On the Way to Wonder

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 (The Message)

 10-13 The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.

14-16 The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 is talking about God’s wisdom that he differentiates from the wisdom of education or the wisdom of leaders.  God’s wisdom is different.  I switched to The Message to give a more down to earth translation.  Paul seems to be reasoning that only we know what we are thinking and therefore only God knows what God is thinking.  We may try to anticipate God’s response to situations but in fact we do not know what the future holds and what the wise way to act might be.  It seems to feel to me like Robert Frost’s poem, Two Roads Diverged in a Woods.  We come to forks in the roads of our life and we are just not sure which way to go.  In our youth we pondered who to marry, which job to take, or with whom to live.  Life was so dramatic.  Now as an elder  walking into widowhood, my choices are again foggy.  I like to try to convince myself that it is because I don’t have my husband to talk things over with but that is a leaky-bucket argument.  Many never marry.  Others live in war torn countries.  Wisdom to face tomorrow does not come from another person, as comforting as it is to talk with that person, but wisdom comes from God.  Perhaps reading Scripture helps but often it is a challenge to spend some time praying.  The Holy Spirit is the one who knows the heart of God and who speaks to our spirit.  

Jonah may be one of the books of the Bible with the most prayers in its four short chapters.  Jonah is a good example of a prophet grappling with God’s will.  You might want to read Jonah 1:4-13.  God tells Jonah to go to a foreign city of Nineveh and preach the truth.  So Jonah hops a boat in the opposite direction.  The boat encounters a violent storm and the first prayer we read is by the sailors.  The storm is so violent that each sailor prays to his own god. They throw the cargo overboard to lighten their load.  Jonah even goes below deck and goes to sleep.  The captain of the ship then orders them to call on their own gods for help. They cast lots and realize the storm is because of Jonah and so they go to Jonah and ask what’s up and what should be done.  He confesses that he is the problem and should be thrown overboard.  They throw Jonah overboard as they pray for forgiveness. “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.”

We might all see ourselves in this little story.  My New Year’s resolution for how many years has been to…loose weight.  The dessert is offered and I run away from the voice in my heart.  I indulge. Tomorrow is another day, right!  Or perhaps I listen to the “gods” of the world that say if I eat this or that pill, I will loose weight.  Hmmm.  I might even throw away temptations in the cupboard.  I may even cry tears realizing my own guilt.  I may just plain go to asleep and avoid exercising.  I have even looked in the mirror and questioned why God put me in a family prone to overweight.  I’m just like…. Yep, all the aspects of the Jonah story ring true in my life too.

Paul is saying to us today that spiritual wisdom does not come from universities or governments but comes from the Holy Spirit as our spirit spends time communicating with God’s Spirit.  Lord, help me not to be reluctant, resistant, and fight with the wisdom you give me to face the challenges of today.

1 Corinthians 2:9

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—

Paul claims in 1 Corinthians that he is presenting wisdom that is different from the wisdom that the world respects or that governments argue for.  There is a wisdom that comes from God and which only God can give.  Paul claims he is preaching a whole different type of wisdom that can only be given by the Holy Spirit. We might say it is counter-intuitive but works. 

What Paul makes me think of is the political banter going on now and all the name calling as each candidate thinks they know the way forward for our country.  Those speeches are very different from the sermons on Sunday that call us to live each day loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.  Forgiveness is preached and given but forgiveness is hard to live when we are really hurt.  Turning our other cheek is not the way of politics.  

So where do we look for wisdom?  Paul in verse 8 says “8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”  Wisdom does not end in hatred, murder, and protecting our tails as Pilot did when he washed his hands of Jesus to please the Jews.  Wisdom trusts that God has our backs and works for the good of all people concerned.  Lord, as we face our trials today, let us turn to you for help and help us trust your ways.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

2 And  so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Paul opens his first letter to the Corinthians by introducing himself as an authoritative messenger.  He complements them by acknowledging how he has seen them growing.  They are saints in-process growing into their identities as children of God even as our children grow and become more and more the person we experience them to be with their gifts. Paul then pleads with them to be united and not to splinter or argue over who their favorite guru is in the faith.  He reasons that none of us can brag for God chooses those who are weak to make strong thus we become models of God’s ability not super stars.  We do not need to go to university nor be like Moses or David.  God uses ordinary people like us.

Today he points to himself as an application or example of what he has said.  He does not experience himself as a great orator like the Greeks were looking for in Athens.  He was with the Corinthians simply sharing his experience of the power of the cross and the reality of Christ in his life.  He did not do great deeds like Moses.  But to his surprise, the Corinthians listened and were touched by his sermon.  He credits their faith to the power of the Holy Spirit working in their hearts.

Sometimes we have the experience of saying the right thing at the right time and at the right place.  I admit that often I feel like I have foot in mouth problems but every now and then someone will respond – I really needed to hear that.  Or sometimes a person’s name keeps running through my mind and I call only to discover they needed a friend to talk with. Once or twice I have found a check in the mail just when I needed it.  In those random times when we feel like life is more than coincidental, we need to thank God for using us.  May we be open to listening to God speaking to us to reach out, may we obey, and may we give God the credit.  Blessings as you respond to the nudging of the Holy Spirit today.

First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44

42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to [Elisha,] the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” 43 But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” 44 He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

Psalm: Psalm 145:10-18

You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Ps. 145:16)

 10 All your works shall praise you, O Lord, and your faithful ones shall bless you.

 11 They shall tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your power,

 12 that all people may know of your power and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your dominion endures throughout all ages.

  You, Lord, are faithful in all your words, and loving in all your works. 

 14 The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up those who are bowed down.

 15 The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord, and you give them their food in due season.

 16 You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

 17 You are righteous in all your ways and loving in all your works.

 18 You are near to all who call upon you, to all who call upon you faithfully. 

Second Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

  20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Gospel: John 6:1-21

 Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

  15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

  16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

CHILDREN’S SERMON. Aesop’s Fable, “Belling the Cat.”

“The Mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free themselves of their enemy, the Cat. At least they wished to find some way of knowing when she was coming, so they might have time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done, for they lived in such constant fear of her claws that they hardly dared stir from their dens by night or day.    At last a very young Mouse got up and said:  “I have a plan that seems very simple, but I know it will be successful.  All we have to do is to hang a bell about the Cat’s neck. When we hear the bell ringing we will know immediately that our enemy is coming.”

All the Mice were much surprised that they had not thought of such a plan before. But in the midst of the rejoicing over their good fortune, an old Mouse arose and said: “I will say that the plan of the young Mouse is very good. But let me ask one question: Who will bell the Cat?”

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Our Gospel reading takes us to the Gospel of John for today’s text.  The stories we read feel familiar as we have looked at Jesus being followed by hungry crowds and we have seen Jesus in a storm on the Sea of Galilee.  This text appears to fill in some details from John’s perspective and has a slightly different focus.  There must be “something more” for us today so let’s put on our glasses and take a second look. John adds the detail that Passover was near. Passover was the Jewish tradition of remembering the Israelites’ deliverance from bondage in Egypt.  It was the evening when people were told to kill a goat, put its blood over the door and the angel of death would pass over, not killing the first born.  The Sedar is the traditional meal that is eaten, even today.

   I find it interesting that we are in a somewhat similar context.  We might say that the presidential elections are near and because of the attempted assasination of former President Trump, the news media has been spending a lot of time going over our political history, comparing and contrasting violent events and seeking to understand what happened.  Our historical context impacts how we understand the unfolding of our life events.  How we interpret the last four years will impact how we vote in this election.  We are also in Pentecost when we are looking at the texts to see how these texts impact our lives.  We are not necessarily looking to understand the character of our God but how his character might reflect in our lives.

In today’s text Jesus sees the crowds approaching.  Last week we learned that Jesus saw the crowds approaching like sheep without a shepherd and began teaching them.  Jesus today anticipates another problem, hunger, and tests the disciples.

Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 

One thing we know is that Jesus does not ask questions because he needs information. He is not wanting to know where the closest bakery is nor do I think that Jesus believes Philip could carry back the necessary bread.  I am guessing Jesus sees the problem approaching and is asking the disciples to asses their resources.  When we are faced with a challenge, we need to be aware of our context and our resources.  The mice do not need to be reminded of the cat but they do pool their thoughts on how to deal with it.

Philip creates a mental spreadsheet calculating how much money would be necessary to buy food for the crowd.  I suspect if we were honest we would admit that we will calculate our finances before we buy.  My sister is contemplating a move closer to her daughter and is asking herself how much money she can draw from her pension savings.  She has checked with the bank about how much of a loan she could float.  Then if the closing of the sale of her house is longer than the closing of the new house, can she handle payments.  Those are necessary calculations that must be done.  The unknown is whether her house will sell.  There is an unseen, unknown factor.  Philip reports that It does not seem financially possible to buy bread.

Andrew, Peter’s brother, on the other hand does a quick survey of the audience and figures out there is a boy with five barley loaves and two fish.  He evaluates his fluid assets he could touch right now.  My sister is going home to put money into upgrading her house to increase the value on the market. Andrew looks at the boy’s lunch and realizes the size of the challenge, of feeding five thousand, is far greater than his assets.  It just does not seem possible.  The mice realize the cat is big and dangerous.

The question, the challenge, drives the disciples to a confrontation with reality.  They are going to have to deal with the hunger of the crowd.  Hospitality demands it.  The women will meet at Bethany to figure out a plan to welcome the people coming to meals for Bethany Gardens’ gatherings and they will figure out a way to serve the meals in a warm, welcoming and nutritious way.

The disciples, though, are driven by Jesus’ question to the realization that their resources are insufficient.  They are about to loose face.  The cat has the upper hand.

But what are they (the bread and fish) among so many people?” 10

 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” 

It seems that the disciples have not yet learned to factor in Jesus, God.  The challenge drives them to acknowledge their limitations. The problem drives them to turn to Jesus.   It is then that God can step in and help.  As I think back to the challenges we have faced in our Pentecost texts – Jesus asleep in the boat in a storm, two women at the point of death, sick needing healing, people like sheep without a shepherd – the problems all drive us to seek help from Jesus and that help reveals the character of God.  Perhaps we would say today that our problems drive us to our knees in prayer.  We may choose to not be transparent with our core group of Christian friends or maybe our problems challenge us to seek advice from friends traveling the journey of faith with us.  The problem may drive us deeper into studying the Word of God as we seek wisdom to deal with a decision.  Our values often are clarified as we grapple with the situations we are in.  The mice call a meeting and share ideas.

Jesus tells the disciples to have the crowd sit down.  Let’s ponder this for a minute just for fun.  As we watch the political rally’s right now, I think of people standing crammed together and often chanting slogans.  When the shots rang out, the chaos pursued.  If those crowds were to sit down on the grass, I imagine a much calmer scene.  As we sit at our tables at a church event, we chat with neighbors until the number of our table is called to go fill our plates.  Perhaps Jesus’ first advice to us is to sit down, calm down, count to ten and wait for God before you act.  Don’t panic.

Next Jesus turns to heaven and thanks God before he acts.  Ummmm, do we tackle our challenges with an attitude of  gratitude?  Do we tackle the challenge of helping our friends with an attitude of gratitude?  Good question.  The shooter had to be neutralized.  A worship service was not appropriate but I am willing to beg a lot of prayer went up at the rally when the shots rang out.  Problems are never welcome.  There always seems to be a cat lurking near by and patience to wait is not my strong point.  As an elder I now look back at all the challenges I whined my way through, all the times I despaired that I could feed the beggars lining up at the back door, the hours of prayer for my children, and unfortunately when my mouth was in motion with my husband.  Some of the lessons are left at the foot of the cross to be forgiven but some I look back and marvel at how God brought us through. We may not have all the wealth and fame that the world says we need but I would guess we could spend time sharing stories of the impossible times we faced and survived.  

Jesus distributes the bread and fish and the passage does not explain the miracle. The important part is that there is enough  for leftovers. Today we all face challenges.  Cats are real.  It may be financial where resources feel stretched, it may be dealing with health where the time ahead seems too short or too long, and it may be just a decision we are agonizing about.  In any case, Jesus asks us today where we are going to buy the resources we need to deal with our problem.  As we check and recheck our check books and our social registers, may we not forget to check our spiritual resources also.  May we seek an attitude of gratitude.  May we sit calmly and wait for the Lord to act.  The young mouse when asked, “Who will bell the cat?” Is faced with a relevant question.

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, 

he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Ahhhh, there is a fly in the ointment.  Eve in the Garden of Eden thinks that if she eats the fruit, she will be wise and be like God. These people think that if they make Jesus their king then they will no longer be hungry and no longer have problems. The mice think that if they can just bell the cat then they will be safe from pain and possibly death.  We somehow think that if we choose Jesus then our lives will not have problems.  God performs a miracle and helps his disciples meet their challenge but who gets the credit?  The crowds see the miracle and come to the conclusion that they want to have Jesus as their king.  They have misunderstood the character of God.  It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the an all powerful God should be able to give us the good life, give us health, wealth and prosperity.  When life goes good then we feel like all is right in the universe and God is happy with us.  But when we have problems, we suspect we have somehow done something wrong.  We have gotten bad karma.  We are confronted here with the question of whether we believe God is serving us by giving bread to all people or whether we are here serving God and helping him to build the Kingdom of Heaven where God rules. 

Jesus withdraws to the mountain to be by himself.  He does not leave and return to heaven.  He does not transport to Jerusalem and the Temple.  Jesus withdraws from obvious presence where we might be in danger of getting the wrong idea or perhaps develop an unhealthy dependence on him. Again I am drawn back to the truth that we are not robots made to do God’s wishes but we are his children being trained to walk in his image.  Jesus tested the disciples to help their faith grow when they face impossible situations.  Jesus wants us too to realize that as we face the challenges before us this week that we have God present with us.  Perhaps, though, we need to sit down, calm down, be grateful and wait for God to reveal the plan.

“It is I; do not be afraid.”

The text does not end with the feeding of the 5000.  Our text continues.  Jesus has withdrawn and the disciples must decide what to do next.  Some days are like that.  We live in automatic mode.  It’s an ordinary day, not necessarily spiritually challenging and we are not facing some big cat.  There is no indication in the text that there was a plan they had all decided on about the next stop on their journey.  We only know that Jesus has withdrawn and the disciples make the decision to climb in a boat and cross the sea.  A storm blows up.  There is always another problem to face. Perhaps we deal with the cat but there are still the mouse traps with bits of cheese to entice us. 

According to John, Jesus is not asleep in the boat.  Jesus does not even appear to be in the boat.  John tells us that Jesus comes walking on the water to the disciples.  The disciples are terrified.  Our story has carried us from facing a challenge too large for the desciples’ resources to a challenge that feels like the occult.  We have gone from the impossible to seeing ghosts or demons.  The disciples are not just having a bad day handling a problem too big for them, they are now handling a problem when they suspect evil is actively working to sink their ships.  Despairing about whether I will ever get that last child potty trained is very different than needing the wisdom to deal with a child caught in addiction.  The challenge of suicide feels like evil is winning.  A marriage torn apart by adultery requires God’s healing.  It’s not just a bad day, it is a day that claws at the roots of our faith.

It is at this point that Jesus says, “I AM is with you.”  Confronted with Evil, Jesus uses his  godly name, I AM, that he spoke to Moses on the mountain as Moses prepared to do battle with the Pharaoh of Egypt for the deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery and bondage.  Jesus is not in teaching mode, not in helping us stretch resources to make ends meet, Jesus is in full power mode.  When we come to Jesus, we may need to be taught like sheep without a shepherd. We may need to be fed like the hungry crowd.  We may need to be laid at his feet so we can touch the hem of his garment.  We may be coming today with a big cat at our door and our community of mice while comforting, all seems small and timid like us.  We want the cat to be belled.  The disciples do not know yet that Jesus will bell the cat and defeat Evil on the cross.  We have not reached heaven yet and only have glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven but we do know that I AM is traveling will us.  He allows problems that draw us to him, that remind us that we are limited in our resources, that force us to sit down and pray and wait for him to lead.  He is the great I AM, always present, forgiving our past, going into or future with us and helping us deal with the present.  He says,

DO NOT BE AFRAID!

Let the people of God say, “Thank you Lord.”

You Are My Hiding Place ( With Lyrics ) | Selah

We finished yesterday with 1 Corinthians 1: 25, 

“25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

God uses that which is weak, like me and perhaps you, to display his power and glory.  He walks with us so that when we are weak, we find strength, and when we are poor, we are rich in unseen ways.  It made me think of this worship song “You are My Hiding Place” written by Michael Lerner and recorded by Maranatha Music.  The author was going through a rough time that inspired the song.  When some of his friends heard it they realized its comforting message.  It is based on

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” — Psalm 32:7 (NIV) 

“When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” — Psalm 56:3 (NIV) 

Please enjoy as you prepare for worship tomorrow.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

“25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

Yesterday we read Paul’s first point as he wrote to the group of believers in Corinth.  He pled for them to be united.  He asked them to identify as followers of Jesus and not followers of the particular person who first introduced them to what would become to be known as Christianity.   He asks us to be united around our belief in Jesus and the power of the cross and not identify with a certain eloquent speaker and persuasive leader.  The power is in the cross and not in the personality presenting the message.  So now in verses 18-31 he fleshes out his explanation for his thinking.

The Greeks admired philosophers like Plato and Socrates, the men who were eloquent narrators.  The Jews looked to the ancients like Moses who did miracles in the wilderness or David who was strong.  they were more practical and applied in their quest.  Paul believes that God chooses that which is weak to confound the strong.  God uses ordinary people like you and me and through the testimony of our lives the world sees that we are strong in our ability to love, to forgive, to turn the other cheek, to be generous, and to change from being a sinner to being a saint.  Ordinary people like you and I can share the wisdom of the Gospel without going to any university.  Somehow our ordinariness displays the glory of God.  Our ability to be united inspite of race and language speaks to the wonderfulness of our God that grows us into a functional body of believers.  God gets the glory, not any single person.

Paul concludes in verse 31, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

So if you were to boast of a wise and intelligent person who came alongside you in your life, who would it be and how did that person help you?  Now, if you were to think of a godly person who impacted your life, how would you describe that person?  Is there a difference?

Thank you Lord for choosing the weak things of this world, like me, to work with.  May I always give glory to you.

1 Corinthians 1:10

“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.”

A plea for unity is the first topic on Paul’s agenda, having complemented his audience on how he sees God working in their lives thus laying the foundation for his message.  That is a word and a plea we are all familiar with these days as we approach elections. We are being asked to forget economic differences and state identities and focus on a bigger national idea.  We are being asked to be united.

 Paul continues in verse 12 to list the source of division.  It seems that the Corinthians were divided over who had led them to become believers.  They had divided loyalties. People identified with different preachers.  Today we might say it is like the different denominations with each having its own unique flavor.  Or to bring it down to earth, it might be the divisions among us about which part of the political platform should be emphasized and how to achieve the goal. Interest groups. The candidates want us to focus on party identity and not splinter over individual issues.  Paul asks the Corinthians to focus on uniting factors.  All believe in Christ and they were baptized into his name. 

 Paul reminds us in verse 17 that the power lies in the cross, not in the eloquence of the speaker who led them to faith.  So what gets under your skin and leads you to disharmony with another?  Do you have a pet peeve that gets to you and divides you from your friends?  Let us pray today that the Holy Spirit will shine in our hearts and convict us of ways that we are being judgmental and unfair. Open our eyes to see that that other is someone Christ died for.  Help Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 

5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 

6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Apostle Paul is famous for his very “dense” writing.  I sometimes wonder if he is going to let me take a breath and I have to search to find the point in the sentence because he can pack so much into one sentence.  Paul has introduced himself as an authorized messenger for writing to the Corinthians.  Paul has greeted the people he is writing to as saints, people in the process of being sorted out, growing in their Christian character.  He now delves into a long statement that might be summarized, I would suggest, as saying, “I’m so glad you’re my peeps!”  “I’m glad we’re on the same team.”  Let’s let that soak in for a minute.  The “other” is so often demonized today.  So what is Paul appreciative for?  It is not what I might expect.

Paul is thankful not for what the other has done for him but for all that he sees in them, their potential, their giftedness that they bring to the fellowship of believers. They have been graced and enriched with speech and knowledge.  Perhaps they agree but perhaps they are iron sharpening iron since we know Paul is writing this letter because of differences.  He’s doing that sandwich thing where you put two slices of complements and add a layer of meaty challenges between.  But first he lays a foundation of gratitude for their growing points.

  It makes me wonder to what degree I celebrate the diversity others bring to my life and see the way they are growing as a blessing to me, calling me forward, or am I threatened by differences. That’s certainly the message in the political media today.  Paul is able to be thankful because he is able to see Christ working in his friend’s life and he is confident that Christ will lead to a good conclusion.  God is faithful who has called us into fellowship with someone different from ourselves.

May we learn to look at others and see the growth they are going through and may we see them as fellow team members with different skills placed in our lives and the lives of those around us.  Indeed I would pray for “grace and peace” of God for others as we go through today.  Blessings.

1 Corinthians 1:1-2

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:  (NIV)

1 1-2 I, Paul, have been called and sent by Jesus, the Messiah, according to God’s plan, along with my friend Sosthenes. I send this letter to you in God’s church at Corinth, believers cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life. I include in my greeting all who call out to Jesus, wherever they live. He’s their Master as well as ours!  (The Message)

We are starting to ponder the epistle 1 Corinthians.  The author, Paul, introduces himself as an authorized messenger writing a letter to the church in Corinth to clear up some questions that had arisen.  He mentions a man named Sosthenes who is considered the leader of the believers in Corinth.  Letters are written into a context.  Business letters have a very different, perhaps formal, tone than a letter written to a friend or a letter written to a younger grandchild with whom I am trying to share my truth.  Paul writes to people whom he perceives to be “sanctified.”  I love the way The Message puts it.  In that translation sanctified is phrases as “believers cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life.”

Yesterday we thought about who we might want to send an email to and just how we would introduced ourselves.  We thought about our title.  Few of us are “authorized messengers” like Paul but we might be “your loving grandparent” or “your friend in Timbuktu” or “your long lost friend” and maybe “a concerned neighbor.”  How we understand ourselves is different from how we understand the person we are writing to.  As we sit and pull our thoughts together before we put pen to ink, it might a good challenge to breathe deep and think of an image of the person we are writing to.  If we think of that wayward child as a rebellious and stubborn youth, our comments might be much harsher than if we first tap into the love for the child beneath the anger aroused by our deep concern for their dilemma they are in.

”Cleaned up” carries the feeling of someone in process, someone being sanctified and that includes all of us.  We are all called to be God’s holy people and we are all in process, not yet perfect, saints in the formation.  Let’s take a moment to think of our best friend as a saint being formed.  Not so hard.  Now think of that person who gets to you as a saint in the forming.  That is harder.  Lord help us to see others as works in process, beloved of you.  Blessings.

 1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, (1 Corinthians 1:1)

As I write this reflection, I cannot help but also listen to the news flooding our media about the decision by President Biden not to run for President again this Fall.  Letters are flowing in to the news as we listen to hear all the opinions about this move, affirmations of the presidency of Biden, and opinions as to what the road forward is for the Democrats.  I kind of wonder if the birth of Christianity shortly after the resurrection was not a similar cultural debate.  We forget that in those early days, Judaism was the dominant faith system in Israel.  You were Jewish or Gentile.  There was no Christian church.  What we call “the church,” was an emerging dynamic.  Followers of Jesus did not debate about how to handle immigration but there were heated debates about whether a person had to become Jewish and be circumcised to be a follower of Jesus.  How were non-Jews to be incorporated?  There were no denominational centers and financial challenges were facing small groups and reps were being sent with financial donations.  Was a follower allowed to eat sacrificial offerings of meat sold in the market?  What are the expectations about marriage?  Even as we listen to the presidential candidates present their platforms, writers like Paul, Peter and James wrote into the early church.

  One of the formative voices in this process about what “faith” should look like was Paul.  Paul spoke into all the questions swirling  among the groups of believers forming around the Mediterranean.  There was no formal Biblical scripture as we know it today, only the Old Testament.  There was no television to let the church in Rome know what the church in Jerusalem was thinking. Paul made “missionary journeys” walking around the Middle East training, updating, and establishing leadership.  He wrote letters, we sometimes call epistles, to young groups.

Corinthians is one of those letters that was circulating and which was chosen as inspired for the New Testament.  Paul was writing to the church in Corinth.  We will see Paul tackle many of these nitty gritty issues being debated. Paul could speak into these issues because he was raised with Jewish identity and Roman identity.  His name was Saul.  He was trained as a Pharisee.  He persecuted early Christians and through a spiritual experience, encounter the risen Christ and was converted.  He changed his name from Saul to Paul. 

 Paul introduces himself as an “apostle,” a sent one.  He is claiming to be an authoritative messenger speaking to the Corinthians.  He is writing to Sosthenes, the leader of the believers in Corinth.  Corinth was a commercial center of commerce near Greece.  Paul spent a lot of time in his two letters to the Corinthians  talking about issues.  They are issues common to us today..  Paul is writing to his friends, addressing issues in the group of believers there.

So let us sit back and think how this applies to our lives.  If I were to write a letter to a granddaughter or a dear friend about the struggles that person is going through, how would I open and identify myself?  Paul opened, “Paul, an apostle…”. How would you open your letter?  What title might you give yourself that would convey your felt need to write?  Blessings as you ponder your status in the faith system and who you would like to share with today.