2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-13
I would like to ask you a question as we begin today. Answer this question. Who are you? When you think about your life, identify the top five adjectives, which would describe who you are. I will give a moment to brainstorm.
The title of this sermon is, “Are you a coworker or a codependent?” Most of the time when I have people do this exercise, the standard identifiers pop up. I am a father, mother. I am a brother, sister, husband. I am a wife. Very rarely does the identifier Christian come to people’s mind. This morning as we read the very first verse in our 2 Corinthians text, we see the Apostle making a bold statement. “We then as workers together with Him…” Even though this letter was directed to people almost 2000 years ago in a land far far away, we can apply it to ourselves today. The Apostle is assuming that we as Christians are colaborers with Christ. This morning we are going to examine this text. We will ask the question: “What does it mean to be a coworker with Christ?”
To be a coworker with Christ means that I have a mission. But what does the term coworker mean? We all have idea what coworker means. It is a person who works along side of us. We work together to accomplish a mission.
We are to be coworkers with Christ, not codependent. What is a codependent? Well, it has many meanings. The one I want to focus on this morning is the idea that someone else determines my identity, including society. In essence, this morning I am asking you and me: Who tells you who you are, Christ or the society you live in? If you are serious about being a coworker with Christ, we must allow Christ to tell us who we are.
If we are coworkers, this implies that there is a mission. What is the mission? When we think of the mission of Christianity, what comes to mind? To many, it is the great commission. Do you remember Jesus’ words? Go therefore into all the world, teach, baptize, lay hands on the sick. These are indeed important, Jesus commanded us to do these holy acts. But I think there is an even greater command. Do you remember the disciples asking Jesus what the greatest commandment was? He answered, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. This I believe is really the great commandment. This is our mission. We are to become tools to be used by God. We are to love as He loves. That is one reason why we rehearse the Summary of the Law at every Mass.
To be a coworker with Christ means that I must act.
The Scripture tells us plainly: Now, is the acceptable time; see now is the day of salvation!
Mike Yacelli in the Wittenburg Door tells this story. Once there was a little boy who ever since he could remember wanted to be a fireman….Deep in his heart there was a longing to someday be able to help people; to save people from the ravaging grasp of a fire….Growing up never changed his mind….Then the big day arrived. He as accepted to one of the best firemen academies in the country….As graduation approached, he realized that the long-awaited moment was within reach. He graduated. Because he had done so well in school, one of his professors suggested that he travel to Europe and study under one of the greatest fireman theorists of all time. Once again, graduation loomed before him. He thought about that boy hood desire to actually put out fires and help people in distress. It was then that he was offered a position to teach at one of the most respected schools in the country. He accepted. And for twenty-five years, he taught with honors and received recognition worldwide. He died last year and when they read his memoirs they came across a strange passage written while on his deathbed: “I lie here today reviewing my life. I still remember my dream, my passion to be a fireman. More than anything else I wanted to put out fires…but I realized something today. I have never put out a single fire.
Imagine coming to the end of your life and remembering that you never told another person about the never-ending love of Jesus. Imagine coming to the end of your life and realizing that you had always heard about Jesus’ love and compassion, you had never truly experienced it.
Jesus invites us in our Epistle Lesson to be co-workers with Him in working in the Kingdom of God. St Paul tells us that today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to volunteer and be a co worker with Christ. I can’t think of a better Lenten offering to Jesus and His Church than to serve Him a little more in His Kingdom outpost named St Timothy’s Church.
Being a coworker with Christ means that I have a mission; it means that I must act now; and it means that it will be difficult. vv. 4-10
In American Christianity we are accustomed to giving God the bare minimum of our lives. We are accustomed to giving God our tips. In every area of our lives, we ask the question, what is this going to cost me in terms of time, money, materials, etc.
I like what a friend of mine told a person when he witnessed to him about Christ. The person asked my friend, “Well what is the Christian thing going to cost me?” My friend responded, “You’re life.”
I think I first ran across this story in Reader’s Digest several years ago. I am unsure of its origin, or even if I have remembered all the particulars accurately, but it is a powerful witness to one boy’s willingness to say yes in spite of intense difficulty.
A girl needed emergency surgery. She had a rare blood type, and the doctors were concerned about having some replacement plasma available during surgery. The only readily available source was the girl’s younger brother.
The doctors and parents approached the issue carefully with the young boy, explaining that they must have some blood available in case his sister needed it during surgery. They explained the process of taking his blood, and asked if he would be willing to do that to help ensure his sister’s life. He thought for a few minutes and then consented.
Surgery was scheduled for the following day. The boy was brought to the hospital with his parents so that he could donate the much-needed blood. Father and mother flanked the table as the boy was prepared and the needle inserted to start the flow of life-giving fluid. The boy looked over to see the plastic bag slowly filling with his blood. He looked up to the face of his parents who stood by him in awe of his courage.
“Mom, Dad,” the boy asked quietly, “How long will it be before I die?”
You see, he had misunderstood something in the previous day’s conversation and had said “yes” to his parents’ request thinking that it meant giving up his own life to ensure the safety of his sister.
If you could find someone who was willing to die for you, what would you be willing to do for him. Would you be willing to “endure affliction, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights, hunger?” There is a man who gave His life for your life. He died in your place. He died for you. In light of what Jesus did for you, the trials and difficulties listed in today’s passage shrink in comparison. Say yes to the man who died for you. Do you remember the hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Pay close attention to the last stanza, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!”
We must remember that the things we do around the church must always be an offering to Jesus for the sake of His Church. When I see a person who has become bitter at the Church there may be many reasons. One paramount reason is that they were sacrificing for notification. When that person does not receive the accolades that they thought they deserved, it is easy to understand why they would become angry. Do you remember Jesus’ words, I’m paraphrasing…when we do our deeds to be recognized by men we forfeit our heavenly reward. That’s why almost all the Saints of the Church sought to do their good works anonymously. Many even shunned all recognition. Offer your deeds to Jesus Christ as His servant. He will reward you when you see Him face to face.
Let us remember that St Paul calls us co-workers with Christ. We are working together for the Kingdom of God. Many might say I am not doing anything great for the Kingdom. But each of us is, as St Paul tells us, working out our salvation. How are we doing this? We are doing it by being together as a Body of the Christ. We encourage one another. We live together in community caring for each other. We help each other in our love for Jesus and His Church. These are all aspects of working out our salvation.
When I sacrifice and take Holy Communion to our shut ins once a week, I am working out my salvation. It means even more when I don’t want to do it. When I don’t want to inconvenience myself, even though it is my job, I must as St Paul tells me, mortify my flesh. It is only my flesh that cries and whines about being inconvenienced. We are to crucify our flesh with its selfish desires. When we do this, we are working out our salvation. Even by offering a kind word to another person, we are helping that person and ourselves work out our salvation and see the Kingdom of God in our lives. When we take out the garbage at home and we are inconvenienced, offer it up to Jesus as a part of His inconvenience. You remember that He was inconvenienced by coming to the earth as a man. Perhaps you can also think of another time He was inconvenienced. (Point to the Crucifix.)
When we take the garbage out at church and help clean up after our fellowship time, we offer it up to Jesus and thereby work out our salvation. When we hold our tongues and NOT tell everybody how angry we are how, we offer the trying situation up to Jesus as an offering of self-denial and love, then we receive God’s blessing. We realize that to NOT say anything is good during the particular engagement, but to then blab about how I have been wronged is a sin. Remember we are in Lent. We are running the race; we are crucifying our flesh so that we might love God and our neighbors better. This is what we are called to do as Christians and followers of Jesus Christ. It is no accident that these Scriptures are positioned for today in our lectionary. We are beginning the journey of Lent which is a time of sacrifice and inner reflection. It is by its very nature a time to assess our calling as co-workers with Jesus in the Kingdom. How am I doing serving Jesus by serving others? Have I served others to the point that I have been inconvenienced? Have I had to employ self-discipline and self-denial to serve Jesus by serving others? How do I feel about the instances of self-denial? Am I harboring any kind of negative thought or feeling? Offer the negative up to Jesus in all honesty and lay it at His feet at the Cross. He understands. Have I imitated Jesus Christ who showed to all humanity self-discipline and self-denial by dying on the Cross? These are good questions followers of Jesus Christ can ask as we embark upon our Lenten journey. Let us remember to be co-workers for Christ in His Church and thereby glorify our God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen
