My focus today is on 1st Corinthians with a
special emphasis on verse 10: “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in
what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be
perfectly united in mind and thought.”
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I
rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”[1]
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" – 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. [2]
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 orange or crimson. We have never been united in the United States of
America. Before the Revolutionary War, the Christian Church was divided over
American Independence.[3]
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.[4]
Even churches with a clean audit experience tension over money.[5]
Research shows that arguing about money is the top predictor of divorce.[6]
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 the other people in our families – our spouses, siblings,
parents, children or those who have a special affinity with the person who
controls the purse strings.
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 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 the last church I was serving, a woman I knew
since the 3rd grade 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 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. Addicts can be the most charming people,
and they only lie when their lips are moving.
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 a grandfather snuggles
his granddaughter.
In dealing with them, Paul knew to apply the Law, but he also applied the
Gospel to the Church at Corinth. 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 3
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 in Christ united
they stood, 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 we 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 Wednesday, the Annual March for Life
recalled the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v Wade, which legalized the killing
55 million unborn babies since January 1973. Some denominations whole-heartedly
support this case as law. If Christians cannot agree on the fundamental issues
of human life, how will we ever expect church members and family members to be
united in mind and thought?
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
celebrated yesterday, at the end of the Week for Christian Unity. 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 church members can help overcome divisions and unify us.
Praying for church members can help us overcome divisions and unify us. I echo
that sentence for my own sake. Perhaps for yours.
Do I pray for church members daily? Do I take home the WRAP and pray for
the individuals listed in it or do I return it to the ushers? Praying for church
members can help 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 Superbowl coverage,
tune into the power of the Gospel, and feel what a real champion feels. 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 do, may the
peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Amen.
[1]
Psalm 122
[3]
Mark A. Noll, America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 116ff.
[4]
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/
[5]
View “Church and Synagogue Security News,” http://blog.congregationalsecurityinc.com/
[6] “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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