Community Church Sermons
Year B
January 25, 2009
The
Third Sunday After Epiphany
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
You’ve got to love St. Paul!
Paul has a way of saying things in his letters that seem to be totally outrageous, especially to modern day people like you and me. For example, from the passage we just heard read:
“…those who have wives should live as if they had none…” (repeat)
Now, I know a lot of husbands who obey that command already! And I will readily admit that I live this way fairly often, too – especially on weekend afternoons when there are nine hours of football on TV.
She speaks: “Honey, are you just gonna sit there all day long watching those stupid games?”
“Honey?”
“HONEY???!!!!”
Now as much as I would love to tell Sandy I am simply obeying the Bible, and quote to her this verse from 1st Corinthians 7 - “…those who have wives should live as if they had none…” - I know that it would pretty much result in my death. So I just shake my head at St. Paul and think, “That sounds like a great idea, Paul, but it’s not gonna work at my house!” And that business about wives submitting to their husbands? Well, that’s not going to work either! Can I get an “Amen!” to that?
“…those who mourn should live as if they did not…those who are happy as if they were not…”
What would make Christianity’s greatest apostle say such bizarre things? And this passage we’re looking at is just a small sampling of the strange stuff Paul writes about in the seventh chapter of First Corinthians!
Earlier, in verses 8 and 9, he offers some advice to widows, and since we have a few members of the Solos Club here today, let me share the apostolic wisdom with you: “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: it is good for (you) to stay unmarried, as I am. But if (you) cannot control (yourself), (you) should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”
Now members of the Solos Club may hear those words as words of hope. A quote like that just might give you the wherewithal to get rid of an unwanted suitor, or on the other hand, to get you a marriage proposal from a currently reluctant suitor! It can work both ways! On the other hand, married people may hear these words much differently. If it is better to marry than to burn with passion, what is Paul saying will put an end to hot passion? Get married!
Can I get an “Amen!” to that?
Paul. Paul. Paul. Paul. What’s going on with St. Paul?
If you are at all familiar with the history of the early Christian Church, you know that the people were waiting for the return of Jesus. Just like in our day when people flock to read books about the Second Coming - like “The Late Great Planet Earth” and “The Left Behind” series – the Christians of the first century lived with the burning hope that Jesus’ promised return was imminent. The words of Jesus were still fresh in their minds. The signs of the end times of which he spoke were unfolding all around them. There was growing persecution, and the shadow of Rome was spreading across the world like one massive worldwide government that demanded worship of Caesar who proclaimed himself to be God, but who Christians believed to be the antichrist.
They believed it would happen any day now. Christ will come and establish his kingdom on earth.
So…the apostle taught…live as though this is the last day of your life.
A great deal of what St. Paul wrote in his letters can only be understood in the context of the times. If Christ is coming tomorrow, don’t get encumbered with other things today. Don’t get caught up in things today that will distract you from being faithful and ready – not the difficult challenges of marriage, not your physical needs, not your emotional state, not even your burning passion to give yourself fully to another.
All these seemingly important things will no longer matter tomorrow because, as Paul writes in verse 31, “… this world in its present form is passing away.”
You see, among these people whose lives marched on through changing seasons – birth and death, joy and sadness, the everyday concerns of life – Paul was simply doing his best to keep them focused on the most important thing of all…the coming kingdom of God. And all these apostolic instructions – bizarre as they may seem to us – were really aimed at helping people live as if TODAY was the last day before the kingdom comes.
And it is a brilliant concept that can change the way you live.
If today was the last day of your life as you know it, would it make a difference in how you live these last few hours? Would it make a difference in how you spend your time, and with whom you spend that time? Would it make a difference in what you say to the people you love, and what you leave them with? Would it make a difference in how you relate to your spouse, your children or grandchildren, your parents, your friends, and even your enemies? If today was the last day of your life, how would you live in anticipation of stepping into God’s kingdom tomorrow?
You and I may argue with St. Paul over the details of some of his instructions, but I – for one – have no argument with the premise that having a strong sense of the imminence of the coming kingdom of God is one of the great gifts of the Gospel. Without it, our lives so often lose sight of the importance of the MOMENT in which we are living right now, and we lose so much of today’s beauty and the hope of tomorrow’s blessing.
Sandy and I were so thrilled at Christmas time to be present when our little granddaughter Becca crawled for the first time. It was like a miracle! All of a sudden, it just happened, and we saw it with our own eyes! She propped herself up on both hands, and scooted ahead! It was such an awesome moment! You should have seen the look of joy spread across her little face! But that first crawl will never come around again. Had we missed it that day, we would have missed it forever!
You know what I’m saying because you’ve had such beautiful experiences, too. But at the same time, there are important things in all our lives that we have missed out on – and things that we have been unfaithful about - because we did not have a sense of imminence – an awareness that today may be the last day we’ll ever have the chance to see that thing, or hear that sound, or be with that person, or do that good deed of compassionate love.
Would the priorities of your life be reordered if you knew this was the last day?
It might be interesting if you started a discipline this week of beginning each day with a quiet time when you prayerfully think about how you want to live in this day, and what you want to do if today were to turn out to be the last day of your life.
A while ago, my uncle Don – my father’s youngest brother – shared with us a letter my father had written him when he was fighting in the South Pacific during World War II. You could tell right away that it was written out of the experience of a young man who was face-to-face with the possibility of imminent death - knowing that day might be the last day. And so the letter my father wrote out of that experience said things that my father probably would not otherwise have written to his younger brother. It was full of love and hope for Don if my father – his brother – did not make it home from the war. That letter is one of the most precious gifts my uncle Don has ever received. And now, in his later years, he wanted to share it with us – and it is something we treasure, too.
If today turned out to be your last day, how will you live it, what will you do, who will you write a letter to, or call on the phone? Who will you forgive, or seek forgiveness from? Who will you help in some tangible way? What gift will you leave to those around you to remember you by when you are no longer here tomorrow?
Maybe it would be good in this quiet time you take each day to make a list of a few things you need to do that day, and then to go and do them.
But there is more to this admonition of Paul than just this personal housekeeping dimension.
In our first reading today, Jesus begins his ministry by proclaiming, “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the good news!”
We’ve been having some fun in my Bible Class on Sunday mornings talking about what the kingdom of God is like. The discussion got started when someone asked if animals go to heaven. I responded to the question in my usual way – by ducking it, and letting the class fight it out. So they had at it – some taking the view that animals are not moral creatures capable of choices and so they can’t go to heaven. Others held that any heaven without their pet poodle Lulu would be no heaven at all! I let them go up to the point where violence was about to break out – only kidding – and then I shared with the class everything I know about heaven – which isn’t very much – but I think is really cool.
Heaven, you see, is actually described in several places in the Bible. In Genesis 1-3, we are given a picture of heaven as Paradise - that beautiful garden called “Eden” in which humankind dwells with God. At the center of the garden is the Tree of Life, just like the Book of Revelation tells us is at the heart of heaven. And do you know what? There are animals all over the place!
Later, in Isaiah 11, heaven is described as “God’s holy mountain” – a peaceable kingdom where the lion lays down with the lamb, the cow will feed with the bear, and a little child will lead them!
Are there animals in heaven? OF COURSE there are animals in heaven! I’ve got four dogs, two cats and a parakeet named Bojangles waiting for me!
Now the reason I want to tell you all this is because most of us have ideas about heaven that are so far removed from biblical reality that we can’t even fathom what life in heaven will be. Oh, I know, some people turn it into a non-stop worship service. Not my idea of a good time! Others think of it as clouds upon which we bounce and play harps, even though most of us right now can’t even walk and chew gum at the same time. Some say there is no beer in heaven, let alone Muslims and Buddhists and…Episcopalians.
But here’s a newsflash: heaven – as it is described in the Bible - is not all that much different than life!
In the kingdom of God, we take care of the world just like the first humans were told to take care of the Garden. We work, we make things, we name things, we have relationships, we eat, and we drink. That’s how the Bible describes heaven!
And this is the kingdom we see revealed in the life of Jesus! During his lifetime, Jesus never once bounced on a cloud or played a harp, but he did walk into the lives of rejected people and embraced them with the love of heaven. He did not sing praise songs all day long, with seven words repeated 11 MILLION times over and over, but he did speak the word to heal little children and other life-broken men and women. Jesus fed the hungry, and befriended the lonely, and set people free from the power of evil. Jesus brought love to the unlovable, and justice to those denied it, and hope to those filled with despair.
Jesus lived out on earth what heaven is like for all to see!
So listen again to the words of Jesus’ first sermon: “The kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe the good news!”
So you and I are to live TODAY as if God’s TOMORROW is already here! We are to model – through our own lives and through the Church – what heaven is like!
And here we are…on the last day of our lives as we know them right now. When tomorrow dawns, it will be a brand new day - whether here or there – in heaven or on earth.
So squeeze today for all it’s worth – live today as though there will never be another – love your family, serve your community, proclaim the good news of God’s love in all you do!
Ready or not, “The kingdom of God is at hand!”