Living in Christ: First and Second Corinthians

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Living in Christ: First and Second Corinthians"

Ernest Cunningham
5 years ago
Views:

1 Living in Christ: First and Second Corinthians Diocese of West Texas Fall 2012 SESSION TWO The Logic of the Cross: 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:5 A. THE LOGIC OF THE CROSS 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. 18 For the logic of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1. Paul emphasizes his primary work is to gospel rather than to baptize. Paul proclaims and embodies Christ crucified by word and deed (1:17: to gospel ), through which God s power works to change people s lives. In this way, the cross - an instrument of cruel death - nevertheless reveals the life-giving power of God, who raised Jesus from the dead. Conversely, the cross is emptied of its power when only proclaimed orally, even if that oral proclamation takes place with eloquent wisdom (1:17). Later in the letter, we hear another aspect of this reasoning, when Paul asserts that the kingdom of God is not about talk, but power (4:20). We hear later echoes of what it means to gospel in the well known words attributed to St. Francis: Preach the gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words. 2. The logic of the cross reveals God s power when this divine reasoning is embodied in people s daily lives. For Paul, the cross is a way of life, a pattern of self-giving for others; This pattern of self-giving for others was revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ; it was affirmed when God raised Jesus from the dead; This interpretation of Christ s life, death, and resurrection is what Paul calls the logic of the cross. Paul encourages congregations to embody the logic of the cross as part of the ways in Christ Jesus he teaches in all his churches (see 4:17). We also hear Paul s logic of the cross clearly stated in Philippians: 2:5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of

2 Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. To summarize Paul s logic of the cross : Jesus lived a completely faithful life, obedient to God, serving others, even to the point of death on a cross; God raised Jesus from the dead, revealing God s life-giving power and divinely affirming Christ s pattern of serving others; Paul now embodies this logic of the cross in his own life, modeling Christ crucified (see 1 Corinthians 2:2), and teaching others to do the same, confident that the life-giving power of God will be revealed through faithful acts of Christ-like self-giving for others. 3. What about the NRSV translation in 1:18: the message about the cross? NRSV: For the message [Greek: logos] about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. The Greek word logos can be translated several different ways: word ; logic ; message ; or reasoning. The NRSV translation ( the message about the cross ) strips the cross of its behavioral, moral dimensions in Paul; In the NRSV translation of 1:18, the logos is nothing more than an oral message that must be believed, or assented to, by the one who hears it. In the NRSV translation, the power of God resides in the message about the cross, in the spoken word, rather than in the embodiment of the logic of the cross in the life of Jesus Christ and his followers. In 1:17 Paul rejects the implications of the NRSV translation, arguing that the cross is emptied of its power when it is merely proclaimed orally, even when that oral proclamation takes place with eloquent wisdom (1:17). 4. Those who embody the logic of the cross experience salvation through the power of God in their relationships with others. For Paul, salvation is a social reality: those who embody the logic of the cross experience the power of God, who reconciles broken relationships and people alienated from one another by social norms and expectations; For Paul, salvation is an ongoing process, as reflected in 1:18: to us who are being saved, it [the logic of the cross] is the power of God ; Salvation is an unfolding process that will only be completed at a future time when Christ returns (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Philippians 3:10-14). Embodying the logic of the cross in Corinth meant giving up one s exclusive commitment to a particular leader or teacher (Peter, Paul, Apollos) because it was leading to dissension and conflict in the church. Embodying the logic of the cross will lead to reconciled relationships and experiences of salvation through God s power at work in the church. B. THE LOGIC OF THE CROSS REDEFINES POWER AND WISDOM IN THE WORLD 1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where

3 is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save the ones believing. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God s weakness is stronger than human strength. 1. Through the embodiment of the logic of the cross in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God redefined power and wisdom in the world. By quoting Isaiah 29:14 in 1 Corinthians 1:19, Paul suggests that, through the cross of Christ, God continues an ancient pattern of subverting human understanding and wisdom by acting in new and unexpected ways. Thus, a crucified messiah is a stumbling block (1:22-23) to those Jews who expected a powerful messiah to deliver them from Roman rule; Similarly, to Gentiles seeking wisdom and the exercise power over others, the cross symbolizes failure and foolishness; no one would voluntarily choose to embody this pattern in daily life (1:22-23). By raising the crucified Christ from the dead, however, God affirms the logic of the cross as Christ lived by that pattern; Christ thereby became for Paul the power of God and the wisdom of God (1:24), redefining those terms in a world dominated by the power and wisdom of Rome and Caesar. 2. The logic of the cross establishes that God s foolishness and weakness, manifest in a crucified and raised messiah, are wiser and stronger than any power or wisdom the world has to offer or recommend. C. PAUL OFFERS EXPERIENTIAL PROOF OF THE POWER OF THE LOGIC OF THE CROSS 1Corinthians 1:26 Look at your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. 2:1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come announcing the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

4 1. Proof 1: the existence and makeup of the church in Corinth demonstrate God s power to change people s lives and the wisdom that lies behind it. In the highly stratified, hierarchical, and segregated world of the Roman empire, Paul points to the church as a demonstration of the power of God: The church at Corinth was a place where groups of people, alienated from one another by social and economic standards, divisions and expectations, miraculously come together; Whether rich or poor, nobility or nobodies, educated or illiterate, slave or free; rich and famous socialize and eat with the lowly and despised. For Paul, this gathering of such disparate people clearly demonstrates the life-giving power of God at work to reconcile all people; God s wisdom imagines the reconciliation of all people; God s power makes it happen among those who embody the logic of the cross. Church members embody the logic of the cross by dying to the world s cultural standards that call for the stratification, segregation, and alienation of people who are different from each other. 2. Proof 2: Paul s own speech and proclamation of Christ crucified, in word and deed, led to demonstrations of the Spirit and power of God in Corinth, which becomes the foundation of all human faith. Paul also embodied the logic of the cross - he lived Christ crucified - in his daily life and ministry among the Corinthians (see 2:1-2); He denies orally proclaiming the gospel in lofty words or wisdom (2:1) or with plausible words of wisdom (2:4); Instead, God worked through Paul s embodiment of Christ crucified, his embodiment of the logic of the cross, demonstrating God s life-giving power at work among the Corinthians (2:4); Through his speech and embodied proclamation (2:4), Paul shows people what it looks like to embody the logic of the cross, to embody Christ crucified; then he points them to the visible demonstrations God s life-giving power that confirms the logic of the cross as the embodiment of the wisdom and power of God. 3. Faith, says Paul, should be grounded in the power of God - a power experienced through the embodiment of the logic of the cross in people s daily lives. QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION Questions for an individual doing the study: St. Francis understood Paul s use of the verb to gospel : Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words. Identify a recent event when you saw someone gospel to others. Identify a recent event in your own life when you or someone you know embodied the logic of the cross. What fruit did that bear (or, as Paul might say, where did you see demonstrations of Spirit and power?)?

5 In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Paul points the Corinthians to their own experience as evidence of God s power at work among them. How does your church reflect the same power of God at work, binding people together who come from different ethnic, social, economic, and/or political backgrounds? As suggested in the study guide, Paul understands salvation as something that can be experienced as a present reality in the course of people s relationships in this world. Identify some ways that you experience salvation from God in your own relationships in daily life. Identify some current events that demonstrate the wisdom or power of the world rather than the wisdom and power of God. What are the apparent consequences? In 1 Corinthians 2:5, Paul says our faith should be grounded in the power of God. Does this surprise you? Why, or why not? How might this insight shape your spiritual discipline and practices? Questions for a church or other group doing the study together: St. Francis understood Paul s use of the verb to gospel : Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words. Identify a recent event when you saw someone gospel to others in your study group or church. Identify a recent event in the life of your study group or church when you or someone you know embodied the logic of the cross. What fruit did that embodiment bear (or, as Paul might say, where did you see demonstrations of Spirit and power?)? In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Paul points the Corinthians to their own experience as evidence of God s power at work among them. How does your study group or church demonstrate the power of God at work among you, binding people together who come from different ethnic, social, economic, and/or political backgrounds? As suggested in the study guide, Paul understands salvation as something that can be experienced as a present reality in the course of people s relationships in this world. Identify some ways that you experience salvation from God in your relationships in your study group or church? Identify a specific event in your study group or church that demonstrated the wisdom or power of the world rather than the wisdom and power of God. What were the consequences? In 1 Corinthians 2:5, Paul says our faith should be grounded in the power of God. Does this surprise you? Why, or why not? How might this insight shape the spiritual discipline and practices of your study group or church?

6 Questions for a Vestry or Gathering of Church Leaders: St. Francis understood Paul s use of the verb to gospel : Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words. Identify a recent event when you saw someone gospel to others in your vestry or leadership group. Identify a recent event in the life of your vestry or leadership group when you or someone you know embodied the logic of the cross. What fruit did that embodiment bear (or, as Paul might say, where did you see demonstrations of Spirit and power?)? In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Paul points the Corinthians to their own experience as evidence of God s power at work among them. How does your vestry or leadership group demonstrate the power of God at work among you, binding people together who come from different ethnic, social, economic, and/or political backgrounds? As suggested in the study guide, Paul understands salvation as something that can be experienced as a present reality in the course of people s relationships in this world. Identify some ways that you experience salvation from God in your relationships in the vestry or leadership group. Identify a specific event in your vestry or leadership group that demonstrated the wisdom or power of the world rather than the wisdom and power of God? What were the consequences? In 1 Corinthians 2:5, Paul says our faith should be grounded in the power of God. Does this surprise you? Why, or why not? How might this insight shape the spiritual discipline and practices of your vestry or leadership group?

First Love Lesson 2 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16

First Love Lesson 2 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16 Bible Text English Standard Version Observations What does the text say? Interpretations & Questions What does it mean to all Christians? Applications What does it mean to me? 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 Christ