Together in Christ
Epiphany 5
Fr. Tim Nunez
We don’t know how many churches those first apostles planted or what happened in them. They are, by and large, like planes that land safely, no news to report. The church at Corinth had issues, serious divisions and arguments.
Corinth was a busy seaport because it sat – and sits – on the western side of a narrow isthmus that connects the large Peloponnesian Peninsula to the mainland of Greece. (Isthmus is hard for me to say. Would you like to know the Greek word for isthmus? It’s isthmos.) When I say narrow, it is less than four miles across.
The waters around that peninsula are very treacherous with dangerous currents and lots and lots of rocky shoals just beneath the surface. Many merchants from the west would much prefer to bring their wares to or from Corinth whether for ground transport into Greece or portage across to ports on the Adriatic to go further east, or it would receive and ship cargo coming back the other way.
So there were a lot of people from many places and a lot of people passing through. Scholars tend to think that fed those divisions, but whatever caused them it is a church comprised largely of new Gentile Christians. (Paul was tossed out of the synagogue pretty quickly according to Acts chapter 18.) They did not have grounding in the Old Testament; they are formed entirely by the Apostles teaching about Jesus in their context.
And it is out of those divisions that we gained two letters Paul wrote to them which contain so much guidance for Christians about living a life dedicated to Christ and, perhaps more difficult, living that life in Christian community.
After laying out the roots of their divisions, and the nature of some of them, Paul gives them counsel that continues to guide churches to this day. Just last week we read chapter 13, his treatise on love. Now, in chapter 15 he seeks to heal their divisions further around his central witness, what he handed on to them as of first importance.
1. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.
2. He was buried.
3. That he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.
4. That he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the 12, then to more than 500 at once, then to James and all the apostles and finally to Paul, as one untimely born.
5. This is what he proclaimed, and so they came to believe.
This summary gives us a peek into how Paul planted churches by telling the story of Jesus and explaining what he means to the world. In one sense he is rallying them around core beliefs, which tends to help a lot. But it’s also revealing an essential truth about Jesus: The battle is won.
Paul will go on to give a stirring account of what Jesus’ resurrection means for all Christians, in terms of our future with him and being like he is now. This is, in essence, tapping back into the trust and reliance on God that Jesus exhorted in Matthew chapter 6, “Why do you worry about…?” He’s got this. He’s got you. He’s got everyone and everything you in his hand. Worry and strife don’t help. Your hope and future is secure in Him, and you can trust all you love to him as well. That is the very best news there is.
And that is our point of true unity. We are to be one in Christ because of who he is and what he has already done.
Our church is not at odds, not in conflict. But there are some rocky shoals in our wider community that do create some challenges. Some of those involve political processes underway, with our Lake Wales Charter Schools and the Polk County School Board. Others involve upcoming elections. The plans for rapid growth are difficult for local leaders and staff to manage. There are plans afoot for our downtown revitalization. Then there continue to be looming issues around the pandemic, be it the variants, the vaccinations, masks, treatments and on and on. And there are the supply chain issues affecting many businesses and causing bare spots on our grocery store shelves. I tried to buy saltines Friday, no luck. We did buy cream cheese last week and didn’t realize how lucky we were! And there’s climate change.
I suspect you have a lot of other things going on specific to your life, too. Each of these are just examples, after all, of issues which generate different opinions and can cause divisions in families, friendship, fellowships and communities.
These are all important and to the extent you can give them attention you should. But keep them in perspective. Remember whose you are. Remember the battle is won. Don’t let such matters rob you of your peace, rob you of your sleep, and ruin relationships even when people disappoint you, even when people fail you.
And this isn’t just about your peace of mind. Jesus calls us to be salt and light to our community. The example we set should be his example. The counsel we share should be his counsel. The ways we treat others, they ways we speak into these issues and the content of our comments should honor and glorify him. The work he is doing in our hearts should be manifest, apparent and clear to others.
Not an ill temper. And we stand against forces who would divide and intimidate people, or manipulate them with fear and hyperbolic rhetoric. In other words, those who manifest the powers of this world to mute dissent, mute speech and crush the vulnerable.
Speak the truth, as best you understand it, and speak it in love as best you can. Let Jesus be the judge, remember whose you are, whose we are and where you are going. He died that all might be saved.
AMEN!