January 20, 2002 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way -- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge -- 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (NIV)
Dear friends in Christ,
During our Every Member Visitations the elders and I have been asking you about what we are going to do for the future of our congregation. How are we going to let the light of Christ shine more brightly to the people of Topeka? Pre-school or teaching English to Hispanics or something else? We are planning for the future.
This is going to be an important decision for us to make. Because if we want to go forward as a congregation - if we want to reach out to the community with MINISTRY - ways to SERVE them and then to EVANGELIZE to them - it is going to take time and commitment and effort and ability! It’s going to take gifted people using their gifts. We don’t want to try something that is beyond our ability. But we don’t want to let our abilities go unused as well. So we have to ask ourselves, what do we have the time and ability to achieve?
The Corinthians had many abilities. They had great potential to do great things, as I believe we do too. Paul didn’t overlook those many gifts that the Corinthians had. He didn’t want them to be under confident, but he didn’t want them to be over confident as well. They needed to get the light of Christ out! And so do we! And so let us consider the theme for today -
Are You Arrogant or Ignorant? God Has the Cure!
When we talk about potential for the future - the Corinthians had all kinds of it. Paul said that they had been - enriched in every way -- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge. They had a plethora of gifts. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul mentioned some of them - To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge - faith - gifts of healing - miraculous powers - prophecy - distinguishing between spirits - speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. They had great potential.
The problem was that they were like raw and hungry athletes without much training or discipline. They were divided over who their leader was. They were arrogantly bragging and divided over who had the greater gifts. They also had no sense of right and wrong. Sexual immorality was running rampant throughout the congregation. So Paul had already written one letter, trying to straighten out the problems that had occurred. But the people didn’t listen. Instead, they challenged Paul’s authority. They questioned whether Paul had any “right” to tell them what to do. They thought they could make their own decisions and lead their own lives without his help.
Could you imagine telling your child to go wash the dishes, and having him or her say to you, “who are you to tell me what to do? You can’t tell me to do that.” Paul’s godly advice was rejected, and they even ridiculed him. When somebody says something bad about you, what is the first thing you want to do? Ridicule them back, right? Yet look at what Paul did. He complimented them! He said, “you don’t lack any gifts.”
But there’s a difference in the way that Paul complimented the Corinthians and the way he complimented the Romans, Philippians, Ephesians, and other congregations. Instead of praising them, look at who Paul gave credit for all of the gifts of the Corinthians. I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. In a subtle way, Paul wanted the Corinthians to realize that all of their gifts were only a gift of God through faith in Christ. He was in fact saying to them, “if you didn’t have faith in Christ, you and your gifts would be absolutely worthless.”
That’s good for us to remember as well. In Romans 3:12, Paul describes our worth like this, All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." We would be worthless in God’s eyes, if it weren’t for Christ. That’s hard for us to understand. Especially for those who are very talented with special gifts. We like to think that God needs our gifts and our abilities - that our family needs us because of our great and many gifts - that the church’s ministry just couldn’t survive without us. Insurance agents try to convince us that we are worth at least 100,000 or 200,000 dollars. But do you know how much you are worth without Christ? Zero. That’s right. God said you are worthless, worth nothing without Christ. It’s kind of humbling, isn’t it? In and of our sinful selves, we aren’t worth anything, not even a used Kleenex, in God’s sight.
There was a guy who had an old motorcycle that he had bought some time ago. It was an old piece of junk, basically. But one day, he opened the gas tank, and on the bottom of the cap he read, “to Elvis, from Priscilla.” It was the very same motorcycle that Priscilla Presley had given to Elvis. With that one signature, it turned from a piece of junk to a collector’s item, worth thousands of dollars.
This is what happened to the Corinthians. God turned them from worthless, to people full of gifts. How did this happen? Paul said that this happened because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. God took the words of God which Paul spoke and He made them be firmly implanted in their soul. With this one signature, it made them worth more than millions of dollars in God’s sight. That Word of forgiveness in Christ transformed them from enemies and aliens to beloved children of God. Paul wanted them to realize that their worthiness wasn’t found in who they followed or the abilities they had. Their worthiness was only to be found “in Christ.”
That’s what God has done with you “in Christ” as well. When God brings you to faith in Christ, you turn from worthless to blameless in a matter of seconds. You turn from a person who is covered with sin to a person who is absolutely perfect in God’s sight. When God brings you to faith, He takes all of Jesus’ good works, all of Jesus’ perfection, and He gives it to you. When God brought you to faith through the Word of God spoken in Baptism, or just through the spoken Word of God, He put the signature of “Christ” on you. You have been turned into precious property. This is nothing that we need brag about since we didn’t earn it. Yet it is something we can thank God for and be content with.
And this will help us then, when it comes to our planning for the future. It would be easy for us to say, “our congregation makes this much money - and has so much talent in it that we can do anything we want.” It would be easy for us to think, “we’ve got talented builders in our congregation who can put up anything! We have no restrictions!” That’s the way the world thinks. And it’s arrogant. They think their future is based on their abilities and their potential. Many at home businesses try and convince their employees that they can do ANYTHING that they put their mind to. It’s the logical thing to assume that hard work and dedication equals success.
But when we remember that we are “nothing” without Christ - it changes our outlook on life. We then realize that our success in life is not based on our gifts or how hard we work - but on God’s grace. It is only by the grace of God that we will be successful in athletics, work, or love. It is only by God’s grace that we will grow. No matter what program we decide on - it will not be a success in God’s eyes if we don’t go forward humbly “in Christ.” This outlook on life keeps us from arrogantly falling on our faces.
I. The cure for arrogance
Several years ago I had to get rid of some of my leaves that I had raked during the fall season, so I took them out to father in law’s house. He told me to throw them over the fence to the cows. He had just fed them all kind of good hay and whatever else. So I just went in the corner, took a bag, and threw it over the edge. Even though these cows had plenty of room to eat all they wanted in the trough, they all jammed into this corner to eat this one bag of leaves. Then I went and got another bag, and put it about five feet away from the other spot. So they trampled on the other leaves, and ate the new leaves. They never were happy with what they had, and they always wanted something new.
This was the attitude of the Corinthians. They weren’t satisfied with the knowledge they had. They weren’t confident that Christ and God’s Word was enough. They wanted to find higher knowledge and greater gifts. The Corinthians appeared to value eloquence and wisdom above anything else. Many of them paid good money to traveling teachers who trained them to become eloquent and persuasive speakers. They pursued this wisdom as the highest good in life; they were proud of this knowledge. They didn’t feel that they would be complete Christians or ready for Christ until they had achieved this higher goal.
But what did Paul tell them? Paul told them they didn’t need any more. He told the Corinthians, “ you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
What a promise! When the Packers play the Rams this afternoon, I will be surprised if they win the game. As much as I like the Packers, they have weaknesses. Their secondary has gotten eaten up from time to time and they haven’t been able to consistently stop the run. The Rams are very quick and they play better on turf than the Packers do. I was offered a gentlemen’s wager - but I declined. For the Packers to win the Super Bowl this year would be far from a sure thing. As they say, “nothing is sure in life but death and taxes.”
But this is quite a promise that Paul gave the Corinthians - he doesn’t say God “might” keep you strong to the end - but He WILL keep you strong to the end so that you WILL be blameless on the day of our Lord. This is a peculiar statement, because later on in 1 Corinthians 10 Paul said, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! Why does he speak so confidently here and so cautiously in the 10th chapter? It seems inconsistent. It isn’t because God is inconsistent, but because man is. Consider this - when you have a child who is a good athlete facing an inferior opponent - what do you tell him? “Don’t get arrogant. Don’t think you can’t lose.” But when he faces a more difficult opponent and feels he can’t win, you say to him, “you can do it!” It all depends on the outlook of your child. And God treats us the same way.
Here Paul was talking to the attitude of the Corinthians that thought, “I don’t think we know enough - we’re gifted enough - to be ready and stay ready for Judgment Day. We need to know more! ” At this point they needed confidence. Even though they were somewhat arrogant about their gifts, they were at the same time ignorant of them. So Paul was saying, “quit thinking you don’t know enough. Your righteousness and holiness is given to you IN CHRIST. It has nothing to do with what languages you can speak or how much you know. It has to do with how holy and righteous Christ was! The same God who gave you faith and gave you your gifts can and will keep you in the faith! God is more powerful than any enemy you will face! He will keep you in the faith through His Word and sacrament! So stop worrying about how many gifts you have - you’re fully equipped for the job!”
My friends, you and I live with advantages that we are so ignorant of - so ignorant at times. We tend to think that other churches have so much more going for them, unable to see the gifts that we have right here. And we live so afraid of the future. When we think about the future of our congregation - how many of us wring our hands and wipe our brows worrying about how we’ll pay our bills or how we’ll keep afloat? Are you afraid to invite someone to our church service because we have such a conservative theology? Are you tentative to share your faith because you’ll “probably get laughed at?” Are you afraid to build a building or to try a new project because “someone else is already doing it,” or “it will take too much work.” How often do we sit behind our shield of “conservatism” and cliche’s of “at least we’re preaching the truth,” and remain afraid to try anything besides VBS to reach out to the community. I know the thinking - because I’m steeped in it. It shows a lack of faith.
Think about the truth. We know that we are going to heaven through the grace of God. In today’s text, God promises you that He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. As long as we stay connected to His Word and sacrament - He will be able to keep us in the faith until the end. Paul later on told the Corinthians in his second letter, He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. We have the Gospel - the ministry of the Spirit - the only tool that can bring people from death back to life. We are not a religion that is based on the law - but an Evangelical church - gospel based. So what should be our attitude? As Paul said, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. You are a conqueror - a victorious king - nothing can stop you - for you have the most powerful weapon in the world - the Gospel of Christ. You have a gift that gives you eternal life. You have the promise of the Almighty God that he will never leave you or forsake you - that all things are yours.
Let’s think about that as we face our future. We don’t want to be arrogant. But we don’t want to be ignorant as well. We have many gifted people within our congregation. We have talented musicians, talented artists, talented builders, talented teachers, talented businessmen- the list goes on. Who’s to say that God couldn’t use these gifts to help our church to grow? Should we cut God’s arms short by saying that we couldn’t handle an ESL or a pre-school? Why should we live with the worry that our congregation will not survive - that we won’t be able to pay bills or that we will grow old and die? We’ve got one life to live. In this life we’ll stay close to God in His Word and sacrament. And God will keep us close to Him and take us to heaven. That’s God’s promise to us. When it does come time for us to die, don’t we want to say we gave it our best shot? We tried our best? God forbid that we end up like the man in the parable who said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
II. The cure for ignorance
In the city of Cleveland, Ohio, on the front porch of a home in a thickly-populated residential section is a neatly-wrapped, full-sized casket. It has been there for years. It has become an object of sight-seeing. It is of such macabre interest, and of such an unbelievable nature, that Ripley included a reference to it in his “Believe It or Not” column. An aged cabinetmaker, who lives alone, made the casket and placed it on the front porch of his home. There it awaits the time of the oldster’s demise. It seems like kind of a strange way to plan for the future, doesn’t it? But it’s better than what another man did - who paid over 100,000 dollars to have his head frozen in hopes of a cure for death. One planned for death and one planned for life, but neither did it in the right way.
We can plan for the future of our congregation all we want - but we need to do it in the right way. God has given us a cure against arrogance and a cure against ignorance. It’s all found in the grace of God - knowing that all we are and all we have comes through faith in Christ. With this attitude, God will bless our future - and help us turn up the light of Christ in our community - no matter what decisions we make. Amen.
