Sermon manuscript:
Today I’d like to look closely at our epistle reading. We
heard the opening verses of St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. These words
address what is fundamental about being a Christian. It is helpful to know what
is fundamental. When we lose sight of what is fundamental we get confused. What
are we really about? What is going on? How should I see myself and my future?
These are fundamental questions that Paul answers in our reading this morning.
Before we get into the particulars, I’d like to give you an
overall statement that I’d like you to remember. The shortest, most fundamental
Christian creed, or statement of faith, is: “I believe that Jesus Christ is my
Lord.” Everything that we will be talking about is an elaboration of that
statement: Jesus Christ is my Lord.
Let’s look at Paul’s words more closely. I’d like to begin
with his “to” statement. The very beginning of the letter says, “From Paul.”
Then he says, “to the gathering of God which exists in the town of Corinth.”
Then he goes on to describe them: “sanctified, that is, made holy in Christ
Jesus, called ‘holy ones.’”
Let’s talk about what it means to be holy. The word “holy” often
is misused. People will talk about having sacred or holy experiences—during a
concert or while seeing a beautiful landscape. This makes holiness almost a
synonym for special, serious, or very beautiful things. The main this I’d like
you to understand about holiness is that it is something that is 100% God’s own
property. We sing in the Gloria: “Thou only art holy, Thou only art the Lord.”
God alone is holy, and then those things are holy to which God communicates his
own holiness. When God communicates his holiness to other things, then those
things become holy. Since God is the only source for holiness, without that
connection to God, nothing can be holy.
So if we go back to Paul’s words he says, “to the
gathering of God in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, that is, made holy in
Christ Jesus, called saints, that is, called holy ones.” These people, Paul
says, are holy in Christ Jesus. God has communicated to them his own holiness.
Then he goes on: “Along with everyone in every place who call on the Name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who is both their Lord and our Lord.” The
Corinthians are holy, but it is not just them. Whoever calls on the Name of the
Lord will be saved.
This is important for correctly understanding what the Holy
Christian Church is. We say in the Creed, “I believe in the Holy Christian
Church.” The Holy Christian Church is made up of all those who have faith in
Jesus—all those who call upon his Name as their Lord. Each individual who hears
the Gospel, hears the voice of the Good Shepherd, and follows him, such an
individual is a member of the Body of Christ, the Holy Christian Church.
So Paul is connecting these Corinthians to all the others
who believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord. He is also connecting us to all
these others as well. It doesn’t matter who the other people might be. They
could be rich or poor, on different continents, of different races and skin
colors, we are all one in Jesus. We are all made holy in Jesus.
It is even the case that people from different church bodies
and denominations make up the Holy Christian Church. There are so many
different church bodies with so many different teachings and emphases.
Nevertheless, if the Gospel, the good news that Jesus is the Savior of sinners,
is present in these places, then, by the power of the Holy Spirit in that Word
there will be believers in Jesus as their Lord.
This does not mean that it doesn’t matter what church a
person might attend and belong to. It is a grave and unbelievably destructive
sin when the Word of God is falsified in any way by anybody or any church body.
It is breaking the second commandment. The very first petition of the Lord’s
Prayer is for God to bless us with his Word in its truth and purity, and that
we, as children of God, may lead holy lives according to it. One of the reasons
why Paul writes to the Corinthians is so that they may be corrected concerning
a whole host of false practices and errors that are present in their congregation.
So when I say that wherever the Gospel is, there are
Christians, don’t misunderstand me to be saying that this is some easy
prerequisite. Almost every church has the Gospel, so no need to worry or talk about
anything else. What I’d like you to understand is that the Gospel is so
extraordinary and powerful that it brings about salvation even where there are
many and grievous sins. And the worst sins are spiritual sins, the sins against
the first table of the Law, but those who call on the Name of Jesus, as Paul
says, wherever they might be, are saved, are made holy. If we have been made
holy, If we actually believe, then we certainly don’t want to make friends with
stuff that perverts and destroys that which is true and saving. The Gospel,
when it is correctly understood and believed, will not make us apathetic, lazy,
and indifferent. It will make us zealous for what is good—good for us and good
for others.
So Paul opens his letter by tying together these Corinthians
and also us with everybody else who calls on Jesus as their Lord. Then he gives
them a blessing: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ!” As Christians we live by being blessed like this. We live by
God saying, “I forgive you. My grace and my peace, I give to you.”
Paul goes on to speak about how they’ve been blessed: “I
always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ
Jesus.” Paul gives thanks, not for himself or some boon that has come to
him, but for them. Paul is always giving thanks. It would be good for us if we
would follow his example generally, but especially when it comes to our fellow
Christians. Whenever anyone has been called out of darkness and alienation from
God to receive eternal life in Jesus, this is best possible thing that can ever
happen. We should keep this eternal greatness in mind with our fellow
congregation members also. Instead of grumbling and complaining about the
shortcomings of your fellow congregation members, be thankful that the grace of
God has been given to them.
This grace is effective, as Paul goes on to say: “You
were enriched in Jesus in every way, in all your speaking and all your
knowledge, because the testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. As a result
you do not lack any gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord
Jesus Christ on the last day.”
Here we get to the Christian’s way of life. Paul says that
you were made rich in Jesus in every way. We all want to be rich, don’t we? If
we could choose between being rich or poor, wouldn’t we choose to be rich? And
in this quest to become rich—whether that be rich in money, rich in prestige,
rich in good looks, what-have-you—to try to get rich we put in a lot of
thinking and effort. But Paul says you are made rich in Jesus in every way.
How so? Jesus makes you holy. God’s holiness is communicated
to you. God, who is love, pours into you his love. Instead of becoming rich by
exploiting other people, you have the opportunity to make other people happy instead
of just yourself by loving them. You could become rich in many different ways
by dedicating your life to any number of different pursuits. No matter what
your ambitions might be, though, they are destined to decay and pass away in
the grave. Not so with Jesus. Jesus makes you rich in that which is eternal, in
love.
You’re familiar with one of Jesus’s sayings in this regard.
He says, “Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do
not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.”
That saying from Jesus is the kind of thing that Paul is
talking about when he says that you have been enriched in Christ in every way.
You no longer have to be a slave to your own desires and your own ambitions.
You can live for others in love, in suffering, and in sacrifice.
And Paul says that the Corinthians have been enriched in
their speaking and their knowledge. To be rich in speaking and in knowledge is
to say and believe the kind of thing that we just quoted from Jesus. If you
want eternal knowledge, I don’t recommend that you read the Wall Street Journal
or self-help books. You already know the way to blessedness, that is, to
happiness. The one who loves the most wins. The one who loves the most is like
Jesus.
And Jesus is coming again. Paul says, “You do not lack
any gift as you eagerly wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Eagerly waiting for Jesus our Lord to be revealed—“When is he coming? Is he
here yet?—this is not foolish, but wise. Whenever we eagerly await something,
we are quite active. When Grandma and Grandpa are coming we get ready for their
visit. We greet them at the door. So it is with the waiting for Jesus too. You
don’t want to be in the basement playing video games. You don’t want to be
caught naked. You don’t want to be embarrassed when Jesus comes. Jesus has
enriched you so that you are not embarrassed when he comes.
Finally Paul says, “And God will also keep you strong
until the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. God is faithful, who called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus
Christ, our Lord.”
The Gospel is powerful. It has called you out of darkness
and foolishness into light and everlasting life. It has caused you to believe
that Jesus Christ is your Lord. When Paul says that God will keep you strong
until the end, so that you are blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,
he does not mean that you are done now. You know the secret knowledge. Now you
can live your life however you want because you will be kept strong until the
end no matter what.
No, he says, “God is faithful, who called you into
fellowship with his Son.” The faithfulness of God is in the way that he has
brought his Gospel to you, bringing you into fellowship with Jesus. God is
faithful in baptizing you, in bringing you the Lord’s Supper, which is
fellowship and communion. God will keep bringing his Word to you so that your
faith may live off that word. By faith in Jesus you will, as Paul says, be
blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To conclude, in these verses Paul lays out what is
fundamental about being a Christian: Jesus Christ is your Lord. In him you are
rich. In him you are wise. In him you know how to live. In him you are prepared
for the future when Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead. In him
you will be blameless and perfected in love.
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