Sunday April 03, 2011

Sunday April 03, 2011

1 Corinthians 11 & 12

We are a Family United

In today’s reading, sermons could be preached on several different topics, such as the reverence of worship, the submission of equals, how to receive the Lord’s communion, using spiritual gifts and the order of ministries in the church. Today however, I will focus on the underlying issue of unity.

After reading through and considering the several topics, the notion that kept presenting itself was believers being unified for God. In chap 11, Paul first confronted the issue of poor worship practice. He noted the swing in attitude was causing a division in the church. In our own time, how often have we heard or seen a change in practice divide a congregation? Sometimes the division is necessary such as a church moving away from sound biblical principles but Paul dealt with a smaller issue that began causing a rift. His solution to the problem was to prompt the people to behave in a manner that was respectable to God and less of a distraction to other believers. This is a similar ideology used in chap 8 and 10, where Paul urged believers to avoid behaviors that would hinder another believer’s relationship with Christ.

Another unity problem Paul confronted was the Lord’s Supper not being conducted in an appropriate manner. After seeing people not only take the supper without considering what it represented but many wealthy followers gorged themselves early at the fellowship meal while others starved. Paul’s resolution was to remind believers about the purpose of the Lord’s Supper and to examine themselves to make sure they were worthy to receive it. In our own church, it is a regularity that our pastor first reminds us how the supper represents the sacrifice Jesus made for all sinners and secondly, we are asked to examine our relationships with Christ and others. As in Paul’s time, we are still held responsible for showing unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The final show of problems with unity comes in chap 12. This chapter is devoted to discussing the spiritual gifts God has given believers. Divisions were created in the Corinthian church as followers noted certain gifts to be more important or spiritual. In resolving this, Paul used the analogy of a human body to express the need for unity. He demonstrated that the church has many parts to it, like the body. Each part performs an essential task and is important to overall effectiveness of the body. We should remember that spiritual gifts come through the Holy Spirit and are used to lift up the church and draw others towards Christ. It is used to unify people for the glory God.