God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon is
entitled United We Stand In Christ, and my focus today is on 1st Corinthians
(1:10-18), with a special emphasis on verse 10. Let us pray. Heavenly Father,
the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house
of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are standing within your gates, we
rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds
and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most
Holy Trinity. Amen.
“For united we stand, Divided we
fall, And if our backs should ever be against the wall, We'll be together,
together, you and I.” “United
We Stand” was recorded in 1970 by The Brotherhood of Man, it was
their first hit, peaking at #13. Recorded by over 100 different artists, it
became a patriotic and spiritual anthem during the post 9/11 recovery. Taken
literally, the lyrics convey two lovers who tell each other that no matter what
hardships come their way, they will always be together. In general terms, it
relates a message of strength in unity.[1]
Had Paul thought of it, he would have used the song to rally
Christians in Corinth, but The Brotherhood had not yet written
the song, and when sung in Greek something gets lost in translation. Since 1st Corinthians
is read for the next few weeks, it offers us an opportunity to examine
relationships, specifically Paul’s relationship with a divided church and
relationships in a divided church or family today. That’s the bad news. The
good news is that Paul applied the Gospel to the Church at Corinth, and we can
apply it to relationships with church members so that we can stand united in
Christ.
First, Paul’s relationship with a divided church. The word,
division comes from the Latin dividere, meaning to force apart or
remove. In modern English, division means to partition or to separate.
Surprisingly, these first Christians who were united to Christ, His Church and
other church members through baptism – through Christ’s salvific suffering,
death and resurrection – the Gospel – chose to remove themselves from these
divinely ordered relationships. Reflect for a moment on the powerful
relationships created through baptism, and then ask yourself what could prompt
people to remove themselves from those relationships. The answer is Satan and
sin separate us from God and one another. Corinthian church members willingly
separated themselves according to who baptized them.
Over the next few weeks, we will hear how these divisions
carried over into other areas of Church life. Paul will address their lack of
appreciation of the Lord’s Supper, their misunderstanding about Christian
Resurrection and other issues.
Today, we find such relationships in divided churches and
families. Of course, we sometimes divide ourselves into political parties or
groups that wear Penn State’s sky blue and white or Pitt’s blue and gold. We
have never been united in the United States of America. Before the
Revolutionary War, the Christian Church was divided over American Independence.[2] Politics and football aside, we know
many issues divide people in Church and family; some seriously. Topping that
list is money.
Few, if any, congregations regardless of denomination have
gone unscathed by financial improprieties,[3] even churches with a clean audit
experience tension over money.[4] Research shows that arguing about money
is the top predictor of divorce.[5] We have as many reasons for arguing
about money as we do opinions, but basically it is because we have a sinfully
emotional attachment to money, and we don’t trust some people in our families
who control the purse strings or want to control them.
If you ponder that thought, you will see that our sinful
divisions over money carry over to other areas of life, particularly, a lack of
love for members of our families and the Church, and a misunderstanding of
God’s will for us and our Church.
Sometimes, we have good reason not to trust people we love.
If the person is an addict, chances are she or he is going to take your money
because addicts love drugs more than people. In one of the churches I served, a
woman I knew informed me that she and her husband were divorcing because she
could no longer tolerate what his cocaine addiction was doing to them. After
consoling her, I advised her to withdraw all her money from their accounts and
deposit everything into a new account. She declined that advice because she trusted
her husband enough that she didn’t think she had to do this. The next week she
called me and furiously informed me that her soon-to-be ex-husband cleaned out
their accounts.
So, while there is good reason to remove ourselves from the
danger of sinful situations and protect ourselves from those who can harm us,
when it comes to removing ourselves from sacred unions – baptism, communion,
marriage – we should really pray about our choice and ask God for the grace to
guide us to do His will.
Paul realized he was dealing with new Christians. In
essence, he founded the Church at Corinth. He spent 18 months teaching and
preaching before embarking on missionary work elsewhere. Wherever he journeyed,
he snuggled his newborn Christians close to his bosom – sort of the way parents
and grandparents snuggle with infants.
In dealing with the Corinthian Christians, Paul knew to
apply the Law, but he also knew that he had to apply the Gospel. In his opening
verses, Paul addressed the members as those sanctified in Christ
Jesus. Next, he affirmed their spiritual gifts. He gets into that in
chapter 13. Then, Paul insisted that the Holy Spirit must transform their
behavior.
Maybe the Corinthians did not fully realize what it meant to
receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ – the good news that the Son of God came as
one of us, taught mercy and lived a sinless life, healed the sick and forgave the
sinner, gave us His Body and Blood, suffered and died on the Cross, rose from
the dead after three days, offered us peace, and before ascending to His
Father, promised us the Holy Spirit as He instructed us to baptize and teach.
The Gospel had the power to transform their behavior and their relationships.
For that reason, Paul could instruct the Corinthians, “Let there be
no divisions among you. … Be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
If they were perfectly united in mind and thought, if they
stood united in Christ, if their unity came through faith in Christ, then
through prayer and acts of loving kindness, they would remain united, not
divided.
Unfortunately, we do not know what happened in
Corinth. I would love to stand here and tell you that they lived happily ever
after, but the truth is that Christians have become accustomed to divisions in
our faith and in our families. Even when we agree on the Articles of Faith and
accept the Book of Concord, we agree to disagree.
If we look at the history of events that we observed last
week, we realize how contentious Christians once were and still are. Last
Monday, we observed the birthday of Reverend Martin Luther King, and history
tells us that not all Christians agreed with his ideas. On Friday, the Annual
March for Life recalled the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v Wade, which
legalized the killing of multi-millions of unborn babies since January 22, 1973.
Even with last year’s overturn of that ruling, it is estimated that the number
of abortions that occur annually will only decrease to 700,000. The March is
also the world’s largest human rights demonstration. Now, some churches whole-heartedly
support abortion on demand, but if Christians cannot agree on the fundamental
issue to respect and revere human life at all stages, how will we ever expect
church members and family members to be united in mind and thought? So, we must
pray for those seeking, providing and promoting abortions that they instead
seek, provide and promote life within the traditional family.
Fortunately, there is hope. There is the Gospel, as powerful
today as it was during the life of the Apostle Paul, whose conversion to the
Faith we celebrate on January 25th. If the Gospel is at work in your
life, as it was in Paul’s, so is daily prayer. Research shows that daily prayer
heals marriages. It’s difficult to be estranged from someone if authentic
Christian prayer and the power of the Gospel are part and parcel of your daily
life.
Praying for family members can help overcome divisions and
unify us. Praying for church members can help us overcome divisions and unify
us. Do I pray for church members daily? Do I take home the bulletin and pray
for the individuals listed in it? Do I believe that praying for church members will
help us overcome divisions and unify us? My friends, the Gospel contains the
power to reunite us with God and each other. Perhaps if Christians in Corinth
thought of this, Chloe’s people would have reported only good news to Paul. The
good news for us is that that power is still available.
This week, instead of tuning into every minute of the NFL
playoff coverage, tune into the power of the Gospel, and feel what real
champions feel. Know in your heart that when we are in Christ, united we stand,
and united we fall – on our knees to offer Our Father true praise and worship.
… When we are united in Christ, the peace of God that surpasses all
understanding, keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[2]
Mark
A. Noll, America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 116ff.
[3]
Walter Pavlo, “Fraud Thriving In U.S. Churches, But You
Wouldn't Know It.” Forbes, November 18, 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2013/11/18/fraud-thriving-in-u-s-churches-but-you-wouldnt-know-it/
[4]
View “Church and Synagogue Security News,” http://blog.congregationalsecurityinc.com/
[5]
“Divorce Study: Financial Arguments Early In Relationship
May Predict Divorce,” Huffington Post, July 16, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/divorce-study_n_3587811.html
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