Today we are speaking about the church so I know that many people have seen interesting church signs on the Internet. I collected a list of interesting church signs here…
2. I don't know why some people change churches. What difference does it matter which one you stay home from?
3. Our Church is like fudge. Sweet with a few nuts.
4. Do you know what hell is? Come hear our preacher.
5. Sign broken. Message inside
6. If God is your co-pilot, switch seats
7. Life Stinks. We have a Pew for you.
8. To err is human, to arrrr is pirate
These church signs of course are interesting. Today we are talking about an early church in the city of Corinth. As we remember, 1 Corinthians in our Bible is a copy of a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to this church around 53 or 54CE. That is about twenty years after Jesus has risen from the dead, between 15 and 20 years since Paul became a Christian and just 1, 2 or 3 years since the Christian Church was started in Corinth.[1]
Now, we know that the Church is not a building but rather it is what they call the group of saints who meet together. When we think of the Church – to use a sports analogy – we should not think of the arena where they play, but rather the team that plays. So here in 1st Century Corinth, a Greek city about the same size or a little bigger than contemporary Saskatoon (about 250 000), we have a small team of about the same size as our group here (30-50 people) who get together at people’s homes to practice once a week or so. This team, called the ‘Saints’, is a group of Christians who are tasked with leading their community to Christ. That is their job. That is our job.
Now this group is doing alright. Paul says that he thanks God always for the grace God has shown them: indeed, they have been enriched in every way by God (1:4-5). Paul expresses right near the beginning of this letter his every confidence that God will keep them strong so that they will actually be perfect, even blameless by the time Jesus returns (1:6-9). This team, the Saints, is a group that God is doing good things with in a city that is otherwise filled with all kinds of evil – maybe even as much evil as our contemporary North American cities. But God is faithful, Paul says, and He will keep the team strong.
That all being said, just like on any team, there is the potential for problems, and just like in any church, people have some struggles; there are challenges here. And because God used Paul to plant this church, when some of these challenges arise some people go running straight to Paul.
Now Paul, when this letter is written, is not in Corinth – thus he writes this letter rather than just speaking to the people, the team, the saints, the church. It appears that people are arguing about which leader’s teaching they prefer. It appears that some are saying they like Paul, others are saying they like Apollos and others are saying that they prefer Peter. Today someone might say I like John Hagee or I like Joyce Myers or I like NT Write; I like General Burrows or I like Shaw Clifton; I like Pastor Joel across the street or I like Captains Michael and Susan; or fill in whatever name of a local or known Christian you choose. The problem here is - of course - Paul says that he and Peter, and he and Apollos, and Peter and Apollos, they don’t disagree with each other. They all agree; so why are some people in this church arguing about who is right between Peter and Paul when Peter and Paul don’t disagree with one another?[2] This brings us to our spot in the text today: Chapter 3:9-17.
Paul here is using a neat analogy. Paul is comparing the Saints, the Christians in Corinth, to a building. Paul says that he – and Apollos and Peter, etc – are builders and these Saints, these Christians are the building that God is using them to build. Paul says that he has laid the foundation – which is upon our acceptance of Christ’s Salvation; Paul has laid this foundation: he has told them about Christ. He then says that after he moved on to another city, the next or a subsequent pastor or evangelist has added some more people to that foundation of Christ. And every leader who comes to this congregation –just like every officer who comes here - is hopefully adding more and more people; like beams, rooms, or even whole floors to this building. Does this make sense?
The building itself is people who follow Christ and the church leaders continue to add more people like more bricks to this building. Paul then talks about some of the building materials –the people- that the builders are using. He says that some evangelists, preachers, pastors, officers are good building contractors and are making industrially strengthened people with which to build the building; they are developing people who are as good and as strong as gold, silver, and costly stones and adding them to the building.
Paul is saying though that some evangelists, preachers, pastors, officers are not as good building contractors; he is saying they are taking some people and just throwing them into the building as effectively as if they were sticks, or hay, or straw. They aren’t strengthening the church at all. They aren’t strengthening the people at all. They are preparing their congregation for disaster.
We all know the story of the 3 Little Pigs, right? What happens to the houses, like these, that are made of straw and sticks in those stories. The big bad wolf comes along, blows down the houses and in some versions he even eats the pigs. Paul here is telling a tale like the 3 Little Pigs millennia before even the birth of the Brothers Grimm. Paul is saying that if the evangelists, preachers, pastors, officers, do not take the time to strengthen the people who they add to the foundation of Christ, when the Enemy, the Big Bad Wolf comes along; the building will not stand.
In the part of the world that I am from – the West Coast – there are earthquakes all the time. And as San Francisco well knows, after an earthquake of a great magnitude there is the possibility that a fire will sweep through the neighbourhood. Paul is saying here that when the eschatological fire sweeps through the church, those made of sticks and straw and hay will burn right off.[3] Even though they were a part of the church, those people won’t remain standing on the foundation of Christ (cf. TSA doc. 9). They will be burned up.
So this is quite serious. Paul is saying that if the teachers, preachers, pastors, evangelists are doing a poor job and not building properly on the foundation of Christ then the people who they bring to church like that, the people who they add to the church will be destroyed and then the teachers, preachers, pastors, evangelists who are responsible for ill-equipping people in the building will only barely escape the eternal flames themselves. They will almost perish and their people will perish.
If the builder doesn’t prepare the materials well, the building of church-going people will be burned right off its foundation of eternal salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.[4] This is serious and this raises some very serious questions, doesn’t it? Is this text saying that a church attendee’s salvation is measured by the faithfulness of the denomination’s founder? Is this text saying that a church attendee’s salvation is measured by the faithfulness of the denomination’s leader: Pope, Bishop, General, etc.? Is this text saying that church attendees' salvation is measured by their own pastor’s faithfulness? Is this text saying that your salvation is dependant upon my teaching? Is this text saying that if I do a bad job teaching then you will all go to hell regardless of what you do? Is this text saying that each of our personal salvation is guaranteed or not guaranteed by the actions of someone else? No.
No, I don’t think that this is what the text is saying. I think this letter, as we read on, extols the virtues of seeing our own salvation assured. I don’t think that this letter is letting any of us off the hook as far as seeking out our saviour and His salvation ourselves. I think it is warning us – because all of us –as Christians- should be builders, leading people to Christ and teaching each other to be faithful;[5] I think this text is telling us to take our responsibilities seriously.
Honestly, if I cause divisions by lying to you, telling you that once you believe in Jesus you will instantly become financially rich and you will never get sick again; what will happen when you or someone you love eventually goes bankrupt, gets sick, or dies? If I cause divisions by lying to you, telling you that I know that the world is going to end of March 23rd of this year and then March 24th comes along like every other day? If I cause divisions by lying to you, telling you that political leader ‘A’ is the ultimate antichrist and he will destroy the world and then he disappears from the world scene so uneventfully that history even seemingly forgets him, what will happen to your faith in me and anything else that I may have said? What will happen to your faith in me and what will happen to your faith in what I have told you about other things? And what if some of those other things that I have told you about are Gospel? What may happen to your faith about the gospel?[6] If I major in the minors or if I intentionally or unintentionally mislead you in one way, might I not mislead you in another? I think this is a big reason the devil trips us up with adiaphora.
The text today is telling you and I that if we – though we are saved – spend time indulging in other issues instead of the Gospel of Salvation; if we follow others instead of following Christ; then our friends and families and congregations will never know the Gospel of Salvation; and then our friends and our families may never experience the Gospel of Salvation. How are you going to feel on judgement day if your own personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the full extent of your relationship with Jesus Christ? How are you going to feel if your husband, your wife, your child, or your Sunday school student is consumed by the fire in the text today? This is what Paul is warning about.[7] Any of us that share the Gospel – and all of us here today need to share the Gospel, it is the Great Commission from our Lord and Saviour– any of us that share the Gospel need to build on it with the gold, silver, and costly stones that are the examples of constant prayer, Bible study and loving our neighbours as ourselves.
And there is even more to this text, if we look at Verses 16 and 17, we notice that this building is more than just a building of people – it is the very Temple of God. We know what this Temple of God is, right? We are familiar with the big temple that used to be in Jerusalem. There is a mosque there today and previously the Judeans and before that the Israelites built temples upon that foundation. The first Temple built there was Solomon’s Temple. We remember the story of the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, right? Solomon built this great Temple and even though he acknowledged right in his opening speeches that all of heaven cannot contain the Spirit of God, people believed that God lived in the Temple and indeed as the Temple was dedicated, the Glory of the LORD and a cloud did fill the entire house of the LORD so that even the priest could not stand in HIS presence.
This is the Word picture painted in our pericope.[8] The Corinthians, you and I, and all Christians together are this Holy Temple of the LORD that was the centre of all of the worship of the LORD proscribed in ancient Israel and Judah (2 Kings 8). As Paul is writing this letter yet another Jewish temple is standing in the place where the Temple of the LORD was originally built. But Paul is saying that the Temple that is actually built upon the foundation of the LORD is not that temple; the Temple of the Lord is we Christians. Paul is saying that the most holy place in all of the ancient Israelite religion, the place where God was thought to dwell, the Temple of God is actually you and I; when we meet together as the Church we are the very dwelling place of God on earth. As that is the case, how could we think to build into that Temple which is laid on the foundation of Christ; how could we possibly think to build on it with careless teaching or unholy acts. How could we consider taking what should be gold, silver, and precious jewels in God’s Temple and making them sticks, hay, and straw instead. But there is even more here…
Paul says that as we are this Holy Temple, Paul says, that any who destroy this Holy Temple, will themselves be destroyed. God Himself will destroy any of us in the Church who destroy the Church. God Himself will destroy anyone who destroys His Temple. That means that any of us who are a part of the building, if we work to destroy God's Temple, He will destroy us. If we work against God and His Temple by mistreating each other, He will destroy us. If we fail to love our God by failing to love our brother, then we are working against our brother and we are working against God's Temple. If we talk about each other behind another's back, we are tearing apart our church; we are destroying God's Temple. If we are deliberately rude to or over sensitive with each other, we are tearing apart our church; we are destroying God's Temple. If we gossip about others here, we are tearing apart our church; we are destroying God's Temple. If we don’t encourage one another here, we are tearing apart our church; we are destroying God's Temple. If we think less of others here, then we are tearing apart our church, we are destroying God's Temple.[9] And if we do that - make no mistake, Paul says that God Himself will destroy us.
But like all coins, there is another side to this one and the other side of this coin is beautiful and amazing, as we do look out for the least and the last of our brothers and sisters in the Lord here, we are strengthening each other in the faith and we are seeing ourselves and each other transformed into gold, silver, and precious gems for eternity. As we meet together with friends and acquaintances to study the Word of God, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God's Temple. As we call someone this week to tell him we missed him in church, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God's Temple. As we Facebook how much so and so’s words of encouragement uplifted us, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God’s Temple. As we pray for each other and then text someone to tell them we are praying for them, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God’s Temple. As we swing by someone’s home who has been too hurt or ill to come to church and offer to sit with them and to pray with them, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God’s Temple. As we stop by someone’s work who we haven't seen and ask them how is their soul, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God's Temple. As we take a quick moment to make a phone call to someone here or as we take a longer moment to encourage our brother and sister in the Lord with a visit, through these simple actions, we are being used by the Lord to strengthen God's Temple. It is my prayer that each and everyone of us this week will intentionally seek out at least one of these simple opportunities to be used by the Lord to build and strengthen His church so that we may grow in these acts of love for now and forever more for when we love our neighbours in this way, indeed we are being used by the Lord to build and to strengthen our church, and our souls which are indeed are very much God's Temple.
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[1] J. Paul Sampley, The First Letter to the Corinthians. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002 (NIB X),773-776
[2] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 1 Corinthians 1:4-18: Eternal Dividends Over Dividers. Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 23 March 2014 (Sheepspeak.com) http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/03/1-corinthians-14-18-eternal-dividends.html
[3] Richard B. Hays, 1 Corinthians. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1985 (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Perching), 55-57.
[4] W. Harold Mare, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/V. Servants of Christ (3:1-4:21)/A. Workers With God-False Estimate Corrected (3:1-23)/2. Building on Christ the foundation (3:10-17), Book Version: 4.0.2
[5] cf. Simon J. Kistemaker, 1 Corinthians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007 (New Testament Commentary), 111
[6] Cf. Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 7), S. 71
[7] W. Harold Mare, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:1 Corinthians/Exposition of 1 Corinthians/V. Servants of Christ (3:1-4:21)/A. Workers With God-False Estimate Corrected (3:1-23)/2. Building on Christ the foundation (3:10-17), Book Version: 4.0.2
[8] cf. Richard B. Hays, 1 Corinthians. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1985 (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Perching), 56-57
[9] Cf. R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians (Augsburg, 1963).
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