June 29, 2008

Scripture:         1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Sermon:           “Judge and Jury”

            I’d like to turn with you now to the Word of the Lord.  We’ve poked around a little bit here and there with Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth.  And this morning we will return.  Open you Bible to 1 Corinthians, chapter 4.  We’ll read verses 1 through 5 together.  You can find that on page   of the New Testament in the pew Bible.

            And as we begin, keep in mind that Paul is dealing with a church that can’t let go of the past.  They’ve got folks arguing over their favorite preachers, and none of them seem to be willing to accept that those former pastors have moved on.  Some say, “I belong to Paul”.  Others say, “I belong to Apollos”.  Still others say, “I belong to Cephas”.  And a handful say, “I belong to Christ”.  That’s the way Paul put it in chapter 1.

            I know of pastors who complain about folks in their churches always calling the previous ministers to do funerals and weddings and such.  It’s tricky stuff.  And I get the impression that Paul’s trying to get these folks in Corinth to quit that.

            When he writes the word “us” here in verse 1, he’s talking about all the folks that have served that congregation—all of those previous ministers.  Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ…

            Now, you can imagine that if some folks were still wanting the good ‘ole days when Peter was around, or when that great preacher Apollos would thunder away from the pulpit, that Paul himself was not highly regarded by everyone in Corinth.  He had some detractors.  So, what we’re hearing here is a sort of defense, like you might get in a courtroom.  Listen to what Paul writes…the Word of the Lord:

            Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.  Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.  But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.  I do not even judge myself.  I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.  It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.  Then each one will receive commendation from God.

            I heard of a preacher down in Tennessee.  Fresh out of seminary, you know.  And this congregation called him to be their minister.  And he asked the chair of the board, “how did the vote go?”

            “It was practically unanimous.”

            Now, what does practically unanimous mean?  It means not everybody actually voted yes is what it means.  And this bothered the young man.  “Well, can you tell me what the numbers were?”

            “I can,” said the board chair.  “It was an astounding 248 to 2”.

            But, do you know that young preacher stewed over those 2 people that voted against hiring him.  He stewed over those 2.  And for the first six months he did all he could to find out who those 2 people were.  The next six months he did all he could to try to win those 2 people over.  Visiting.  Complimenting.  Making sure to send cards on all of the big days.

            Just over a year had gone by when the congregation came together for another vote.  Things were falling apart at the seams.  And they weren’t pleased at all.  So, they voted to get rid of their new minister.  And do you know what the vote was on that day?  That’s right.  248 to 2.

            You ever live your life like that?  Trying to please everybody?

            There’s a man that used to go to this church.  We said goodbye to him a couple of months ago.  Great man, Harry Der Ohanian.  One of his daughters said he’d been in more houses around here than Santa Claus.  They’d call in the middle of the night when the temperature was something colder than Alaska, and Harry’d get dressed and go over and fix their heater.  That’s what he did.  Heating and Air.

            You know that some folks would be as grateful and gracious as they could be.  And they’d want to pay him extra sometimes, or give him some coffee at 2 o’clock in the morning.  But, then, there were others that just expected to be waited on hand and foot.  They’d grumble about the cost.  They’d grumble about how long it took for Harry to get there.  They’d grumble about things that had nothing to do with anything.  Harry said, “I don’t mind.  Even Jesus Christ couldn’t please everybody!”

            That man had a way with words.  But, he was right, you know.  We follow a Messiah that couldn’t make everybody happy all the time.  And you know what some folks did to him.

            Now, I’ve read through these letters of Paul and, frankly, I can see where some folks would get agitated with the man.  Know what I mean?  Not a few times have I put down my good book and wondered just how these folks reacted when they first received some of these letters.  He calls people “children” and tells them to look up to him like a father.  “Be imitators of me” he says.  “You foolish Galatians!”  “Women should be silent in the churches.”

            I imagine there were some folks happy to have somebody other than Paul as their pastor.  But, I empathize with him.  Its sounds as if the people in Corinth packed Paul’s bags for him and said, “don’t let the door hit you on the way out”.  And I’ve seen churches and pastors go through this kind of stuff.  Terrible thing.

            Listen to what Paul wrote back to them in chapter 1:  I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name.  Talk about shaking the dust off your shoes.  And now word’s gotten back to Paul that some of those Corinthians are dragging his name through the mud.  It’s rotten all the way around.

            Even here in what we read together Paul wrote, “I’m not even aware of anything I did to you.  I know that doesn’t make everything alright.”  Did you hear that?  I don’t know what all happened there in Corinth. But, there’s some bad blood.  Burned bridges.  And it’s clear that Paul thinks he’s done nothing to deserve what he’s been getting.  In his eyes, some of the folks in Corinth have betrayed him.  Betrayal.

            It occurs to me that Paul’s going through a very painful thing here.  Maybe it’s familiar to you.  When somebody close to you betrays you, well that’s more painful and divisive than the times when just anybody causes you harm.  Isn’t it?  If you’ve got a bitter enemy, you know, chances are that you once invested a great deal of emotion in that person.  A good friend.  A business colleague.  A spouse that you once pledged your love and devotion to.  Those are the betrayals that hurt the most.  And Paul’s got these folks in Corinth that used to be his beloved congregation.

            Betrayal.

            Maybe you know what that’s all about.

            The followers and friends of Jesus knew a thing or two about being betrayed.  What is it that we say every Sunday when we gather to share this meal with our Lord?  “On the night that he was betrayed…”  The very center of our faith, you know, is born out of the pain of losing friendship and relationship.  On the night that he was betrayed he took bread and broke it.  And Judas was right there at the table.

            You might know what that’s like, being betrayed by somebody close to you.  The rest of the disciples were devastated.  Listen to how they talked about all of that!  Both Luke and John say that it was Satan who entered Judas Iscariot.  And that almost sounds like they wanted to remember something good about the man, doesn’t it?  Satan made him do it.  And when folks betray our trust, our relationships, we try to understand what in the world might have caused somebody we love to do such a thing.  They say he sold out the Lord for a handful of silver coins.  Sound familiar to you?

            I don’t know exactly what happened to ‘ole Judas Iscariot after the death of Jesus.  Do you?  Do you know?  Some of his disciples say that he went out and hanged himself.  Others say that he just burst open and died out in an old trash heap outside of the city.  I’m willing to bet that the friends Judas betrayed couldn’t even think clearly about what became of the man.

            Maybe you know something about how that feels.

            Paul’s been getting a taste of it himself, you see.

            Now, here’s the thing.  We’ve all got to deal with folks in our lives that have done the wrong thing where we’re concerned.  We’ve all got conflicts with folks.  Family.  Friends, you know.  Brothers and sisters in the church.  A husband or a wife.  Somebody takes advantage of you after all these years, selling you out for a handful of silver coins—something flashy and new.  How do you maintain yourself?

            If I’m Paul, I’ll admit, I’m quite tempted to do a little something different.  I’m quite tempted to get even with somebody.  I’m quite inclined to point out all of the petty faults they’ve got so that I can feel a little better about myself.  Isn’t that how conflict works?

            “You know, it doesn’t mean much to me that you’re judging me.”  That’s what he said.  Can you believe that?  He said, “I’m not even going to respond to this stuff.  I’m not going to play your game.  You can think what you want of me, do what you like to me.  It’s God that I’m trying to answer to.”

            How much of the time are we trying to do what somebody else wants?  How much of the time are we concerned with getting folks to react favorably to us?  How much of the time do we act as if the most important thing in the world is pleasing folks we know and love?  How much of the time do we let the fear of conflict decide how we’re going to live, even betraying our own senses of justice and right and wrong?

            And Paul says to these folks, “God’s my judge and jury.  Nobody on earth can dictate what I do.  I’m trying to answer to God.  And only the Lord will ultimately determine if I’ve been faithful.”

            Some of us are going to go back to a place today or tomorrow where life’s a pressure cooker with all of the tension in the air.  The kind of stuff folks say you could cut with a knife.  Tension so thick in our own houses sometimes.  Tension so thick in the office.  Now, I don’t know how the heat of the moment is going to pull on you.  In the middle of all of that it feels like your judge and jury are the people all around you.  Doesn’t it?  But, what if you could see beyond that for a moment and behold the Lord seated on a throne in judgment of all that was going on?  May we all have the faith in God and the grace with one another to do such a thing.

Rev. David James Brown

Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)