Valois United Church

January 27, 2008
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23

The early Church was divided. Some of the people in Corinth were saying “I belong to Paul”, and some were saying “I belong to Apollos”, or “I belong to Peter.” Some were saying “I belong to Christ”

Oh, and there were other divisions in the early church, too: those who were, or had been slave, and those who were not; those who were rich, and those who were poor. Oh, and don’t forget those who were of Greek origin, and those who were of Jewish background.

Yes, indeed, the church was divided, including the church in Corinth. Paul was so unhappy about these divisions that a significant part of his writing addresses the problem.

Paul was also so upset about this situation in Corinth, with people saying that they belonged to different leaders, that he was glad that he had not baptized anyone there except two, Crispus and Gaius. Oops, he then writes, before the ink is even dry, I also baptized the household of Stephanas.... “beyond that”, he writes, “I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.”

Well, Paul was having troubles remembering who he baptized.
But he was having no trouble at all letting the people know that he did not want them to do what some were doing, and saying that they belonged to him. Or Peter. Or Apollos, another preacher of the day.

Not that he said anything that was not good about his own leadership, or that of Peter, or that of Apollos.

But he did have something else in mind.
He had a remedy for the divisions in the church.

The modern church is divided. Some say they belong to the United Church, some say they belong to the Anglican or Roman Catholic churches, some say that they belong to some other denomination, or belong to a “non-denominational church”.

Oh, and than there are a whole lot of divisions along the lines of what to do about different congregational issues.
I know of the great “Parlour Debate” in one large urban church - was the Youth Group allowed to use the Parlour?

And then there was “Who is allowed to use the UCW china Debate” in a small rural church.

Oh, and I won’t forget the debate about “Are those women really capable of painting the hall”.

Rev. Howard Clarke, meeting with your Transition Committee this past week spoke of the great “Voices United Debate” in another congregation. And I am saying debate, not discussion - a debate with schism.

And shall I tell you about the friendly, well-functioning congregation that almost blew apart when they had the debate about “What shall we do with the $500,000 our congregation was just given?”

Oh, and how many times have I heard the “If it’s not done this way in the congregation, I’m leaving and taking my offering with me...”

And how many times have I heard the conversations after the meeting in the kitchen or in the parking lot about how the wrong decision was made.... but no one had said anything in the meeting itself, so the decision was made - and silence, not the decision, resulted in division.

And how many times have I seen people come into a church meeting ready to make a statement... but not ready to listen?

Yes, division lives on in the church today.
Division is alive and well, fed by cliques,
fed by people holding power - though not necessarily holding a position
Fed by people who know that their way is the only right way,
fed by people being loyal to something...
but not the thing that Paul suggests.
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.
Paul wrote to one of the early churches that knew division, and he encourages them to be in agreement and for them not to have divisions.
He encourages them to be united
in the same mind and the same purpose.

And it is clear that he means that they are to be united
in the mind of Christ.
He means that they are to be united in the purpose of being Christ’s people in and for the world.
He means that they are not to belong to him, or Apollos, or Peter, but they are to belong to Christ.
That is what matters.

And after that, it does not matter
whether they came to be in the church because of Paul or Apollos or Peter.
It does not matter, for faith, whether they be slave or free, Greek or Jew.

It matters that they belong to Christ.

And Paul’s vision was that if they could only keep that in mind ahead of everything else, that divisions would fade.
That they would be able to get along.

I don’t meant that they would agree on everything. But that they would be able to work it out, and that they would then be able to worship and work alongside each other with a sense of harmony.This is the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
And we still need to hear Paul’s message.

With all the divisions, we need to see that Christ is the centre,
and a deep appreciation of that fact can bring us closer together.

Yes, there are the different denominations.
But the story is told of someone having a dream - maybe it was John Wesley - In the dream, he was ushered to the gates of Hell. There he asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?”
“Yes!”, came the answer.
Then he asked, “Are there any Baptists? Any Episcopalians? Any Methodists?”
The answer was Yes! each time.
Much distressed, Wesley was then ushered to the gates of Heaven.
There he asked the same question, and the answer was No!
“No?”
To this, Wesley asked, “Who then is inside?”
The answer came back, “There are only Christians here.” (1 Cor. 1:10-17)

Individuals, key individuals involved in the establishment or development of denominations, did not put their denominations first:
Martin Luther said, “I pray you leave my name alone. Do not call yourselves Lutherans, but Christians.” John Wesley said: “I wish the name Methodist might never be mentioned again, but lost in eternal oblivion.” Charles Spurgeon said, “I say of the Baptist name, let it perish, but let Christ’s own name last forever. I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be a Baptist living.”

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The point of all this is that our affiliation, our primary affiliation,
must not be to a particular denomination,
nor to a particular congregation,
our primary affiliation
must not be to a particular social group in a congregation,
nor to a particular committee or interest group in a congregation
Our primary affiliation must be to Christ.

The point of all this is that our interest, our primary interest,
must not be to being the one who comes out with the right answer,
nor to being the one who decides stuff - with or without a position
our primary interest
must not be to protect our way of doing things
nor our point of view.
Our primary interest must be the complete ministry of Jesus Christ in the world today.

Which makes concerns about whether the youth group goes in the parlour,
or who is allowed to cook in the kitchen
or who can paint a church hall
look rather petty.

Let’s, indeed, get our concerns and line them up.
Line them up with the concern for Christ’s ministry.
Indeed, lets line up our divisions and disputes.
Line them up and hold them up and look at them from the perspective of Christ
who lived and died and rose again.

And when we do so, we will be able to let go of some of our concerns entirely.

And when look at things from the perspective of Christ,
we will be able to talk to each other
and listen to each other
with respect and openness and appreciation
even when we have different points of view.

1 Cor 1:10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.