I Corinthians 16:1-9
Good
morning! I have had a distinct privilege
these last three weeks since I had the opportunity to give a Sunday morning
message. I have been teaching one of our
Sunday school classes, and it has been a real treat. I’ve enjoyed the worship time with all the
kids before we go to separate classes.
I’ve enjoyed learning and studying the Bible together. It has been an honor to pray together with my
class. The faith of youngsters is always
a joy to experience.
The class
I’ve been teaching is the older class.
On the most recent Sunday that we took communion, we decided to break
bread together, too. I thought
beforehand that maybe they were not ready to take communion. I wondered, did each one of the kids know and
understand the faith?
We read
through all the accounts of the Last Supper, which, when you think about it,
doesn’t really take that long. Each
telling is only a few verses long. And
so, we prayed together and thanked the Lord for His sacrifice and our
salvation. Again, I think I was probably
more encouraged than they were.
Most of all,
I realized that I am enjoying the faithful work of moms and dads and families
and friends and other Sunday school teachers who have built into these precious
saints. I remember hearing this story
once about Charles Spurgeon, I think.
Anyway, it was a successful evangelist.
Someone asked if there had been any salvations at an event. The answer was given 3 and a half. The person asking the question responded,
“Oh, so three adults and one child.”
“No,” came the reply, “Three children and one adult,” because a child
has their whole earthly life to live in service to the Lord.
Now, we know
there is no such thing as a “half salvation.”
I just liked the illustration because it really shines a light on the
reality that there is no such thing as a “half salvation” in either direction,
adult or child. Building into our
youngest believers or reaching out to the youngest unbelievers with love and
truth is just as important as other activities we would undertake to reach
college students or coworkers or other adults.
I say all
that to say, “Thank you Sunday school teachers!” As a parent, I really appreciate all you’ve
done to make the truth of God stick in the hearts and minds of my kids. It is a total blessing!
If you
haven’t taught Sunday school, you may or may not know that most of our Sunday
school teachers are perennial teachers.
They have taught and taught and taught Sunday school. Another interesting experience for me in
teaching Sunday school is not being here listening to the message. Now, we have the message transcript and audio
available, so it’s possible to go back and catch it up later, but I will say
that it’s just kind of different. It was
especially strange when I came back out the first time to lead worship on the
last song without having heard the intervening message. It kind of felt like being a tour guide to
people who had been on a journey that I hadn’t taken.
Getting a
few more folks who would take a turn at teaching would be a welcome
service. If you want to know more, you
can grab me or another Sunday school teacher.
We’ll help answer your questions and find out what next steps need to
be. You can take a turn to observe a
class if you just want to get a peek at what it’s like. Don’t feel like you have to sign up for a
rotation without any idea what you’re getting yourself into.
And now, let’s
take a moment and pray:
God I thank
you for each soul in our church body from the youngest to the oldest and all
the ones in between. God I pray for the
Sunday school time right now. Please
encourage and bless both the teachers and the students. Help us build into one another’s lives. Help us to spur one another on to love and good
deeds. Speak to us here assembled now
from Your Word. Teach us we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Who’s
feeling a little tired this morning? Did
anyone get caught by the time change unexpectedly?
Some facts
about Daylight Savings Time: It was
first practiced by Germany and shortly after by England during World War I as a
means to save gas, which was the primary means of lighting at that time. Subsequent to the war, New York City decided
to observe daylight savings time while the rest of the state of New York
didn’t. That had to do with financial
markets. Due to the time difference
between London and New York, when London sprang forward, the markets would no
longer overlap for an hour. London would
close the same time New York opened and they didn’t like that because it made
the markets out of sync for another day.
Then, Boston and Philadelphia started observing daylight savings time
for the same reason. In rural areas,
farmers weren’t too crazy about it because farmers like to go to work
early. Retail stores and gas stations
and petroleum distributors liked it because if Americans have more daylight in
the evening, they get in their cars and go shopping. By 1965, about half of the cities with more
than 100,000 people were observing daylight savings time and half weren’t. Can you imagine? At that time, American Airlines reported that
they were fielding 4,000 calls a day from people just trying to figure out what
time it was going to be at their destination city when they arrived.
Finally, the
federal government made a law in 1965 saying that states could choose to
observe or not observe daylight savings time, but that all the cities in the
state had to follow suit with the state’s choice. Today, all but two states follow daylight
savings time. Jonathan knows one of them,
since he lived in Arizona for a year.
Anyone know the other one?
(Hawaii) Even though things got
decidedly less complicated as a result of that law, every year that first Sunday
morning that we switch time in the spring, folks are caught by surprise,
although as folks increasingly use cell phones for their alarm clock, the risk
of missing the time change is gradually decreasing.
I heard a
song this week that I’ve never heard before.
It’s funny and also captures that slight twinge of fear associated with
the time change. It’s based on the tune
of God of Grace and God of Glory. It was
written not so long ago (1995). The
writer is a director of music resources in the United Methodist Church (Dean
McIntyre). It goes like this:
God of sleep
and God of slumber help us not be late, we ask;
changing
clocks one forward number, may we not forget this task.
Choir
directors, preachers, teachers,
all will
bless your holy name,
if to Sunday
church on time we came.
The last
verse sounds a little like Yoda, but otherwise it kind of fits with our message
today. There’s a strong theme of
reminders to practice our faith. It may
seem silly to have a song like this, but it certainly isn’t wrong to seek God’s
help even in small things like remembering to change your clocks or even to be
punctual. God cares about all aspects of
our lives. He is delighted when whenever
we seek Him and His help.
And as
usual, it could always be worse. In this
case, we could follow the Roman system for dealing with the shortening and
lengthening of days. Wikipedia
summarizes several different sources:
“Since the
length of the sunlight varied with the seasons, this also meant that the length
of the hour changed - with shorter hours in winter and longer hours in summer.
The Romans also understood that the length of daylight depended upon latitude. At the winter solstice, at Mediterranean
latitude, an hour was about 45 minutes, while at the summer solstice, an hour
was about 75 minutes.”
Here’s a
figure which shows the extremes (summer and winter equinoxes) and the midpoints
(spring and autumn solstices) for the year.
Rather than change time, they just said that day started with sunrise,
and day or night, it was divided into 12 equal units “hours”. The first hour of the day meant the first
hour after dawn. This, of course, would
also be affected by your latitude. In
this way, any place you were would have a different time scale than anywhere
else. How’s that for confusing?!
Some may not
prefer the swapping back and forth of daylight and standard time, but you must
admit that it’s a lot simpler than having a sliding scale for adjustment like
the Romans.
And that
brings me to our series and our topic for today. We’ll finish up the book of I Corinthians
next week. The title of this series is
“Of First Importance.” Tim gave an
overview of the series a couple of weeks ago, and I’m going to borrow from it
here:
1) Love at the center of what it means to be a
Christian (chapter 13):
--the love of God personified in Jesus,
--our response of love for Him and love for each
other
2) “Follow the way of love” as we seek and apply
the gifts of the Holy Spirit (chapter 14)
3) The centrality of the cross (chapter 15)
--Why Jesus had to die
-- What it means that He was a sacrifice for sin
4) The resurrection of Jesus
--Why it is important that He rose again
--It is essential to our faith
All of chapter
15 wonderfully focuses on the resurrection.
As it comes to a close, the chapter ends with a pivot back to applied
Christianity in day-to-day living.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters,
stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of
the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I Corinthians 15:58
I feel
surprised by this transition going into chapter 16. In view of all the amazing things we have to
look forward to, what’s next? “Give
yourself fully to the work!” Yes,
brothers and sisters. That is what we
are called to in light of our majestic future in resurrection bodies. And Paul gets right on with very practical
details …
Now about the collection for God’s people:
Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.2On the first day of every week,
each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income,
saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. I Corinthians 16:1-2
We have the
feeling in several places in I Corinthians (7:1, 8:1, 12:1) that Paul is
answering specific questions which have been brought to his attention. The collection is for the believers in
Jerusalem who were predominantly Jewish.
The need of the believers in Jerusalem is not fully known perhaps it
came as a result of famine or because of persecution (Acts 8:1). For example, it says in Acts 11:28-30
… a severe famine would spread over the
entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, as each one was able, decided
to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the
elders by Barnabas and Saul. Acts
11:28-30
It’s cool to
see how God has worked a blessing and provision from the same Saul of Tarsus
who we know as Paul … one through whom the persecution of Christians at the
beginning had as its leader. Then, Saul
is met on the Damascus road by Jesus and becomes a believer. Then, he returns bringing gifts in Acts 11. This practice of bringing gifts to believers
in need continued for Paul as we read about here in I Corinthians.
We see here
a special place for Sunday, the first day of the week. The Jews according to God’s command set apart
the Sabbath, the last day of the week, for worship. Jesus’ resurrection occurred on the first day
of the week, on Sunday. From time to
time, you may hear someone talk about how the “real” Lord’s day is
Saturday. Even in the New Testament
church, we see this day as a special day (Revelation 1:10 = the Lord’s day;
Acts 20:7 = the first day of the week as the day they came together to break
bread).
I think we
can be encouraged here by how the Bible is practical. Just like the earlier song about daylight
savings time, we need reminders. We need
to be reminded to set aside gifts. Tim
shared about firstfruits two weeks ago.
When we are blessed with income, we should look to give a portion a
firstfruit back to the Lord. In this
case, the focus of the gift was to help others with physical needs. Paul shared earlier in I Corinthians 9 that
supporting those who preach the gospel is the Lord’s command.
It’s also
interesting that the Biblical practice of giving is virtually skipped over. It is intrinsic to Paul’s message that you
ought to give. If you have income, you
should give. Your giving should be in
proportion to your income, and God knows it.
I think about Jesus watching the widow put a couple of small coins into
the treasury in the temple (Mark 12:42-43).
He told the disciples that the woman had placed more into the treasury
than all the others.
Another
takeaway from these verses is that people have needs. I came across a quote at work just skimming a
magazine that I get. We use screen
printing as one of our manufacturing processes.
So I got a magazine about screen printing that included stuff about
clothing and advertising screen printing in addition to the kinds of stuff we
do in manufacturing electronics.
The speaker
was the editor-in-chief of a disability fashion and lifestyle website called
Cur8ble. She said, “The irony is we have
clothing for pets, but we don't dedicate any retail real estate for people with
disabilities and seated body types.” (Stephanie Thomas, in an interview with
Bustle's Angela Almeida as reported in Screen Printing Magazine)
That quote
just rang true for me. We often are
caught up in the normal business of our lives, we don’t even see the needs
around us. Until I read that quote, I
had never thought about the special needs in clothing that a person with a
disability would have. It was just a
good reminder that I need to keep my eyes open to the needs around me. I had a couple of good opportunities at work
to pray with people who are going through really tough circumstances. In those cases, the physical needs were not
the big issue. Wisdom, comfort, and strength
in adversity were the real needs. I may
be able to give some counsel, but I find that just praying out loud for someone
while you’re with them is often far better.
Let’s continue with the passage.
Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of
introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If
it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. I Corinthians 16:3-4
There is a
sense of financial accountability here.
There would be representatives from the Corinthians to confirm the
proper use of the gifts. II Corinthians
8:20-21 says, “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this
generous gift. For we are taking pains
to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of
men.”
The second
part of that exhortation is interesting to consider. Often, I know that I want to take care to do
what is right in the eyes of God, and I still fail at that. But trying to do both what is right in the
Lord’s eyes and in the eyes of men can be tough especially in cases where they
might be at odds. Obviously, the Lord’s
understanding of what is right is the final measure of correctness. Convincing others sometimes takes time, and
everyone always seems to be rushing around these days. Who has time to take pains to communicate
well? And yet, if we want to follow
Paul’s example as he follows Christ, we would do well to think of what is right
both in God’s sight and those around us.
Paul is helping
others help others. Paul is helping the
giver’s gift reach the needy recipient.
Bring folks alongside when doing good.
Connect people together in good works.
I feel like Tim enabled that when we went to Nepal. It is a good thing that we can continue to
keep contact with some folks from Nepal that we met.
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to
you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you awhile,
or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.
I Corinthians 16:5-6
We’ll see in
a moment Paul’s confirmation that he is writing this letter to the Corinthians
from Ephesus. Paul spent about a year
and a half in Corinth, and then three years in Ephesus. There were several churches also in Macedonia
including (Philippi, possibly Thessalonica and Berea, and possibly others we
don’t know about). Here’s a map showing
the churches of the New Testament:
Acts 20:2-3
mentions a three month stay in Greece though not Corinth by name. Perhaps this is the winter visit which Paul
is speaking of?
Again we see
a practical instruction and example. We
should seek to help one another and to help the work. In this case, to help Paul on in his journey
wherever that might lead next.
Even that
little phrase can offer us comfort. Here
is Paul, the great missionary of the church and the author of as much of the
New Testament as anyone else. This is a
man who is writing down the inspired Word of God. And, he doesn’t really know for sure where
he’s going next. If you sometimes don’t
know what you’re supposed to do, take comfort that Paul felt that too
sometimes.
I do not want to see you now and make only a
passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I
will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost …
I Corinthians 16:7-8
So, here is
the mention of Ephesus where Paul is writing from. Regarding the time of Paul’s writing it must
be fairly early in the year. Literally,
Pentecost means fiftieth. It is the 50th
day after Passover or in the church age you can think of it as the 49th
day after Easter. It occurs in late May or
June.
I’d say this
is also a good reminder. An important
component of love is time shared.
Yesterday, we had the pleasure to go to Grace and Paul’s wedding. I didn’t have a watch on when I went to get
dressed, so I didn’t put one on. Elijah
had his watch on prior, but when he reached to take my hand as we arrived at
the church, I noticed someone had taken it off.
Have you
ever heard that? Don’t wear a watch to a
wedding? Does anybody know why? The internet does say a few times that you
shouldn’t do it, but it didn’t readily produce a reason. I don’t always believe the reason the internet
says something, but for it to be silent on a subject is pretty rare these days.
I think you
don’t wear a watch to a wedding because you’re in essence saying that time
doesn’t matter. There is nothing more
important that I have to do. I don’t
need to know what time it is. My
attention is fully fixed here.
If we’re in
a rush to go do something else, then it is difficult to connect and really
listen and love.
Paul is
staying in Ephesus …
… because a great door for effective work
has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. I Corinthians 16:9
Acts 19:10
says that over a two year period all the Jews and Greeks who lived in Asia
heard the word of the Lord. God also did
extraordinary miracles through Paul during that time. Due to one situation, it had come about that
the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor among Jews and Greeks in
Ephesus (I take this to mean unbelievers).
They also had a bonfire where “supposedly magical” scrolls were burned,
their value was literally thousands of dollars.
As a result of these things, the Word of the Lord spread widely and grew
in power. Paul continued to work there
in Ephesus at this fruitful time.
In addition
to great impact and many hearing the gospel, Paul mentions many in
opposition. It would have been at this
time that the riot in Ephesus occurred (Acts 20). The pagan craftsmen there who made idols and
silver shrines stirred up the general populace of the city into riot. In the face of blessing, there was also
difficulty.
As always,
Paul leads by example. A door of
effective work has opened, and he labors faithfully just as we read from the
last verse in chapter 15 (v.58). “Always
give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor
in the Lord is not in vain.”
I think it
is such a blessing to see Paul’s example because the effort we should spend in
the work of the Lord comes almost like a surprise plot twist. When we go earlier in chapter 15, Paul blows
our minds talking about resurrection bodies and what we have to look forward to
in Christ.
We’re all
jazzed up thinking about what an amazing future we have to look forward
to. I Corinthians 15:51 says, “Listen, I
tell you a mystery, a secret, we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed
– in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be
raised imperishable, and we will be changed!” … “then the saying that is
written will come true: ‘Death has been
swallowed up in victory!’ ” Yeah!
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
Now
what? Live in a loving and supportive
way toward others … not only now and then we should give ourselves fully to it.
I opened up
my tablet this week, and I had a Bible study open. I didn’t even remember opening that document. There in the middle of the screen was this
quote from C.S. Lewis,
“He [Jesus]
never talked vague, idealistic gas. When
He said, “Be perfect,” He meant it. He
meant that we must go in for the full treatment. It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are
all hankering after is harder – in fact, it is impossible. It may be hard for an egg to turn into a
bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining
an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being
just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”--C. S. Lewis, Mere
Christianity
I’ve been
rolling this quote around in my head a couple of different ways. In light of what we’re talking about here in
I Corinthians 16, I think we must allow the Spirit of God continue transforming
our hearts to love others. I can tell
you, I don’t feel like I am particularly good at loving people. But, I will say that I love people a whole
lot more than I did 25 years ago. I find
out that I have to keep getting out of the egg.
As I was thinking about the idea of trying to get back in the egg, this
picture came to mind. It comes from an old Chip and Dale cartoon called
“Chicken in the Rough”:
At the same
time, think about all the ordinary, decent eggs you may know or have contact
with. I think a lot of times, we are
complacent with ordinary, decent eggs.
And yet, inside that egg is a beautiful bird that God has created to hatch
into a beautiful believer who will soar in His Kingdom. Let’s not overlook those eggs and miss what
God has in store for them. Who are the
ordinary, decent eggs in your life who need to hear the good news.
The verse on
your program today is Colossians 4:3. It
says …
Pray for us, too, that God may open a door
for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. Colossians 4:3
And let us
pray ourselves and pray for one another that God may open doors for His message
and that we can have the opportunity to proclaim the mystery of Christ. We have great news to share. A future and a hope. A new life in Christ now. An imperishable perfect body in the life to
come. Purpose and meaning for
eternity. Freedom and rest from trial
and difficulty. Love and joy from our
perfect Father God and Christ our brother. Amazing.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus,
I pray for open doors. I pray that we
would look around and see the ordinary, decent folks that we interact with and
that we would see them with new eyes.
Help us to see the beautiful birds waiting to be set free to fly in your
grace. Give us wisdom how to reach these
lives around us with the truth. You said
once in Jerusalem that you desired to gather the people under your wings as a
hen gathers her chicks. Soften the
people we are praying for that they will listen to your call and come to
you. We pray for many salvations. Show us how to be a help, how to love, how to
serve, how to give. Thank you for these
reminders in your Word. May we follow
You and all the many examples You have given us. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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