Conventional Wisdom, Unconventional Love

Lisa Rzepka, January 29, 2006
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:24-28

	Text: "But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak" (1 Corinthians 8:9)

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought to yourself, I wouldn't have chosen to do this but I am so glad I did? I felt that way about many of the classes I've taken in life. How about people? Has there ever been anyone that you've been totally wrong about? I've been in that situation. When I was in seminary a few people tried to introduce me to a gentleman but I didn't want any part of it. He was a much older man, and one that I had heard about but snippets of things he had written kept me at an arm's length—

"Women be silent in church" (1Cor. 14:34)
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling" (Ephesians 6:5)
"Be careful of idol meat" (1Cor. 8:13)

My thinking was, "Could anyone be more oppressive and outdated?"

You may realize that I am speaking about St. Paul of Taursus, author of many of the Epistles of the New Testament including today's lectionary reading. As a woman who grew into adulthood during the 70s and 80s, I thought I knew enough about Paul and anything further would probably just cause angst. Conventional wisdom told me to tune him out, endure the time I must spend reading his material, and move on. I was a little curious, however, about how my Presbyterian heritage had come to the conclusion that we could 'overlook' the passage about women being silent in church. (And if you're curious, see me after worship and we can chat.) I am humbled to say that the Holy Spirit truly does work in mysterious ways and after spending time digging around through Paul's letters I came to love him. Paul's commitment in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ is inspiring. And, his love for his community of believers is a model and a balm, a balm in the sense that he shows us the struggles along the way in ministry. Each of his letters addresses a specific situation giving insight to the kind of person and pastor Paul was.

In regards to our morning reading, we know that Paul was the founding pastor of a new church development in the cosmopolitan area of Corinth, which had a reputation for being Sin City. So seedy was the city's reputation that a verb- to Corinthamize -was coined. Meaning free, and not so free, love was available. Another aspect of Corinth's reputation was a great disparity between the wealthy and the poor, the poor primarily made up of newly freed slaves. The wealthy had a reputation of their own - one of being wealthy without culture, sort of the 'newly rich'. Because it was a crossroads for trade and travel, there also existed a good degree of spiritual pluralism. Worship was offered in Roman, Greek, and Egyptian settings. One could say that freedom abounded in Corinth, freedom of behavior, both ethically and spiritually.

You can well imagine that the diversity in Corinth provided for diversity in First Church of Corinth, which translated into a challenging congregational setting. Paul had been with them for about three years and for much of the time he'd known them they'd been bickering.

Paul's letter indicates that the tension in the congregation had gotten to the point that while Paul was off planting another church, the Corinthians fired off an email, I mean letter, about all that was on their minds. While we don't have that letter Paul responds with quotes from the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 8:1—We know that "all of us possess knowledge."
1 Corinthians 8:4—We know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one."
1 Corinthians 8:8—"Food will not bring us close to God." We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

You might hear those as sound bites of a sort, and they are. Because reading the entire letter and reading closely we realize that the core of the letter is more than a food fight, it is a worship war. Worldviews have collided on more than one issue. Perspectives were clashing on all sorts of important issues - things like worship styles, volunteers, capital campaigns…you get the picture. Back then as it is now there is more than one way of seeing and interpreting what it means to be a family of faith.

I use the metaphor 'family of faith' because it is important to this passage. Scholars tell us that Paul was viewed as a father figure in the faith. This would be more than merely teaching a set of values. In a variety of ways Paul feels responsible for the Corinthians. We have all felt some form of responsibility in or to our families.

Inevitably, in families, we all face the same challenges when perspectives collide: Why can't my spouse, child, partner, sister, brother, father, mother understand how important, or, unimportant a certain problem is? You name the problem - money management, scheduling leisure activities, how to raise the kids, kid's responsibilities and grades, how to prioritize valuable time. Sometimes the problems escalate like when there is illness, disease, or addiction. The list could go on and sometimes the problems can tear us apart. And, it's at this level that we experience, as author Joan Chichester writes, that life is not lived in a straight line. Life comes out of nowhere, or at least out of where we would rather not be, again and again and again. (As quoted in For Everything A Season: A Study of the Liturgical Calendar by Kathleen Long Bostrom, p. 13)

Recently, I had the honor of presiding at a funeral service for a woman who had died of cancer. Her name was Jenny and she was the mother of five grown children. As her husband discussed funeral plans with me, I learned that almost sixty years ago Jenny married her junior high school sweetheart at the tender age of fifteen. That tender age, came in part, as an escape from families with a history of alcohol abuse. Jenny's husband also told me that their youngest son was an alcoholic. Life comes out of where we'd rather not be again and again.

What touched me the day of the funeral was that of all the children, it was the youngest son who was seated with his father. He was not cast aside or placed at the end of the pew. He was an important part of who that family was. You could see Paul's concern for the weak in living color. I remembered Jesus' words that day, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

I realize that alcoholism is not easy for anyone to live with and there is no straight line way to live this divisive issue. What I lift up for you today is the unity that family exhibited despite a huge problem in which they were dealing with. They could have written the youngest son and brother off. Yet, they showed evidence of living in a manner God intends for all of us, care of one another.

Often, life comes out of where we'd rather not be—places of conflict and colliding perspectives. It happens in families, in churches, and all over our world. We hope and pray for the opposite, for places of peace. The question becomes: How do we achieve peace? Now, I don't presume to have an answer for world peace. But I would like to reflect with you a moment on two aspects of conventional wisdom in this regard: the tendency to categorize and dismiss and the divide and conquer approach in order to achieve some level of peace. This time I'd like to reflect a moment on how that looks in the church.

Our tendency to categorize and dismiss reminds me of another event that occurred as I prepared to become a pastor. The setting was Princeton where I was studying Presbyterian Polity. At that week long course I met many people preparing for the ministry but in particular I remember an encounter with a young man. Over dinner one evening he brought up the subject of the denomination's ordination standards and asked me point blank where I stood on the matter. I started to get uncomfortable. I knew where this was headed and I'm sure we were sizing each other up—Northern, middle-aged woman, versus young, smalltown man. Fearful of conflict but knowing that peace is something one works at - because real peace is not achieved by ignoring issues, I shared my opinion and the debate ensued. That's exactly what I was afraid of and I quickly called an end to the debate as I excused myself. As I rose to leave, my new friend asked me to please sit down; he really did want to hear how I came to hold the beliefs I did.

I sat back down and rather than debating we told our stories. I spoke from my heart. He spoke from his heart. We both listened to each other's struggles in trying to discern God's will. I don't know who would've been Paul's weaker member - and I'm not sure either of us changed our position. Yet, I think of him with Christian love and pray for his ministry because I know there is so much good fruit his ministry will bear. I think of him when I'm ready to categorize and dismiss and I remember the opportunity I almost walked out on.

In regards to the conventional wisdom that says a way to approach conflict is to divide and conquer I remember something evangelical pastor Brian McLaren wrote in terms of the church:

"Beware of theological success… If we feel successful - that we've captured the gospel just right - we are in great danger." "The story we tell comes to us in not one authorized version (not even the King James) but in many versions. Matthew gives us a version, as do Mark, Luke, and John, and in Acts we get to hear Peter and Stephen's version along with Paul's." The church [a diverse mix of men and women, young and old] has continued to offer many versions of the story ever since. No one version is the whole story, and the expanding, deepening, resonant story we encounter in and with one another pulsates with new meaning, meaning that could never be contained in even the longest, most detailed single compilation we could attempt. (Brian McLaren, The Church in Emerging Culture, p. 199)

In other words, we need each other.

Paul knows that. His central concern is for the well being of the community in their worship of God. Paul's concern for their communal life is primarily focused in a concept of unity. Unity does not mean that there has been theological success and everyone believes exactly the same thing - therefore creating peace. Unity is the recognition that we each are known and loved by God. Because of that love, Christ died for each of us and in that love we share a common fellowship and call to worship God.

Christians call it agape love, which is a self-giving, self-sacrificial love modeled after Christ. It's unconventional Love that puts concern for the other before our own self-concern, even when we feel no particular affinity for the other. It's not being a doormat because it's a Love that is not a one-way street. You give this Love away extravagantly, prodigally, and it's never exhausted or used up. What's amazing about this love is that it rebounds in abundance.

Paul knows that the church is at its best when it lives agape Love. It's the love that surrounds hurt - when there is a death, an illness, or a major loss in life, when life comes out of nowhere. It's the Love that listens to the lonely either with a phone call or visit. I'm reminded of this Love when I visit people in the hospital or the housebound and ninety percent of the cards are from church members. It's a Love that is willing to work and grow, to edify and build up for the sake of the community - a community that doesn't divide and conquer or categorize and dismiss.

Huston Smith, author of "Why Christianity Matters" and renowned authority on world religions writes,

"The people who heard Jesus' disciples proclaiming the Good News were as impressed by what they saw as what they heard. They saw lives that had been transformed - men and women who were ordinary in every way except for the fact that they seemed to have found the secret of living. Specifically, there seemed to be two qualities in which their lives abounded. The first was mutual regard. One of the earliest observations by an outsider about Christians is, "See how these Christians love one another." Integral to this mutual regard…is a discipleship of equals." The second quality was happiness: when Jesus said that he wanted his joy in them so that "your joy may be complete," to a remarkable degree that objective was realized." (Context, January 2006, Part A, p. 6)

The Presbyterian Planning calendar highlights that this week is the Week of Christian unity. We are to be intentional praying and living our Christian unity because our Christian hope is that in unity, we will be a light to the world.

Twentieth century theologian Karl Barth once wrote that when it comes to building up the church in Christian unity, no one is unemployed. Paul models for us the decision we each have to make in living agape Love - - even in times of clashing perspectives.

My prayer for you is that your lives abound with the secret of living—mutual regard and joy.
Amen.

© Copyright, 2006, Rev. Lisa Rzepka
All Rights Reserved.
Providence Presbyterian Church
Fairfax, Virginia