because you were ashamed? Imagine if every time you see your friend it becomes more and more difficult to share the good news of his father who loves him because you were too embarrassed to admit that you hadn’t told him yet? Imagine if he suffers and dies and you don’t remind him on every possible occasion that there is another way: that he can turn to his father and live. If that happens, what kind of friends are we?
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This is what our life here is like. When Christ returns it will be like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-44). The time and the hour is unknown (Matthew 25:1-13) but we do know that it is coming and he is coming to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42, 2 Timothy 4:1, 1 Peter 4:5) and some will go off to eternal happiness and some to hearing weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Luke 13:28).  To know this is good news, believe it or not. It is like when the hurricane struck Galveston Island. Even though 100 people chose to stay behind and perished, even though we met with, spoke with and prayed with people whose family members chose to reject salvation from the hurricane. The people knew it was coming and as a result thousands of others were saved.
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Can you imagine if the news announcers were so ashamed of the fact the hurricane was coming that they didn’t share the information that it was coming? Can you imagine if the meteorologists were so ashamed of the fact that they did not know the exact time and hour the hurricane was going to strike that they didn’t tell anybody? Can you imagine if your neighbour knew that the hurricane was coming and she evacuated but she never told you because she couldn’t explain exactly what, why, where, how, and when the hurricane was coming? Can you imagine the horror as you look up to see your life being swept away – and no one ever told you how to be saved because they were afraid of embarrassment?
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Well, an eschatological hurricane is coming and it is a lot more dangerous than Hurricane Ike. There are people in this city here today who are sleeping in their beds or watching their TVs right now who have no idea that the end is coming. There are people like the homeless man of our earlier analogy who are living their life away from the shelter of their Heavenly Father’s House when He wants nothing more than to have them safely at his side. There are people out there who are lost and just waiting for us to point them to salvation.
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So today, let us do that. Today let us be like the rescue workers who go around pointing people to safety. None of us know when our lives are going to end. We may be taken tomorrow. None of us know when the Lord is returning and bringing with him the end to our world as we know it. But, like the weatherman watching the storm, we do know that the things of this earth are going to pass away (Matt 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33, Revelation 21:1) and it is our job to share with everyone we meet the good news of the way to salvation so that they do not need to perish.
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It is our responsibility to share the Gospel for, indeed, the Gospel is the power of God for all to be saved both now and forever. To this end then, I encourage us all to look for opportunities to share the good news of salvation in the upcoming weeks here so that we may all turn to God and experience the full power of His Salvation.
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Let us pray.
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[1] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p. 47: “The gospel is not merely the initial proclamation of Christ which wins converts, but is the whole Christian message and claim in terms of the rest of the letter.”
[2] Cf. Don Garlington, “A ‘New Perspective’ Reading of Central Texts in Romans 1-4,” Prepared for Evangelical Theological Society: 15 August 2006. Cited 20 02 2007. Online: http://www.thepaulpage.com/Rom1-4.pdf.12. and James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p.39.
[3] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p.45.
[4] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay,' 2 Corinthians 9:12-15: Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift! (Hurricane Ike relief)' Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 12 October 2008 and the Rotary Club of Nipawin, October 2008. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/10/2-corinthians-912-15-thanks-be-to-god.html
[5] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p. 47
[6] Cf. Joel B Green. ‘The Gospel of Luke’. NICNT. Vol. 3. (Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), p. 25.
[7] The term translated ‘salvation’ has a range of meaning from ‘bodily health, preservation, and safety (cf. e.g., Mark 5:23,28,34; 6:56; 10:52; Acts 27:34), to – as is frequently the case in the Psalms and Isaiah - deliverance from peril and restoration to wholeness. God’s righteousness here is linked with the provided salvation. (cf. e.g., Pss 35:27-28; 72:1-4; 85:9-13; 96:13; 98:2-3, 9; Isa 9:7; 11:1-2; 45:8, 22-25; 51:5-6; 53:10b-11; 61:1-2, 11; Jer 23:5-6; Mal 4:2).  Don Garlington, “A ‘New Perspective’ Reading of Central Texts in Romans 1-4,” Prepared for Evangelical Theological Society: 15 August 2006. Cited 20 02 2007. Online: http://www.thepaulpage.com/Rom1-4.pdf.12 :“In other Psalm texts, it is surely striking that the psalmist prays for the Lord to deliver him in his righteousness (Ps 31:1; 143:1, 11; 71:1-2, 15; cf. 79:9). In these instances, deliverance from the enemy is the godly person’s salvation.”

Thursday, May 1, 2014

1 Corinthians 3:9-17: Building the Building

Today we are speaking about the church so I know that many people have seen interesting church signs on the Internet. I collected a list of interesting church signs here…

1. Well, you did ask for a sign
2. I don't know why some people change churches. What difference does it matter which one you stay home from?
3. Our Church is like fudge. Sweet with a few nuts.
4. Do you know what hell is? Come hear our preacher.
5. Sign broken. Message inside
6. If God is your co-pilot, switch seats
7. Life Stinks. We have a Pew for you.

8. To err is human, to arrrr is pirate

These church signs of course are interesting. Today we are talking about an early church in the city of Corinth. As we remember, 1 Corinthians in our Bible is a copy of a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to this church around 53 or 54CE. That is about twenty years after Jesus has risen from the dead, between 15 and 20 years since Paul became a Christian and just 1, 2 or 3 years since the Christian Church was started in Corinth.[1]

Now, we know that the Church is not a building but rather it is what they call the group of saints who meet together. When we think of the Church – to use a sports analogy – we should not think of the arena where they play, but rather the team that plays. So here in 1st Century Corinth, a Greek city about the same size or a little bigger than contemporary Saskatoon (about 250 000), we have a small team of about the same size as our group here (30-50 people) who get together at people’s homes to practice once a week or so. This team, called the ‘Saints’, is a group of Christians who are tasked with leading their community to Christ. That is their job. That is our job.

Now this group is doing alright. Paul says that he thanks God always for the grace God has shown them: indeed, they have been enriched in every way by God (1:4-5). Paul expresses right near the beginning of this letter his every confidence that God will keep them strong so that they will actually be perfect, even blameless by the time Jesus returns (1:6-9). This team, the Saints, is a group that God is doing good things with in a city that is otherwise filled with all kinds of evil – maybe even as much evil as our contemporary North American cities. But God is faithful, Paul says, and He will keep the team strong.

That all being said, just like on any team, there is the potential for problems, and just like in any church, people have some struggles; there are challenges here. And because God used Paul to plant this church, when some of these challenges arise some people go running straight to Paul.

Now Paul, when this letter is written, is not in Corinth – thus he writes this letter rather than just speaking to the people, the team, the saints, the church. It appears that people are arguing about which leader’s teaching they prefer. It appears that some are saying they like Paul, others are saying they like Apollos and others are saying that they prefer Peter. Today someone might say I like John Hagee or I like Joyce Myers or I like NT Write; I like General Burrows or I like Shaw Clifton; I like Pastor Joel across the street or I like Captains Michael and Susan; or fill in whatever name of a local or known Christian you choose. The problem here is - of course - Paul says that he and Peter, and he and Apollos, and Peter and Apollos, they don’t disagree with each other. They all agree; so why are some people in this church arguing about who is right between Peter and Paul when Peter and Paul don’t disagree with one another?[2] This brings us to our spot in the text today: Chapter 3:9-17.

Paul here is using a neat analogy. Paul is comparing the Saints, the Christians in Corinth, to a building. Paul says that he – and Apollos and Peter, etc – are builders and these Saints, these Christians are the building that God is using them to build. Paul says that he has laid the foundation – which is upon our acceptance of Christ’s Salvation; Paul has laid this foundation: he has told them about Christ. He then says that after he moved on to another city, the next or a subsequent pastor or evangelist has added some more people to that foundation of Christ. And every leader who comes to this congregation –just like every officer who comes here - is hopefully adding more and more people; like beams, rooms, or even whole floors to this building. Does this make sense?

The building itself is people who follow Christ and the church leaders continue to add more people like more bricks to this building. Paul then talks about some of the building materials –the people- that the builders are using. He says that some evangelists, preachers, pastors, officers are good building contractors and are making industrially strengthened people with which to build the building; they are developing people who are as good and as strong as gold, silver, and costly stones and adding them to the building.

Paul is saying though that some evangelists, preachers, pastors, officers are not as good building contractors; he is saying they are taking some people and just throwing them into the building as effectively as if they were sticks, or hay, or straw. They aren’t strengthening the church at all. They aren’t strengthening the people at all. They are preparing their congregation for disaster.

We all know the story of the 3 Little Pigs, right? What happens to the houses, like these, that are made of straw and sticks in those stories. The big bad wolf comes along, blows down the houses and in some versions he even eats the pigs. Paul here is telling a tale like the 3 Little Pigs millennia before even the birth of the Brothers Grimm. Paul is saying that if the evangelists, preachers, pastors, officers, do not take the time to strengthen the people who they add to the foundation of Christ, when the Enemy, the Big Bad Wolf comes along; the building will not stand.

In the part of the world that I am from – the West Coast – there are earthquakes all the time. And as San Francisco well knows, after an earthquake of a great magnitude there is the possibility that a fire will sweep through the neighbourhood.  Paul is saying here that when the eschatological fire sweeps through the church, those made of sticks and straw and hay will burn right off.[3] Even though they were a part of the church, those people won’t remain standing on the foundation of Christ (cf. TSA doc. 9).  They will be burned up.

So this is quite serious. Paul is saying that if the teachers, preachers, pastors, evangelists are doing a poor job and not building properly on the foundation of Christ then the people who they bring to church like that, the people who they add to the church will be destroyed and then the teachers, preachers, pastors, evangelists who are responsible for ill-equipping people in the building will only barely escape the eternal flames themselves. They will almost perish and their people will perish.

If the builder doesn’t prepare the materials well, the building of church-going people will be burned right off its foundation of eternal salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.[4] This is serious and this raises some very serious questions, doesn’t it? Is this text saying that a church attendee’s salvation is measured by the faithfulness of the denomination’s founder? Is this text saying that a church attendee’s salvation is measured by the faithfulness of the denomination’s leader: Pope, Bishop, General, etc.? Is this text saying that church attendees' salvation is measured by their own pastor’s faithfulness? Is this text saying that your salvation is dependant upon my teaching? Is this text saying that if I do a bad job teaching then you will all go to hell regardless of what you do? Is this text saying that each of our personal salvation is guaranteed or not guaranteed by the actions of someone else? No.

No, I don’t think that this is what the text is saying. I think this letter, as we read on, extols the virtues of seeing our own salvation assured. I don’t think that this letter is letting any of us off the hook as far as seeking out our saviour and His salvation ourselves. I think it is warning us – because all of us –as Christians- should be builders, leading people to Christ and teaching each other to be faithful;[5] I think this text is telling us to take our responsibilities seriously.

Honestly, if I cause divisions by lying to you, telling you that once you believe in Jesus you will instantly become financially rich and you will never get sick again; what will happen when you or someone you love eventually goes bankrupt, gets sick, or dies? If I cause divisions by lying to you, telling you that I know that the world is going to end of March 23rd of this year and then March 24th comes along like every other day? If I cause divisions by lying to you, telling you that political leader ‘A’ is the ultimate antichrist and he will destroy the world and then he disappears from the world scene so uneventfully that history even seemingly forgets him, what will happen to your faith in me and anything else that I may have said? What will happen to your faith in me and what will happen to your faith in what I have told you about other things? And what if some of those other things that I have told you about are Gospel? What may happen to your faith about the gospel?[6] If I major in the minors or if I intentionally or unintentionally mislead you in one way, might I not mislead you in another? I think this is a big reason the devil trips us up with adiaphora.

The text today is telling you and I that if we – though we are saved – spend time indulging in other issues instead of the Gospel of Salvation; if we follow others instead of following Christ; then our friends and families and congregations will never know the Gospel of Salvation; and then our friends and our families may never experience the Gospel of Salvation. How are you going to feel on judgement day if your own personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the full extent of your relationship with Jesus Christ? How are you going to feel if your husband, your wife, your child, or your Sunday school student is consumed by the fire in the text today? This is what Paul is warning about.[7] Any of us that share the Gospel – and all of us here today need to share the Gospel, it is the Great Commission from our Lord and Saviour– any of us that share the Gospel need to build on it with the gold, silver, and costly stones that are the examples of constant prayer, Bible study and loving our neighbours as ourselves.

And there is even more to this text, if we look at Verses 16 and 17, we notice that this building is more than just a building of people – it is the very Temple of God. We know what this Temple of God is, right? We are familiar with the big temple that used to be in Jerusalem. There is a mosque there today and previously the Judeans and before that the Israelites built temples upon that foundation. The first Temple built there was Solomon’s Temple.  We remember the story of the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, right? Solomon built this great Temple and even though he acknowledged right in his opening speeches that all of heaven cannot contain the Spirit of God, people believed that God lived in the Temple and indeed as the Temple was dedicated, the Glory of the LORD and a cloud did fill the entire house of the LORD so that even the priest could not stand in HIS presence.

This is the Word picture painted in our pericope.[8] The Corinthians, you and I, and all Christians together are this Holy Temple of the LORD that was the centre of all of the worship of the LORD proscribed in ancient Israel and Judah (2 Kings 8). As Paul is writing this letter yet another Jewish temple is standing in the place where the Temple of the LORD was originally built. But Paul is saying that the Temple that is actually built upon the foundation of the LORD is not that temple; the Temple of the Lord is we Christians. Paul is saying that the most holy place in all of the ancient Israelite religion, the place where God was thought to dwell, the Temple of God is actually you and I; when we meet together as the Church we are the very dwelling place of God on earth. As that is the case, how could we think to build into that Temple which is laid on the foundation of Christ; how could we possibly think to build on it with careless teaching or unholy acts. How could we consider taking what should be gold, silver, and precious jewels in God’s Temple and making them sticks, hay, and straw instead. But there is even more here…

Paul says that as we are this Holy Temple, Paul says, that any who destroy this Holy Temple, will themselves be destroyed. God Himself will destroy any of us in the Church who destroy the Church. God Himself will destroy anyone who destroys His Temple. That means that any of us who are a part of the building, if we work to destroy God's Temple, He will destroy us. If we work against God and His Temple by mistreating each other, He will destroy us. If we fail to love our God by failing to love our brother, then we are working against our brother and we are working against God's Temple. If we talk about each other behind another's back, we are tearing apart our church; we are destroying God's Temple. If we are deliberately rude to or over sensitive with each other, we are tearing apart our church; we are destroying God's Temple. If we gossip about others here, we are tearing apart our church; we are destroying God's Temple. If we don’t encourage one another here, we are tearing apart our church; we are destroying God's Temple. If we think less of others here, then we are tearing apart our church, we are destroying God's Temple.[9] And if we do that - make no mistake, Paul says that God Himself will destroy us.

But like all coins, there is another side to this one and the other side of this coin is beautiful and amazing, as we do look out for the least and the last of our brothers and sisters in the Lord here, we are strengthening each other in the faith and we are seeing ourselves and each other transformed into gold, silver, and precious gems for eternity. As we meet together with friends and acquaintances to study the Word of God, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God's Temple. As we call someone this week to tell him we missed him in church, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God's Temple. As we Facebook how much so and so’s words of encouragement uplifted us, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God’s Temple. As we pray for each other and then text someone to tell them we are praying for them, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God’s Temple. As we swing by someone’s home who has been too hurt or ill to come to church and offer to sit with them and to pray with them, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God’s Temple. As we stop by someone’s work who we haven't seen and ask them how is their soul, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God's Temple. As we take a quick moment to make a phone call to someone here or as we take a longer moment to encourage our brother and sister in the Lord with a visit, through these simple actions, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God's Temple. It is my prayer that each and everyone of us this week will intentionally seek out at least one of these simple opportunities to be used by the Lord to build and strengthen His church so that we may grow in these acts of love for now and forever more for when we love our neighbours in this way, indeed we are being used by the Lord to build and to strengthen our church, and our souls which are indeed are very much God's Temple.
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[1] J. Paul Sampley, The First Letter to the Corinthians. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002 (NIB X),773-776
[2] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 1 Corinthians 1:4-18: Eternal Dividends Over Dividers. Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 23 March 2014 (Sheepspeak.com) http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/03/1-corinthians-14-18-eternal-dividends.html
[3] Richard B. Hays, 1 Corinthians. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1985 (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Perching), 55-57.
[4] W. Harold Mare, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/V. Servants of Christ (3:1-4:21)/A. Workers With God-False Estimate Corrected (3:1-23)/2. Building on Christ the foundation (3:10-17), Book Version: 4.0.2
[5] cf. Simon J. Kistemaker, 1 Corinthians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007  (New Testament Commentary), 111
[6] Cf. Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 7), S. 71
[7] W. Harold Mare, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/V. Servants of Christ (3:1-4:21)/A. Workers With God-False Estimate Corrected (3:1-23)/2. Building on Christ the foundation (3:10-17), Book Version: 4.0.2
[8] cf. Richard B. Hays, 1 Corinthians. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1985 (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Perching), 56-57
[9] Cf. R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians (Augsburg, 1963).