Transcript
(music)
GILLESPIE: To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in everyplace call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us worship God.
Let us pray. Let the good news come now, oh Lord, not only in word but in power. In the Holy Spirit and with full assurance through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. Listen for the word of God as it is read from the first letter of
Paul to the Corinthians. Chapter one, reading from the fourth verse. "I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus. For in every way you have been enriched in Him. In speech,
and knowledge of every kind. Just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end so that you may be
blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful. By him you were called into the fellowship of His son, Jesus Christ our Lord." This is the Word of the Lord.
CONGREGATION: Thanks be to God.
GILLESPIE: A few weeks ago or whenever it was I was last in this pulpit I read to you a letter from [Denise Rogers?] and everyone seemed to enjoy that so much that I thought I'd read you another letter.
CONGREGATION: Yeah. (inaudible)
GILLESPIE: Only this one is more sobering. It comes from what Presbyterians call an EP- an executive presbyter, that's our version of a DS, that's a Methodist district superintendent. It's a very polite letter, much more polite than I usually receive from such folks. "Dear Dr. Gillespie I am writing to you as a colleague in ministry to thank you and the seminary faculty for the
fine work that Princeton Theological Seminary does in preparing seminarians academically for the task of leadership in the church. I am also grateful for the varied continuing education and doctoral ministry programs which assist clergy to improve their skills in ministry. I do have one area of concern that I wish to share with you. I have served many years on minister relations, committee on ministry, and recently as
an executive presbyter. There has been a significant increase in the number of clergy facing termination of the pastoral relationship prematurely. I hear many complaints about pastors and never has it been about their theological understanding of the reform faith or their biblical knowledge. This attests to the good theological and biblical
foundation they are receiving from our seminaries. The complaints almost always focus on the pastor's lack of relational skills. Pastors are having difficulty dealing with criticism of their work with those who have an opposing view on leadership style. With conflict, especially when they sense it is centered on them.
And with both one on one relationships and group relationships. There seems to be a lack of knowledge about the politics of churches, especially smaller membership churches. If this trend continues we will have an increasing number of unemployed clergy." I would have to say that my experience in ministry over 29 years in two
major metropolitan Presbytery squares with this executive presbyter's assessment. I too have served on committees on ministry and have never found anyone in trouble because he or she lacked solid theological foundations. I wish I could say the opposite. But it usually has to do with an inability to relate to people and an inability to handle conflict. The problem, my friends, is that the conflict in our churches
is increasing rather than decreasing. You will be going forth, those of you who do go forth to serve as pastors, into congregations that are in deep conflict at a variety of levels over a variety of issues. And that's what makes the letter to the church at Corinth so exciting. It is a church in conflict. Of all the churches in the New Testament Corinth is most like the churches like today.
And there is a great, great lesson for us in seeing how Paul engages that congregation in conflict resolution. What I read to you this morning is usually called the opening thanksgiving of Paul's letters in which he always has something good to say about the church. It's also his way of telegraphing in advance what the issues of the letter, of the body of the letter,
will be. From my perspective, this one reads something like what we call a church information form, you know, Presbyterians have PIFs, that's personal information forms, and that's where you put forth your best foot and tell a pastor nominating committee in advance why they should interview you because you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. And the churches have what they call the CIFs, that's the church information form, in which they lie a lot and tell you
why you should be interested in serving that congregation. Now, if you read this passage as a church information form, I mean who wouldn't be attracted? I mean here is the congregation that is enriched in every way in Christ Jesus. Here is the congregation that knows how to speak in every conceivable way from theological sophistication to ecstatic tongues.
Here is a congregation that has all knowledge. A theologically literate congregation, praise be to God. These folks know what they're talking about and they're able to articulate it. They have been enriched in every way, they lack in no spiritual gift. And you flip over to chapter twelve in 1 Corinthians and you find out what all that is, there must have been healings in the church and miracles in the church. When this church gathered things happened, I mean this was
the place where it was happening. Who wouldn't want to go to Corinth? No one in their right mind. Because it isn't long before you find out that here's a church that is in deep conflict. There is partisan politics being played in Corinth. There are those who say, "I'm a Paul" and someone says, "Oh yeah, well I'm of Apollos", and then somebody says, "I'm a Peter," and of course there's always that one person who says,
"I am of Christ." There was pluralism the likes of which you and I wouldn't believe. Moral relativity. There were folks in Corinth who thought it was all right for a man to be sleeping with his father's wife. And then there were those in Corinth who thought that it is good for a man not even to touch a woman.
And so you had an attitude of spirituality which said it doesn't matter what I do in the flesh because after all that doesn't touch my spirit and there were those who were saying the body must be subdued in every way in order that the spirit may flower. Here were people who were engaged in struggles over religious pluralism. There were folks who said, "Why, I've been liberated by Christ! All things are lawful for me. I can go to the temples, I can
go to eat at the temples, I can go eat at the restaurants that were at the temples. It doesn't matter if this food has been offered to an idol or not, we know that there are no God but one." And others were saying, "Ooh, that's dangerous stuff. Don’t get too close to them idols." You read further in 1 Corinthians and you find that they couldn't even do the Lord’s Supper right.
They apparently had a potluck supper before dinner, they called it the Agape or the Love Feast and everybody actually came and had dinner and then this was followed by what we call the Lord’s Supper and Paul says some of those who were wealthy were coming and eating and drinking, and can you imagine, being loaded at the Lord’s Supper? And not waiting for the slaves to get off duty so they could come. Now you had a church in Corinth that was divided socially, read Wayne Meeks's book The First Urban Christians if you
want to know about the sociology of Corinth. We even had eschatological differences in Corinth. There were those who said, "There is no such thing as the resurrection of the dead." Wow. No such thing. Divided socially, morally, religiously, theologically, a church in conflict. I may empty this seminary by telling you that's the church you're going to.
That's the church you're going to. And friends, let me say, our EP is right. You've got to learn more at seminary than how to cause conflict. You've also got to learn how to deal with it. The conflict that's within you, the conflict that's within your class, the class that's
in the institution, the conflict that's in the church. So what's the good news? The good news is that Paul calls this a church of Jesus Christ. The good news is that Paul says God is faithful to such a church. The good news is that they are sanctified in Christ Jesus. That has to be an eschatological
hope, but it is. These folks in all of their conflict have been called to be saints. And if the folks in Corinth were saints, then so are we. And that is a testimony to the depth and the breadth
and the richness of God's grace. How great God is. In promise and in love. So now when the choir sings for us, when the saints go marching in, let's remember, the saints is us. And the saints are even those folks in ancient Corinth and they are those people
who are waiting for you. Out in the congregations that are in conflict. Let us pray. Thank you Lord God for the promise of grace. And help us to see more of it. Helps us to experience more of it. Help us to mediate more of it. Make us, those whom you have called to leadership in the church, make
us more a part of the solution than a part of the problem. Enable us to be ministers of your gospel and representatives of your spirit. That the churches may indeed be healed and more unified than presently. That we may be about your mission in the world with great energy and vigor and mutual
support. For we pray in Christ's name. Amen.
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GILLESPIE: And now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.