1 Corinthians 1:10-17 Sermon

The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

What’s Church For? Unity

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 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.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name.16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. (NIV)

It was only a few generations ago that it would have come across as a surprise to find out that someone didn’t go to church.  Going to church was just something pretty much everyone did.  Today however, things have turned around almost 180°.  A person may be just as shocked or surprised to hear that someone else still does go to church.  It just isn’t the social norm in our culture today that it was in the past.

I think the question posed in our sermon series kicking off this morning would provide opportunity for some interesting answers if one were to interview people at random.  In fact, it might just catch a good number of people off guard.  Why?  Because it seems to be a question people are asking less and less in our world today: what’s church for?  Or, sadly, if they do answer, they do so negatively.  They might be inclined to say the church is for hypocrites (to which we would quickly agree, and assure them there is always room for more).  They might say the church is for collecting money to serve itself.  They might say the church provides the opportunity for homophobic people to cowardly hide away.  They might even say the church itself can’t agree on what it is for, citing past religious wars and the countless different denominations, affiliations, and congregations, all of which claim to be right. 

A read through our verses from 1 Corinthians this morning may appear to support that last view.  “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, 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’” (v. 10-12).  Paul had it on good information that factions were forming in the congregation at Corinth.  Some associated with Paul, the church planter; others followed the silver-tongued Apollos.  There was also the group enamored with Peter the Great, and then of course you had some whose claim to fame was that they didn’t have a claim to fame, because they were the true believers who were committed to Christ and not some human representative.

Listen closely to a group of Christians today from different churches and you might be inclined to hear similar claims to fame.  “My pastor used to be a professional football player.”  “My pastor speaks all over the country.”  “My pastor is a best-selling author.”  “My pastor knows Hebrew and Greek.”  My pastor… my pastor… my pastor…”  Corinth 2000 years ago or California in 2014 – division is still going strong in the church, isn’t it?  Is that what the church is for, to divide and split and separate in order to provide enough churches with tailor-made messages that cater to every individual want and need? 

Did you know there were at least two times in history in which there was no division in the church – the Church of Eden and the Church of the Ark.  For a time Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect harmony in the church, as its only two members.  Later on in history, just after the Flood, the church consisted of just Noah’s family, a church without division, at least for a time.  So if it’s possible that church can exist without division, as it has at least twice in history, then why doesn’t it today?  What is the problem?  Well what was the common denominator in the case of Adam & Even and Noah and his family?  It wasn’t very long before others were added to their churches.  You see, the more people you add to church, the greater the likelihood of division.  So the church isn’t at fault; rather, it’s the people who make up the church.  It’s you and it’s me.  We’re why there is division in the church.

But why is that?  See, you and I have something inside us that causes us to take a very me-centered view of the world.  Now in some cases it may be easier for us to admit that than in others, but the bottom line is that me-centered view tends to color much of what we do.  Do you disagree?  Let’s consider a few examples.  How about the kind gesture you make when on the highway or in line somewhere and you let someone go in front of you.  A very kind gesture, and one that would not appear to be me-centered at all, right?  Until the person we let in fails to acknowledge with a wave or a smile the nice thing we just did for them.  Isn’t that kind of me-centered if I get all riled up simply because someone didn’t express gratitude for my kind gesture?  Or consider a little thing like that last piece of dessert left in the pan.  Always one to put others first, we thoughtfully ask if anyone else would like it.  Now is that because we are truly hoping to make someone else’s day, or because we’re hoping a refrain of “no, thank yous” from everyone else will make our day when we get to sink our teeth into that last bite?  Why do marriages fail?  Is it because one spouse is so distraught that the other isn’t getting everything he or she deserves in the marriage, or is it because things aren’t working out for me the way I expected them to?  It’s embarrassingly easy for us to point to example after example that, if we’re willing to pull out a shovel and do a little digging, actually reveals our me-centered rationale behind so much of what we do.

And the church experiences division because the minute we become a part of it, our me-centered selves are quick to stake out our spot in the pew and start reflecting on how my church can best serve me.  One of the easiest ways to do that is to find others who may share the same self-serving opinions I do.  See, it’s easier that way, because then we can convince ourselves that it’s not just me serving self – we all want this.  So we pick our representative and rally together and voila, now we’ve got our little faction that can speak with a louder voice and finally get things done.  See how it happens?  Even the Corinthians, who were being divided according to their allegiances to various leaders, were ultimately only seeing those factions as a means to a self-serving end.

Paul asked a few pointed questions of the Corinthians in an effort to open their eyes both to how ridiculous such division was, and also how damaging it would be.  He asked, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (v.13).  What place did division have in the church?  Christ couldn’t be cut up and parceled out so that each faction could have its own little piece that suits it best.  Neither was it appropriate to have any unhealthy infatuation with individual leaders within the congregation.  Finally, why did – why does – such division have the potential to tear a church apart?  Because it discourages me-centered sinners from gathering properly as Christ-centered Christians.

Paul tried to restore the proper focus to the congregation when he wrote, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought” (v.10).  Paul does it the right way.  He did not appeal to his own successful track record.  He didn’t toot his own horn.  Nor did he badmouth the other leaders mentioned.  He did not tear them down in an effort to leave him appearing as the only noble one left.  He didn’t do those things, because he was too busy trying to refocus a divided congregation on the only thing that can put an end to division: Jesus Christ.  It was in the name of Jesus that Paul appealed, and frankly, so far in Paul’s letter, that would have been hard to miss, since in the first nine verses of his letter, the name of Jesus appears in some form nine times!  Was Paul trying to subtly – or not so subtly! – make a point to the Corinthians?  It matters little what causes the division; the solution is always and only Jesus Christ.

What’s church for? Unity.  But that unity can be found only in one source.  The church that forgets, ignores, or deliberately rejects Jesus Christ as the source of its unity is the church that is doomed.  Even if it appears to achieve any semblance of success and unity from a worldly point-of-view, the church without Jesus Christ as the linchpin that holds it all together is destined for failure.  If division doesn’t tear it apart visibly here on earth, destruction will tear it apart in the life to come, for nothing will last apart from Jesus Christ.  Nothing.  Not even the church.

That, Paul reminded the Corinthians, was why he had been sent.  In fact, it’s why the church has been gathered together in the first place.  Christ had sent Paul “to preach the gospel – not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (v.17).  It wasn’t about the pedigree of Paul, the eloquence of Apollos, or the superiority of Cephas; it was about the cross of Christ.  That’s the message Paul was sent to preach, and to make the message about anything less was and is to drain the cross of its power, making it no more effective than a dead battery.

What a shame!  What a travesty to discard the one thing that truly unites in the only way that matters!  Without the cross, all men are united in sin, but that is not a unity that we would wish on anyone, for the results are deadly!  But through the cross all by faith are united in forgiveness.  That forgiveness dries up division by doing the impossible – making me-centered sinners like us into Savior-centered saints.  Do you know what the result is when that happens?  Do you know what is left when the division is done away with because sin has been forgiven?  Do you know what remains? 

Unity.  That’s what the church is for.  That’s what Jesus Christ has done for his church, and the church that is united in the gospel of Jesus and has a passion to proclaim what Jesus Christ has done for his church is a healthy church, a vibrant church, a properly purpose-driven church.  

Dear friends, let’s take Paul’s words to heart.  It isn’t who you’re in with from a worldly standpoint that unites us.  It isn’t service times that unite us.  It isn’t having a preschool or not having a preschool that unites us.  It isn’t style of worship that unites us.  It’s Jesus who unites us.  He’s what the church is for, and the church that gets that, is the church that will enjoy blessed unity.  Amen.

                                                            

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)