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Holiness, grace and peace 1 Cor 1: 1 – 17 Rev. Peter R Green, Sunday morning, 14 Sep, 2008 |
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I HAVE been talking with a Pentecostal friend about what churches should be like, and we have been wrestling with the problem of revealing Christ to a needy world. I liked something he said, “The real prize is not a good ministry experience and building a great church, that’s great and goes without saying important. The real prize is getting people not into church, and making a name for ourselves, but actually helping people live for the great prize of seeing Jesus face to face.” And this is what Paul is saying to the Corinthian Church. I didn’t select this passage because of what Stewart said, In fact, I had selected it before we had that conversation. But, the more I think about it, the more I suspect that 1 Corinthians has something vital to say to us. Often when we look at 1 Corinthians, we like to begin in the middle of chapter 1. We want to get past all the greetings and the house–keeping and get into the real meat. That says something about how we write to each other. We put in some politeness before we reach the real topic. “How are the wife and kids?“ we say — to show we are concerned about our friend’s family. “Are you over the cough you had last week?” we ask, to show we remember something about our friend. But then we get down to the real stuff. “Can I borrow your circular saw for the weekend?” “Are you likely to repay that loan soon?” All those things. Paul wasn’t like that. Paul’s introductions set the theme for what would follow. Paul wants the Corinthians to get into ministry. All through the letter, he keeps telling them to temper their freedom so that fellowship is not broken, and so that their mission is not compromised. And that is very much what he tells them right at the beginning, when he reminds them of the importance of holiness, the importance of grace, and the importance of peace.
THE IMPORTANCE OF HOLINESS When I went to Fairfield Baptist Church, we began services with an old hymn, Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness It was a nice enough hymn, in a soft, gentle, quiet way, but I always thought it was wrong, because that is not how I see the beauty of holiness. This was a “tiptoe around and don't waken anyone” view of holiness. For me, the beauty of holiness is much more dramatic, like the sun shining off ten thousand polished brass shields. Many years ago, a young woman with two children attended this church. She was nice looking in a rather plain way, light brown hair always pulled back in a pony tail, no makeup — just a young housewife with too many pressures to think about her looks. One day she arrived at church, and she was absolutely stunning. She had had her hair cut and shaped and given a few highlights; she was wearing a little makeup, a new outfit and, above all, feeling good about herself. People stopped to look, They turned around to see her. In the welcome time, everyone was complimenting her on her looks. There was no tiptoeing around and whispering. “You look great!” was the universal declaration. When God is among us in his beauty, in the beauty of holiness, he is stunning. It is not a new haircut that does it; it is his absolute purity, his consistency of will to do good, his power devoted to righteousness and justice. And when we worship God in the beauty of holiness, that is when we are most perfectly reflecting what he is like. It is a flashing back and forth of light, a potentiating of splendour. One builds on the other, until the glory is unbearable! That is something to shout about! And Paul addresses his letter to the Corinthians, 1COR 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours: These are people who are made holy, who are called to be holy, and who are in the company of the holy saints. They are sanctified in Christ Jesus. To be sanctified is to be made holy. It is just that English doesn’t have a single word equivalent to sanctified, so we have to borrow the word from the Romans. We could say, To the church of God in Corinth, to those hallowed in Christ Jesus... but that would be too confusing to people who only ever use the word hallowed when they are talking about God‘s Name. Notice this: in Christ Jesus, they are already sanctified. They are sanctified together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. What that means is that, if you are someone who trusts in Jesus Christ and calls upon him when you need access to God, who calls on him when you pray, who calls on him when you are planning your day, then you are already made holy in Christ Jesus. We can sing, More holiness give me and that is always a good goal. But we strive for more of what we already have. Go back to the Old Testament’s teachings about holiness. Remember that there were pots and cleavers and forks and all kinds of things for the sacrifices of the temple. And all those things were holy because they were set aside to be used only for God’. Sometimes they became filthy with fat and blood and stuck meat, and soot from the fires, but they were still holy, because God had chosen them as his very own. And sometimes we get filthy with the muck of life, but we are still holy, because God has chosen us to be his very own. But the Corinthians were not only made to be holy; the were called to be holy, Paul had to remind them of this, because the Corinthians were too inclined to think, “If we have it, we don’t need to cultivate it.” Paul wanted them to remember that, although they are chosen and precious in God’s sight, they were also called and appointed to live holy lives. They had an inner beauty because they were redeemed through the shedding of Jesus‘ blood. But they had to remember to let that inner beauty shine out, to let holiness be one of the three key aspects of their lives as followers of Jesus. Now these Corinthians liked to think themselves very special, so Paul reminds them that they are no different from all the saints. Wherever people call on the name of Jesus, they are made holy and they are called to holiness. So that includes you, and it includes me. In Jesus, we are sanctified and called to holiness.
THE IMPORTANCE OF GRACE Paul’s second theme is grace. 1COR 1:3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. A little later, he talks about peace. But right here it is grace that he focuses on. This grace comes from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Later we will see more of the work of the Holy Spirit in grace. Paul prays that they will have grace, and he thanks God because they have grace. Once again, what they have already can always be enhanced and built up, if they are willing to receive it. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge — 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. We all understand that grace is getting the good things you don’t deserve. Any Baptist can explain that it is by grace that we are saved, and that means that, instead of getting death and hell like we deserve, through Christ we get life and salvation. But that is just the tip of the iceberg of grace. Paul Keating once famously said of Peter Costello, “Poor Peter: all tip and no iceberg!” Mostly we Baptists treat grace as though it were exactly the same, all tip and no iceberg. Look at the iceberg here, though! These Corinthians do not lack any spiritual gift. And this is not just something stored away for use in heaven. They have the gifts they need as they wait for Jesus to return. This is here–and–now grace. We don’t deserve any spiritual gifts, no more than we deserve eternal life. It is all grace, it is all given to us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us and released all the spiritual gifts we could possibly need. If our task is to help people live for the great prize of seeing Jesus face to face, then we have to begin, and the fact is that we have every spiritual gift we need. He will keep us strong to the end. Sometimes we sit around waiting for a bright light that will reveal to us something about our spiritual gifts, but it rarely happens that way. Why not, instead, begin ministering, and see what gifts regularly appear as you go? In a few instances discovering what you have is a dramatic thing, but, more often, it’s just the outworking of grace in action. God is faithful, as Paul reminds us.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PEACE The final aspect in Paul’s greeting is peace. There are many ways of defining peace. We often think of it as the mere absence of war. Others sometimes think of times of fruitfulness. Here Paul has in mind peace within the Christian community in Corinth. He says, 1COR 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. This is a quarrelsome church, and that is never a recipe for peace. Paul wants them to end their quarrels, to seek and find agreement, and to become united. The Psalmist reminds us, How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! The beginning of fruitfulness is unity between God’s people. When we humble ourselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways, then God will hear from heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land. That is, when each of us stops trying to go our own way and starts to truly put the Kingdom and righteousness of God in first place, then there is forgiveness and restored fruitfulness from the God who hears us. Seeking God’s face, turning away from what separates from God and each other, is the way back to unity, because we have a goal bigger than ourselves, the goal of God’s kingdom, the goal of actually helping people live for the great prize of seeing Jesus face to face.
CONCLUSION Paul doesn’t say these things to the Corinthians because he likes the sound of his own voice. These things are vital to any church, and that includes us. If we want to be truly effective, in the first place that will not be about how good our plans are, but it will be about how we live out our holiness, how we live in God’s grace, how we manifest peace in our relationships. The world needs to see God’s holiness, and it will do that when it sees our holiness. The fact is that the world sees Christians and it can’t see much difference, except when Christians are wowsers who define themselves by what they don’t do. Don’t forget that we already are holy people, set aside for God’s purposes. On the other hand, don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “If we have it, we don’t need to cultivate it.” We are chosen and precious in God’s sight — that is holiness. But we are also called and appointed to live holy lives. Our purpose is to display an inner beauty that comes about because we are redeemed through the shedding of Jesus‘ blood. Remember to let your inner beauty shine out! To be a truly effective church, we must take grace totally seriously. Yes: by grace we are saved. But don’t stop there. Grace saves us through faith. Where there is faith, there is grace. Faith releases grace, because it is a trusting assurance that our God will supply all our need according to his riches in glory. Gift upon gift is there, if we are willing to believe it and receive it. If you, being evil, know how to give your children good gifts, how much more will your heavenly father give good things to you? Don’t focus narrowly on tongues and prophecy. These things exist and are important, but they are such a small part of the total. Even the gift of listening is from God. Last night, an old classmate whom I hadn’t see in 45 years told me his story, and all I could do was listen carefully. He thanked me for listening and is going to contact me again. I just sent up a quick prayer, “Lord, help me listen and understand!” That was what he needed. The gifts are there, if we want them. because it is all of grace, from beginning to end. And, finally, let’s live in peace. I want to say something that may shock you. We are a good, friendly church of nice people, but we don’t have much peace. Not the way Paul defines it. We are far from being at each other’s throats. But we define peace as absence of war, and we need more than that. It has to be such a positive agreement in the Lord that it turns us into a truly fruitful church. What we need is the kind of oneness in Christ which places us where the Holy Spirit can flow down on us in renewing and reviving power, and that can only happen when our church is truly centred on Christ above all. Holiness, grace, peace. These are what God looks for in us. The more we humble ourselves and pray and seek his face, the more we will find these things. Let’s make this our goal! AMEN |
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© Peter R. Green 2008. Permission is granted for quotation in full for non-commercial purposes provided that authorship is acknowledged and this copyright notice is displayed with the text. Portions also copyright The Bible, NIV (Zondervan Ltd.) |
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