Faith, Freedom, and Fidelity

Week Five - Day 7

Today's Reading

Galatians 3:19--6:18

Paul still has some harsh words for the Galatians as he moves through his arguments against what he sees as backsliding within their faith.  “I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted” (4:11), and “I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves” (5:12).  One has to wonder how a congregation of today would react if it’s preacher said such things from the pulpit on Sunday morning?  I don’t think they would be shaking hands at the door saying “Nice sermon, pastor.”

On the other hand, there are the words of Paul’s words that have rung down through the ages: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (3:27-28).  Paul may have chastised the Galatians regarding their turning to the rules of the Law rather than relying upon God’s grace, but he also reminds them of the eternal promise once given to Abraham and now available to all through Christ Jesus.  “For freedom Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (5:1).

Concern for the Saints

Week Five - Day 6

Today's Reading

1 Corinthians 16:1-24, and Galatians 1:1--3:18

Paul ends his first letter to the Corinthians with a concern for the poor Christians in Jerusalem.  This was a major project for Paul during his ministry through this region of the Roman Empire.  Wherever he saw people who had enough to share he would urge their support.  He then tells them of his hopes for a future visit with them and sends them news and greetings from people whom they would have known from their ministering among the community in Corinth.

We then move on to Paul's Letter to the Galatians.  There is no clear scholarly conclusion as to when and from where Paul wrote this letter, but one of the possibilities was during his three-year stay in Ephesus.  So, that is where we will consider Paul is writing from as we listen to what he has to say to this church that he had personally planted during his travels.

To say that Paul's words are angry is not an understatement.  He cannot believe that they are "so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel" (1:6).  He takes it as an affront to Christ, and certainly as an affront to his credentials.  He uses the occasion to launch into a recounting of his journey of faith, the power of his conversion to Christ, and his standing among the original apostles called by Jesus.  He even pits himself against Peter, claiming a consistency of witnessing to the faith that Paul claims failed the early apostle.  What most upsets Paul, however, is that the Galatians seem to be turning to relying upon the Law for their hope of salvation, and not putting their full trust in Christ alone.  You almost can feel the Galatians cringing as they hear Paul's words.  What more is he prepared to say to them in the second half of his letter?

Love, Prophecy, and Resurrection

Week Five - Day 5

Today's Reading

1 Corinthians 13:1--15:58

We start today's reading with the familiar "hymn of love" (chapter 13). It contains some of the themes that Paul writes about of his own experience of tongues and prophecies, of patience and kindness, of not being envious or boastful or rude.  Although it ties in to what Paul is saying, it seems somewhat foreign to the rest of this letter.  Rather than addressed directly to issues within the community, it is highly poetic and worshipful in nature and tone.  It has the feel of something that was inserted in the middle of his discussion of spiritual gifts that began in chapter 12 and which picks up again in chapter 14.

It is interesting that this "hymn of love," so strategically tied to spiritual gifts, is a popular choice for inclusion in many wedding ceremonies, where I doubt it is heard in the context of which it was intended.  The end of the hymn is the declaration that love is greater than faith and hope.  Isn't that what every bride and groom want to hear, that their love is above all else?  What they don't hear is the very next verse in Paul's letter (14:1) that says, "Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophecy."  Love is not about whispering sweet-nothings in the ear of your beloved, it is about living more fully and proclaiming more boldly the ways of God.

And how is this done?  By seeking those spiritual gifts that build up the Body of Christ, that open up the good news to new believers, and by recognizing that those things that have their seed in the physical world are meant to blossom into that which is heavenly.  

The One Body

Week Five - Day 4

Today's Reading

1 Corinthians 9:1--12:31

Paul must have really been stung by the criticism and questioning of his authority and motives by the Corinthian church, for he returns for a third time in his letter to the defense his credentials and actions.  The fact that he has preached and worked among them for free has some of them perplexed.  Perhaps they felt Paul wasn't a "professional" since didn't accept any pay for his services.  Paul, however, is proud that he is not compensated by them - proof that he is not in it for anything other than the hope of winning some souls for Christ.

The list of issues that Paul had received regarding the church in Corinth seems to have been extensive as he moves to address a variety of concerns.  There are questions regarding the worship of idols, eating foods which were sacrificed to pagan gods, the proper role and conduct of women in church, the lack of concern for the poor within the community, the understanding of the sacredness of the celebration of the Lord's supper, and the proper role of spiritual gifts.  Through Paul's letter we get the picture of a community that is engaging and trying to make sense of the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it means for the various aspects of their daily lives.  They are to be commended for their faith, but are still in need of instruction as to how to put it into practice in ways that are truly reflective of the good news.

It is interesting to note how Paul tends to swing back and forth between what sounds to be rather harsh criticism and words that are uplifting and full of grace.  The entire chapter (12) on spiritual gifts and the body of Christ should be required weekly reading for all Christians.  It contains the essence of how we should appreciate the divergence of gifts within the church, as well as how we should celebrate our mutual dependance with all who are brothers and sisters in Christ.

To Judge or Not to Judge

Week Five - Day 3

Today's Reading

1 Corinthians 4:1--8:13

To continue from yesterday, the issues in Corinth are deeper than just who the believers are lining up behind, whether it be Paul or Apollos or Cephas.  Paul is reacting to an apparent challenge to his authority as an apostle, and warns the Corinthians about pronouncing "judgment before the time" and to leave such matters to the Lord.  This, of course, doesn't prohibit Paul from telling the community to clean up its act and to shun those within the community who are not measuring up to what Paul states are the standards of conduct for believers.

This section of Paul's letter points out not only the difficulty of trying to literally apply every verse of the Bible, but needs to be a reminder of the sources behind the writings.  These are the words and reflections of human beings who are attempting to make sense of the experiences they have had of God, and also the world in which they lived.  Sometimes those words can have unintended consequences.  For example, in Paul's concern for the purity of the Christian community against what he sees about him in the pagan Greco-Roman world (5:1-13), he says that the community should expel a person whom it judges to be immoral and "to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord" (5:5).  As one commentator puts it: "Paul's reasoning for this excommunication had a disastrous effect in later centuries when the church had the power to sentence sinners, heretics, and witches to torture and death to save their souls" (Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, in Harper's Bible Commentary).

Power struggles, legal battles, the intimacy of marital relationships, human sexuality, you name it and somehow it could become a point of contention.  The underlying struggle, then as it is now, is to discern what it means to live a holy and faithful life with God and one another.  Two thousand years of history should have taught us that we, of any age, do not know as much as we think we do, and that a little humility goes a long way in forming and maintaing the bonds of love and respect that bind us together with Christ.

Building on Foundations

Week Five - Day 2

Today's Reading

Acts 18:18--19:22, and 1 Corinthians 1:1--3:23

We pick up Paul's travels in the Acts of the Apostles, it is the year 53 A.D. and he leaves Corinth (in present day Greece) where he had stayed for 18 months, and during which time he wrote his letters to the Thessalonians.  He sails eastward to Ephesus (in present day Turkey) along with two believers by the names of Priscilla and Aquila.  Leaving them behind in Ephesus he makes his way back to Antioch in Syria where he had first labored with Barnabas and where "the disciples were first called 'Christians'" (11:26).  After staying there a while he takes off again on what is considered his third missionary journey.

In the meantime, a man from Alexandria named Apollos arrived in Ephesus and began teaching what he knew about Jesus (Acts 18:24-26).  Apollos may have been a disciple of John the Baptist, for that is the type of baptism he was offering.  Priscilla and Aquila, who had earlier come to Ephesus with Paul, took Apollos aside and filled him in on Paul's proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ.  Apollos then left and went to Corinth where Paul had stayed the previous year.

Paul eventually arrives back at Ephesus, possibly in the fall of 54 A.D., where he ends up staying for 3 years.  No doubt he was informed of the work that Apollos did while he was in Ephesus, and probably knew that he was now in Corinth.  If he didn't that know at first, Paul certainly became aware of Apollos' whereabouts as reports of his ministry and teaching in Corinth made their way back to Paul.  It seems the good people of Corinth are experiencing internal dissension within their community, some of it caused by members dividing their loyalties between Paul and Apollos.

So, what does Paul do?  He writes the Corinthians a letter and sends it off in the hopes of bringing peace and correction to the church.  We read the first section of this letter today, and it is an appeal for unity in Christ. "So let no one boast about human leaders.  For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future -- all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God" (1Cor 3:21-23).

Makes one wonder how much the division within the Christian church of our own day has resulted from centuries of lining ourselves up behind human leaders rather than seeking to be followers of Jesus Christ?  

Let's Get a Few Things Straight

Week Five - Day 1

Today's Reading

1 Thessalonians 4:1--5:28, and 2 Thessalonians 1:1--3:18

As we finish hearing Paul's earliest known letter, his words to the Thessalonians are those of encouragement to live in personal holiness and with mutual love for one another.  His fondness for them is apparent, and he is eager for this infant community to mature in their faith and their life together.  He also continues his instruction of them, either reminding them of what he taught while he was with them, or providing answers to questions that he knows concerns them.  Paul ends the letter by saying that his letter should be read to all of the believers.

After sending off the letter, Paul continued to stay in Corinth.  Sometime within the next year, perhaps in early 53 A.D., Paul writes a second letter to the Thessalonians after receiving a report of two problems that are plaguing the church in that city.  This letter lacks the more personal tone of his first, perhaps showing his overall concern for their survival and wanting to get right down to business.   What is bothersome to Paul is that some in the community have misinterpreted his teaching and are claiming that Paul had declared "that the day of the Lord" had already come (2:2).  Paul calls out this false teaching and tries to sort the confusion that has arisen in the church. "Let no one deceive you," Paul writes, about the workings of God.

The second issue bothering Paul is that in spite of the admonitions in his first letter, there are persons who are refusing to work and whose "idleness" is becoming a burden to the community.  With regard to these persons, whom Paul views as slackers and "mere busybodies" (3:11), he commands and "exhorts in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work and to earn their own living."  Living in community means doing your part within your abilities, and not living off the toil of others when you can readily contribute on your own.  We might take these words to heart within our present day church communities, where too often leave the work of ministries for others to do.