I Cor 12 - gifts I would give the body if I were God

When I read chapter 12 I see two things that would benefit every body of believers I have ever been part of.

1. Miraculous gifts of the spirit, like healing and words of knowledge and, well, miracles. I am sometimes puzzled and even upset at God for not bestowing these more often. In my wisdom God's banquet table would be better attended if it offered more generous helpings of these delicacies. On second thought, maybe He is less interested in Rice Christians (a term for Asians came to church because the missionaries served rice, not to hear the message) and more interested in disciples of faith and love. And I have to own some responsibility of readiness: why should God trust me with the gift of physical healing when I am lukewarm in the exercise of my common gift of healing by listening?

2. Embracing the concept of universal, mutual need. At Gospelfest we sang, "I need you, you need me, we're all a part of his body. We belong to each other, I need you to survive." Me (the mouth?) really believing I need the pancreas, or the middle toe. Actually I can understand that concept more easily than I can understand needing someone who according to my limited anatomical knowledge of the body seems more like an appendix. They do nothing, just get inflamed and blow up and spread bile and infection. O great physician, do us all a favor - cut them out!

Gosh, I wonder what that "excellent way" is that Paul will tell us about in Chapter 13?

I Corinthians 11 - Head Coverings, and the Lord's Supper

I Corinthians 11 – Head Coverings, and the Lord’s Supper

Cannon to the right of him, cannon to the left of him, into the valley of death, rode the apostle. In this chapter, Paul rides fearlessly onto two bitterly-fought battlefields in the 2,000 year-long internecine War of the True Believers.

First: the roles – one might even say ranks – of men and women. It is tempting to write “men vs. women” or “women vs. men” because gender strife is alas part of the curse of Adam and Eve: Genesis 3:16, “thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

I am quoting from the King James Bible because today I am in Hyde Park, minding the Lamoille Woodcraft store operated by the Mennonite Church. I believe I am something of a Righteous Gentile to them, having sold advertising to them years ago and commented favorably on the Scripture verse road signs that they have erected between Hyde Park and Imani’s home in North Wolcott. Today the church is having a wedding, and for the first time ever a non-Mennonite is watching the store! I am honored and welcome an opportunity to build a bridge of fellowship with this branch of the family of God. As for the KJV – it is a 1977 Thomas Nelson Sunday School version hanging around the store. There are no customers, so I am redeeming the time.

The Mennonites look and act a lot like the Amish, to whom I believe they are closely “related” in the faith. (They do however use the 4 C’s of So-Called Contemporary Christian Civilization: Cars, cellphones, computers, and credit cards. No sign of internet use, though.) Their women wear head coverings, not just in church but when out tending their large vegetable gardens or waiting on customers at their many Lamoille county retail operations and farm stands. According to my limited knowledge, they are the only church body in Vermont that seems to require this practice. I suspect the abandonment of head coverings by the rest of us would baffle and upset Paul:

“But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head; for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn; but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”

And now let the bride say: “Yeah, whatever, Paul.” I mean, what are we to DO with such teaching? Demand head coverings? Explain to the world we (say we) wish to win for Christ that because of what happened in the Garden of Eden, women must wear hats when they pray? Ignore it? Smile with amused tolerance, as at the outdated opinion of a much-loved elder?

I think we are hearing from Saul the Pharisee again. Like any good elder and “link to the sacred past”, he is teaching the Greek Corinthians to understand and honor their Adamic roots and identity. But then Paul chimes in with a Kingdom clarification, explaining this teaching without voiding it: Vs. 15 says a woman’s long hair is covering enough. And oh by the way man came from woman, too, and really they both come from God, so let’s not get too hung up on hierarchy. As he says in Ephesians, as Spirit-led and filled believers let us love and serve each other. This is the same technique as seen in Chapter 10, where Saul first refers to the cautionary history in the Hebrew Bible and then Paul clarifies it with Kingdom teaching of freedom in the Spirit.

And that reference to the angels…..hmmm and hmmm again…..maybe an uncovered, rebellious, serpent-obeying woman is equated with the angels who also rejected God’s plan? A “fallen woman” indeed and likewise “shorn” on the inside?

And then, on to Communion. It’s no big deal today, but Christians were killing each other by the thousands over it in the 1500’s and 1600’s. Catholics killed Protestants, Protestants killed other Protestants, Protestants killed Catholics, in part at least over the “disagreement” (a gentle word) over the understanding of the Lord’s Supper. The bitter irony of brothers killing brothers in the name of communally honoring Christ’s sacrificial death for the sin of mankind is just too obvious to discuss. Some good came of it: the American revolutionaries, of all faiths, looked at the endless European religious conflict and said, “yecchh…..we want a First Amendment.”

Paul’s beef with the Corinthian practice of the Lord’s supper is also tinged with ironic anger. In a supposed celebration of the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, the Corinthans are vying to see who can eat the most food and drink! Some pig out, the unlucky ones starve.  One can just hear Jesus saying, “you call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so for that is what I am. Now that I have washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet, you should do as I have done for you.”

And fat old Epecticus of Corinth looks up from the Lord’s table and with his mouth full of wine-mushed bread, mumbles, “Quod?” and grabs another loaf.

And overweight Guy grabs another pancake at the youth group fundraiser, while a quarter of the world starves. Some things never change – until I heed the Spirit.

I Cor 10: Saul the Pharisee returns, with a warning

Saul the Pharisee makes a triumphant return in the first part of this chapter (subtitled "Warnings from Israel's past" by NIV), and it's not a bad thing. The Pharisee movement can be roughly traced from Ezra the priest who led Israel back from captivity, and who like Nehemiah tore out his hair upon learning that, once AGAIN, the men of Israel were taking foreign wives - the sin of Solomon and the open gateway to grassroots family-by-family idolatry. At its foundation, Phariseeism was a well-intentioned, determined effort to eliminate the nation's besetting sin.

In the same way Guy the Teenage Unitarian puts in his two-cents worth to my present decision-making. Sometimes he offers good insights that inform my Christian walk. I think Paul himself would be the first to say that his ministry, and the church of Christ, can learn from the past once the Lordship of Christ is firmly established.

Back to Corinthians - Saul the Pharisee tells the church, "flee idolatry. Look what happened when Israel didn't." He does NOT say "separate yourself physically from all Unholiness and spit on those who don't." He takes a more radical view than mere physical separation. He preaches freedom of conscience, humility, and individual and corporate eternal vigilance of our desperately wicked hearts. And in an encouraging way he bids us to humbly rely on divine Providence:

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! ¹³ No temptation^[c] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

Unlike the Pharisees, in Christ there is no condemnation. Neither is there boasting, save in Christ. God will make a way, where there is no way, only trust and obey. Paul uses different words than Jesus, but like a good soldier of his Savior and Lord he brushes past the useless Maginot Line of good works and appearances and marches straight for the real battlefield: the hearts and minds. His weapons are the living gospel and the Spirit of the God. And although he sees further than I about the details of the Kingdom Triumphant, I don't think he really knew what total victory would look like. As he says elsewhere, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, what God has prepared for those who love Him."

I Corinthians 9 – Paul: I Am No Beggar, I'm A Slave!

“Look, you Corinthians,” Paul says sternly, “demanding payment is not the mark of apostleship.”

It appears that in the church at Corinth, trading center of the Roman Empire, the worldly notion of “you get what you pay for” is held in high esteem. Although Paul and Barnabas work like dogs, they don’t even beg for table scraps. They are the original tent-making ministry. And at least some folks in Corinth think that because they don’t expect payment, they can’t be real apostles.

Paul sets them straight, in a tone that could be misunderstood as boasting and whining but is really a call to ministry committed to honesty, simplicity and integrity, and above all to doing whatever it takes to preach the gospel to everyone.

Paul doesn’t care about receiving church support or getting married – and he seems to imply that other apostles do, or that at least the church falsely considers the exercise of these apostolic rights as a sign of genuine apostleship. Paul says he is compelled to preach: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” He could care less about the supposed fringe benefits, and to say that Paul’s intentional lifestyle “travels light” is an understatement. No wife, no family, no house, no expectations, no nuthin’. He lives this way not from want or asceticism but because it’s the most effective way for him to preach to Jews, to the weak, to the butcher baker and candlestick maker.  

When I read his example, I think of the itinerant preachers in third world countries, and here too I guess. I think of the Methodist circuit preachers like Peter Cartwright, going from frontier town to town and fearlessly preaching the gospel to the rough and influential alike. I think first and foremost of John Wesley himself, who was unmarried most of his life, and then unhappily married for a while, and who still holds the English all-time record for most miles travelled on horseback in England. I think of Brother Damien of Molokai, the priest to the lepers of Hawaii who improved spiritual and physical conditions there immeasurably before himself contracting and dying of leprosy. All branches of the Christian family contain many such Christ-like witnesses.  

Living simply and steadfastly for the gospel isn’t easy, Paul says. Among other things it requires physical training: “I beat my body and make it my slave.” The payoff is better than filthy lucre: “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

What would this look like, today? While some ministers ride in limos, Paul rides the bus. Some live in sumptuous homes and eat meals served by others, Paul sleeps where he can and eats what and when he can so as to preach to whomever he can.

I read this passage and ask, “Lord, what could I be doing differently?” Frankly the first thing that comes to mind is to support brothers like Bill Ryan. Here is a Vermont native with a knack for fixing things and a love for souls who has taken his wife and kids to the Moskito Coast of Honduras so that he can preach the gospel and help people. This place is every bit as “godforsaken” as it sounds, except that it’s not, really, because with Bill’s help an indigenous church is bringing family, medical, educational, employment and above all and spiritual healing to Moskito Indians. If you and I do nothing else – and of course there is so much else – you and I can redirect some of our discretionary income towards gospel preachers like Bill. Their support address is Bill Ryan, World Gospel Mission · PO Box 948 · Marion, IN 46952. Their email address for “moral support” is beth_bill2000@yahoo.com.

I Corinthians 8 - Love vs. Knowledge

Paul says, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

At church today, I asked several people what they thought Paul meant. The consensus seemed to be that human knowledge is too easily linked with pride. Pride towards God: “I know what to do, Lord, I don’t need your help,” as our brother Marcel paraphrased. And pride towards our fellow man: “I know more than you do, shut up and listen.” It was pointed out that if “knowledge is power” then the love of knowledge can be a respectable façade for the love of power, a demonic stronghold if ever there was one.

Like all created things, knowledge is good. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” says  one translation of the Proverb. Paul often urges us to grow in the knowledge of the Lord. Neither Paul nor the Spirit are anti-knowledge. They just hate falsehood and pride. And the opposite of pride, is love.

Our brother Jeff pointed out the contrast between puffed-up knowledge and building-up love. Puffed up knowledge tears down relationship; only love can build it up again. Love of knowledge is the disease, love is the antidote.

Perhaps a few souls have been intellectually argued into the Kingdom. But they are a handful of sand compared to the mighty ocean beach of souls whose who have willingly pulled their intellectual barricades aside from within in surrender, to allow love its gentle, triumphant entry.

I Corinthians 7 - Be Content

Two nights ago Imani called and through happy tears announced that she and Jason Wheeler, her longtime boyfriend, are engaged. They plan to marry soon after they turn 18, in less than two years.

This came as no great surprise. They have a remarkably mature love. As much as their youth permits, they understand the responsibilities of marriage. In Diane and I and Al and Kim Wheeler, they have good role models of "real life" perseverance in difficulties. They both love God and are committed to raising their kids, when they come, as believers. Jay is an outstanding young man, hard working, sensitive, caring, and utterly willing to throw himself in front of a bus to protect Imani. I couldn't ask for a better person to care for my treasure. But still, but still.....Dad was mumbling "Sunrise Sunset" to himself all day long.

Which brings us to I Corinthians 7, one of Paul's extended teachings on marriage. Those of us who have been married know that marriage provides great support and enjoyment, and equally great challenges. My old friend Bill Oosterman, who knew a thing or two about "real life" as a Marine rifleman in the WWII battle of Okinawa, used to say that marriage is full of "real days". Real conflict. Real disappointment. Real struggle. Despairing of survival sometimes. Not surprisingly Paul is addressing people who desperately want to get married, and then moves on to address another set of people who seem to desperately want to leave it! His message to all, including servants and slaves and circumcized and uncircumcized to boot, is this: "Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches."

There is a general rule in grief counseling: don't make any big changes a year after you have experienced the death of another. Well......have you and I not experienced the death of the Old Man? Are we not the New Man, learning our way around the freedom of being dead to sin and a servant of Christ? It makes sense then that new believers, who have just recently experienced the death of the Old Man, wouldn't take any big, bold new steps in their personal lives. At least not for a while. And Paul even adds the odd stipulation, "I, not the Lord." It's like he is just old Uncle Paul giving advice. He is decidedly not speaking ex cathedra. In Scripture. Weird.

Paul adds that a big part of being a New Man is realizing that time is short and we must work for the Kingdom that is coming soon and will occupy our joyful attention forever. And marriage can be a hindrance to that, Paul said. Except when it's not. Just keep your eye on the prize, bucko.

I used to say a regular bedtime prayer over Joe and Imani, repeated who knows how many times by me, Tevye and others since David wrote it years ago in the Psalms:

"May the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you, and may He give you peace." I testify that God honored this prayer for Diane and me, in and through our struggles. May He likewise bless Jay and Imani, and every other couple.

Shower the people you love, with love. If you have another's hand to hold, take it in yours and say "I love you and I'm glad you're in my life."

I Corinthians 6 - ohmigosh where to start?!

A wise old editor once said that it is easy to write 500 words, very hard to say the same thing in 200. So advised, I proceed:

1. LAWSUITS - not surprising that discussion of church discipline is followed by Christians suing each other in secular courts! A church I know has experiencd this. Rather than suffer wrong, an aggrieved party inflicts wrong on the gospel, eternal consequences be, well, you know. Paul says that if I do that, I've already lost in the only court that matters.

Where are the Christian mediators to whom a disciplined believer could appeal his/her church's decision? Maybe some wise, retired elders and pastors, riding a circuit like the old Methodist preachers? It would save reputation, not to mention money, for all concerned.

As for judging angels, well..... Scripture says they will be judged. Scripture says believers are and will be judges. In the sense that judges are delivers and not merely magistrates, we "judge angels" every time we deliver someone from demonic bondage or rebuke the devil. So we're already doing it on earth; as with all things temporal/eternal, judging of angels in eternity may be more thorough and permanent.

2.  HOMOSEXUALITY AND OTHER SEXUAL SIN - there it is in verse nine - I have been warned - I will not inherit the kingdom of God if I am g - g - reedy. There, I said it. Or a drunk. Or a swindler. Or a slanderer. Or an idolator, or a thief. Or an adulterer or homosexual.

Well. I am not gay. Have I committed adultery in a Sermon on the Mount/Jimmy Carter sense? Yes. Have I ever slandered anyone - in my line of work, yeah, probably, hopefully not maliciously. Robbed Caesar of what is his, or taken a dime off the floor that wasn't mine? Of course. Treated created things with reverence without consciously acknowledging its creator? What comes to mind is that wonderful 19th century "pumper" hymn: "wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, greater far than all my sin and shame."

3. LIBERTARIANISM - Christian churches are affected by culture which is why we have such a hard time with church discipline and sexual sin - because like Corinth and its population of shrine male prostitutes, we have bought the idea that "everything is permissable for me." And indeed, it's right there in the Constitution, freedom of expression, no law regarding religion etc. As a Kingdom citizen however I will also ask, "is it beneficial? Will it master me?" And then Paul drops the (I am sorry to be so crude) F-bomb that cannot be discussed in church: Food. Well, I will say it, to the song from "Oliver!": Food, glorious food, that's what we all come for!/ Food, glorious food, brings me through the church door!/ While they are praying I'm salivating 'bout food, love the potluck, glorious food!"

The American church has a terrific opportunity to bring a relevant gospel message and build relations regarding a "huge and growing" social and financial problem: obesity. We have the community, the teaching, and the goodwill to bring a positive witness about God and food and whose body is this, anyway? Right now I am a member of a Christian online community at the America's Biggest Loser website. We teach and encourage each other - a week or so ago I posted one of Roxy's comments on my blog about food and fear. Some of these folks have actual weight loss challenges in church! Is that cool or what?