1 CORINTHIANS 1, 10-17
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you speak the same thing[1] so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
I was talking to a Pentecostal, who criticized the way we Lutherans worshipped. He said, “You Lutherans recite the same stuff every week. You can recite all that stuff, and not even think about what you’re saying. That’s not the type of worship God wants. We Pentecostals, prefer a heartfelt worship where we’re not reading stuff, but expressing what’s in our hearts in our own words to God.
I tried to explain how the worship we follow has a rich heritage that goes all the way back to the time of the Apostles. I tried to explain that with a set liturgy, we give the members the opportunity to take part in worship, instead of just sitting in the seats and watching others perform. But he wasn’t listening.
But there is also a practical reason why we recite the same words each week. Imagine after the sermon this morning, I tell you, “Let’s arise and confess our faith in our Triune God. But instead of using the Nicene Creed, we’re going to have each of you just start talking, loudly confessing what our Triune God means to you.” Talk about chaos. We’re all saying something different! You can’t understand a single word. It’s confusing. Our confession of faith is useless! Our worship meaningless. Because we’re not all saying the same thing.
That was one of the issues in the Church at Corinth. They were not speaking the same thing. And it had to do with which pastor they loved best. Some said, “This is what Paul said.” Others said, “That doesn’t mean a thing. Paul wasn’t a real apostle. Now, listen to what Peter, a real apostle said.” And still others said, “I don’t care what those men said, Apollos said this!” Not only was that confusing! It was dangerous. It had the potential of ripping this congregation apart at the seams and destroying it.
The solution to their problem? Simply this! Paul tells them, “SPEAK THE SAME THING!”
I
Paul was the first one who brought Jesus to these people, and started this congregation! After a couple of years, he left because he wanted to get back to Jerusalem, for one of the festivals. While Paul was gone, another preacher came to Corinth. His name was Apollos! And many people came to believe because of his work. Now, as far as we know, the apostle Peter never came to Corinth! But some of the Christians there knew Peter, perhaps it was Peter who first told them about Jesus. And it seems that these people questioned the authority of Paul. Maybe Jesus called him. But he’s not of the caliber of Apostle like Peter. So, they began to say, we really don’t need to listen to Paul. We should listen to what Peter says. And then came the fourth group. They were tired of people arguing whether Paul, or Peter or Apollos were the one to follow. They said, “No! We follow Christ!” That sounds pretty good! But what they were saying, “We don’t need to listen to any of these guys. We simply listen to what Jesus said.”
And suddenly “there are quarrels among you,” like Paul said. Suddenly you’ve got little factions with little placards! “I follow Paul!” “I follow Apollos!” “I follow Peter!” “I follow Christ.” And then you get jealousies, and arguments, and stubbornness! Who are you going to listen to? Who really has the authority to tell us what we need to do? Nothing but tension!
And when someone new came to worship with them, instead of rejoicing that another soul has come to know Jesus, they all got in this person’s face and asked, “Whose side are you on? Are you a Paul Christian? Or a Peter Christian? Or an Apollos Christian? Or a Christ Christian?” And any love, compassion, and fellowship went right out the window. So, Paul tells them, “If you don’t stop these quarrels, you will rip this church apart at the seams, Christ’s message will be destroyed, and Satan will win!
Paul asks, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” Who cares which person brought you to know Jesus? Who cares which person was there helping you through a difficult time in your life? Who cares who baptized you? It wasn’t Peter who saved you or Paul, or Apollos! It was Jesus who saved you. It was Jesus, who got you through those difficult times. It was Jesus who worked through the preaching, and the baptizing of those men that touched your heart, caused you to believe, and brought you into God’s family. Those men did not come to make followers for themselves! They came to point people to Jesus, so they would follow Jesus, just like each one of these men did.
Paul says, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you speak the same thing.” Because that is what these men did. Each man spoke the same message. Jesus lived for you! Jesus died for you! Jesus rose for you so that you can have eternal life. Believe in Jesus and be saved.
II
There is nothing wrong with having your favorite pastor. There is nothing wrong with having pastors that you really didn’t care for. Each pastor has his own set of gifts, and personality, and his own way of doing things. And some pastor will get me, and will be able to talk to me. A pastor may be there when I was going through some rough times, and he got me through it. And I don’t know if I would have survived without his patient ministry to me! And, sad to say, there may be pastors that just rubbed me the wrong way, and did things that annoyed me, and really didn’t help me much with his sermons, or his ministry.
But one thing we need to understand. Each pastor served us, because God called him to serve us. At that time, God chose this man to be the shepherd of these sheep! And God also determined when it was time for this pastor to leave and serve somewhere else. Even if that pastor did more to disrupt the congregation than to nurture the congregation, God had called him to that parish, for what ever reason God had.
The problem we sometimes, have is that we confuse the man with the message! Those who were in the “I follow Paul” camp, believed that the message Paul preached was “Paul’s message.” Those in the “I follow Peter” camp, believed that the message Peter preached was “Peter’s message.” And those in the “I follow Apollos” camp, believed that the message Apollos preached was “Apollos’s message.” So, when they accepted Paul’s message they were accepting Paul, and the thought of anyone else preaching to them was offensive to them. Paul needed to remind these people that each of these men, “spoke the same thing.” The message they proclaimed was not their message, it was Jesus’ message. These men were not pointing to themselves. They were pointing the people to Jesus. It wasn’t “Paul’s message,” or “Peter’s message” or “Apollos’s message.” It was Jesus’ message they proclaimed!
Sometimes, we can do the same thing. We confuse the man with the message! Our favorite pastor leaves, and a new one comes in that isn’t quite as good. In fact, he does some things that irk me. He says something that really offends me! And the next thing you know, I stop coming to church. I will not listen to a man like him. I will not listen to a man who doesn’t do things the way I think they ought to be done. I will not listen to a man who offends me. And so, I stop coming to church. I stop reading my devotions at home. I stop having any contact with God’s Word, and God’s sacraments.
I have confused the man with the message! I don’t like him, so I refuse to listen to his message? But what he preaches is not “His” message! He still preaches Jesus’ message! He still “speaks the same thing,” as the pastor I loved. Whether or not I like the man, I listen because he points me to Jesus.
When I was in college, I took a course on the writings of Milton! Not only was the subject boring, but the professor was one of the most boring professors on campus. I could not stay awake no matter what I did. One Sunday at the church I attended, they had a guest pastor! Yep, my Milton Professor. I figured I’m not going to get anything out of this worship service. But you know what? That was probably one of the most inspiring sermons I ever heard from that church. Oh, not because my professor had suddenly become an energetic preacher! No! His abilities didn’t change! What changed was the material he was teaching. He wasn’t teaching me about Milton. He was teaching me about Jesus. And my God used this man, as boring as he sometimes was, to teach me a valuable lesson about my God and my salvation. He was not preaching his message. He was preaching Jesus’ message. He was speaking the same thing as Paul, and Apollos and Peter!
Pastors come! Pastor’s go! Some I like! Some not so much! But each one speaks the same thing! Conflicts come! Conflicts go! Disagreements come! Disagreements go! But, one thing remains the same. Regardless of outward differences, regardless of different personalities, and different philosophies of life, we all have one thing in common. We speak the same thing! We confess the same faith! Jesus grabbed each one of us, and brought us into His kingdom by His grace, and holds on to us forever. Each one of us will share a place in Heaven because of it. Even though we may differ on a lot of things in this world, when it comes to eternity, we are in total agreement. Jesus is our Savior. And Paul tells us like he told the Corinthians, “Hang on to that unity!” And “SPEAK THE SAME THING!”
[1] A literal translation from the Greek
