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.
On the Way to Wonder 