Readings: Psalm 119:33-40, Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18, Matthew 5:38-48, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 23rd, 2014
A printable PDF file can be found here
I was on a youth retreat in West Virginia, and as sometimes happens, the kids were making comments about my accent being a little different to theirs. They took great amusement at the way I pronounced certain words and would say 'Say it again'. Then one of the guys looked me straight in the eye and asked “What's it like... being you?”
I have to say that I really wasn't sure how to answer. Never been asked that before, never been asked it since! 'What's it like being you?' The strange thing is, sometimes on a Sunday morning when we're here in church, it seems to be the sort of probing question that God would ask us, both as individuals and as a community. 'What's it like being you?'
I'm sure, given time for reflection, we could all come up with some kind of answer. 'Actually' one may say, 'Not to good being me right now, got a lot on my mind'. Another may say 'Couldn't be better, can't complain'. There would be as many different answers as we are different people. Maybe as a church community we'd respond; “Well we have a bit of a challenge with our finances right now!”
'That's how you are,' God may reply, 'But do you know what you are?' “Do I know what I am?” 'Yes' says God , “Tell them what they are Paul!” At which point somebody could read for us from 1 Corinthians 3:10, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?” Or as it appears in the Message bible “You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God Himself is present in you?”
And that's what I want to talk about today. The temple of you. Because if we are temples, then there are implications to be faced. Temples need maintaining. Temples have a mission. The temple was the place for meeting with God, a sacred place, set apart and indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
1. Temples Need Maintaining
Temples, be they a small pagan temple in Corinth, the grandest of temples in Jerusalem or your local Presbyterian Churches have one thing in common. They always need a building and grounds committee. I know I could invite Rich Perez or Howard Batsford to come forward this morning and tell you what a time consuming and expensive job that can be. You have to care for a building.
This text reminds us that we also have to care for ourselves. 'You realize, don't you. That you are a temple...' I'm very glad that we have Laura Curran in our midst who offers yoga classes that a number of our members enjoy. Historically Christianity has often created a divide between spirit and body, as though somehow the body was profane, and only our spiritual needs were sacred.
We are beginning to re-learn that body, soul and spirit are intimately related. That not all our diseases can be treated by administering a tablet. That prevention is better than a cure, that a healthy diet and physical life results in health benefits all round.
As I was doing some reading for this sermon I came across this, which though it is written primarily for an African-American context, I'm sure you'll see applies to other contexts.
“For African-American youth, re-imagining themselves as 'sacred' would mean praying for God's wisdom to avoid the kinds of risky behaviors which leave the temple vulnerable to all manners of sickness, disease, violence and other forms of physical harm; such as (but not limited to) unprotected sexual activity, illegal drug and alcohol abuse and gun-play. Also adults need to see our youth as 'sacred bodies' and not as 'Gangstas', thugs, lost causes, future prison inmates and absentee baby-daddies. If we begin to see them as young princes and princesses, future presidents, engineers, teachers, parents, preachers and more, then they will more likely see themselves and treat themselves in the same way”
One can apply such an illustration to almost any group of people. To recognize our bodies as sacred means cherishing them. It means not being taken in by the lies the media tells us that certain body types and age groups are so much more significant then others. It means recognizing that God has made you 'you', and being thankful for that unique physical creation that you are!
If God says we are temples then we need to ask ourselves, how well are we doing in the area of personal buildings and grounds! Not so we can compare ourselves with others, or compete with people different from us, but so that we can have the physical well-being God desires for our lives. Temples need maintaining.
2. Temples have a mission.
When He was 12 years old Jesus took a trip with His family to Jerusalem and we find Him in the temple debating with the teachers. (Luke 3:41-50). The temple was a place of learning. The body may well be a temple but the person who lives inside it needs more than just the physical. God gives us a body and a mind.
Presbyterians have always been strong promoters of education. There are 65 colleges and universities nationwide related to the PC(USA), 10 seminaries and 2 further seminaries in a covenant relationship. For a denomination of our size, that's a lot! And the majority have a reputation for holding to high academic standards.
There remains an emphasis within our theology that all truth is God's truth. That the sciences and the arts are just as important as the theology and philosophy one traditionally associates with religious institutions. We believe that one of our callings in life is to grow in knowledge and wisdom. We are not happy with simplistic answers, easy solutions or simply offering the comment “Well, I think it says in the bible.”
We believe God has given us a mind and expects us to exercise it. That's why in many of our churches we host nursery schools or after school programs. That's why we have adult forums and bible studies. We recognize that we all have a lot to learn!
It also means we often hold to different positions on a whole variety of issues. This led to somebody quipping; “What do you get if you put two Presbyterians in a room together?” Answer? 'A disagreement!' Our Presbytery meetings can become quite volatile when opinions are strongly and deeply held.
Yet, for much of our history we have agreed that although we differ, we can still travel together. That the truth is so much greater than any of us can ever fully discern, and that sometimes we are the ones that need to listen, rather than those who have the answers. Sadly, there are times when peoples differences cause them to separate, but often when historically those situations are viewed retrospectively, we wonder why they were such a big deal!
Where I'm going with this is to say 'Keep asking Questions'. Keep your mind in gear. Never be afraid to think outside of the box or look beyond the confines of ones own comfort zone. Having said that I would also encourage you to make that journey of inquiry in tandem with God, and make the best use of the insights Scripture can offer. Bear in mind of course that in order to know what they are... you are going to have study the scriptures!
I like the way the Message Bible transliterates verses 18 and 19. “Don't fool yourself. Don't think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times. Be God's fool—that's the path to true wisdom.” Temples have an educative component to their mission.
3. The Temple was THE place for meeting with God.
a. The temple was the dwelling place of God. The Jews believed that God dwelt in the temple, took possession of it and resided in it. “Don't you know” asks Paul in verse 16 of our reading today “That you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?”
I remember as a young person being invited to “Ask Jesus into my heart”. A little confusing if you take that image literally! What is actually meant by such a phrase is that we invite the Holy Spirit to be a central force in our lives, invite the power of resurrection to invade our time constrained existence, invite God to make a kingdom perspective the lens through which we view everything else around our lives.
Notice as well that this verse is both individual and corporate. “God's Spirit dwells in your midst”. Our lives individually and the life we share together as a church community are an arena for the activity of the living God. In Matthew 18:20 teaches His disciples “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.". The temple is a dwelling place of God.
b. The temple was set apart from common use for a holy purpose. Our call as Christians is not to be the same as everyone else and go along with the crowd. Jesus invites us to be in the world, but not of the world. (John 17:14) We are set apart for God's service, to live for God's glory and bring glory to God's name. How that works in our life and within our experience is something we work at with God!
c. The temple was a sacred place. This brings us around full circle to where we began talking about looking after our bodies and nurturing our minds. Just as the temple was sacred to God, so our lives are sacred to God. Sacred enough to send His son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for us. Sacred enough to be a place in which God wants to accomplish the work of the Kingdom, within and through and all around us.
Returning to the question I was asked at a youth camp. 'What's it like being you?'. Let's rephrase it and ask ourselves “How are we doing at being a temple?”
Being a temple requires a number of things. It takes maintenance. We need take care of ourselves physically. Exercise, diet, health, these are important. Being a temple means we have a mission and a mind to discern what that mission is. Being a temple means that our lives are a meeting place with God. We welcome the Spirit's presence and activity. We recognize that the call to be a disciple is a high call and a great privilege. We see our life in it's totality, body, soul and spirit as a sacred trust.
“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?”
May God help us to live into our calling!
And to God's name be all glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Solid Food
Readings; Psalm 119:1-8, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Matthew 5:21-37, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 16th, 2014
A printable PDF file can be found here
I'm sure as you were growing up your parents said it to you when you were in the midst of a squabble, and I'm sure if you are a parent you have at some point had to say it to your children. The phrase “Why don't you just grow up!”
Such is the tone of our reading today in which Paul tells the church in Corinth to stop their quarreling and grow up. As the first verse reads in the Message Bible: “Right now, friends, I'm completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and withGod. You're acting like infants...” He says of the teaching that he has given them; “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.”
He chastises them for the infantile way they have lined themselves up to support a particular preacher. 'One says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos,” (1Co 3:4) Didn't they realize that Paul and Apollos were on the same team, about the same task and served the same Lord Jesus Christ? “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”(1Co 3:6)
His concern is that of a father in the faith to them. He calls them friends and sisters and brothers. He's not bullying them or disparaging them. Rather his love for them compels him to speak out.Most concerning of all is that he discerns that they are not acting in a way consistent with spiritual growth. They are behaving according to the spirit of the world rather than the Holy Spirit of God. By their jealousy, by their partisanship, by their quarreling they were betraying the trust placed in them as recipients of the great and good news of the gospel.
This gospel was a message that had been sown in their hearts through his work, through the work of Apollos, and both had been reliant on God's grace. They needed to move forward, not be stuck in the midst of senseless quarrels and disputes that prevented them from receiving sound teaching. They needed solid food.
Reading between the lines in this passage we can see how Paul, whilst chastising them for being milk drinkers, is also offering them solid food, by teaching them what spiritual ministry looked like, using himself as an example. As we consider how to move forward as a faith community, we do well to take note of Paul's teaching about the nature of Holy Spirit motivated ministry.
1. Spiritual Ministry is Servant Shaped.
Verse 5a “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--“
Paul uses the Greek term 'diakonos' to describe both his own ministry and the ministry of Apollos. It is from 'diakonos' that we derive our term 'Deacon'. We recognize in our tradition that the role of the deacon is one of service and the offering of care and support. From Paul’s perspective we are called to be 'deacons' ...'servants'... to one another.
If you are a Downton Abbey fan then hopefully you will be enjoying watching the 4th season and observing what it was like to be part of the staff of a large country estate. When the Earl of Grantham or any of his family tells them to 'Do something', they do it. They don't argue. They don't complain that it's not their task or that it's not convenient right now. They don't say, 'Sorry I have other plans this weekend.'
If Mr. Carson, the chief butler, suspects any quarreling or dissension in the ranks downstairs, then he nips it in the bud. They either shape up and get on with doing what they are meant to be doing or they are out of a job.
Being a Christian is not a job, it is an assignment. It is a spiritual task. Essential to the nature of the task is the attitude that we are not part of a church community to simply get out of it what we can, but that we are called to give what we can, sometimes sacrificially. Our pattern is that of Jesus Himself, who gave His life for us on the Cross, in order that we may be freed to serve others. We serve because that is the right response to make to Jesus who died for us. We love because He first loved us. Continuing with verse 5...
2. Spiritual Ministry is Task Orientated
“... the Lord has assigned to each his task.” (1Co 3:5b). Or as the Message Bible has it, Paul describes the servant ministry of himself and Apollos by saying “We each carried out our servant assignment.”
Congregations are made up of people with different gifts and talents and abilities. Stewardship is determining how we are going to use our particular gifts and influence to enhance the spiritual community God has invited us to be a part of. We sometimes speak of stewardship as being only about money. But what's the point of having a bank balance that is in the black if nobodies actually moving from being babies in the faith to mature believers?
Staying with the Downton Abbey imagery, everybody has an assignment. Be they in the kitchen or a personal maid or a butler or a gardener... everybody has a job to do. If any one of them fails to function effectively then the whole thing becomes out of balance and you find jealousy and quarrels erupting, precisely the ailments that were so troubling Paul about the church in Corinth.
It can be hard to find exactly where you fit in. Sometimes we can feel like a square pin in a round hole. Sometimes we become frustrated because we can see what needs to be done but we are not asked our opinion. Sometimes we observe that people occupy positions that are beyond their capabilities, but there's no way they are letting go of those positions because they have too much of themselves invested in that task or that position.
Do you know why that is? It's because God doesn't call us to be a business or an enterprise or a corporation or a company. God doesn't call us to be the staff of a country house. God calls us to be a family. 'And there ain't no dynamics quite as curious as family dynamics.'
There's our working relationships, there's the relationships we have with our friends and then there's the relationships we have with our families. There are times when it seems that we can get along with everybody, except those we were actually born to get along with.
Family relationships take all the grace, patience, understanding and tolerance that we are given... and then some. Loving people we don't know is a piece of a cake. Loving those God calls to be our spiritual family and with whom we share a space we describe as our spiritual home, that's another story.
Such is the reality we deal with and can only travel through with prayer, with lots of deep breathing and by focusing on each others needs more than our own. Yet please be assured, there is room for us all at the table. There will come those moments when it makes sense and falls into place. It takes time. Things that matter always do. Solid food has to be chewed.
You can chug a bottle of milk, but all that happens if you eat a steak dinner to rapidly is that you risk the chance of choking and get indigestion. We are invited to center on the things that need doing and bring to them what we can. Spiritual ministry is always task orientated.
3. Spiritual Ministry is God Focused
I Corinthians 3: 7 in the Message Bible reads; “It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow.”
Growth requires the planting and the nurturing. There have to be people in place to faithfully accomplish the assignments God has given them Yet at the end of the day, we cannot predict the outcome. It is 'God, who makes things grow'.
Spiritual ministry is servant-shaped, task orientated and focused on what God can do. We build upon the heritage that those who have gone before us have left us and we recognize that we are not alone in the task. We have each other and we have God to lead us and guide us. If it were entirely up to us, I don't think we'd have a hope.
Rather God promises to be with us and encourages us to go beyond spiritual infancy, to go beyond being in a place where we are nourished on milk alone and move to a place of being fed with solid food, the meat of God's word, the knowledge of God's ways that allows us to take risks and make mature judgments.
At the commencement of our reading Paul appears frustrated by the Corinthian Church. “For goodness sake, grow up!” As we dig deeper into the passage we realize he is expressing parental concern and offering solid guidance as to what it takes to be a Holy Spirit centered congregation.
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 16th, 2014
A printable PDF file can be found here
I'm sure as you were growing up your parents said it to you when you were in the midst of a squabble, and I'm sure if you are a parent you have at some point had to say it to your children. The phrase “Why don't you just grow up!”
Such is the tone of our reading today in which Paul tells the church in Corinth to stop their quarreling and grow up. As the first verse reads in the Message Bible: “Right now, friends, I'm completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and withGod. You're acting like infants...” He says of the teaching that he has given them; “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.”
He chastises them for the infantile way they have lined themselves up to support a particular preacher. 'One says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos,” (1Co 3:4) Didn't they realize that Paul and Apollos were on the same team, about the same task and served the same Lord Jesus Christ? “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”(1Co 3:6)
His concern is that of a father in the faith to them. He calls them friends and sisters and brothers. He's not bullying them or disparaging them. Rather his love for them compels him to speak out.Most concerning of all is that he discerns that they are not acting in a way consistent with spiritual growth. They are behaving according to the spirit of the world rather than the Holy Spirit of God. By their jealousy, by their partisanship, by their quarreling they were betraying the trust placed in them as recipients of the great and good news of the gospel.
This gospel was a message that had been sown in their hearts through his work, through the work of Apollos, and both had been reliant on God's grace. They needed to move forward, not be stuck in the midst of senseless quarrels and disputes that prevented them from receiving sound teaching. They needed solid food.
Reading between the lines in this passage we can see how Paul, whilst chastising them for being milk drinkers, is also offering them solid food, by teaching them what spiritual ministry looked like, using himself as an example. As we consider how to move forward as a faith community, we do well to take note of Paul's teaching about the nature of Holy Spirit motivated ministry.
1. Spiritual Ministry is Servant Shaped.
Verse 5a “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--“
Paul uses the Greek term 'diakonos' to describe both his own ministry and the ministry of Apollos. It is from 'diakonos' that we derive our term 'Deacon'. We recognize in our tradition that the role of the deacon is one of service and the offering of care and support. From Paul’s perspective we are called to be 'deacons' ...'servants'... to one another.
If you are a Downton Abbey fan then hopefully you will be enjoying watching the 4th season and observing what it was like to be part of the staff of a large country estate. When the Earl of Grantham or any of his family tells them to 'Do something', they do it. They don't argue. They don't complain that it's not their task or that it's not convenient right now. They don't say, 'Sorry I have other plans this weekend.'
If Mr. Carson, the chief butler, suspects any quarreling or dissension in the ranks downstairs, then he nips it in the bud. They either shape up and get on with doing what they are meant to be doing or they are out of a job.
Being a Christian is not a job, it is an assignment. It is a spiritual task. Essential to the nature of the task is the attitude that we are not part of a church community to simply get out of it what we can, but that we are called to give what we can, sometimes sacrificially. Our pattern is that of Jesus Himself, who gave His life for us on the Cross, in order that we may be freed to serve others. We serve because that is the right response to make to Jesus who died for us. We love because He first loved us. Continuing with verse 5...
2. Spiritual Ministry is Task Orientated
“... the Lord has assigned to each his task.” (1Co 3:5b). Or as the Message Bible has it, Paul describes the servant ministry of himself and Apollos by saying “We each carried out our servant assignment.”
Congregations are made up of people with different gifts and talents and abilities. Stewardship is determining how we are going to use our particular gifts and influence to enhance the spiritual community God has invited us to be a part of. We sometimes speak of stewardship as being only about money. But what's the point of having a bank balance that is in the black if nobodies actually moving from being babies in the faith to mature believers?
Staying with the Downton Abbey imagery, everybody has an assignment. Be they in the kitchen or a personal maid or a butler or a gardener... everybody has a job to do. If any one of them fails to function effectively then the whole thing becomes out of balance and you find jealousy and quarrels erupting, precisely the ailments that were so troubling Paul about the church in Corinth.
It can be hard to find exactly where you fit in. Sometimes we can feel like a square pin in a round hole. Sometimes we become frustrated because we can see what needs to be done but we are not asked our opinion. Sometimes we observe that people occupy positions that are beyond their capabilities, but there's no way they are letting go of those positions because they have too much of themselves invested in that task or that position.
Do you know why that is? It's because God doesn't call us to be a business or an enterprise or a corporation or a company. God doesn't call us to be the staff of a country house. God calls us to be a family. 'And there ain't no dynamics quite as curious as family dynamics.'
There's our working relationships, there's the relationships we have with our friends and then there's the relationships we have with our families. There are times when it seems that we can get along with everybody, except those we were actually born to get along with.
Family relationships take all the grace, patience, understanding and tolerance that we are given... and then some. Loving people we don't know is a piece of a cake. Loving those God calls to be our spiritual family and with whom we share a space we describe as our spiritual home, that's another story.
Such is the reality we deal with and can only travel through with prayer, with lots of deep breathing and by focusing on each others needs more than our own. Yet please be assured, there is room for us all at the table. There will come those moments when it makes sense and falls into place. It takes time. Things that matter always do. Solid food has to be chewed.
You can chug a bottle of milk, but all that happens if you eat a steak dinner to rapidly is that you risk the chance of choking and get indigestion. We are invited to center on the things that need doing and bring to them what we can. Spiritual ministry is always task orientated.
3. Spiritual Ministry is God Focused
I Corinthians 3: 7 in the Message Bible reads; “It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow.”
Growth requires the planting and the nurturing. There have to be people in place to faithfully accomplish the assignments God has given them Yet at the end of the day, we cannot predict the outcome. It is 'God, who makes things grow'.
Spiritual ministry is servant-shaped, task orientated and focused on what God can do. We build upon the heritage that those who have gone before us have left us and we recognize that we are not alone in the task. We have each other and we have God to lead us and guide us. If it were entirely up to us, I don't think we'd have a hope.
Rather God promises to be with us and encourages us to go beyond spiritual infancy, to go beyond being in a place where we are nourished on milk alone and move to a place of being fed with solid food, the meat of God's word, the knowledge of God's ways that allows us to take risks and make mature judgments.
At the commencement of our reading Paul appears frustrated by the Corinthian Church. “For goodness sake, grow up!” As we dig deeper into the passage we realize he is expressing parental concern and offering solid guidance as to what it takes to be a Holy Spirit centered congregation.
- That it takes the willingness to be servants of each other, in genuine and realistic ways.He uses the term 'deacon' to describe that servant relationship he had with them and prayed they would have the desire to be 'deacons' for each other.
- He reminds them that being a family could be hard. People had to find their place and do what needed to be done Spiritual maturity required time and effort and focus upon the tasks at hand.
- He also, in his own unique way, reminds them at the end of all things, it wasn't about what they could do or be, but rather about allowing God's love to grow within them and minister to others through them.
Though this passage in Corinthians Paul invites us to grow in faith, in love and in hope; to grow up into Christ, into being people shaped less by the attitudes and shallow perceptions of our every day world and be transformed by the values of His Kingdom, where everybody matters and the little things we do count for a lot... and where the bottom line is always love.
Keeping in mind the Downton Abbey imagery I shared earlier, I leave you with Paul's words, as transliterated in the Message Bible, 1 Corinthians 3:7-9; “It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes it all worth doing is the God we are serving.”
And to God's name be the glory. Amen
Monday, February 10, 2014
The Deep
Readings; Psalm 112:1-9, Isaiah 58:1-12, Matthew 5:13-20, 1 Corinthians 2:1-12
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 9th, 2014
A printable PDF file can be found here
One of the biggest movie hits of the late 1970's was about a killer shark called 'Jaws'. In an effort to capitalize on it's success numerous follow ups were made including a lavish production in 1977 called 'The Deep'. The Deep was about a young couple who discovered a World War II wreck, called Goliath, that not only has a valuable cargo, but lays over a Spanish galleon with an even more valuable cargo upon it.
Not surprisingly other people, of dubious character, find out and are out to get their hands on the available wealth, and what with the presence of mutated sea creatures, the action becomes deadly. The posters advertising the movie contained the phrase “Is anything worth the terror of the Deep?”
In our bible reading today we heard Paul speaking of ' “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... The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God ' (1 Corinthians 2:9)
There is however no terror involved in the deep things of God. On the contrary, the deep wisdom of God is pictured as a treasure to be highly desired, and available to all those whose lives are being recreated by the action of God's Holy Spirit.
The only terror expressed in our passage comes through Paul himself, who explains to the Corinthians “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling”
We sometimes picture Paul as a fearless, bold, extrovert of a guy; on a mission from God and afraid of nothing. Yet here he pictures himself as a stumbling and not-very-gifted speaker. As Christians, one of our duties before God is to share our faith with others. But often, even the thought of speaking about we believe, paralyzes us. We feel insecure, we feel inadequate. We are worried about doing more harm than good.
Maybe then we can take comfort from the fact that even Paul felt ill-equipped for the task God had laid upon him. He claims to have no power, other than that which the Spirit of God blessed him with, to present the gospel message. “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God” (1 Cor 2:1)
In the last chapter he spoke about the 'foolishness' of the gospel and how it's power didn't lie in words or dazzling philosophical insight, but was something that people would witness as they observed the church in Corinth practicing love and hospitality towards each other, crossing boundaries of culture and tradition, breaking down centuries old practices of exclusion and privilege and seeking to be One in Christ.
He rejoices that the good news of God's love is delivered through cracked and damaged vessels. Later in his letter he writes “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2Co. 4:7)
'Jars of Clay'. That's a great image. We, who are nobody special, just fallible and frail humanity like everybody else, are commissioned by God to share the good news with others. Those whom God calls, God also equips with the blessing and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We are called to do God's work, in God's way and in God's power. That way, glory goes to God and our service becomes an act of worship.
Cracked, flawed, fearful and apprehensive jars of clay that we may be, nevertheless God invites us to share the beautiful secret of the love of Jesus in whatsoever and with whomsoever we can. The other side of the picture however is that in order to know what we are talking about, and to place a proper framework around the things that we do, we have to be prepared to dive deeper into our faith.
It is interesting to note that Paul never describes people who put their faith in Jesus as being 'Christians'. In the Book of Acts we do read that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians in Antioch. (Acts 11:26). But most scholars suggest that the term was used in a derogatory way and not meant as a compliment. Rather like calling them 'Jesus Freaks'.
Only later in church history did the word become associated not just with individuals but a phrase that carried sociological, cultural, and political, as well as religious meaning.
For Paul a disciple of Jesus is a 'spiritual' person. But he makes a distinction between being spiritual, in some vague sense of the word, and a person whose life is being molded and shaped by the action of God's Holy Spirit. In verse 12 he writes “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”
There are many people in our world, just as there were many in the Corinthian community to whom Paul writes, who could rightly describe themselves as 'spiritual'. Corinth was one of the broadest minded, eclectic cities in the whole Roman Empire. If Corinth had a theme tune it could have been “Anything goes” - and that applied to their religious life as well as their cultural life.
So Paul is quite specific in stating that what he had in mind was not any vague notion of 'spirituality'; “What we have received is not the spirit of the world”, but a spiritual nature formed by a persons relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and in tandem with the work of the Holy Spirit. When Paul speaks of 'Going Deep' he does not visualize the process as some individual quest for meaning, but tells us in verse 10 that 'The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.'
In the movie 'The Deep' in order to plumb the depths and reach the treasure, those who desire the prize have to put on their diving suits and search for it. Paul is in no doubt the gospel is worth diving for. In verse 7 he speaks of the gospel as 'A mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began' . At the end of verse 9 he talks of the things “God has prepared for those who love Him”.
His whole emphasis is that there are things about life, about ourselves, about each other, about God, that we have yet to discover. That we cannot afford to stay as we are but need to go deeper and deeper and deeper in our discovery of the love of God. That if we fail to do so we will stagnate, we will fail to appreciate just how greatly God loves us, we will become disconnected from each other and from our church communities and even from God,
Just as a diver has to reach different levels in order to discover what they are looking for, Paul envisages spiritual life as a quest, and a journey of discovery that involves all of our senses.
In verse 9 Paul speaks of the deep things of God being perceived by our sight, “What no eye has seen', by our listening 'what no ear has heard' and by our thinking 'What no human mind has conceived.'
Seeing. We are invited to a deeper vision. We know that we see ourselves in certain ways. But we also know that another persons perception of our lives can be entirely different. Paul takes it one step further and tells us that God's perception of our life is something different again.
If only we could grasp God's perception on our relationships, on our problems, on our finances, on our worries, on our temptations, on our hopes and dreams.... well things would look different. Bear in mind that God looks at us as people whom He loved enough to send His Son Jesus Christ to die on a Cross for. That God’s love is so powerful that Christ was raised from the dead. How we need to see that resurrection perspective over and above our narrow visions of what can and can't be!
Hearing. We are invited to listen. Through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah 28:23 God addressed the people: “Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.” In John 10:27 Jesus, the Good Shepherd, describes His relationship to His people in this way; “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
But how do we hear God? Matthew's gospel suggests we hear God's call when we witness the plight of the hungry and homeless, the naked and the prisoner and decide to take action. That's what separated the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:32)
We hear God when we approach Scripture in an attitude of prayer and humbly seeking God's guidance. The Holy Spirit is with us to interpret the written words in a way that they become the Word of God to us.
We hear God in worship as we open ourselves up to the music and the hymns and the words and the giving and the fellowship. We hear God when we take the time to listen!
Thinking. We are invited to understand 'What no human mind has conceived.' When we have an uncomplicated trust in God we witness unexplainable things happening in and around and through our lives. I can't put that into words. I can't explain it. I just know that God's love is so much greater than we dare imagine. I'm back again with the prophet Isaiah 55:9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Or as Paul writes to the Corinthians: “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”.
I hope you are able to take away a few thoughts from this message.
Firstly, that we have no need to fear that we are not good enough, or clever enough, or ideally suited to share with others the treasure of the gospel. God promises that such is the work of the Holy Spirit. “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
Secondly, that we are invited to dig deep into our heritage of faith, because... to coin a phrase... “We ain't seen nothing yet!” We are prompted to dive deep and discover hidden treasures within the love of God.
Finally, let us recall that for Paul there was no such designation of people as 'Christians'. For Paul a disciple of Jesus was somebody, not spiritual in any vague sense of the word, but one who was being changed and inspired and renewed by the action of God's Holy Spirit.
With the help of that same Holy Spirit may we travel deeper and deeper and deeper into an understanding of the love of God as a treasure that changes everything. And to God's name be the glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 9th, 2014
A printable PDF file can be found here
One of the biggest movie hits of the late 1970's was about a killer shark called 'Jaws'. In an effort to capitalize on it's success numerous follow ups were made including a lavish production in 1977 called 'The Deep'. The Deep was about a young couple who discovered a World War II wreck, called Goliath, that not only has a valuable cargo, but lays over a Spanish galleon with an even more valuable cargo upon it.
Not surprisingly other people, of dubious character, find out and are out to get their hands on the available wealth, and what with the presence of mutated sea creatures, the action becomes deadly. The posters advertising the movie contained the phrase “Is anything worth the terror of the Deep?”
In our bible reading today we heard Paul speaking of ' “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... The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God ' (1 Corinthians 2:9)
There is however no terror involved in the deep things of God. On the contrary, the deep wisdom of God is pictured as a treasure to be highly desired, and available to all those whose lives are being recreated by the action of God's Holy Spirit.
The only terror expressed in our passage comes through Paul himself, who explains to the Corinthians “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling”
We sometimes picture Paul as a fearless, bold, extrovert of a guy; on a mission from God and afraid of nothing. Yet here he pictures himself as a stumbling and not-very-gifted speaker. As Christians, one of our duties before God is to share our faith with others. But often, even the thought of speaking about we believe, paralyzes us. We feel insecure, we feel inadequate. We are worried about doing more harm than good.
Maybe then we can take comfort from the fact that even Paul felt ill-equipped for the task God had laid upon him. He claims to have no power, other than that which the Spirit of God blessed him with, to present the gospel message. “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God” (1 Cor 2:1)
In the last chapter he spoke about the 'foolishness' of the gospel and how it's power didn't lie in words or dazzling philosophical insight, but was something that people would witness as they observed the church in Corinth practicing love and hospitality towards each other, crossing boundaries of culture and tradition, breaking down centuries old practices of exclusion and privilege and seeking to be One in Christ.
He rejoices that the good news of God's love is delivered through cracked and damaged vessels. Later in his letter he writes “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2Co. 4:7)
'Jars of Clay'. That's a great image. We, who are nobody special, just fallible and frail humanity like everybody else, are commissioned by God to share the good news with others. Those whom God calls, God also equips with the blessing and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We are called to do God's work, in God's way and in God's power. That way, glory goes to God and our service becomes an act of worship.
Cracked, flawed, fearful and apprehensive jars of clay that we may be, nevertheless God invites us to share the beautiful secret of the love of Jesus in whatsoever and with whomsoever we can. The other side of the picture however is that in order to know what we are talking about, and to place a proper framework around the things that we do, we have to be prepared to dive deeper into our faith.
It is interesting to note that Paul never describes people who put their faith in Jesus as being 'Christians'. In the Book of Acts we do read that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians in Antioch. (Acts 11:26). But most scholars suggest that the term was used in a derogatory way and not meant as a compliment. Rather like calling them 'Jesus Freaks'.
Only later in church history did the word become associated not just with individuals but a phrase that carried sociological, cultural, and political, as well as religious meaning.
For Paul a disciple of Jesus is a 'spiritual' person. But he makes a distinction between being spiritual, in some vague sense of the word, and a person whose life is being molded and shaped by the action of God's Holy Spirit. In verse 12 he writes “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”
There are many people in our world, just as there were many in the Corinthian community to whom Paul writes, who could rightly describe themselves as 'spiritual'. Corinth was one of the broadest minded, eclectic cities in the whole Roman Empire. If Corinth had a theme tune it could have been “Anything goes” - and that applied to their religious life as well as their cultural life.
So Paul is quite specific in stating that what he had in mind was not any vague notion of 'spirituality'; “What we have received is not the spirit of the world”, but a spiritual nature formed by a persons relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and in tandem with the work of the Holy Spirit. When Paul speaks of 'Going Deep' he does not visualize the process as some individual quest for meaning, but tells us in verse 10 that 'The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.'
In the movie 'The Deep' in order to plumb the depths and reach the treasure, those who desire the prize have to put on their diving suits and search for it. Paul is in no doubt the gospel is worth diving for. In verse 7 he speaks of the gospel as 'A mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began' . At the end of verse 9 he talks of the things “God has prepared for those who love Him”.
His whole emphasis is that there are things about life, about ourselves, about each other, about God, that we have yet to discover. That we cannot afford to stay as we are but need to go deeper and deeper and deeper in our discovery of the love of God. That if we fail to do so we will stagnate, we will fail to appreciate just how greatly God loves us, we will become disconnected from each other and from our church communities and even from God,
Just as a diver has to reach different levels in order to discover what they are looking for, Paul envisages spiritual life as a quest, and a journey of discovery that involves all of our senses.
In verse 9 Paul speaks of the deep things of God being perceived by our sight, “What no eye has seen', by our listening 'what no ear has heard' and by our thinking 'What no human mind has conceived.'
Seeing. We are invited to a deeper vision. We know that we see ourselves in certain ways. But we also know that another persons perception of our lives can be entirely different. Paul takes it one step further and tells us that God's perception of our life is something different again.
If only we could grasp God's perception on our relationships, on our problems, on our finances, on our worries, on our temptations, on our hopes and dreams.... well things would look different. Bear in mind that God looks at us as people whom He loved enough to send His Son Jesus Christ to die on a Cross for. That God’s love is so powerful that Christ was raised from the dead. How we need to see that resurrection perspective over and above our narrow visions of what can and can't be!
Hearing. We are invited to listen. Through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah 28:23 God addressed the people: “Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.” In John 10:27 Jesus, the Good Shepherd, describes His relationship to His people in this way; “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
But how do we hear God? Matthew's gospel suggests we hear God's call when we witness the plight of the hungry and homeless, the naked and the prisoner and decide to take action. That's what separated the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:32)
We hear God when we approach Scripture in an attitude of prayer and humbly seeking God's guidance. The Holy Spirit is with us to interpret the written words in a way that they become the Word of God to us.
We hear God in worship as we open ourselves up to the music and the hymns and the words and the giving and the fellowship. We hear God when we take the time to listen!
Thinking. We are invited to understand 'What no human mind has conceived.' When we have an uncomplicated trust in God we witness unexplainable things happening in and around and through our lives. I can't put that into words. I can't explain it. I just know that God's love is so much greater than we dare imagine. I'm back again with the prophet Isaiah 55:9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Or as Paul writes to the Corinthians: “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”.
I hope you are able to take away a few thoughts from this message.
Firstly, that we have no need to fear that we are not good enough, or clever enough, or ideally suited to share with others the treasure of the gospel. God promises that such is the work of the Holy Spirit. “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
Secondly, that we are invited to dig deep into our heritage of faith, because... to coin a phrase... “We ain't seen nothing yet!” We are prompted to dive deep and discover hidden treasures within the love of God.
Finally, let us recall that for Paul there was no such designation of people as 'Christians'. For Paul a disciple of Jesus was somebody, not spiritual in any vague sense of the word, but one who was being changed and inspired and renewed by the action of God's Holy Spirit.
With the help of that same Holy Spirit may we travel deeper and deeper and deeper into an understanding of the love of God as a treasure that changes everything. And to God's name be the glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Field of Fools
SOUPERBOWL SUNDAY
Readings; Psalm 15, Micah 6:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY,February 2nd, 2014
A printable PDF file can be found here
Little Joey is outside throwing a ball. Mum yells 'It's dinner time'. 'Just a few more minutes!' Joey protests. 'Now' says mum, 'You'll never get anywhere in life if all you can do is fool around with a ball'.
I'm fairly sure that such is a situation that every professional baseball player, basketball player, and indeed every player that will take part in today's Superbowl Game could identify with. That somewhere in their past, there were people who told them that they were being foolish investing their lives in throwing, bouncing or kicking a ball.
But now there they are. Running out onto the field as some of the most admired athletes in the nation, taking part in one of the most watched TV events of the year. A field of fools. Very well accomplished, very well paid, very much admired fools. It does, if you think about it, seem rather strange that the ability to play a game well can bring so much adulation, but that's the way of the world.
I'm guessing that professional artists, writers and musicians had to face similar challenges. The girl in the dance class. The kid with the dream of writing a movie script. The one who is always fiddling about on the computer, coming up with codes and images and little innovations. There has been somebody who told them, somewhere along the line, “Look, that's fine to do as a hobby or a distraction, but you are a fool if you think you can make a living out of it.”
Tell that to Steven Spielberg or Mark Zuckerberg or Paula Abdul (or even our own Matt Wilson). When are they going to stop fooling around and get a proper job? There are many fields for fools out there!
Which brings me to a verse from our bible reading today, 1 Corinthians 1:18. Paul tells us 'For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God'.
There are many in our society who will tell us that we truly are fools, if we allow the message of Christianity to get a deep hold upon us. After all, look where it led Jesus and all those early disciples. He ended up on a cross, they ended up as martyrs. And that resurrection stuff? Get real! It's impossible.
The Christian message does not fit well with the way things are meant to be. Paul tells us, “Jews demand for signs, Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:22-23)
That phrase here translated as 'stumbling block' is the Greek word 'skandalon', from which we derive our English word 'scandal'. According to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 21:23 anyone who was 'hung on a tree' was irrevocably cursed by God. How could the Messiah, the anointed one of God, come to his life's end in such an accursed fashion? For those of a Jewish background that wasn't the kind of sign they were looking for! It didn't make sense. Foolishness.
The problem for the Greeks was different. Their problem was that almost everything about Jesus made no sense to them. His concern for the poor. The way He identified with people who didn't really matter in the larger scheme things. His teaching about the pecking order in life. His humility. Wasn't He supposed to be a King? Royalty and humility did not go together.
The power of God, which Paul claimed was shown through Jesus Christ, manifested itself in contradictory ways to established wisdom. The Corinthian Church was a case in point. The gospel message had called together a mixture of folk who, outside of their church community, wouldn't normally get together. There were a few influential folk, probably a few wealthy folk, maybe a few learned folk. But a lot of them were really, to Greek eyes, nobody special.
Paul writes to them, verse 26, “Brothers and Sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are”
Their very existence as a church was an exercise in foolishness that went against the wisdom of the day. I believe that when we are at our best, we as churches, can still do that! Our diversity can speak volumes to a world where everything has to have it's own category.
I am sidetracking here, but one of the things I really dislike about the way music is marketed these days is that everything has to have a genre. If somebody asks you, 'What kind of music do you like?” they are expecting you to give a specific answer. “Oh, I'm into post-reformation, adult orientated, 1990's punk opera, with a hint of techno.”
That's why I look forward to singing “Drop Kick Me Jesus” on Souperbowl Sunday. It's just fun. It's not what we do every Sunday, and if every hymn was in the vein of “Silly Country Song” I'd become tired of it quickly! There's a lot of snobbery associated with music, yes, even with church music. As though somehow, certain types of music are much more 'holy' and acceptable to God than other types.
It goes in all directions. I've known some folks in 'trendy-modern' churches declare their superiority by saying they have done away with those dusty old hymnbooks. And I have had folk tell me that if we are going to start singing those 'Happy-Clappy' songs, then they will find another church to attend. Hmm!
And there was I thinking that we actually came to church to worship God, not for the aesthetic or uplifting experience that a piece of music, be it ancient or modern, provides, but for the inspiration that comes to us through the Holy Spirit. In fact when I read scripture it appears that what God is looking for, is lives and hearts that are humble, and expectant, and truly thankful for and open to Christ's love, regardless of the way that love presents itself.
Does that found foolish? Well, listen to Paul, verse 27; “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world, to shame the strong”
Why? He tells us in verse 29 “So that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord”
Whenever we confuse our 'preference' for God's will, then we are on shaky ground. It doesn't matter if it's our preference for the kind of people we want to rub shoulders with, the kind of worship service that we enjoy, the kind of music we like,or the temperature we like the church thermostat set at, what we are actually doing, when we idolize our preferences, is making worship, about us, not about God.
Because the Corinthians were learning to accept each others differences, to see each other through the eyes of Jesus as all equally needing His love to reclaim them and remake them, then people were seeing that a different kind of wisdom was at work in their community. It was not the wisdom of this world, but the foolishness of God.
God invites us to make Christ's love and Christ's tolerance our focus. In his letter to the Ephesian Church, Paul writes “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
The foolish, scandalous thing about a gospel that focuses on the Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus is that every thing is turned inside out and upside down. The little things are the big things. The things we often count as insignificant and, sometimes uncomfortable, are the things of the kingdom.
Jesus offers teaching that transcends the wisdom of this world. We heard earlier, part of His mountain top sermon; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”.
In 1990, a Presbyterian youth leader, Brad Smith closed his youth meeting with a prayer that asked God to make them mindful of those who didn't even have a bowl of soup to eat, as they were gathering that night to watch the Superbowl on TV.
This morning our youth will invite you to make a donation towards feeding the hungry in their soup bowls. It doesn't seem like much. Indeed it may seem rather foolish to think that such small tokens can make a difference to the huge problems of inequality and injustice that our wold faces.
Rather like the kid who throws a ball, as though they could ever make a career out of it. Or the girl who dances a few steps and believes that one day she could make a living from her skills. Or the church in Corinth, thinking that by coming together across societies boundaries to worship God, the world could be changed. Or Paul, thinking that telling people about the wisdom of God and the foolishness of the Cross might actually be a world changer.
The Souper Bowl of Caring, since 1990, has raised more than $98 million for people in need. If that's foolishness then it is a divine kind of foolishness that does indeed make this worlds wisdom look... well... kind of foolish.
So I invite you today, to take your place on the field of fools, to see beyond our preferences and dare to believe that dreams we pursue, and the little things we do, in the service and worship of God, are actually the wisest and most important of all. And, to again quote from our reading, 'Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord”... to God's name be all the glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Readings; Psalm 15, Micah 6:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY,February 2nd, 2014
A printable PDF file can be found here
Little Joey is outside throwing a ball. Mum yells 'It's dinner time'. 'Just a few more minutes!' Joey protests. 'Now' says mum, 'You'll never get anywhere in life if all you can do is fool around with a ball'.
I'm fairly sure that such is a situation that every professional baseball player, basketball player, and indeed every player that will take part in today's Superbowl Game could identify with. That somewhere in their past, there were people who told them that they were being foolish investing their lives in throwing, bouncing or kicking a ball.
But now there they are. Running out onto the field as some of the most admired athletes in the nation, taking part in one of the most watched TV events of the year. A field of fools. Very well accomplished, very well paid, very much admired fools. It does, if you think about it, seem rather strange that the ability to play a game well can bring so much adulation, but that's the way of the world.
I'm guessing that professional artists, writers and musicians had to face similar challenges. The girl in the dance class. The kid with the dream of writing a movie script. The one who is always fiddling about on the computer, coming up with codes and images and little innovations. There has been somebody who told them, somewhere along the line, “Look, that's fine to do as a hobby or a distraction, but you are a fool if you think you can make a living out of it.”
Tell that to Steven Spielberg or Mark Zuckerberg or Paula Abdul (or even our own Matt Wilson). When are they going to stop fooling around and get a proper job? There are many fields for fools out there!
Which brings me to a verse from our bible reading today, 1 Corinthians 1:18. Paul tells us 'For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God'.
There are many in our society who will tell us that we truly are fools, if we allow the message of Christianity to get a deep hold upon us. After all, look where it led Jesus and all those early disciples. He ended up on a cross, they ended up as martyrs. And that resurrection stuff? Get real! It's impossible.
The Christian message does not fit well with the way things are meant to be. Paul tells us, “Jews demand for signs, Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:22-23)
That phrase here translated as 'stumbling block' is the Greek word 'skandalon', from which we derive our English word 'scandal'. According to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 21:23 anyone who was 'hung on a tree' was irrevocably cursed by God. How could the Messiah, the anointed one of God, come to his life's end in such an accursed fashion? For those of a Jewish background that wasn't the kind of sign they were looking for! It didn't make sense. Foolishness.
The problem for the Greeks was different. Their problem was that almost everything about Jesus made no sense to them. His concern for the poor. The way He identified with people who didn't really matter in the larger scheme things. His teaching about the pecking order in life. His humility. Wasn't He supposed to be a King? Royalty and humility did not go together.
The power of God, which Paul claimed was shown through Jesus Christ, manifested itself in contradictory ways to established wisdom. The Corinthian Church was a case in point. The gospel message had called together a mixture of folk who, outside of their church community, wouldn't normally get together. There were a few influential folk, probably a few wealthy folk, maybe a few learned folk. But a lot of them were really, to Greek eyes, nobody special.
Paul writes to them, verse 26, “Brothers and Sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are”
Their very existence as a church was an exercise in foolishness that went against the wisdom of the day. I believe that when we are at our best, we as churches, can still do that! Our diversity can speak volumes to a world where everything has to have it's own category.
I am sidetracking here, but one of the things I really dislike about the way music is marketed these days is that everything has to have a genre. If somebody asks you, 'What kind of music do you like?” they are expecting you to give a specific answer. “Oh, I'm into post-reformation, adult orientated, 1990's punk opera, with a hint of techno.”
That's why I look forward to singing “Drop Kick Me Jesus” on Souperbowl Sunday. It's just fun. It's not what we do every Sunday, and if every hymn was in the vein of “Silly Country Song” I'd become tired of it quickly! There's a lot of snobbery associated with music, yes, even with church music. As though somehow, certain types of music are much more 'holy' and acceptable to God than other types.
It goes in all directions. I've known some folks in 'trendy-modern' churches declare their superiority by saying they have done away with those dusty old hymnbooks. And I have had folk tell me that if we are going to start singing those 'Happy-Clappy' songs, then they will find another church to attend. Hmm!
And there was I thinking that we actually came to church to worship God, not for the aesthetic or uplifting experience that a piece of music, be it ancient or modern, provides, but for the inspiration that comes to us through the Holy Spirit. In fact when I read scripture it appears that what God is looking for, is lives and hearts that are humble, and expectant, and truly thankful for and open to Christ's love, regardless of the way that love presents itself.
Does that found foolish? Well, listen to Paul, verse 27; “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world, to shame the strong”
Why? He tells us in verse 29 “So that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord”
Whenever we confuse our 'preference' for God's will, then we are on shaky ground. It doesn't matter if it's our preference for the kind of people we want to rub shoulders with, the kind of worship service that we enjoy, the kind of music we like,or the temperature we like the church thermostat set at, what we are actually doing, when we idolize our preferences, is making worship, about us, not about God.
Because the Corinthians were learning to accept each others differences, to see each other through the eyes of Jesus as all equally needing His love to reclaim them and remake them, then people were seeing that a different kind of wisdom was at work in their community. It was not the wisdom of this world, but the foolishness of God.
God invites us to make Christ's love and Christ's tolerance our focus. In his letter to the Ephesian Church, Paul writes “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
The foolish, scandalous thing about a gospel that focuses on the Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus is that every thing is turned inside out and upside down. The little things are the big things. The things we often count as insignificant and, sometimes uncomfortable, are the things of the kingdom.
Jesus offers teaching that transcends the wisdom of this world. We heard earlier, part of His mountain top sermon; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”.
In 1990, a Presbyterian youth leader, Brad Smith closed his youth meeting with a prayer that asked God to make them mindful of those who didn't even have a bowl of soup to eat, as they were gathering that night to watch the Superbowl on TV.
This morning our youth will invite you to make a donation towards feeding the hungry in their soup bowls. It doesn't seem like much. Indeed it may seem rather foolish to think that such small tokens can make a difference to the huge problems of inequality and injustice that our wold faces.
Rather like the kid who throws a ball, as though they could ever make a career out of it. Or the girl who dances a few steps and believes that one day she could make a living from her skills. Or the church in Corinth, thinking that by coming together across societies boundaries to worship God, the world could be changed. Or Paul, thinking that telling people about the wisdom of God and the foolishness of the Cross might actually be a world changer.
The Souper Bowl of Caring, since 1990, has raised more than $98 million for people in need. If that's foolishness then it is a divine kind of foolishness that does indeed make this worlds wisdom look... well... kind of foolish.
So I invite you today, to take your place on the field of fools, to see beyond our preferences and dare to believe that dreams we pursue, and the little things we do, in the service and worship of God, are actually the wisest and most important of all. And, to again quote from our reading, 'Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord”... to God's name be all the glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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