BRIAN C. YOUNT TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PENSACOLA, FL 4 MARCH 2018 ISAIAH 50: CORINTHIANS 1:17-2:22 CAN YOU SEE IT?

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1 BRIAN C. YOUNT TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PENSACOLA, FL 4 MARCH 2018 ISAIAH 50: CORINTHIANS 1:17-2:22 CAN YOU SEE IT? One of the profound mysteries of the Christian faith is where it takes root. And that s something missionaries and church planters and congregations must accept. And it flies in the face of our desire to predict and control what will happen. Today, major corporations spend millions researching, analyzing, and thoroughly sorting out where they ll open a new store, office, or headquarters. Through the power of algorithms and data mining, humans can supposedly minimize risk, increase the likelihood of success, and control outcomes. It s alluring and appeals to each us, since mystery can be uncomfortable. Paul s missionary activity knew nothing about algorithms, data mining, or statistical analysis. He was led by the Holy Spirit. And when your lead counsel is the Holy Spirit your preferences and expectations don t always set the course. And that s how it must be. Perhaps the greatest challenge to any church isn t the budget or what to do about the color of the carpet. No. Our central challenge is loosening our grip on our preferences and expectations in order to receive the Holy Spirit s direction through prayer, worship, and living and working together for a heavenly goal. It isn t easy, but if we re going to be useful for the Kingdom, we can t get there on our own. Paul s life is a testimony to that. And under the Holy Spirit s lead, Paul landed in Corinth a city that by all rational metrics didn t look ripe for a church. Full of pagan temples and idols and sexual immorality and promiscuity, Corinth had a certain reputation in the Greek world. In its day, people used a verb that meant To become Corinthianized, which meant something like to become thoroughly immoral and materialistic. 1 Not exactly, Cordova Park. Paul ended up in Corinth after spending time in Athens, and after some time in Corinth Paul was ready to split. Corinth didn t seem to meet his preferences and expectations and that s when the Lord intervened. In Acts 18:9 we re told that the Lord came to Paul in a vision and told him, Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people. I find that remarkable. Here s Paul, a man with deep theological and spiritual wisdom. He was an experienced church planter. And yet, he couldn t see what God knew. Decisions are part of everyday life. And I believe our task, whether it s in our families or as members of this church, is to make those decisions with ears that are open to God s Word. Sometimes our eyes deceive us, and it is only God who, as Paul could testify, can remove the scales from our eyes. And so, after the Lord s intervention, Paul stayed in Corinth for about 18 months, and so began the church in Corinth. 1 Michael Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 228.

2 Scripture gives us more details on Corinth than any other first century congregation. And not all those details are pretty. Basically, the Corinthian lifestyle made its way into the church. As one pastor notes there were arguments, sexual improprieties, discrimination, outrageous rudeness, stupidity, snobbishness. 2 And amazingly, Paul didn t quit on this church. He remembered what the Lord had said, for there are many in this city who are my people. And that s another remarkable thing. Paul always, even in the sordidness and brokenness of these people s lives, remembered who claimed these people as His own. Look at how Paul addresses the church in verse two. He says, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. Saints? Really? But here s what Paul had learned: Corinth wasn t place to flea or abandon. It was a place to serve. And it was place that needed more of Jesus. And as their pastor, it was Paul s task to bring their bodies and hearts and souls back to Christ. And notice his approach. To a bickering, argumentative, and divisive congregation, Paul doesn t open with a directive to obey certain commandments or the need to love your neighbor. Paul, three times in this passage, speaks of the cross of Christ. He speaks of Christ crucified. Corinth began to splinter along party lines. It seems there we disagreements about what to expect from the church disagreements on what mattered. One faction wanted miraculous signs. The other spectacles of wisdom. Keep in mind, Paul was dealing with a Jewish and Greek congregation that lived in a Greek city under the control of Rome. They were bound to have different ideas and beliefs about wisdom and power. In verse 22 Paul says that Jews demand signs. And that makes sense. The Jewish demographic in Corinth knew about God s miracles. They knew of Abraham and Sarah receiving a child in old age. They knew of God s miraculous rescue of their ancestors from Egypt. They knew of the Ten Plagues and the passage through the Red Sea. They knew of forty years in wilderness, where God provided mana and quail daily. They knew the walls of Jericho fell. For them, God was known through the miraculous. And for the Greek side of the congregation, ideas were what mattered. As Paul says, Greeks desire wisdom. Their family tree didn t include Abraham or Moses or Joshua. But, they did have the Academy and Plato and Aristotle. And so, they wanted their Christian faith to sound philosophical. It needed to compete in the philosophical debates that filled the air in Greek cities. Signs and Wisdom. Miracles and Big Ideas. And to this day, we feel the pull of each. Maybe we re not expecting that God will some day make a passage for us through the Bayou. But, there s always an itch for the miraculous. And maybe the miraculous, supernatural event we demand is that God will make life easier for us. That God will smooth out any rough places and remove the difficulties we have in family, work, and church. And maybe it isn t the miraculous we re after, but we desire that God will answer our big questions. We expect that God won t leave us in mystery but must explain everything that happens. So, Corinth seemed bogged down and frustrated over what made their church the church. 2 Eugene Peterson, As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God formed by the Words of God (New York: WaterBrook, 2017), 284.

3 And here s the brilliance of Paul s pastoral skill: He honors the Corinthians interest in powerful signs and magnificent wisdom but brings them to Christ crucified and says there s the power and wisdom of God. The Corinthians operated in an environment that assumed what was powerful and wise wouldn t look like a man crucified on a Palestinian trash heap by the world s greatest military and political power. And Paul wants them to understand that in the eyes of their unbelieving neighbors this message of salvation will sound utterly foolish, offensive, and pathetic. But Paul doesn t waver or concede Christ crucified is the power and wisdom of God. And we all have a Corinthian side to us that looks for the next big miracle or demands intellectual excitement. But that s all a distraction to Christ crucified. And what s important to understand about this is that Christ crucified is not an idea be tossed around in debate and pondered by philosophers. As Paul points out in verse 17 the cross of Christ is powerful, and it is powerful on its own, apart from eloquent wisdom. Paul doesn t need to dress-up the gospel in lofty speech or rhetorical flourish, because the cross of Christ is historical fact it is God s saving act in our time and place. No philosophical treatise can say the same. And so, Paul s interest isn t to compete in the debating halls of the day. He wants to share the good news of a real death and a real, bodily resurrection. Plato s Republic will always be reserved for a certain caliber of mind. But, the gospel as historical reality is thrown open to the world. And there is only one condition for all people to receive its saving power: Faith. Faith that in the cross of Christ the wisdom and power of God were at work to rescue a perishing world. And yes, Christ s sacrificial death contains mystery but that doesn t obscure what is true about his death. Mystery doesn t mean something is unintelligible. Whether it is a stumbling block or foolishness to some, Paul s message is that Christ crucified is the historical act that offers our salvation and eternal life. And it seems that the Corinthians began to slip when they began to believe that their life together was rooted in the latest demonstration of power and the sophistication of their ideas. It all began to breakdown when Christ crucified was no longer at the center of their lives. Their bickering and arguments and sin emerged when they could no longer see that their King chose a cross instead of royal robes. They chose to exalt themselves instead of seeing what God chose. Listen again these verses: God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are (vv ). God chose that His Son would be born in a lowly and forgotten village; and God chose that His Son would establish His kingdom through a foolish and shameful death. The saints in Corinth were reverting to old ways, choosing what had the appearance of power and wisdom. And Paul brought their eyes back to Christ crucified foolish to the world but mighty to save those who would believe. At first, Paul couldn t see Corinth as a promising place for ministry. And then the Corinthians couldn t see that Christ crucified was the true source of their lives. And we re always in danger when we begin losing sight of who defines and determines what is true and powerful and wise and good and beautiful. And that s why Paul ends with this: For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Corinth was known for many things, but for Paul, he knew these troubled saints not by their sins but by the Lord who shouldered their sins to Calvary. Christ crucified is how we re to see and understand this world; Christ crucified is how we re to see and understand our mission; Christ crucified is how we re to

4 see and understand our relationship with God. Christ crucified is how you see and understand that your pain and anguish and suffering and pain are not final, but momentary afflictions that will give way to an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure. (2 Cor. 4:17). And in a minute, we ll share the sacrament of Holy Communion together. This is a meal where we celebrate and receive Christ crucified. Bread and wine simple things but with the eyes of faith precious gifts. And at this meal, our eyes are given a glimpse of what awaits us a heavenly banquet, hosted by our wounded King. And there, we ll see him face-to-face. And we ll see glory in one another s face. And together we ll boast and sing about the crucified King. Glory be to God. Amen.

5 Bibliography Bailey, Kenneth. Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, Gorman, Michael. Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Peterson, Eugene. As Kingfishers Catch Fire: A Conversation on the Ways of God Formed by the Words of God. New York: Waterbrook, 2017.