1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Transcription

1 1 Corinthians 7: I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. 1

2 All Things Must Pass There is a part of me that is a frustrated English teacher. If my life had taken a different route I could imagine myself teaching English literature at a high school or college. Literature, of course, is not considered to be a very practical field. Few English majors will grow rich as a result of their studies. Medicine, law, engineering, business these are the fields that many parents prefer their children to study, based on the belief that they will lead to better career opportunities. In truth, they probably will. But there is more to life than the accumulation of material wealth and the comfort and stability that such wealth provides. Studying literature may not lead to riches but it still offers us something priceless. Literature, even as it immerses us in its own particular world, challenges us to examine and question our own. At least, that s what good literature does. Literature does this by challenging us to see the world through the eyes of others. And by others I mean both authors and the characters they create characters through whom the author speaks. Literature is about the dialogue, the exchange of ideas, that takes place between an author and a reader as a book is engaged. I remember my own excitement at being exposed to some of the great works of English literature when I was a student in college. Sometimes I would leave class with my head buzzing with ideas, as I tried to process all that I had learned in class. I think it would be both enjoyable and meaningful to be able to pass that excitement on to younger generations. While I don t have the opportunity of teaching in a classroom setting, this English ministry is a fine substitute. I want to show you one of the truly great poems from the history of English literature. If poetry is not your thing, bear with me. I promise you, the poem is short. The poem is by an English poet of the early nineteenth 2

3 century named Percy Bysshe Shelley [SLIDE]. He is famous in his own right, but he was also the husband of Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein. The title of this particular poem is Ozymandias, which is the ancient Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. The poem tells of a traveler who encounters the ruins of a once great statue in the desert. The statue is of the pharaoh Ozymandias, the most powerful ruler of ancient Egypt. The traveler tells of coming upon the face of the statue, which lies half buried in the sand, yet still maintains the look of arrogance and cruelty that its sculptor created. Yet the statue s arrogance and cruelty is no match for the yawning indifference of time that has swallowed up even the greatest of kings. Here is the poem [SLIDE]. Ozymandias I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away. In the context of the poem, Ozymandias, in his arrogance, wished to leave a permanent reminder of his greatness, which in his mind eclipsed that of all other 3

4 rulers. The inscription on the pedestal calls on the mighty, meaning other great rulers, to despair over the fact that their great works cannot compare with those of Ozymandias. The great irony, of course, is that nothing of his works remain. Beside the ruins of the statue lies nothing but barren desert sands as far as the eye can see. The poem poignantly reminds the reader of the fleeting nature of all human life, including that of kings, as we are all subject to the inevitable march of time. Although writing many centuries before Shelley, Paul has in mind this very theme as he tells the Corinthians that the present form of this world is passing away (1 Cor. 7:31). All that we have, all that we do, all that we are, even, Paul suggests, is coming to an end. It s coming to an end because God is about to do something new. To understand what Paul means, it would help to know a bit about the context in which he wrote 1 Corinthians [SLIDE]. The part of the letter that we read today features Paul responding to a letter that he had received from the Corinthian church. While we regard 1 Corinthians as Scripture, Paul didn t consider himself to be writing Scripture. To Paul, Scripture meant the Hebrew Bible, which to us is the Old Testament. Therefore, to Paul and the Corinthian church, his letter was merely part of a correspondence that he shared with the church over the course of several years. That correspondence includes what we know as 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, but it also includes at least two other letters that were lost to history. They are mentioned within 1 and 2 Corinthians, but we have no record of them. Knowing this helps us to better see the conversation that Paul was having with the Corinthian church. That conversation is clear in chapter 7, in which Paul begins by writing, Now concerning the matters about which you wrote (1 Cor. 7:1) [SLIDE]. Paul is responding to issues raised by the Corinthian church issues related to marital and sexual relationships. The gist of Paul s response is that everyone should remain as they are. Whoever was married when they became a Christian should remain married, regardless of whether their spouse is Christian. Whoever was single when 4

5 they became a Christian should not seek to marry but instead remain single. Whoever was widowed when they became Christian, well, they can remarry if they wish, but it s better to remain single, according to Paul. Paul extends the principle beyond the bounds of marital relationships to include slaves. Whoever was a slave when they became a Christian should remain a slave. Paul tells the church, Let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you, (1 Cor. 7:17). Now you may be thinking, What does Paul have against single people and slaves? And what s wrong with widows remarrying? Those are fair questions. The answer to both is nothing. Paul has nothing against singles or slaves, and Paul does not object to widows remarrying, although he thinks it s better that they remain unmarried [SLIDE]. Verse 29, the first verse of today s passage, provides a clue into Paul s reasoning: I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short (1 Cor. 7:29), he writes. First Corinthians was one of Paul s earlier letters. He wrote it probably in AD 53 or 54. That would be about 20 to 25 years after the death of Jesus. For us, 20 years seems like an awfully long time. Try to remember where you were 20 years ago, if you can think back that far. But our concept of time is quite different than Paul s. For us, waiting two seconds for a Web page to load seems like an endless delay. Ugh! It s taking forever! Oh! There it is. Yet twenty years would not have seemed so long for Paul, who was eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus and the end of time that would accompany his return. This concern with the end of the world is known as apocalypticism. The Bible has two apocalyptic books, Daniel and Revelation, but there are bits here and there that are also steeped in apocalypticism. This passage of 1 Corinthians is one of them. At the time that he wrote 1 Corinthians, Paul fully expected Jesus to return in his lifetime. That is why Paul writes that the appointed time has grown short. He thinks that Jesus is coming and soon. 5

6 At the risk of stating the obvious, Paul was mistaken. After all, if Paul had been correct, we wouldn t be having this service. None of us would be here. Nor should we take Paul s words, written 2000 years ago at a time when he and many other Christians thought the world would soon end, as relationship advice for Christians who live in the twenty-first century. It is perfectly fine to fall in love and get married and have children. Jesus first miracle took place at a wedding. And one of the metaphors that the Bible uses to describe the relationship between Jesus and the church is that of a bridegroom and a bride. Yet, having said all that, Paul was still correct. He was correct to write that those who have wives should be as though they had none, that those who mourn should be as though they were not mourning, that those who rejoice should be as though they were not rejoicing, that those who buy should live as though they had no possessions, and that those who deal with the world should act as though they had no dealings with it. Paul was correct in saying all these things because the present form of this world is passing away. He may have been wrong about the timing, but Paul was right to surmise that the end of history is in sight. The thing is, though, that it is not within our sight but within God s. One day God will bring all things to completion, and as we say in our affirmation of faith, every knee will bend in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess to the glory of God, Jesus Christ is Lord. But as it was not for Paul to know, neither is it for us to know the day and the hour of Christ s return, when Christ will reconcile all things to himself. Christ will come at the time appointed by God, a time known only by the Father [SLIDE]. Although we don t know when that day will be, we do know that it will be. You see, the point is not when Christ will come. Even Paul, although he thinks the time for Christ s return is drawing near, doesn t focus on when that day will occur. Rather, the point is that time itself is in God s hands. That is why Paul can write that the present form of this world is passing away. 6

7 The future, God s future, is now [SLIDE]. This is why Jesus can speak of the kingdom of God as both a future event and a present reality. We wait for it, even as it is already here. The Bible has no problem holding these ideas in tension. Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God that will come: Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God (Lk. 13:29). He also speaks of the kingdom of God that has come. In one of many examples, he says to the disciples, Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you (Lk. 10:8-9). Thus, we can say without contradiction that God s time is coming, even as it has already come, for time itself belongs to God [SLIDE]. And that, if you think about it, is both liberating and empowering. It s liberating because we don t need to fear about the future. God has already secured our future through Jesus Christ. Christ has done what we could not, loving and obeying God with a perfect love and perfect obedience. In his grace, God counts Christ s love and obedience as our own. It s empowering because Christ s love and obedience to God set the example for us to follow. Because we are assured of the promises of God through Christ, because our future with God is secure, God empowers us to act with love and obedience for the kingdom of God here and now. Stop worrying what tomorrow will bring, God tells us, but strive first for the kingdom of God and its righteousness (Mt. 6:33). God s call is a call to action. Jesus calls us to strive for the kingdom of God. Paul, writing in today s passage from 1 Corinthians, also calls us to act, i.e., to live in a manner that shows that we understand that time does not belong to us but belongs to God. Therefore, God calls us to use the time given us for God s good purposes, i.e., for the kingdom of God. God calls us not to escape the world, but to engage the world on Christ s terms. Our heavenly future is secured. Christ has secured it. Because Christ has secured it, we can get on with the work that the Spirit of Jesus 7

8 Christ calls us to. This work is summed up in the famous Prayer of St. Francis, which reminds us, in keeping with Paul, that eternal life begins with a passing away. [SLIDE]. Prayer of St. Francis Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy; O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 8