Three couples were having a coffee together after church.
They were frustrated.
Things weren’t going well at church.
The pastor wasn’t doing what they wanted.
There were some people in the congregation who were obviously sinners and trouble makers.
There were people who wouldn’t speak to each other.
Apparently there were money issues.
Then a fourth couple joined them, a couple who had recently joined the congregation,
There opening words were “You must be proud and thankful to be part of this church.”
It is great how people help each other out
The teaching is helpful and understandable
And it is great to have a number of options to worship God and learn from His word.
They changed the whole tone of the conversation.
So how do you view our church?
When you have conversations with others do you focus on the negatives and the problems…..
or
How God is at work through our congregation?
In our reading today from 1 Corinthians,
Paul is writing to a church he planted, but he didn’t see it as his church…He saw it as God’s church.
This is a very important point….
often we talk about this congregation being our congregation…which it is…we are part of it…
but it is not just our congregation
It is first God’s congregation
and it is better to talk that way for one very good reason….
it reminds us that what happens in our community should be what God wants to happen.
Unfortunately though this was not the case with this church in Corinth.
The Christianity community in Corinth
was a trading area….today it is only a small village…
However at the time this letter was written Corinth was a thriving trading port.
it had a very diverse community….
Making money was a very high priority for most people.
And there were two other major influences in the community.
Most of the Corinthians regularly visited 2 temples….
Aphrodite’s temple….to worship the goddess who was about intellect and better education
Athena’s temple….to worship the goddess who was about beauty and fulfilling sexual desires.
Striving for money, striving for knowledge and striving for beauty and sex were major focuses for most Corinthians…
The rest of the region saw the Corinthians as selfish, irresponsible and drunkards, and anyone acting this was called a Corinthian
These influences were having an effect on the church in Corinth.
There was much fighting.
People weren’t respecting leaders.
People were more interested in the church doing what they wanted, rather than what God wanted.
People were focussed on money.
Some in the church were openly sinning.
Others were happy to condone sinful lifestyles so as not to offend others or cause any more dramas in the congregation.
The church from many people’s perspective was not in a good healthy state.
1 Corinthians is Paul’s response to this situation.
Now later in 1 Corinthians Paul has some very stern things to say about those who are defying God and His approach to life…
However that is not how he begins the letter….
In verse 1 he says….
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes.
Here he is reminding people, what he is about to say is not his opinion but God’s opinion.
Paul is highlighting that he is speaking with God’s authority.
Now as a congregation this is important for us as a church.
As we read and hear the bible, we don’t just see it as another person’s opinion, but God’s opinion….
As we undertake bible studies and hear sermons, we don’t just hear them as someone’s opinion but God’s opinion and God’s opinion being proclaimed.
For instance over the last few years our congregation has been focussed on following the peacemaker approach to dealing with disagreements and problems.
A major aspect of this approach is that should we have an issue about something we don’t first bring it up at a meeting, but we take the time to meet with the person and discuss the issue.
Now this approach comes directly from God’s word in Matthew 18 verses 15 to 17, therefore it is not just someone’s opinion….but God’s opinion in dealing with problems.
and therefore it is important that as God’s church when problems arise we use this process to work through our issues.
Paul then goes on to say in verse 2
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
One of the very significant things here for what it means to be church is that
we are called to be holy….
Me and you and everyone else here is called to be holy
Being holy means being set apart for God’s purposes.
As a church and part of God’s church are you being holy?
Are you living with God’s mission and emphasis central in all aspects of your life?
One of the issues we face is that
the human approach to life is that we have to attain and maintain perfection.
We have to earn respect.
We have to prove ourselves.
And we have to maintain this perfection.
For instance people can go from heros to villians almost overnight because they haven’t lived up to our expectations.
Take for instance the English cricket team…On the 5th August 2013 they were heroes they had retained the ashes and humiliated Australia.
But by December 17th 2013….all this was forgotten and the English team was considered failures.
And unfortunately this is how we often treat others
As soon they don’t live up to our standards and expectations they are considered no good.
But not God…
and why ?
because our holiness is the result of what Jesus does in us and for us.
As we interact with Jesus through His word
As we participate in bible studies and devotions
As we attend worship
As we go on mission trips that cause us to reflect on what is God up to…
These things are important because who we mix with often has an influence on us…and these things help us mix more closely with God
And through them Jesus is at work making us holy….
This concept of being holy because God is holy we find first in the Old Testament book Leviticus…
From Leviticus chapter 20 verse 7 and 8
Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy
Paul can call the Christian community in Corinth holy
Not because they are perfect people or without sin
but because they are part of God’s church
where God’s word is being taught and central to their lives.
and they are living for God’s mission
This is what underpins what Paul says in the rest of the letter to the church in Corinth…
And how we should see ourselves as a collection of people, God’s people.
We are God’s holy people…..called together to do God’s work together
This brings us to the second significant aspect of today’s reading.
Chapter 1 verse 4 says
I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
God’s grace should dominate the church
God’s grace should dominate you and me
Grace is how we become to be church, God’s people
Grace is what is most important in God’s community, the church
Grace is what helps us continue being God’s church, God’s community
Grace is what people should experience and see as they interact with you and me
Think about your interactions with people over this last month
When have they been graceful?
When have they not been graceful?
Did you respond to situations with grace or in another manner?
1 Corinthians 1:5
For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge.
Are you allowing God to influence what you say and do an how you say and do it?
One aspect of being graceful is to think about situations and people and their actions in the kindest possible way.
This is what Luther says the bible says about the eight commandment.
We should fear and love God so that we may do not speak badly about others, betray them, undermine them, slander them, or defame them, instead we are to defend them, speak well of them, and put the best construction on everything they do and say.
So being graceful is jumping to good conclusions about those we interact with.
Another way we can display grace is by seeing and sharing the good that is happening rather than the bad
In our bulletin for this fortnight there is the following story on page 5
One day two brothers Mark and Matthew who went to the same church left church and went to visit their mother who was sick in bed. When they arrived their mother asked, how was church?
To which Mark replied…. not good…the sermon went for too long, the singing was dreadful, someone forgot to put on the heaters, there were some strange people there who sat in the Jones’ pew which upset them and the coffee was terrible…
She then turned to Matthew who replied…..ahh the sermon was spot on Pastor made some great points and I was able to understand something a bit clearer I had been struggling with, it was great to have a couple of new songs, there were four new families and two of them said they would be joining us, Mr Rupert who hadn’t been at church since he had the argument with Joshua was back and I had a great conversation with your friend Ida over coffee.
And guess what their mother said next.
“Did you both go to the same church?….
Matthew can you pick me up next week and take me to your church?”
Being graceful not only has a positive effect on people,
it is always what God wants us to be and do!!!
Now you maybe saying, what about when people do the wrong thing…life is not going well.
Some social commentators suggest we have become a very angry, suing, finger pointing society.
Not because there are more problems,
but because there is more self-centeredness and less concern, understanding and grace for others.
Another aspect of grace is not correcting every mistake or flaw you believe someone has
Proverbs chapter 11 verse 26 says
A person’s wisdom gives them patience;
it is to their glory to overlook an offense.
And when issues need to be dealt with there is a graceful and an ungraceful way to deal with issues.
An ungraceful way to deal with problems is to make a big issue of something,
to be very determined to attack someone because they have done wrong
to act in a way to make a point….
that someone is wrong and you are right…
Most times when I get a glance at parliament debating I cringe
I cringe because of the way they debate
it is not about doing something better for the country or to help build community
But the tones of their debates are often about putting others down, saying how bad someone is
It takes away from the good work that they do.
Being graceful when there are problems is a challenge
One of the things about how God used Paul is that Paul was constantly teaching and at times correcting God’s churches
However Paul did this with a graceful approach
An approach that was not about
putting someone down to put himself up or to show to others how good he was
nor was the main purpose of God’s teaching and correcting through Paul about highlighting someone’s sin for the sake of saying they had done wrong.
So whenever Paul taught and corrected people he didn’t stop with the teaching and correcting
He reminded them that they are welcomed and loved
He encouraged them to be part of God’s community and to live gracefully with God’s community
and live for God’s glory, reflecting who God is and His approach to life
From 2 Corinthians 4:15 we hear
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
God’s grace has a purpose…..
That purpose is to lead people to thanking Him, worshipping Him and glorifying Him
and as a result this means we will be living in a graceful relationship with others….
who are also thanking, worshipping and glorifying God.
So lets be the church together
With Christ as our focus and influencing all things
Being equipped by Christ
and reflecting Christ and His grace in every situation we encounter so that many other people may glorify God.
Amen
