I Corinthians 14:20-40

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. (v. 33) I remember reading a Christian book, Miracle at Darien, which is the story of a major revival in a (then-?) Episcopal church in Darien, Connecticut. They had hired a new rector who, on his first talk to his new congregation said, “Jesus Christ is the head of this church.” All agreed – nice words. Then a day or two later at a ?prayer meeting? he said the same thing. Again, all agreed. Finally he said the same words at the Vestry meeting, again soon thereafter. The Vestry members were, frankly, tired of hearing these words a third time. Then the rector went on to explain that if Jesus Christ were the head of this church that He would be present at the Vestry meetings and that the Vestry would agree unanimously on decisions that had to be made, knowing that Jesus Himself had a voice in those decisions. The church was transformed!

Which brings me to our church’s decision in 2019 to move from two services to one and the sad fallout from that decision. What did we miss? God is not a God of confusion but of peace. Yet peace was not the outcome of that decision. As we have moved forward, mostly I’ve come to the conclusion (the hope?) that God is working in our midst and working in the hearts of those who left and those who stayed. Our task is to pray for our church and for those who left and trust that they are doing the same, praying for those they left behind and those with whom they are now worshiping. God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

See also: May 11 / I Cor. 14:13-25; May 12 / I Cor. 14:26-40

I Corinthians 14:1-19

Paul was not present at the first Pentecost celebration. Otherwise he might have referenced that day when …suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:2-4) In today’s reading Paul is not dismissing or diminishing the gift of tongues – he simply wants to put that gift “in its place”. Personally he lauds the gift of tongues: Now I want you all to speak in tongues… [and] I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. (vv. 5, 18) But more than the gift of tongues, Paul is all about “building up the church”. (v. 12b)

The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself… (v. 4, NASB; the ESV has “builds himself up” in place of “edifies himself”). My Study Bible explains this verse in these words: “This edification does not involve the mind, since the speaker does not understand what he has said. It is a personal edification in the area of the emotions, of deepening conviction, of fuller commitment and greater love.” Someone in our Men’s Group asked me a few weeks ago what it felt like to speak in tongues. I gave some response, whatever I said, but this explanation from my Study Bible seems to sum up for me the emotion that is the gift of tongues. I can attest to the “deepening conviction” and the “fuller commitment”, and I have to trust that the “greater love” has followed. I certainly know that “greater love” was there the first time I spoke (prayed) I tongues!! But that’s another story!

See also: May 10 / I Cor. 14:1-12; May 11 / I Cor. 14:13-25

I Corinthians 13:1-13

When I read this chapter I find myself focused on my love for Carol and how I rate on each of these love-attributes. Sadly, I fall short on all too many! Then I also think of God’s love for us, especially that He “bears all things, … endures all things”, and how He must get frustrated with us, yet He continues to love us with love immeasurable! Then this morning I went one step further and thought of people in our church and people outside our church and asked myself how I rated for each of those groups on these love-attributes. I find that with almost every sentence in I Cor 13:4-7 I can point to someone where my love fails on this attribute toward that one (or more) person(s). About the only exception that I can find is that I don’t think that I “rejoice at wrongdoing”. If I see wrongdoing I am sad, not happy. But then I see my own problem of failing to bear or endure that wrongdoing. I can’t win!! But I know that God forgives me in my weaknesses and I can move on, praying that I can get better at living out verses 4 through 7: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

See also: May 9 / I Cor. 13:1-13

I Corinthians 12:1-31

Yesterday my comments had to do with the Sacramental Stream in our Three Streams theology. Today it is the Spirit Stream – specifically the gifts of the Spirit. There were some real hesitations in our Men’s Group’s initial discussions of the Spirit Stream. Changing the wording to “Spirit-filled Stream” helped a bit. But it is my observation that people who are troubled over this Spirit Stream are looking at the manifestations of the Spirit (the Pentecostal/Charismatic speaking in tongues, hand-waving, healing ministries, etc.), not the gifts of the Spirit or the fruits of the Spirit. Paul’s lesson in today’s reading focuses on the gifts of the Spirit. In verse 28 hand-waving is nothing, healing is listed fourth, and tongues comes last of all: And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. I think this is the only place where Paul places a ranking on these spiritual gifts. He has a similar listing in Ephesians 4:11: And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers… , but no ranking anywhere else of which I am aware. (See also Romans 12:6-8.) So let’s embrace this Spirit Stream and the gifts that He gives. We’ll deal with the fruits later.

See also: May 7 / I Cor. 12:1-14; May 8 / I Cor. 12:15-31

I Corinthians 11:23-34

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (v. 26) As I read today’s reading I picture myself at St. Andrew’s during our Eucharistic celebration. I see the host being lifted and Jay speaking Jesus’ words, then the same for the chalice. Then I picture myself going forward for communion. All this is the epitome of the sacramental aspect of our “Three Streams” theology, what we often refer to as the “Catholic Stream”, which was so important to me in my early Christian formation. And picturing all that I call to mind Mark Royster’s Lenten Three Streams teaching on the Sacramental Stream. It was powerful. I would encourage you all to watch his video presentation on the Sacramental stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T51XNmSz43U. (After introductory prayer and comments, Mark’s teaching begins almost 11 minutes into the video.) Worthy…!

Nothing more to say…

See also: May 6 / I Cor. 11:17-34

I Corinthians 11:1-22

When Paul wrote today’s section, I get the sense that the whole issue of headcovering was associated with the worship service, not day-to-day public affairs. Today’s church is different – headcovering seems not to be an issue. It was, however, when I was growing up – women covered their heads at church. If they were not wearing a hat they put on a small piece of fancy fabric and fastened it with a bobby pin. Not so today. And the men wore hats back in the day, but they took them off the second they stepped inside the church.

So for back then and today I move away from church issues and look at everyday life – men remove their hats out of respect. With movies that are set in the old west or in the first half of the 20^th century, whenever a man was introduced to a woman he removed his hat. We don’t see this removing-the-hat-when-introduced today, but we do see other signs of respect, like on the street when a funeral procession passes by and at sporting events when the national anthem is being played or whenever there is a call to prayer. Yes, we see it today, but there is also a younger generation where many of today’s young men do not know or abide by these old customs. I’ve seen older men poke younger men to take off their hats when the national anthem is being played.

So we see Biblical traditions that were established back then being carried out today. And we carry it forward in our philosophies and theologies. I no longer refer to myself as a conservative or evangelical Christian – politics has used these labels to affirm or distort particular peoples or cultures. The phrase that I do like is that we believers affirm “traditional, historic Christian beliefs”. I/we don’t buy into “liberal” denominations abiding by a new set of beliefs or society’s affirmation of alternative lifestyles. Our safe ground is that set of “traditional, historic Christian beliefs”. And if we are Neanderthals to the rest of society, so be it.

See also: May 5 / I Cor. 11:1-16

I Corinthians 10:1-33

But if someone says to you, “This [meat] has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you… (v. 28) My Study Bible had the following comment on this verse: “If the meat has been identified as meat sacrificed to idols and you eat it, the man – whether a believer or an unbeliever – might think you condone … the worship of the idols the meat has been offered to.” Some of you already know this story – a few years ago a couple from Maryland with whom we were quite close invited us to the wedding of their daughter and her female partner. We declined the invitation in that we disagreed with same-sex marriage and we could not rejoice at that upcoming union. Those friends then wrote us off – for good! We had the sense that our attendance had been very important to them in that we would be affirming their daughter’s lifestyle and they knew that we had been leaders in the Episcopal church where we met. We were even foundational in their Christian growth. Carol and I had labored and prayed over our decision and shared our situation with a number of Christian friends before we declined the invitation. We were shocked and hurt by their very harsh reply. But we move on – without their friendship. Sad…

One final note to the story above… It has been my observation that the gay community does not simply want acceptance of their lifestyle – they want affirmation! I can be friends with a gay couple, but I cannot affirm that relationship. Sad…

See also: May 2 / I Cor. 10:1-13; May 3 / I Cor. 10:14-22; May 4 / I Cor. 10:23-33

I Corinthians 9:1-27

When I spoke of giving in my comments last year (in the first link below), I left out the most demanding standard – the “rich, young ruler”: Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. (Luke 18:22b) The contrast is striking between the widow who had nothing and the ruler who had everything. Is it true that the more we have, the less willing we are to part with it? Just asking…

St. Andrew’s, through its Mission Committee, supports a number of overseas missionaries. We are part of a network of prayer and support teams for these folks. Every few years they return to the USA for a bit of relaxation, but also to report back to those people who are on their prayer and support team – and to continue to raise support. And as hard as these people are working “in the field”, it’s doubly frustrating when they are not able to raise the level of support that is required/requested of them by their sending organization. I have two in mind, in particular – Timo/Laura Harkonen and Mark/Tommie Bruner. We receive their prayer letters and read of the awesome work that they are doing in Finland and Czechia. And we know them personally – each of these missionaries (and family and friends) have stayed with us here in Kentucky. And we hear the sad news of their lack of funding, of churches who change pastors and cancel their support, of pastors who tell them that they can no longer afford to support them. Timo and Laura have a sending organization, AIM (Africa Inland Mission) that provides a backstop for them when support is down, but Mark and Tommie are on their own. They’ve been in Slovakia and Czechia for some 25 years – the churches that originally sent them to the mission field no longer know them and have dropped their support. And their retirement nest-egg that most of us have – it’s their home in CZ, that’s it! When we are asked each Sunday to pray for our missionaries, please do so. Lift them up mightily – and think about paying them a visit overseas. There is nothing that lifts their spirits so much as a visitor from home!!

See also: April 30 / I Cor. 9:1-18; May 1 / I Cor. 9:19-27

I Corinthians 8:1-13

Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. (v. 8) Substitute “beer” for food and “drink” for eat and we have a current issue among some very conservative Christians. I have sometimes wondered if my drinking beer (or brewing beer) offends others, especially if I am drinking at a local bar. But I’ve gotten beyond that – our 12-Step group, Freedom Road even meets at Versailles Brewing Company! But that’s another discussion.

Today’s reading brings to mind Mark Bruner, a dear brother and a Christian missionary serving with his wife in the Czech Republic. More than a decade ago Mark and Tommie bought a run-down pub/bed-and-breakfast business in eastern Czechia. After much work fixing it up they opened as a restaurant/pub serving food and beer. Mark used it as an outreach tool to the locals (events and activities too numerous to mention), but it also served as a youth-group gathering place. It’s where Carol and I regularly went on mission trips to serve with him at “English Camp”. So, two items related to today’s reading… First, Mark often commented to me to how nice it was for him to have a beer with a Christian brother. Many people in his Pentecostal denomination were totally against alcohol of any kind. But secondly, Mark had to be careful in sending photos in his prayer and support letters not to show beer or any references to alcohol in that some of his supporters back home might withdraw their support. So Mark was hiding the reality of his Czech situation in his belief that the outreach aspect of his running a pub in this very beer-oriented society served the greater good. Mark was not following Paul’s example (v. 13, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble), but his was a totally different context. Again, a longer discussion…!

See also: April 29 / I Cor. 8:1-13