A mother reports that her fourth grade son was on crutches when it came time for his birthday. He wanted to take cupcakes to school but couldn’t carry them. When his mother asked his older brother to carry them for him he said, “I could but I won’t.” Spotting a teaching moment the mother asked, “And what would Jesus do?” To which he replied, “Jesus would heal him so he could carry his own cupcakes.”
While that thinking could easily put us in a theological ditch, on Reformation Sunday we do remember the fullness of God’s work for us. A couple weeks ago I mentioned the famous phrase from Ephesians 2:8, “saved by grace through faith.” I mentioned that while most everyone easily agrees that it is God’s grace that saves us, there is not agreement about whose faith it is. Many will claim that the grace is God’s but the faith is the person’s. There is a lot of appeal to that sort of thinking. People think that God has done the work of our salvation and has made it a free gift to us. All we have to do is accept it. That acceptance is then called faith.
As I said, there is a lot of appeal to that line of thinking. It acknowledges God’s saving action and retains human freedom. However, it is wrong. People need only read another sentence to find, “…this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” In other words, the gift includes the faith. Or said differently, if it is your faith that accepts God’s gift then realize that even the faith you have is also brought about by God.
Familiar as Ephesians 2:8 is, it is a very radical statement. Ultimately it takes away free will. If it is God’s grace and God’s faith then where do we come in? The answer, especially appropriate on Reformation Sunday, is that we don’t.
Church denominations across the centuries have struggled with this. Many come up with sophisticated logic and philosophies to wiggle through it. All of them fall apart in the end, as all philosophical systems, and all human logic in fact, ultimately ends up tripping over itself.
An easy example, two weeks ago I asked our 7th and 8th grade confirmation class, “God can do anything, right?” They all agreed. Then I said, “So if God can do anything, then can God create a rock too heavy for God to lift?” You’ve probably heard that classic old conundrum before. As I expected, the confirmands gave me puzzled looks as their brains tried in vain to come up with an answer!
That simple example shows us how the limits of our intellect can create impossible problems. Ultimately (and fortunately!) God is not bound by the limits of human intelligence.
When faced with the conundrum of Ephesians 2:8 Lutheran thinking has not gone down a path of trying to come up with a sophisticated way to maintain free will. Instead, right from the gate, we accept that all is by God’s love and graciousness.
That turns out to be more than just a philosophical conclusion. It is a conclusion that has real life consequences and applicability.
What did the little boy say to his mother? “Jesus would heal him so he could carry his own cupcakes!” It is a totally misguided answer, yet in a weird way, gets at the truth of what Paul is writing about in the passage from 1 Corinthians that we read. As we’ve been looking at the Corinthian church you’ll remember me saying that they were probably the wealthiest of all the churches Paul founded. Indeed they probably were. But that does not mean that they were all rich. It appears that they came from across the economic spectrum. That’s actually quite remarkable. It also appears that they were making distinctions among themselves, or ranking themselves, but various means. Wealth, social status, abilities, and even spiritual gifts. Thus Paul writes 1 Corinthians 12 as a response.
In verses 4-6 he says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities [or works] bur it is the same God who activates [or works] all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
We’ve just been talking about God’s acts of salvation, but what about everything else? Paul argues that all our abilities are from God. They are created and activated by God.
We humans have a way of measuring people according to their abilities. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we create ranks among us. Some of us are more useful than others. I remember when I was in high school I took the ASVAB test; the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. I didn’t take it because I was contemplating a career in the military. I took it for the same reason almost everyone else in the school took it. It meant getting out of classes for a day!
So I get my test results and it says I’m good at all these sorts of things and maybe not so good at other sorts of things. The military needs to know what people are good at so they can match their abilities to the needs. It makes sense.
I remember one guy though, who when he got his results they came back that he wasn’t good for anything. He simply wasn’t smart or skilled at anything. I knew him outside of school and knew he really couldn’t even aim a gun very well. Oh, the armed forces would still take him, but he would be an enlisted man who would do nothing, and if it came to a combat situation, probably the most useful thing he could do would be as cannon fodder, someone to take a bullet that would otherwise go into someone more worthwhile. I don’t like thinking about people that way, but from the human perspective of his value, that’s about all he was good for.
Does that mean that he was a worthless person? Does that mean that God was skimpy in terms of gifting him? Does his economic value equate to his human value?
Let’s hear more of what Paul wrote. In verses 12 and following we read, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
“Indeed the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body…”
And skipping ahead, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose…”
You can read it all on your own, but skipping ahead one more time, “…the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
The obscure Reformation theology of salvation by grace through faith has a real living impact for our daily lives. Who are we to think more highly of ourselves because we have more economically or militarily or culturally valuable gifts? And who are we to think less of our selves because we lack economic, or military or cultural gifts? All are made by God. All have been saved by God. Therefore all have value to God.
Now if you’re in a company’s HR department I won’t say the Bible teaches that anyone can do anything. If you’re a manager I won’t say you shouldn’t fire a non-performing employee. That is not the point here. Paul has said there are gifts and people should apply them for the good of all. But a person’s value does not lie in their worldly abilities.
Also, no task is too high or too low. Maybe you are an excellent pitcher in major league baseball. That does not mean you are too skilled to clean toilets.
Paul’s words to his churches go from the high theological to the very practical. It is God’s work. It is God’s gift. It is God’s doing. The limits of our human brains can easily confuse us and make a mess of things, but we are still all one body in Christ.
So yes, the little boy should carry his brother’s cupcakes. But his brother’s leg is healing. In not too long he will be able to carry his own cupcakes, just as God has also made the body able to do.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Monday, October 19, 2020
October 18, 2020 The Collection 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 9
“How do you like my hat?” asked a young wife innocently as she preened herself in front of the mirror.
“It looks silly,” said her tactless husband. “Why don’t you return it?”
“Oh, I can’t return it,” was the reply. “You see, it’s my old one. But since you don’t like this one, I will go buy another one.”
This little joke opens our minds to parts of St. Paul’s writings that we often overlook. Paul is known as the great theologian. His letter to the Romans is the backbone of Christian thinking about God; or at least Protestant thinking about God. He delves into deep and complex issues. We also know Paul as one writing answers to questions from the churches he founded, Paul giving advice on matters. But we often overlook Paul’s coercive writings. We see that in what we read today from 2 Corinthians and we also see it in his letter to Philemon.
At issue in what we read today is this collection Paul is taking for the saints in Jerusalem. No one knows exactly what this collection was about. Paul refers to it in any number of his letters. Sometimes he calls it a ministry, or a collection, or for the saints, or for the poor. What we do know is that some time before Paul was being questioned by the church leaders in Jerusalem – probably the remaining disciples of Jesus and a couple other leaders – about his ministry to the Gentiles. They come to an agreement about things and among those things is this collection. Perhaps the collection was to help with a famine or to help the desperately poor in Jerusalem. Perhaps it was something like we would call mission support – an offering to support any number of ministries that cannot sustain themselves. Whatever the case, Paul was regularly raising money from the churches he helped found and that money was intended to go to Jerusalem.
Quite likely the Corinthians were the wealthiest among all the churches Paul founded. And just to their north in Macedonia were probably the poorest among the churches Paul founded. Central to the Macedonian territory appears to have been the church in the city of Philippi. As you know we have a letter Paul wrote to them in our Bibles. These poor Christians appear to be the most generous supporters of Paul. Whenever you read Philippians you can’t help but feel Paul’s warmth of spirit toward them. I don’t think it was just because of their generosity. I think they just had a good relationship with Paul.
You can even hear Paul praising them to the Corinthians in what we read today, “We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of afflictions, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege [or grace] of sharing in this ministry to the saints…”
The Macedonians in their poverty seem excited to have something of value to contribute to this overarching ministry of aid that Paul is organizing.
How are the wealthy Corinthians doing?
Well, the issue comes up a number of times in Paul’s letters to them. In 1 Corinthians 16 (and remember 1 Corinthians is already at least the second letter Paul has written to them) he says, “Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letter to take your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.”
Paul almost sounds exasperated there. Obviously he’s taken up this topic with them before. He’s given them the same advice that the churches in Galatia are following. But it doesn’t seem to be enough. Paul goes on to say that they could even send people to accompany the money to Jerusalem if they don’t trust him. And if even that doesn’t work he’ll go along as well.
I start to get the image of the Corinthians as untrusting nit picks wanting ever more assurances. It’s like they’re reluctant and inventing every excuse they can not to participate.
And so we go forward to 2 Corinthians 8-9. Some scholars think this is a fragment of a letter, as indeed 2 Corinthians does appear to be a collection of letter fragments. If that’s the case then Paul may have been addressing this numerous times. Whatever the case, he’s ready to outright shame the Corinthians. The poor Macedonians have given and given generously despite being poor. They’re excited by the opportunity to help. So what’s wrong with the Corinthians then?
You can feel Paul’s coercion developing through the letter. In 8:7 he says, “Now as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you – so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.”
And the next verse is just dripping in sarcasm, “I do not say this as a command,” [yeah right], “but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.” Talk about turning up the shame pressure! “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” Of course Paul he is not talking about Jesus literal monetary worth. He’s talking about Jesus lowering himself from divine status to human status and then to voluntarily being executed for all humanity. So Paul’s now pouring on the guilt too!
In the beginning of chapter 9 we find Paul writing, “Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints…” Ha ha, nice joke. Of course he’s writing this to them! And it’s definitely not the first time! Sarcasm is dripping from every word, “…for I know your eagerness, which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that [you] have been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them.”
You wonder if Paul is playing both sides of the fence here. He’s pressuring the Corinthians based on the Macedonian giving but told the Macedonians what the Corinthians are doing. He goes on, “But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated – to say nothing of you – in this undertaking.” If Paul is playing both sides of the fence he is not being cagey about it at least. He is, however, certainly leveraging their honor as he goes on, “So I thought it necessary to urge the brother to go ahead to you, and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary give and not as an extortion.”
Well, extortion is a strong word, but he’s getting close!
Paul does have something very important to say behind all of it though. That is what comes next in verse 6:
“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”
In the midst of an argument with plenty of guilt and shame Paul brings it to the core. Generosity is ultimately rooted in God’s ability to provide and provide abundantly.
We’ll be beginning our stewardship drive in the next couple of weeks. Perhaps this text would have been better placed in the midst of that. I could have created a sermon filled with guilt and shame to try to see how much money could be squeezed out of your wallets. But I actually think it is better placed here, before it actually begins.
I think we all know that we will give generously, and we will give cheerfully even, when we believe in what we are giving to. No one wants to give to something that is inept or squanders resources. We will, however, give when we know our resources will be applied wisely and they will bring about lasting good. And so before we can even ask people to support we need to put together a plan that reflects how we are going to make our faith real in the next year. That is the task right now – creating a plan, a strategy for the use of those resources.
The exact plan hasn’t been made yet, but if the past is any indication we will continue to use our resources to support ministries nearby and far away. We will continue to support the food cupboard to put food on people’s tables. That support will be both in the form of finances and actual food. Through Family Promise we work to put roofs over people’s heads. Land and buildings are expensive in Victor. So we make our land and buildings available for many community groups to use. We will continue to grow through worship, education, and youth programming. We will support missionaries near and far away. We’ll support the work and ministries of our conference and synod. And the list could go on. It is a multi-faceted approach critically developed and adapted as needs arise.
Thank you for what you have helped us accomplish in the past. We hope 2021’s plan will also be good and effective, something that we can embrace and cheerfully support in whatever form that takes. So that God’s work is done through our hands.
“It looks silly,” said her tactless husband. “Why don’t you return it?”
“Oh, I can’t return it,” was the reply. “You see, it’s my old one. But since you don’t like this one, I will go buy another one.”
This little joke opens our minds to parts of St. Paul’s writings that we often overlook. Paul is known as the great theologian. His letter to the Romans is the backbone of Christian thinking about God; or at least Protestant thinking about God. He delves into deep and complex issues. We also know Paul as one writing answers to questions from the churches he founded, Paul giving advice on matters. But we often overlook Paul’s coercive writings. We see that in what we read today from 2 Corinthians and we also see it in his letter to Philemon.
At issue in what we read today is this collection Paul is taking for the saints in Jerusalem. No one knows exactly what this collection was about. Paul refers to it in any number of his letters. Sometimes he calls it a ministry, or a collection, or for the saints, or for the poor. What we do know is that some time before Paul was being questioned by the church leaders in Jerusalem – probably the remaining disciples of Jesus and a couple other leaders – about his ministry to the Gentiles. They come to an agreement about things and among those things is this collection. Perhaps the collection was to help with a famine or to help the desperately poor in Jerusalem. Perhaps it was something like we would call mission support – an offering to support any number of ministries that cannot sustain themselves. Whatever the case, Paul was regularly raising money from the churches he helped found and that money was intended to go to Jerusalem.
Quite likely the Corinthians were the wealthiest among all the churches Paul founded. And just to their north in Macedonia were probably the poorest among the churches Paul founded. Central to the Macedonian territory appears to have been the church in the city of Philippi. As you know we have a letter Paul wrote to them in our Bibles. These poor Christians appear to be the most generous supporters of Paul. Whenever you read Philippians you can’t help but feel Paul’s warmth of spirit toward them. I don’t think it was just because of their generosity. I think they just had a good relationship with Paul.
You can even hear Paul praising them to the Corinthians in what we read today, “We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of afflictions, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege [or grace] of sharing in this ministry to the saints…”
The Macedonians in their poverty seem excited to have something of value to contribute to this overarching ministry of aid that Paul is organizing.
How are the wealthy Corinthians doing?
Well, the issue comes up a number of times in Paul’s letters to them. In 1 Corinthians 16 (and remember 1 Corinthians is already at least the second letter Paul has written to them) he says, “Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letter to take your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.”
Paul almost sounds exasperated there. Obviously he’s taken up this topic with them before. He’s given them the same advice that the churches in Galatia are following. But it doesn’t seem to be enough. Paul goes on to say that they could even send people to accompany the money to Jerusalem if they don’t trust him. And if even that doesn’t work he’ll go along as well.
I start to get the image of the Corinthians as untrusting nit picks wanting ever more assurances. It’s like they’re reluctant and inventing every excuse they can not to participate.
And so we go forward to 2 Corinthians 8-9. Some scholars think this is a fragment of a letter, as indeed 2 Corinthians does appear to be a collection of letter fragments. If that’s the case then Paul may have been addressing this numerous times. Whatever the case, he’s ready to outright shame the Corinthians. The poor Macedonians have given and given generously despite being poor. They’re excited by the opportunity to help. So what’s wrong with the Corinthians then?
You can feel Paul’s coercion developing through the letter. In 8:7 he says, “Now as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you – so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.”
And the next verse is just dripping in sarcasm, “I do not say this as a command,” [yeah right], “but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.” Talk about turning up the shame pressure! “For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” Of course Paul he is not talking about Jesus literal monetary worth. He’s talking about Jesus lowering himself from divine status to human status and then to voluntarily being executed for all humanity. So Paul’s now pouring on the guilt too!
In the beginning of chapter 9 we find Paul writing, “Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints…” Ha ha, nice joke. Of course he’s writing this to them! And it’s definitely not the first time! Sarcasm is dripping from every word, “…for I know your eagerness, which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that [you] have been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them.”
You wonder if Paul is playing both sides of the fence here. He’s pressuring the Corinthians based on the Macedonian giving but told the Macedonians what the Corinthians are doing. He goes on, “But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated – to say nothing of you – in this undertaking.” If Paul is playing both sides of the fence he is not being cagey about it at least. He is, however, certainly leveraging their honor as he goes on, “So I thought it necessary to urge the brother to go ahead to you, and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary give and not as an extortion.”
Well, extortion is a strong word, but he’s getting close!
Paul does have something very important to say behind all of it though. That is what comes next in verse 6:
“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.”
In the midst of an argument with plenty of guilt and shame Paul brings it to the core. Generosity is ultimately rooted in God’s ability to provide and provide abundantly.
We’ll be beginning our stewardship drive in the next couple of weeks. Perhaps this text would have been better placed in the midst of that. I could have created a sermon filled with guilt and shame to try to see how much money could be squeezed out of your wallets. But I actually think it is better placed here, before it actually begins.
I think we all know that we will give generously, and we will give cheerfully even, when we believe in what we are giving to. No one wants to give to something that is inept or squanders resources. We will, however, give when we know our resources will be applied wisely and they will bring about lasting good. And so before we can even ask people to support we need to put together a plan that reflects how we are going to make our faith real in the next year. That is the task right now – creating a plan, a strategy for the use of those resources.
The exact plan hasn’t been made yet, but if the past is any indication we will continue to use our resources to support ministries nearby and far away. We will continue to support the food cupboard to put food on people’s tables. That support will be both in the form of finances and actual food. Through Family Promise we work to put roofs over people’s heads. Land and buildings are expensive in Victor. So we make our land and buildings available for many community groups to use. We will continue to grow through worship, education, and youth programming. We will support missionaries near and far away. We’ll support the work and ministries of our conference and synod. And the list could go on. It is a multi-faceted approach critically developed and adapted as needs arise.
Thank you for what you have helped us accomplish in the past. We hope 2021’s plan will also be good and effective, something that we can embrace and cheerfully support in whatever form that takes. So that God’s work is done through our hands.
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
October 11, 2020 Wisdom 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
Do you consider yourself to be a wise person? Stupid question. I hope you answer yes!
Wisdom is not the same as intelligence. I’m sure you can name any number of people who are quite smart yet not very wise. Similarly there are lots of very wise people out there who were never any good at academics. Webster’s Dictionary defines wisdom as, “quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action”. Said differently, wisdom is applying knowledge with good judgment.
Wisdom was a big part of ancient Greek culture. It’s no surprise that as Paul writes to the people in Corinth, which of course is a city in Greece, that the idea of wisdom is big. Paul wants to point out that not all wisdom is the same. Human wisdom is different than God’s wisdom. As he does this, however, he knows he has a fine line to walk. People cannot live totally ignorant of applying knowledge with good judgment.
Wisdom tells us that we should invest in those things which will be productive – those things which show potential. Also withdraw resources from those things which don’t.
Automobiles are a good example. I’ve heard many people that drive their cars until the doors fall off. There’s some wisdom to that. Automobiles are expense, yet they depreciate rapidly. They wear out, rust out, and they deteriorate from sunlight too. It is wise to get the most of them as possible. And yet there is the time when the doors are falling off and wisdom says it’s time stop investing.
When people say they drive their cars until the doors fall off they are using that figuratively not literally. But it does remind me of the first minivan I owned were the one door would literally fall off! The tracks that held on the sliding side door were rusted and bent. You could push the door back part of the way, but if you went too far you’d get to the bent track and the first set of rollers would fall off. Many times I had pulled off the body panels, put the rollers back on, tried to bend the track into the right shape, and then get going again. There was one time however, and I don’t remember the whole story, but someone pushed the door so far and so fast that not only did one roller come off the whole door flew off the side of the van! Getting it back on was hard. I never knew the door was that heavy!
Despite the door falling off I kept driving it. Finally though, we did get to the time when it needed a lot of work. It would have cost thousands to repair it and keep it safe. When I bought another one the dealer offered $50 for it, not even it’s value in scrap metal! Would it have been wise to continue to invest in a $50 vehicle. Of course not! That would have been stupid.
Paul does not want to totally undermine applying knowledge to just judgement in action. However, he does want point out that God’s idea of wisdom runs totally counter to that.
For the ancient Greeks wisdom was a path to fulfillment and happiness. Through observation of the natural world one would discover orderliness, harmony. Humans should then observe the nature world and imitate such movements. In so doing their lives would be in alignment with the universe as created by the gods. Such alignment was wisdom and it would lead to happiness and wholeness. Plato’s work Timaeus is probably the most enduring of all of Greek wisdom. Here are some excerpts from 47a-c: “This much let me say however. God invented and gave us sight to the end that we might behold the courses of intelligence in the heaven, and apply them to the courses of our own intelligence, which are akin to them, the unanxious to the anxious, and that we, learning them and partaking of the natural truth of reason, might imitate the absolutely unerring courses of God and regulate our own vagaries.”
For the Greeks observation, science, math, and philosophy all coordinated to bring about happiness and harmony. That is the background Paul is writing to. He, however, wants to counter that. In his words to the Corinthians a few verses before our reading we have his famous lines, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” (1:22-23)
Indeed he is right, especially about the foolishness of Christianity. We do well as Christians to realize that our core beliefs are complete and total nonsense, especially in light of Greek philosophy. They make no sense. They are not wise in any way shape or form. Numerous place in the New Testament you find the authors taking jabs at Greek wisdom, especially Plato.
Contrast Christianity with Greek wisdom. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth, charismatic leader and miracle worker, in the prime of his life surrounded himself with a bunch of societal nobodies, and some of them societal rejects. He didn’t make overtures to the rich and powerful. He did not try to gain access to them or court their favor. He did not seek great schools of thought or admission to the world’s greatest teachers. And then one year, about a third of the way into the 1st Century, he came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover holidays. He challenged the established leadership openly and got into a lot of trouble for it. One of his own followers betrays him to the authorities. Jesus is captured and arrested. He is given opportunities to defend himself and chooses not to. With no resistance whatsoever he allows himself to be executed in the most shameful and painful method the Romans had devised.
And that’s it. Told in that way that’s a pretty absurd center to a belief system. There’s no wisdom to that. Wisdom says use your abilities to the best of what they can be. If you have qualities that you can employ to make your life easier or more comfortable, or if you can rise above others into leadership, you should do so.
Yet Paul writes, “I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (2:1-2)
Salvation flies in the face of human wisdom – Greek wisdom at least. And yet, while keeping our critical thinking caps on – in other words, not becoming complete idiots – Paul invites us into God’s own wisdom. For from God’s perspective the humanly foolish story of Jesus is actually a story of wisdom and power. It is a path to wholeness.
Paul says in verse 6, “Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.”
The wisdom of Christ is this: contrary to what the world teaches, you become your fullest self by emptying yourself. Ironically Jesus embraces the fullness of what it is to be human – he embraces the fullness of what it is to be alive – by dying. That does not mean, however, that we are to go out and die at the earliest opportunity that presents itself! Jesus didn’t even do that. It does mean that self-emptying is the path to fulfillment. Sociologists actually tell us that the happiest people in the world are those who are the most generous.
It is important to note here that coinciding with the rise of Christianity was also a movement now called Gnosticism. If you were a fan of Dan Brown’s book The Davinci Code you may be familiar with it; except Dan Brown’s book reverses what the gnostics actually believed. While Brown suggests the gnostics were in favor of empowering women, it was actually the earliest Christians who were in favor of that – although the story is admittedly very mixed. The gnostics, by contrast considered the universe to be an “abortion” of the female deity Sophia. And it follows from that that women are fundamentally inferior beings to men and the root of all evil. But hey, Dan Brown reversed that message and sold a lot of books, so who’s actually the wise one?
Anyway, the church library has a number of reliable resources about Gnosticism and I can point them out to you if you’d like.
Let me end by applying the idea of wisdom as Paul writes about it to our current culture. Racial tensions in America are very high right now – higher than they’ve been in decades.
There’s a certain wisdom that could be taught to white people: You are in power. Keep it. Protect it. Make use of it for your own benefit. Makes sure it is kept safe from those who do not know how to use it. Raise yourself as high as your abilities will allow you to rise.
And yet, realize how much effort is going into preservation and fear.
Christian teaching is that we are all equally in need of God’s grace, yet we are all safe, secure, and whole in God. Nothing can take that from us whether we are educated or ignorant, wise or foolish. Christian wisdom says that that we will be stronger as a people, stronger as a nation, when every person has the support, the opportunity, and the drive to develop everything that they are into their fullest potential.
When Paul writes what we had as our final verse from 1 Corinthians today, “Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to know one else’s scrutiny, ‘For who has know the mind of the Lord as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ,” we realize those are not words of arrogance, but in light of the cross, words of humility.
May you have the wisdom of God, which is the wisdom of the cross, the wisdom that realizes fulness of life comes by giving of life rather than taking, and may you feel whole by living in that wisdom.
Wisdom is not the same as intelligence. I’m sure you can name any number of people who are quite smart yet not very wise. Similarly there are lots of very wise people out there who were never any good at academics. Webster’s Dictionary defines wisdom as, “quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action”. Said differently, wisdom is applying knowledge with good judgment.
Wisdom was a big part of ancient Greek culture. It’s no surprise that as Paul writes to the people in Corinth, which of course is a city in Greece, that the idea of wisdom is big. Paul wants to point out that not all wisdom is the same. Human wisdom is different than God’s wisdom. As he does this, however, he knows he has a fine line to walk. People cannot live totally ignorant of applying knowledge with good judgment.
Wisdom tells us that we should invest in those things which will be productive – those things which show potential. Also withdraw resources from those things which don’t.
Automobiles are a good example. I’ve heard many people that drive their cars until the doors fall off. There’s some wisdom to that. Automobiles are expense, yet they depreciate rapidly. They wear out, rust out, and they deteriorate from sunlight too. It is wise to get the most of them as possible. And yet there is the time when the doors are falling off and wisdom says it’s time stop investing.
When people say they drive their cars until the doors fall off they are using that figuratively not literally. But it does remind me of the first minivan I owned were the one door would literally fall off! The tracks that held on the sliding side door were rusted and bent. You could push the door back part of the way, but if you went too far you’d get to the bent track and the first set of rollers would fall off. Many times I had pulled off the body panels, put the rollers back on, tried to bend the track into the right shape, and then get going again. There was one time however, and I don’t remember the whole story, but someone pushed the door so far and so fast that not only did one roller come off the whole door flew off the side of the van! Getting it back on was hard. I never knew the door was that heavy!
Despite the door falling off I kept driving it. Finally though, we did get to the time when it needed a lot of work. It would have cost thousands to repair it and keep it safe. When I bought another one the dealer offered $50 for it, not even it’s value in scrap metal! Would it have been wise to continue to invest in a $50 vehicle. Of course not! That would have been stupid.
Paul does not want to totally undermine applying knowledge to just judgement in action. However, he does want point out that God’s idea of wisdom runs totally counter to that.
For the ancient Greeks wisdom was a path to fulfillment and happiness. Through observation of the natural world one would discover orderliness, harmony. Humans should then observe the nature world and imitate such movements. In so doing their lives would be in alignment with the universe as created by the gods. Such alignment was wisdom and it would lead to happiness and wholeness. Plato’s work Timaeus is probably the most enduring of all of Greek wisdom. Here are some excerpts from 47a-c: “This much let me say however. God invented and gave us sight to the end that we might behold the courses of intelligence in the heaven, and apply them to the courses of our own intelligence, which are akin to them, the unanxious to the anxious, and that we, learning them and partaking of the natural truth of reason, might imitate the absolutely unerring courses of God and regulate our own vagaries.”
For the Greeks observation, science, math, and philosophy all coordinated to bring about happiness and harmony. That is the background Paul is writing to. He, however, wants to counter that. In his words to the Corinthians a few verses before our reading we have his famous lines, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” (1:22-23)
Indeed he is right, especially about the foolishness of Christianity. We do well as Christians to realize that our core beliefs are complete and total nonsense, especially in light of Greek philosophy. They make no sense. They are not wise in any way shape or form. Numerous place in the New Testament you find the authors taking jabs at Greek wisdom, especially Plato.
Contrast Christianity with Greek wisdom. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth, charismatic leader and miracle worker, in the prime of his life surrounded himself with a bunch of societal nobodies, and some of them societal rejects. He didn’t make overtures to the rich and powerful. He did not try to gain access to them or court their favor. He did not seek great schools of thought or admission to the world’s greatest teachers. And then one year, about a third of the way into the 1st Century, he came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover holidays. He challenged the established leadership openly and got into a lot of trouble for it. One of his own followers betrays him to the authorities. Jesus is captured and arrested. He is given opportunities to defend himself and chooses not to. With no resistance whatsoever he allows himself to be executed in the most shameful and painful method the Romans had devised.
And that’s it. Told in that way that’s a pretty absurd center to a belief system. There’s no wisdom to that. Wisdom says use your abilities to the best of what they can be. If you have qualities that you can employ to make your life easier or more comfortable, or if you can rise above others into leadership, you should do so.
Yet Paul writes, “I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (2:1-2)
Salvation flies in the face of human wisdom – Greek wisdom at least. And yet, while keeping our critical thinking caps on – in other words, not becoming complete idiots – Paul invites us into God’s own wisdom. For from God’s perspective the humanly foolish story of Jesus is actually a story of wisdom and power. It is a path to wholeness.
Paul says in verse 6, “Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.”
The wisdom of Christ is this: contrary to what the world teaches, you become your fullest self by emptying yourself. Ironically Jesus embraces the fullness of what it is to be human – he embraces the fullness of what it is to be alive – by dying. That does not mean, however, that we are to go out and die at the earliest opportunity that presents itself! Jesus didn’t even do that. It does mean that self-emptying is the path to fulfillment. Sociologists actually tell us that the happiest people in the world are those who are the most generous.
It is important to note here that coinciding with the rise of Christianity was also a movement now called Gnosticism. If you were a fan of Dan Brown’s book The Davinci Code you may be familiar with it; except Dan Brown’s book reverses what the gnostics actually believed. While Brown suggests the gnostics were in favor of empowering women, it was actually the earliest Christians who were in favor of that – although the story is admittedly very mixed. The gnostics, by contrast considered the universe to be an “abortion” of the female deity Sophia. And it follows from that that women are fundamentally inferior beings to men and the root of all evil. But hey, Dan Brown reversed that message and sold a lot of books, so who’s actually the wise one?
Anyway, the church library has a number of reliable resources about Gnosticism and I can point them out to you if you’d like.
Let me end by applying the idea of wisdom as Paul writes about it to our current culture. Racial tensions in America are very high right now – higher than they’ve been in decades.
There’s a certain wisdom that could be taught to white people: You are in power. Keep it. Protect it. Make use of it for your own benefit. Makes sure it is kept safe from those who do not know how to use it. Raise yourself as high as your abilities will allow you to rise.
And yet, realize how much effort is going into preservation and fear.
Christian teaching is that we are all equally in need of God’s grace, yet we are all safe, secure, and whole in God. Nothing can take that from us whether we are educated or ignorant, wise or foolish. Christian wisdom says that that we will be stronger as a people, stronger as a nation, when every person has the support, the opportunity, and the drive to develop everything that they are into their fullest potential.
When Paul writes what we had as our final verse from 1 Corinthians today, “Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to know one else’s scrutiny, ‘For who has know the mind of the Lord as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ,” we realize those are not words of arrogance, but in light of the cross, words of humility.
May you have the wisdom of God, which is the wisdom of the cross, the wisdom that realizes fulness of life comes by giving of life rather than taking, and may you feel whole by living in that wisdom.
Monday, October 5, 2020
October 4, 2020 Introduction 1 Corinthians 1:1-17
We are beginning a several week series on Paul's letters to the Corinthians. Any number of times we may ask ourselves if they’re really as stupid as they seem. They have problems that have solutions so obvious that they must be stupid not to see them. But we are wise not to think that way. Ben Franklin is often quoted as saying, “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” The Corinthians were indeed ignorant. They were not stupid. If you can, imagine yourself in the situation of their faith.
For some reason which is highly remarkable, Paul was able to found a church of mostly non-Jewish people in the city of Corinth. These people would be mostly coming from other religious belief systems. Jews who believed in Jesus generally just took their existing synagogue system and tweaked it into a Christian form. This is not the case for non-Jews, often called Gentiles.
Paul founds the church in Corinth in the early 50’s, less than 20 years since the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. There are no formulas for what a church should look like. There are no Christian scriptures, or authoritative holy writings. They haven’t been written yet! There are no Christian scholars, no organized belief system, no way of knowing what is orthodox and what is heresy. There are no other model churches to look to for an example. All you have is a number of missionaries like Paul who are proclaiming salvation through Jesus of Nazareth. You also have a bunch of people out there preaching complete nonsense about Jesus.
Again, for reasons completely unknown, St. Paul and others succeed in founding a church in Corinth that is mainly made up of Gentiles. They are coming from other religions, most of them with the general belief system of the Greek gods. That means that sacrifices had to be made to the gods so that the gods would look upon you with favor and protect you from bad things. Each god or religion had its own temple and rituals. Or, there was a widespread collection of beliefs active then that today we call Gnosticism. (We’ll return to that in a couple weeks.)
With nothing to go on for beliefs of what is right and wrong, the Corinthians were ignorant and needed help. Paul’s several letters to them are trying to help that ignorance.
That is not to say that the Corinthians were ignorant in all aspects of life. Actually they may have been far more educated and experienced than many other places in the Roman Empire.
Corinth was a bustling cosmopolitan city in the 1st Century. Founded around 3000 B.C. Corinth was like many ancient cities in that it was built and destroyed many times over. In 400 B.C. it’s population was an estimated 90,000 – 100,000; a huge city for the time. Present day Corinth has a population under 40,000. The Corinth of Paul’s day began in 44 B.C. when Julius Caesar refounded it and settled it with freed slaves. In 27 B.C. it became the capital of the province.
Corinth was a center of trade. Located on the isthmus between mainland Greece and the Peloponnesian Peninsula all the overland shipping to and from the peninsula went through Corinth. Also all the shipping east and west went through the city as well. Boats were hauled ashore and rolled on logs overland four miles until they reached water again. Corinth was a crossroads of money and ideas. In the 1st Century it was a lively and bustling place.
Many commentators on the New Testament describe Corinth as if it were an ancient version of Las Vegas; especially a city of unbridled sexual orgies. This, however, needs to be questioned. The sources for these ideas appear to be remarks from ancient writers from Athens commenting on the city’s temple to Aphrodite two hundred years earlier. That temple apparently had a thousand sacred prostitutes. Broader scholarship of the city during Paul’s day is that it was no more nor no less virtuous than any other port city.
What is pretty clear, however, is that these Corinthian Christians were bringing their pagan assumptions into Christian faith. Much of the letters Paul writes to them addresses that.
As I said before chief among their beliefs is the idea that they have to earn the favor of God. Performing the correct rituals and making the right sacrifices were important. Keep that in your mind and let’s read again the first verses of 1 Corinthians.
“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,” Here we have the introduction of the letter’s authors. Paul and Sosthenes. We know almost nothing else about Sosthenes.
“To the church of God that is in Corinth…” Church is the Greek word ecclesia – or assembly. In other words, not a formal organization but simply the believers in Jesus assembled in Corinth. “… to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus” Maybe that is more clearly translated as, “those who have been made and kept holy…” For those who are grammar experts it’s a perfect passive. That means that it is not the work and will of the Corinthians who have made and kept them holy. It is the work of God.
Over and over again in this introduction we’ll see Paul pulling the Corinthians away from the idea that they have to earn the favor of the gods. No. It is God’s call. God’s work. God’s faith.
“Christ” you’ll remember is the Greek word for “anointed one”. It is not a surname. To make the point I know a Catholic scholar who likes to say, “Joseph Christ and Mary Christ did not have a child and name him Jesus Christ.” Jesus of Nazareth is his name. Or perhaps Jesus Barjoseph. Christ is his designation. Verse 2 concludes, “…called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” That is a big designation of Jesus. We should not let it just slip through our minds because we are familiar with it. It wouldn’t have been familiar to the Corinthians. Jesus is his name. As Christ he is God’s anointed one. As Lord he is the ruler and master. He is also the protector.
We can’t let the next verse slip through our minds because of familiarity either. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Greek religions were all about merit – the merit of your life before the gods. Christianity was about grace – unmerited, or undeserved, favor. The concept of grace shows up over and over again as Paul is writing to these former pagans; like the next verse:
“I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace [undeserved favor] of God that has been given you…” Did they earn it. Nope. It was given to them. “…for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind…” Is God’s grace stingy? Nope. Is it lacking? Nope. It is complete.
“… just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you – so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift…” Who is doing this work? The Corinthians? Has Paul started off saying, “You know, you guys are really great! You are really holy. You live the right way. God is really happy with you because of that. That’s why God is giving you all this.” Nope. It is all God’s work with no deserving on their part.
Knowledge is also an important point here, but we’re going to look at that another week.
“…so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Over and over again Paul says “Lord Jesus Christ.” And here also, he is saying it is the Lord Jesus Christ who will strengthen them to the end. In other words, God’s grace for them will be constant. It will not die out. It will not abate.
We’re going to wrap up with this final line of the introduction because it sets up the central piece of the whole letter and all of Paul’s proclamation.
“God is faithful.” Who is faithful? Are the Corinthians faithful? Nope. Is Paul faithful? Is Sosthenes faithful? Are people faithful? It is God who is faithful. All too often when people hear the phrase, “saved by grace through faith,” they think the faith talked about there is their own faith – human faith. No. You are saved by grace – the favor God has for us that we do not deserve – through the faith of Jesus. Paul goes on, “…by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son…” And one more time, “…fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
These words run through our minds and we easily overlook how packed they are with meaning that is the foundation of faith. Paul is beginning this letter laying out the groundwork of all of faith. Everything that follows in this letter – everything we will look at through the months of October and November are built on this foundation. Everything Paul says needs to be interpreted through them.
Advice to Christians from thousands of years ago, but advice for us too. When we can see all of life within God’s care we can turn where we need to for true fullness, knowledge and hope. May that be where God always turns us.
For some reason which is highly remarkable, Paul was able to found a church of mostly non-Jewish people in the city of Corinth. These people would be mostly coming from other religious belief systems. Jews who believed in Jesus generally just took their existing synagogue system and tweaked it into a Christian form. This is not the case for non-Jews, often called Gentiles.
Paul founds the church in Corinth in the early 50’s, less than 20 years since the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. There are no formulas for what a church should look like. There are no Christian scriptures, or authoritative holy writings. They haven’t been written yet! There are no Christian scholars, no organized belief system, no way of knowing what is orthodox and what is heresy. There are no other model churches to look to for an example. All you have is a number of missionaries like Paul who are proclaiming salvation through Jesus of Nazareth. You also have a bunch of people out there preaching complete nonsense about Jesus.
Again, for reasons completely unknown, St. Paul and others succeed in founding a church in Corinth that is mainly made up of Gentiles. They are coming from other religions, most of them with the general belief system of the Greek gods. That means that sacrifices had to be made to the gods so that the gods would look upon you with favor and protect you from bad things. Each god or religion had its own temple and rituals. Or, there was a widespread collection of beliefs active then that today we call Gnosticism. (We’ll return to that in a couple weeks.)
With nothing to go on for beliefs of what is right and wrong, the Corinthians were ignorant and needed help. Paul’s several letters to them are trying to help that ignorance.
That is not to say that the Corinthians were ignorant in all aspects of life. Actually they may have been far more educated and experienced than many other places in the Roman Empire.
Corinth was a bustling cosmopolitan city in the 1st Century. Founded around 3000 B.C. Corinth was like many ancient cities in that it was built and destroyed many times over. In 400 B.C. it’s population was an estimated 90,000 – 100,000; a huge city for the time. Present day Corinth has a population under 40,000. The Corinth of Paul’s day began in 44 B.C. when Julius Caesar refounded it and settled it with freed slaves. In 27 B.C. it became the capital of the province.
Corinth was a center of trade. Located on the isthmus between mainland Greece and the Peloponnesian Peninsula all the overland shipping to and from the peninsula went through Corinth. Also all the shipping east and west went through the city as well. Boats were hauled ashore and rolled on logs overland four miles until they reached water again. Corinth was a crossroads of money and ideas. In the 1st Century it was a lively and bustling place.
Many commentators on the New Testament describe Corinth as if it were an ancient version of Las Vegas; especially a city of unbridled sexual orgies. This, however, needs to be questioned. The sources for these ideas appear to be remarks from ancient writers from Athens commenting on the city’s temple to Aphrodite two hundred years earlier. That temple apparently had a thousand sacred prostitutes. Broader scholarship of the city during Paul’s day is that it was no more nor no less virtuous than any other port city.
What is pretty clear, however, is that these Corinthian Christians were bringing their pagan assumptions into Christian faith. Much of the letters Paul writes to them addresses that.
As I said before chief among their beliefs is the idea that they have to earn the favor of God. Performing the correct rituals and making the right sacrifices were important. Keep that in your mind and let’s read again the first verses of 1 Corinthians.
“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,” Here we have the introduction of the letter’s authors. Paul and Sosthenes. We know almost nothing else about Sosthenes.
“To the church of God that is in Corinth…” Church is the Greek word ecclesia – or assembly. In other words, not a formal organization but simply the believers in Jesus assembled in Corinth. “… to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus” Maybe that is more clearly translated as, “those who have been made and kept holy…” For those who are grammar experts it’s a perfect passive. That means that it is not the work and will of the Corinthians who have made and kept them holy. It is the work of God.
Over and over again in this introduction we’ll see Paul pulling the Corinthians away from the idea that they have to earn the favor of the gods. No. It is God’s call. God’s work. God’s faith.
“Christ” you’ll remember is the Greek word for “anointed one”. It is not a surname. To make the point I know a Catholic scholar who likes to say, “Joseph Christ and Mary Christ did not have a child and name him Jesus Christ.” Jesus of Nazareth is his name. Or perhaps Jesus Barjoseph. Christ is his designation. Verse 2 concludes, “…called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” That is a big designation of Jesus. We should not let it just slip through our minds because we are familiar with it. It wouldn’t have been familiar to the Corinthians. Jesus is his name. As Christ he is God’s anointed one. As Lord he is the ruler and master. He is also the protector.
We can’t let the next verse slip through our minds because of familiarity either. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Greek religions were all about merit – the merit of your life before the gods. Christianity was about grace – unmerited, or undeserved, favor. The concept of grace shows up over and over again as Paul is writing to these former pagans; like the next verse:
“I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace [undeserved favor] of God that has been given you…” Did they earn it. Nope. It was given to them. “…for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind…” Is God’s grace stingy? Nope. Is it lacking? Nope. It is complete.
“… just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you – so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift…” Who is doing this work? The Corinthians? Has Paul started off saying, “You know, you guys are really great! You are really holy. You live the right way. God is really happy with you because of that. That’s why God is giving you all this.” Nope. It is all God’s work with no deserving on their part.
Knowledge is also an important point here, but we’re going to look at that another week.
“…so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Over and over again Paul says “Lord Jesus Christ.” And here also, he is saying it is the Lord Jesus Christ who will strengthen them to the end. In other words, God’s grace for them will be constant. It will not die out. It will not abate.
We’re going to wrap up with this final line of the introduction because it sets up the central piece of the whole letter and all of Paul’s proclamation.
“God is faithful.” Who is faithful? Are the Corinthians faithful? Nope. Is Paul faithful? Is Sosthenes faithful? Are people faithful? It is God who is faithful. All too often when people hear the phrase, “saved by grace through faith,” they think the faith talked about there is their own faith – human faith. No. You are saved by grace – the favor God has for us that we do not deserve – through the faith of Jesus. Paul goes on, “…by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son…” And one more time, “…fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
These words run through our minds and we easily overlook how packed they are with meaning that is the foundation of faith. Paul is beginning this letter laying out the groundwork of all of faith. Everything that follows in this letter – everything we will look at through the months of October and November are built on this foundation. Everything Paul says needs to be interpreted through them.
Advice to Christians from thousands of years ago, but advice for us too. When we can see all of life within God’s care we can turn where we need to for true fullness, knowledge and hope. May that be where God always turns us.
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