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Epiphany 2
January 16, 2011
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
One day a woman was visiting with a friend and she asked her why she didn’t belong to a church. She complained about
the music, the hypocrites, all the problems in churches, and how far she had to drive. After listening for a while the woman
said, “If you ever do find the perfect church, please don’t join it or you’ll spoil it.”
As Martin Luther put it, “The one who is looking for the perfect church doesn’t want a church.” It’s easy to find something
wrong with a church full of sinners. We have different personalities & ways of doing things. We have blind spots of
immaturity. Our sins stir up feelings of envy and bitterness over petty things. Pride often keeps at a distance from those we
don’t understand but who need acceptance.
Maybe you’ve caught yourself mumbling under your breath about the problems in your church. This morning we’ll begin a
series of sermons about a church that gave Paul a great deal of heartache and we’ll see how he handled it. Before he
tackled the problems he began with a reminder of who they were. And before he showed them how much they were lacking
in their faith, he began by showing them how much they had. The message he wanted them to hear first is the same
message he wants us to hear: YOUR CHURCH HAS IT ALL!
1. A place of honor
Corinth was a bustling city of about ¾ million, the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire of the time. Most of the inhabitants
were slaves. It was located on a narrow land bridge about 5 miles wide between the northern and southern parts of Greece,
the same as Central America connects North and South America, but a lot smaller. In ancient times ships would use it as a
shortcut. Instead of sailing around the southern part, they would unload their cargo and drag it across to the other side on a
bed of stones and wood sliders, then drag the empty ship across. Today there is a canal across the land, smaller than the
Panama Canal, but serving the same purpose.
Corinth was on that trade route and drew people from all over the world. The famous Isthmian games were held there every
other year. There were heathen temples to Isis, the goddess of magic and nature, and her husband, Serapis, the god of
abundance and resurrection, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality. It is said that over 1,000 temple prostitutes
served Aphrodite and having sex with them was an act of worship. Corinth had the reputation as a party town, and what
happened in Corinth stayed in Corinth. To “corinthianize” meant to live a decadent life like the Corinthians, and no decent
girl wanted to be called a “Corinthian girl.” As one Roman history put it, “The boat ride to Corinth was not everybody’s boat
ride.” Corinth had it all – a great job market, money, luxury, and corruption.
Yet the apostle Paul made that boat ride a few times because, of all places, he wanted to establish a Christian congregation
there in “Vanity Fair.” In fact, he spent more time in Corinth than anywhere else. This was where the church met the world,
and this was the place to share the Savior of the world.
It doesn’t come as a surprise, does it, that a church in a city like Corinth would have its problems, but what alarmed Paul
was how many problems they had: petty cliques and divisions, sexual immorality, abandoning their commitments to
marriage, offending the weak, abusing the Lord’s Supper, even doubting the resurrection of Christ. They had become Paul’s
“problem child.” It’s a wonder he could even begin his letter, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ” and end it with, “My love to all of you in Christ Jesus!”
Sinners with great and serious problems – and Paul would deal with them all in this letter – but sinners still “sanctified in
Christ Jesus and called to be holy” who by faith called Jesus “Lord”. Although they were sinners, God had given them a
place of honor. “Never forget who you are. Don’t go back to what you used to be. Live your lives showing that you are
different, that you are new creations in Christ. See what the power of the gospel has done in your lives! Your faith in Jesus
is living proof of that power. You don’t need anything the world has to offer – your church has it all!”
What list of problems would Paul need to address in our congregation? It wouldn’t take long to make a list, would it? We are
an imperfect congregation surrounded by an imperfect world. We don’t live in Corinth but in communities like Dodge Center,
Hayfield, Owatonna, Byron, Rochester, and Kasson, yet they have their share of temptations. But what a place of honor we
have! God has given us love we do not deserve by forgiving our sins through Jesus and putting his peace in our hearts
through faith in him. We have been “sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy”. Your church has it all, beginning
with your place of honor in Christ, and we are the lights through which the Lord Jesus reflects his glory in the world.
2. A bursting treasury
Money doesn’t seem to have been a problem in Corinth. Apparently they had enough to take care of all the needs of their
congregation and then some. But they had riches far greater than any money could buy. They had a bursting treasury of
spiritual blessings. Paul told them, “In [Christ] you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all
your knowledge – because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any
spiritual gift.”
We could say that, compared to most of the world, even a poor church in America has more money than most churches
ever dream of having, but those aren’t our greatest riches. We are bursting at the seams with spiritual blessing, too. We
aren’t lacking a thing. Our church has it all!
Nothing could be more valuable than the gift of God’s forgiveness. It pours from every page of God’s Word, spills over in
God’s gift of baptism, and even touches our lips in the Lord’s Supper. By God’s grace we know the one John pointed to and
said, “Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” We will always have more than enough forgiveness
to share with everyone who enters these doors and wants to be freed from the guilt of their sin. You know where to find this
spiritual blessing and you know how to tell others where to find it.
God also has given every single one of us talents and abilities that we’d otherwise use for ourselves, but God has sanctified
us - set us apart from the unbelieving world – to use our talents and abilities as he intended: to glorify him in his church and
in the world. If we see something that is lacking in our church we can put our talents and abilities to work instead of
complaining about what isn’t being done. The Holy Spirit also gives other gifts like leadership, administration, evangelism,
teaching God’s Word, being especially sensitive to the needs of others, showing mercy, and encouraging others. Our
church has a bursting treasury of minds, hands, voices, eyes, ears, and lips to use in service to Jesus. “You do not lack
any spiritual gift.” Your church has it all!
3. A written guarantee
There’s one more blessing God gave to the Corinthians and to every Christian congregation. He gave us a written
guarantee: “[Jesus] will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”
How could the church in Corinth, surrounded by so much that opposed and contradicted their faith in Jesus, where they had
to live and work and do business, keep themselves from succumbing to the influences and remain faithful to Jesus? How
are we to make our way through the deadly spiritual obstacles that surround us?
We can’t. But God can. Here is his written guarantee: “[Jesus] will keep you strong to the end.” God is faithful. He won’t
abandon you. He won’t change his mind next Sunday and say, “You know, I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve changed my
mind about you. I really don’t want you to have my blessings of forgiveness and eternal life.” God is faithful. He means what
he says and always does just what he promises. As you stay in his Word and remain close to him in the Lord’s Supper he
keep you close to him. He guarantees that it will strengthen your faith and will bring us safely to the joys of heaven. Your
church has it all – even the Lord’s own written guarantee of heaven!
So what do you do when you know that you have it all? Well, we don’t have to pretend to be perfect. We are sinners and
we admit it. But in Christ God has made us perfect in his sight. And we don’t have to put on plastic smiles, come up with
dynamic programs, and whatever else we might think it takes to make our church appealing to the world. In Christ our
church already has all it needs. When you know what you have in Jesus he produces in us a genuine faith that expresses
itself in genuine love. And that’s exactly what makes the church attractive to the rest of the sinners in the world. As we heard
in our gospel lesson today, when Andrew learned what he had in Jesus, the first thing he did was tell his brother Peter.
When you have it all, you have all to give. Do you know someone who needs what you have? Amen.