Bishop Brian Abrahams – January 2020

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:9)

The text for this month of January 2020 is the opening of the letter that is Paul’s response to a church in crisis. Contrary to how we title this letter, though, 1 Corinthians was not his first piece of written correspondence to this church. Paul refers to a previous letter, a letter containing instructions which they apparently misunderstood (1 Corinthians 5:9). Paul must now correct that misunderstanding in this current letter as well as respond to what he knows about the church’s problems.

Paul, in these verses, is called upon to respond to questions, unresolved issues, and some distressing news from the church at Corinth. The church is fighting. The factions are visible. Some are in danger of going back to their former lives to serve their former gods and to resume life as they once knew it. Others are lording their so-called knowledge over those whom they deem weaker in the faith. Class divisions are visible — even at the Lord’s Table.

Some are even questioning the resurrection — the very heart of the gospel! The problems are overwhelming and unrelenting. To this congregation torn apart by division; destroyed by immaturity; confused by questions and questionable behavior, Paul writes: “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus?”

Obviously Paul is not thanking God for their misbehavior. He is expressing his reverent gratitude to God “for the grace of God,” which was given to these people “by Christ Jesus.” Although, flawed and fallen Paul didn’t just write them off. He was still thankful they had heard the gospel and had responded. It was the grace of God in Christ that rescued them the first time. By that same grace they could be re-rescued.
This speaks directly to Paul’s character. Instead of speaking to them strongly about their errors, even shame them for their sin, he was nevertheless constantly thankful to God for people who had obeyed the gospel. They were God’s people, not his own.

1 Corinthians is addressing a convergence of factors: the church’s official letter full of questions sent to Paul, which the apostle begins to address in 7:1 (“now concerning the matters about which you wrote”) and oral reports from Chloe’s people (1:11) about matters that the church decided not to share with Paul.

The beginning of the letter sets the tone and prepares the audience for what is to come. Paul follows a fairly standard format in the salutation: sender and recipient information (verses 1-2), followed by a prayer wish (verse 3), and the thanksgiving (verses 4-9). The body of the letter begins in verse 10 with an appeal to unity.

Though the letter concerns Paul, Sosthenes (the co-sender), and the church at Corinth, the opening of the letter mentions another player in this drama: God. God is everywhere. Paul calls himself an apostle of Christ by the will of God (1 Corinthians 1:1). The letter addresses God’s church in Corinth, whom God has sanctified in Christ and called to be saints. Even the prayer wish stems from God’s ability to grant grace and peace (verse 3). It is no surprise that the thanksgiving is also addressed to God for God’s work and God’s grace among them.

Normally the thanksgiving section of Paul’s letters gives a foretaste, an abbreviated table of contents, of what is to come. So, the audience might expect Paul to start mentioning them — or at least the letter that they sent to him. He does mention them with subtle hints and allusions to squabbles over spiritual gifts, and those boasting of their knowledge. But even these indirect references come in relationship to what God has done and will continue to do for them. The thanksgiving is a way to reframe the issues around the bigger picture.

Paul reminds them that whatever knowledge that they have or whatever abilities that they possess have been given to them by God (verse 5). God has even given them spiritual gifts to use for the edification of God’s church — a church that awaits God’s revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul grounds the whole letter in the work of God among them, and this God is faithful. God is the one who has called them together in this fellowship, and God will see them through.

Why begin a letter with a theology lesson? Some in the church were probably hoping that Paul would just weigh in on the problems and take sides in contentious matters.

But, Paul begins by reminding them of what they seem to have forgotten. Everything that they have and are comes from God. There would be no church without God. And whatever problems they are facing, the God who called them is powerful enough not only to help them find a way forward, but to strengthen them even as they await the revelation of Jesus.

In many ways the church today is similar to the Church at Corinth. We are torn by many issues. Each side claims some knowledge from scripture to strengthen its arguments all the while chiseling deeper into the chasm that divides us.

And this very same fidelity of God is a certainty that also holds true for our personal lives. Those of us who are fearful and uncertain because we do not know what the New Year will hold; Or if unemployment and job security is filling us with worry; When anxiety over our own health or illness in our family circle seems to grip us; Or worry over the future of our children, and poor relationships within our family life is continually robbing us from hope and joyful living; Or despair over communities ravaged and torn apart by gang violence and the effects of drug abuse, we are reminded of God’s faithful care in the past, and that His loving faithfulness, grace and mercy will continue to accompany us in the New Year.

One of the reassuring truths to keep in mind when faced with uncertainty and the fragility of human life is, the absolute faithfulness of God. This simply means, one can count on Him to carry out every promise, to provide every resource, to help in every way that is in keeping with His will. Christians live “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,” (Titus 1:2). In this fact there is a combination of reassurance and motivation, to be what we ought to be!

Like the early church, God is at work — even in the midst of the chaos that we create. As we await the revelation of God’s Son during this season of Epiphany, we would do well to look for God’s work among us and to be reminded of the gifts that God has given us to strengthen the body rather than to tear it down. Like Corinth, we are called to be a church that remembers God’s faithfulness in all and every situation that we may be confronted with.

Writing to a church torn up by men, the apostle Paul supplies assurance and motivation still needed today. “God is faithful,” and by Him, we are “called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Everything about that should influence everything about us, to a refreshed perspective of what we have and what we can keep.

Be blessed!

By: Brian Abrahams (Bishop)