A few weeks ago in a
children’s message as we began this sermon series, I asked the children, “If
you had to tell something very important to someone else how would you do
it?” There was a variety of responses,
starting with the most obvious you would tell them by speaking to them. But
then I asked, “What if that person is far away, how then would you tell them
this message?” The children and I came up with a great list of ways to
communicate the information such as: calling them on the telephone, texting
them, emailing them, and of course writing them a letter; the means in which
Paul used to communicate with the church in Corinth. This little exercised showed us that there
were many different means in which we are able to tell people the good news of
Jesus Christ. But what if I rephrased
the question, what if the question was no longer about how we can tell others
about the gospel, what if it were not about means of communicating with people
at all but instead means of being in contact with God? How then would we answer the question? What
are the means in which we experience God, what are the means in which God’s
wisdom is revealed to us, what are the means by which we experience God’s
grace?
Why do I ask this?
I ask because this is the next logical question to ask if we continue to
follow Paul’s line of thinking in the beginning of 1 Corinthians, like we have
been doing over the past few weeks. How so?
Well let’s do a little recap of the argument that Paul has been
making. At the very beginning of chapter
1 Paul commends the people of Corinth for the ways in which they have shared
the gospel message and the ways in which
they have grown; but throughout this commendation Paul makes it abundantly
clear that everything that they were able to do was through the power of Jesus
Christ. In other words, all authority belongs to Christ, and everything that we
do in the church is a testament to the glory of God, not to our own power. This is key to our understanding of 1
Corinthians; the rest of Paul’s argument centers around an understanding that
all honor, power, and glory belongs to God.
Paul will later develop this point further by using the analogy of a
body for the church, stipulating that the head of the body is Christ.
We see that this understanding of the authority and power
of Christ is important for Paul to write to the Corinthians because there were
many divisions amongst the members of the church. There were divisions based
upon authority; some claimed authority based upon who they were baptized by,
For example some claimed Apollos, and others claimed Paul. Other divisions occurred in the church due to
a diversity of spiritual gifts; those who had a particular spiritual gift
believed that theirs was the most important, and that it warranted them having
more power and authority in the church. Other divisions in the church centered
around those with Jewish heritage and Gentiles, while still other divisions
occurred due to wealth and poverty. Paul once again reminds the Corinthians
that authority and power does not belong to any individual, but that it belongs
to God; that we were not baptized in the name of anyone other than Christ.
This moves Paul into the last part of the first chapter
that we talked about last week in which we see Paul starts to make a
differentiation between our power and God’s power; between our wisdom and God’s
wisdom. Paul acknowledges that there is
a wisdom of the world, that especially in those times power was derived from
those who were the greatest speakers, greatest debaters, those who were fluent
in the writings of Aristotle and Plato and many of the other classical
philosophers. Paul recognizes that there
is a understanding of power in the world that raises up an individual based
upon his knowledge, and based upon what signs of strength and wonder they have
performed. Paul labels these things as the wisdom of the world. Paul then
contrasts this wisdom of the world, with the wisdom of God. He says that to the
standards of the world, the wisdom of God seems foolish, where in reality, “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s
weakness is stronger than human strength.” For this reason we can all recognize the call
that God has given us, for most of us are not from noble birth, nor are many of
us rich, but Christ can use that which may seem foolish to the world as part of
his wisdom, the Holy Spirit can take that which seems weak to the world and
make it powerful.
And it is at this point in the argument that we find
ourselves this morning, now into chapter 2.
Paul has set up the wisdom of the world against that of the wisdom of
God, as these two vastly different things. Paul has then left us with the
notion we as members of the body of Christ are able to act in the wisdom and
the power of God. And so the question
must be asked how. If we are human, not God, which of course none of us are
God, then the power that we have is
power that we have is the power of this world, the wisdom that we have is the
wisdom of this world? How are we as humans supposed to obtain the wisdom of
God? By what means do we receive this
grace? Can we even obtain it at all?
Well, the last question is by far the easiest to answer;
Can we obtain the wisdom of God? Paul tells us flat out that the answer is yes.
“Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though
it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to
perish. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and
hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None
of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory.9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye
has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived,what God has
prepared for those who love him.” Yes we are able to obtain the wisdom of God;
it is not the wisdom of this age, or the wisdom of the rulers of this age, it
is the eternal wisdom of God. Paul makes it clear that we who love God, who
seek to be in relationship with God truly can receive this wisdom.
But how? How can we as mere mortals receive wisdom from
the Almighty God? The way that Paul
answers this question is one of the reasons I love this text so much; Paul’s
answer is very Trinitarian. We have already acknowledged that the head of the
Body of Christ is none other than Jesus Christ, and Paul refers to God the
father and the eternal nature of God’s
wisdom; but here in the second chapter of 1 Corinthians Paul stresses the
importance of the often neglected third person of the trinity; the Holy
Spirit. these things God has revealed to
us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of
God.11 For what human being
knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no
one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. 12 Now
we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God,
so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.” Paul
reminds us that humans are both mortal and spiritual creatures, and that
through the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to receive wisdom from God.
This Holy Spirit working within us is the way that we are able to be in
communion with God, as Paul says in another one of his letters, the letter to
the Romans, “When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it
is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we
are children of God.” In other words it is through the power of the Holy
Spirit that we are able to experience the grace of God.
The question still remains, how? If the Holy Spirit is working with me to
reveal God’s grace and wisdom to me, then shouldn’t I know it all? Shouldn’t
bask in the power and glory of God rather than falling into the darkness of my
day to day failures? If the Holy Spirit
connects us with God, then why do I still feel as though I am not wholly
connected? Paul tells us, “Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are
themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny. For who has known the mind of the
Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.” Paul once again tells us that we are able to have the
mind of Christ, but how? We know that it is through the power of the Holy
Spirit, but it certainly doesn’t seem as though we obtain it now. But Paul tells us that those who are
spiritual discern all things, and this discern is a critical word. We do not
obtain all things, we search all things. The Holy Spirit does not give us the
mind of God so that we ourselves may be like God; instead the Holy Spirit
connects us to God. The Holy Spirit helps us to follow God’s will, to love as
God loves. We have the mind of Christ not as our own mind, but we have the mind
of Christ because we are all members of the body, and Christ is the head that
leads us. The grace of God helps us to discern God’s will, and the love as God
loves.
And yet still we ask how? Yes we know it is through the
Holy Spirit, but what are ways in which we are able to receive this grace, what
are the means of grace? John Wesley described means of grace as, “outward
signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be
the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying,
or sanctifying grace.”[1]
Wesley says it pretty well, it is the channels in which God conveys to us
grace. For Wesley, the means of grace could be broken into two different
categories, “works of piety” and the “works of mercy”[2]
Works of mercy are exactly what they sound like. It is our joining in with
service to God and service to others.
Through works of mercy, these acts of service, we are able to receive
the grace of God. Now let me be clear,
it is not that these acts of service cause grace, it should not be viewed as an
action that produces the outcome of grace, if that were the case we would be
saving ourselves. Rather, it is through works of mercy that we open ourselves
to experiencing the grace of Christ in our lives. They are channels that we
know of in which it is possible for us to receive grace. Many people today are brought into the church
through participation in acts of service.
The act of helping someone else in need can stir something inside to
make a person realize there is something much greater at work. Cleaning a park,
planting new trees, or participating in a recycling program can allow us to
understand God’s love for all creation.
There are so many works of mercy available to us, and they are truly
amazing ways in which we are able to experience God’s grace.
We are able to experience this grace in other ways than
works of mercy as well; Wesley called these means of grace works of piety.
These are the actions that we do, both individually and communally, that are
more intentionally geared towards spiritual growth. We often call these spiritual disciplines,
and they include but are not limited to, public and private prayer, worship,
public and private reading of scripture, fasting, and the sacraments, which for
United Methodists is Baptism and Communion.
Just as the was the case with works of mercy, works of piety do not
produce grace, but they are channels in which we can experience it. They are almost like the tuner on the radio,
that you turn and turn and work at, that helps to bring a station in more
clearly.
Paul tells us here in chapter two, that though we are
humans, we are capable of obtaining the wisdom of God. We know that this is
through the power of the Holy Spirit, and John Wesley has helped us in our
understanding of how exactly we can best receive this wonderful grace. And yet
if we do nothing, how will we ever grow closer to God? If we are not out in service, if we are not
participating in worship, reading or Bibles, praying with God, receiving the
sacraments, how can we expect to experience God’s grace drawing us into a
deeper communion with Christ, with each other, and with all the company of
heaven? If we do nothing we are relying
on our own strength, our own wisdom, but I don’t know about you, but I’d rather
rely on the strength and wisdom of the Almighty. Paul’s message for us today,
is that if we want to grow as the body of Christ, we must grow closer to God,
and that this is not an impossible task because of the grace we receive through
the power of the Holy Spirits. A church that serves, a church that studies the
word, a church that prays, a church that partakes of the sacraments, that is a
church that grows, for that is a church growing closer to God.
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