There Is No Unity Without the Gospel

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

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.

There Is No Unity Without the Gospel

So, I’m putting together a pizza order for the congregation for lunch today. The thing is, I talked to a couple places and they said that for an order this size, they’d only make one kind of pizza. So, what’s it going to be? How do you feel about pineapple on pizza? Black olives? Mushrooms? Maybe some pesto sauce instead of marinara? Throw a bunch of spicy Italian sausage on there too? Soft goat cheese. Anchovies too.

I’m not actually ordering pizza. I just wanted to make a point. It’s hard to agree on things, isn’t it? Whether it’s pizza or the movies, paint color or where to go on holiday, everyone has an opinion and rarely do they line up perfectly on the first attempt. That’s reality. That’s normal human behavior. But it’s not enough to stop Paul from saying:

“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.”[1]

Of course, Paul’s not talking pizza. He’s talking about something infinitely more important and immeasurably more intimate. He’s talking about the unity between believers. We mentioned it very briefly last week, but here Paul focuses his whole attention on the divisions that were cropping up in Corinth as one of – if not the – major problem in that congregation.

What he’d love to see is everyone being in agreement and perfectly united in mind and thought. You know, nothing challenging.

If you thought pizza was hard to agree on, try talking religion. And I don’t even mean talking about Jesus with unbelieving friends or the world around us. There are plenty of divisive topics that we could talk about in-house, among believers and members of the same congregation.

So, as we consider Paul’s appeal to unity here, maybe the first question that we should consider is, what do we have to agree about?

I mean, we don’t all have to agree on a pizza order, but there are some things that we should agree on.

Paul says that we should agree “in what [we] say,” and be perfectly united, “in mind and thought.” Another way to say that is that we should agree on what we believe and teach.

I said it last week, but it’s worth saying again: we don’t come here for the coffee or the music. We formed this congregation and continue meet week after week because of the Word of God. That’s what is most important and that is what we must agree on.

As Christians, we have to agree about what the Bible is – the divinely inspired Word of God. That’s our foundation and the basis for everything we do.

We have to agree about who Jesus is and what he came to do – he’s the Son of God and our Savior from sin, who sets us free and gives us hope for heaven.

We have to agree about what we should be spending our time doing, both as individual Christians and as members of a congregation – growing in our faith and sharing that faith for the salvation of others.

What unites us is not common interest or a shared sense of humor; it’s what we believe and teach. So, how do we get on the same wavelength in terms of doctrine?

Well, let me tell you a story about the Septuagint. About 200 years before Jesus was born, the Jewish church decided to translate the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek. Now, translation can be a tricky thing and you want to make sure that nothing gets lost in translation. So, 72 Bible translators each took a copy of the Old Testament, went off on their own, translated it and when they came back together to discuss their translations, they were all the same! All 72 scholars had identical translations! That’s how they knew the translation was accurate (or, at least, so the story goes).

That’s not exactly a good model for us to adopt – to take the Bible, go off on our own and come back expecting everyone to be on the same page. That’s not only impractical; it’s impossible. If we want to be united – as Paul encourages and as God wants for us – then we have to talk to each other. We have to spend time together studying God’s Word.

The better each of us knows God’s Word, the deeper the conversation, the greater the growth, the closer the unity. And as we do that – as we engage in conversation about God’s Word together – true unity requires a few things:

First, it requires a commitment to the Word over and above any personal opinion. In other words, the Bible always has the last word. Opinion changes from person to person and from time to time, but God’s Word for us never changes. It always remains God’s message for you, whenever you read it. It’s our job to listen and apply it to our varying life situations.

Second, if we want to have conversation about God’s Word that results in unity of faith, we need to create a safe space for that conversation to take place. On the one hand, what we read here inspires strong reaction – denial, fear, despair, anxiety, joy, hope, confidence. Each of us is likely to respond differently when we hear the same message from God.

More than that, though, each of us is at a different point along the spectrum of spiritual maturity. You may be new to Christianity or Lutheranism or this congregation. Or, you might be a lifelong Christian with a Masters Degree in Theology. The truth is that many of you are somewhere in between, with varying degrees of scriptural knowledge and personal experience. To expect everyone to be at the same level, spiritually speaking, only sets us up for failure and primes us for judgmental, condescending, ignorant responses to each other. But to be patient and listen and understand and, above all, to let God’s Word be the voice in our conversations with each other, is of utmost importance for true unity together.

If you’re sensing a theme so far – that the Gospel is the single most important factor for unity – then I guess I’ve done my job. The good news of Jesus is what binds us together. It creates a unity that’s greater than whatever differences there are between you and me. It creates a unity that’s greater than the incidentals that we happen to like about each other or this place.

The truth is, we could raze this building, sell the land, disband the congregation, and still be perfectly united in mind and thought, as long as the gospel is the reason and the cause. It’s the Gospel that produces perfect unity, because it’s the Gospel that reminds us what Christ has done for us.

We were all equally lost in sin, but in Christ and by his cross we are all equally saved. Jesus died for you. Jesus did; no one else. He is our hero. He is the one we follow. He is the one we worship and adore, whose name we praise and cherish above all else, whose name we call on and call ourselves by. This isn’t Deutschlander’s or Habben’s or Metzger’s church. It’s Christ’s church. Jesus is our Savior.

Jesus died for you. That’s how much he cares about you and how much our unity matters to him. He died for it. His primary concern when he came into this world was that you be reunited, i.e. reconciled, to your God. Our sins separated us from him, but he came to us and paid the price for our sins with his own blood on the cross and washed us clean.

And he did it for you. Jesus died for you, and you and you and you. He died for all of us that each of us might know the love of God in full, that each of us can be united to him in everyway. But, guess what? If you are united with Christ, and I am united with Christ, then we are united together.

I don’t think it’s overstating the case to say that Jesus died so that we could be united together, under his blood, in his love, through faith in him and for eternity with him.

There is real danger in being divided. Isolated we become vulnerable and weak. It’s a bad color on the Christian church when its members don’t get along. But more than anything, it threatens to empty the cross of its power, i.e. to mute the message of God before it even reaches the ears of those who need to hear about Jesus’ love.

But united we proclaim the cross with all its bloody power and we begin to experience here the unity that God intends for us in heaven. There is no unity without the gospel, but its proclamation produces it. So, let’s make the gospel our sole endeavor, our rallying cry, the banner under which we gather, because it’s the gospel that unites us with him and with one another. Amen.

[1] 1 Corinthians 1:10

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Made Holy, So Be Holy

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Made Holy, So Be Holy

When was the last time you cleaned your microwave? If I came over this afternoon and asked to make a burrito in there, would you be embarrassed to let me see it? Until about 2 days ago I would have been embarrassed to let you use mine. It’s one of those things that piles up after a while, right? But once you do it – once you get that paint scraper out – if you’re like me, maybe you make that vow to yourself, “I am never going to let this get that dirty again!” Every spill you wipe up right away. Maybe you go out and buy one of those covers to prevent splatter.

But how long does that last? How long until you have to wash it again? Once washed doesn’t mean always clean. Even with the best of intentions and the firmest resolutions you set for yourself are always enough. That’s true of both microwaves and the human soul.

Corinth was a big city. According to some estimates, it was the fourth largest city in the entire Roman empire. It was the capital of its province. It was a major trade center. It also housed a massive temple to the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite. Today, Corinth isn’t even half the size of St. Albert, but back then – when Paul was doing his mission work – it could have housed as many as 700,000 people.

Corinth was a big city and it had big city problems. You had greed, corruption, vice, discrimination, crime (and with a huge temple for Aphrodite, a lot of sexual sin too). Paul had his hands full as the founding pastor of the Christian church there.

He once said that besides all of the hardships he faced as a missionary – shipwrecks, highway robbery, attempted murder – he faced daily the pressure of his concern for all the churches,[1] and the church in Corinth was no exception.

We know of at least 3 letters Paul wrote to them after he moved away – only two surviving history. And for the next 5 weeks we’ll read his introduction to the First. In many ways, this is a unique letter. In it, Paul addresses many and varied, but also very important, topics ranging from cliques within the church to an outright denial of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

He starts the same way he does in many of his letters. He introduces himself; he addresses his audience; and he gives a good Christian greeting: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.[2]

But then he does something that, on the surface, looks ordinary – it’s the same thing he does in many other letters – but is very telling. In verse 4 he says, “I always thank my God for you…” Almost every single letter he writes conveys the same sentiment. Here’s are three. As we read them, what is it that Paul is thankful for?

Romans 1:8 – I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.

Ephesians 1:15,16 – Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

Colossians 1:3,4 – We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people…

That’s not what he says here, though, is it?

1 Corinthians 1:4 – I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.

Paul doesn’t praise the Corinthians’ faith or love or any other thing that they might have done or been known for. The Corinthians weren’t shining examples of Christian faith and life, and yet Paul still thanked God for them and for the grace given them in Christ Jesus.

Which brings me to another thing that makes this letter – and especially Paul’s introduction – unique. Paul does something here that isn’t done anywhere else in the entire Bible. He says some variation of the name Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ our Lord 9 times in 9 verses. You will not find a higher concentration of Jesus’ name anywhere else in all of Scripture.

That ought to tell you something. Of all the things that Paul could say – of all the controversies and drama and false doctrine that he could address – Paul makes a point of focusing on Jesus and the grace he gives us. Paul addresses this letter to Christians, like us, who are defined not by what we do, but what Christ has done for us and who has made us.

Paul talks about that in verse 2: To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours.[3]

Of all the characteristics that Paul could have used to address these people, he picks some of the most positive possible. He doesn’t say, “To the sexual sinners,” or, “To the separatists who follow Apollos or Peter,” or even, “To the dissatisfied deniers of organized religion or the resurrection of Jesus.” No. He says, “To the church of God in Corinth.”

There were a lot of things that set these people apart and made them different. There were many unique challenges to maintaining faith in Jesus in such a worldly environment. But Paul reminds them – and us – who we really are first and foremost. We are God’s church.

It doesn’t matter if you’re in Corinth or Canada. It doesn’t matter if your pastor’s name is Peter or Paul. It doesn’t matter what your person pet sins are. What matters is who your God is. He is the one who gathers us here. He is the reason we formed this congregation. We don’t come here because we like the coffee or the music. We come because we’ve been called together by our God to gather around his Word and to hear what God’s Word has to say to us.

And it says that we are “sanctified in Christ Jesus.”

Sanctified means “to be made holy.” In other words, it means to be cleansed, forgiven. Every spot and stain of sin is washed away. When God looks at you, he doesn’t see a single wrong that you’ve done – no failures, no faults. He sees you as perfect in every way.

But that’s different than “perfect just the way you are,” isn’t it? Paul talks about a change that’s taken place – a change that needed to happen, but a change that we had nothing to do with. It was entirely Jesus’ doing.

We are not perfect just the way we are. We are flawed and broken in so many ways, and in the rest of this letter Paul is going to talk about several. But before he mentions a single one, he wants every one of us to know that we are not defined by our sin, but by Jesus’ forgiving love. We are sinners, sure, but sinners saved by grace. That is who you are – redeemed, restored, forgiven.

And not because of anything you’ve done. Christ Jesus 9 times in 9 verses. Holiness is entirely Jesus’ doing. He was the one who lived a perfect life; that’s not a burden that you have to bear. He was the one who sacrificed himself and died on a cross; that’s not a threat you have to fear. Jesus Christ is the one who gives you peace with God because of his forgiving love.

You are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be his holy people.

There’s a great parallelism in those words, isn’t there? Made holy, so be holy. They go together. But is that always the reality in your life?

After you come here and receive the absolution from your pastor, “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;” after you receive the Lord’s Supper and the body and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, do you go home and have no desire ever to sin again? Do you leave this place and lead a perfect life? I don’t.

It may be easy to say “Made holy, so be holy,” but it’s another thing to do it. Which is why I think Paul starts this letter the way he does. He’s going to go into all kinds of practical, measurable ways that we can reform our sinful lives, but before he delves into the controversies, drama and false doctrine, Paul dwells on Christ Jesus – 9 times in 9 verses – including what may be the most important for you remember as you try to be who Christ has made you:

He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.[4]

You have been made holy by Jesus Christ through his sacrifice on the cross. You are called to be holy now as you live your life of faith. And when the Last Day comes, you will be blameless to stand before our Lord – not because you’re so strong, but because he will keep you firm; not because you are so full of faith, but because God is faithful.

Come what may, Jesus’ love for you will never fail. The grace God gives you in Christ covers over all your past sin, guilt and shame and will carry you all the way to the gates of heaven when Jesus is revealed on the Last Day. Will there be work for you to do here and now? Of course! But the work of your salvation is done. You are not defined by your sin or by what you go on to do through faith. You are a sinner saved by grace. You are sanctified in Christ. You are made holy, so be holy, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

[1] 2 Corinthians 11:28

[2] 1 Corinthians 1:3

[3] 1 Corinthians 1:2

[4] 1 Corinthians 1:8

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