CORINTHIANS 1, 1-9
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
When Paul left Corinth, the congregation he left behind was a growing congregation blessed by God, and a blessing to the people of Corinth! A beacon of light and salvation to those still living in darkness.
Then around 8 months later, Paul receives letter telling him that the church at Corinth is falling apart. There are rifts in the congregation that threaten to tear it apart. Their worship services are utter chaos! The elder begins to teach the lesson, and then someone stands up and speak in tongues, and then someone else stands up and speaks in tongues. Then some ladies start to complain about why we can’t sing more hymns. Their fellowship meals often turned into drunken brawls. The church no longer looked like a church of God, but a church of Satan. Every letter Paul received from Corinth, and every report he got from people who had been in Corinth, brought a new problem, and a new headache. These people were destroying God’s church.
So, Paul needs to write a letter to them to correct their errors, chastise them for their foolishness, and drag those wretches back on the right path. So, how do you start this letter? Pretend you’re Paul. How would you begin your letter? I know how I might start it. Call them, Childish! Immature! Fools! Idiots! Maybe saying, “I don’t even know if I can still call you brothers and sisters in Christ.” Warning them to get their act together and start flying straight, or else!
So, how does Paul address these wicked people? “I always thank God for you.” “I always thank God for you!” And Paul is not being facetious! He’ serious! Regardless of how many chapters Paul will use to yell at them, tell them they are wrong, and try to get them back on the right track, yet, when Paul thinks of these people the first thing he tells them is, “I ALWAYS THANK GOD FOR YOU!”
I
Notice why Paul can say that! “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” Paul doesn’t say, “I thank God that you’ve reduced the number of drunken brawls at your fellowship from 24 a year, down to 11.” Nor does Paul say, “I thank God that you’ve reduced the chaos at your worship services, from every Sunday now to only once a month!” Paul says, “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” I thank God that when the Word of God was preached to you, the Holy Spirit caused you to believe it. Because of the grace of God, Jesus lives in your heart! You belong to God!
Did they always live like Christians? No! Could Paul be proud of their actions that threatened to destroy the church? No! Paul was not rejoicing over their activities. He will need to redress them for their foolish actions, and change a bunch of things about them. But Paul could rejoice that these people were still his brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul rejoiced because of the grace of God Jesus still lived in their hearts.
Paul also rejoices over these people, because, “For in him you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all your knowledge – because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” Paul thanked God for all the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit had given these people. Not that they always used them properly. And not because these people must have been something special for God to give them such gifts. But again, because of God’s grace. God made them precious in His sight. God confirmed faith in Jesus in their hearts. These people didn’t always use God’s gifts properly. These people were quite often arrogant and prideful. And Paul would address those shortcomings. But Paul could always thank God for them, because of God’s grace, that made them God’s children and gave them those gifts.
If Paul were to write to our congregation, what would he say? Commend us for the way we use the gospel, and share our faith and make people feel welcome? Or would He use 16 chapters to tell us, how far we’ve wandered from the faith and need to get back on track? How well has our congregation shown the love of Jesus to the people who come through those doors? How well have we as Christians shown the love of Jesus to people we meet? Have we always lived up to our name, Christian?
I hear a lot of stories from people about how a congregation has received them. Some were very positive! How the people received them, and welcomed them, and showed God’s love to them in their need. And through the love this congregation showed, people could see the love of Jesus displayed in all its glory. And I’ve heard stories about how churches have been judgmental, and arrogant. How they have condemned them and made them unacceptable to the church and to God. How instead of welcoming them into their flock, they sent them packing!
And I imagine if we are honest with ourselves, we may need to admit that as Christians, we’ve done the same thing. Oh, there are times when we deal with people with kindness and love and compassion, and help them in any way we can. And they can see the love of Jesus! And there are other times, when we have failed miserably. We are judgmental! Maybe we’re prejudice against them. Maybe we feel they don’t deserve the love of Jesus, because of the sins they’ve committed, or maybe simply by the way they look. There may be times, when we make the congregation at Corinth look good!
And yet, if Paul wrote that letter to us, he would start it the same way. “I ALWAYS THANK GOD FOR YOU!” Oh, Paul may have a bone to pick with us. Criticizing us for our loveless actions to one another. Disappointed because we haven’t always acted like Christians. But Paul would also tell us, “I always thank God for you,” and for the same reason, “because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” Not because of how faithful we’ve been to God. But based on how faithful our God has been to us!
II
There’s one more reason Paul can thank God for all of them. “He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, is faithful.” As I think back over the years of my ministry as a Pastor, or simply as a Christian, there are times I can rejoice, because I was able to bring comfort and peace to a sinner, and show them the love of Jesus. And there are times, when I blew it. A thoughtless comment to a troubled soul. A time when I miscalculated, and preached law instead of gospel. Times when I crushed a soul because of my own weaknesses. And those events still plague my memory. Maybe you’ve got those memories too.
It’s easy to think of how disappointed God is with me. How God could read me the riot act, and tell me, “Look, I gave you those gifts to help and encourage people, and you thoughtlessly, destroyed a soul.” God has every right to reevaluate my standing in His church. God may be sorry that He brought me into His kingdom because I create more problems than I solve. God may want to terminate my relationship with Him! And He would have every right to do so and I couldn’t blame Him.
Then these words from Paul come to my mind. “God is faithful!” God’s grace brought me into His kingdom. God’s grace keeps me in His kingdom, “He will keep you strong to the end.” God’s grace removes my sins, “so that you will blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We Christians are sinful and will mess up. But our salvation does not depend on how well we follow God, but solely on God’s grace. Churches will mess up, and do what is terribly wrong, because they too are made up of sinners who mess up. Christians will mess up and do what is terribly wrong, because they are sinners! And my prayer is always, “Lord forgive our sins of lovelessness, and bring someone else into this person’s life to show them God’s grace, and bring them to know Jesus.” But the only message that gives us hope is this, “God is faithful!” The grace of God grabbed hold of us, and the grace of God will hang on to us, until the day we are safe in Heaven.
Over the next few weeks, we will be studying this letter of Paul to the Corinthians! We will hear about some of the foolish things this congregation did. And as we hear those things, we may squirm in our seats a little, because it hits too close to home. We’ve done the same thing. And Paul may be looking right at us, as he condemns such actions, and try to get us to change. But as we need to hang our heads in shame because we’ve offended God and we wonder if He still wants us to be part of His kingdom, we should remember these first words of Paul. Even though we have not always lived up to what God wants, and even though we have not always lived up to the name Christian, Paul turns us to the precious gospel, the grace of our God, who never treats us as we deserve, but with the grace Jesus brought! “God is Faithful!” So, despite how poorly we have done in following our God, Paul can still tell us, “I ALWAYS THANK GOD FOR YOU.”
