January 23 2011    Reading:  1 Corinthians 1.1-17

Theme: The Church of God in Corinth.................

The painter Francesco d’Ollanda is not at all well known, he painted portraits in his studio in Rome in the 1540s. But he did keep a diary. In the diary, he tells us, he took a walk one quiet Sunday afternoon along the streets near his studio. It was a hot afternoon, and as he walked along one of the streets, he passed by an old church. It was no longer in use, so he stepped in through the doorway and into the coolness inside. The afternoon light was flooding in through the windows....... and as he looked round he noticed that there were two people, a man and a woman, deep in conversation at the front of the church. He recognised one of them right away - it was Michelangelo, the great painter of the Sistine Chapel, the great sculptor of the statue of King David - a huge man, with hands scarred after years of working with stone, now in his seventies. A man larger than life, and a law to himself, Michelangelo. He had once gone to see the pope, people said and had talked to him as you might talk to a grocer or a fishmonger........ anyway, here he was, in his seventies, talking to his friend and companion Vittoria Colonna, who had lost her husband many years before. Francesco d’Ollanda says he could hear what they were talking about - they were talking about art, of course, looking up at the old paintings and frescoes on the wall deep in conversation ........... and then, he says, after a moment’s quietness, the topic of conversation changed...... wearied, perhaps, of talking about outward things, paintings and frescoes, Michelangelo and Vittoria began talking about the Apostle Paul, deep in conversation, there in the Church, about salvation, and the life to come...............

This morning

we come to one of Paul’s letters.......... the first letter to the Church at Corinth......

which begins simply, Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus...............

Now, Michelangelo and his friend might have found great depths of thought, and life, as they discussed the apostle Paul,

But the apostle Paul has sometimes had a very poor press.........

usually by those who know little or nothing about his life, about what he writes, about the quite amazing depth and range of his Christian thinking, his wonderful devotion to the gospel, to Jesus Christ...............

Those words at the beginning of the letter to the Corinthians

are amazing.............

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus

Why are these words amazing ?

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus ? Because there is a great and wonderful story behind them....................

Well, just to remind you, Paul, or Saul as he was once known was once a man who was out to destroy the Church of God. Paul, was once known as a destroyer of the Church.............. .......... and believers were afraid of him. One day, he set out from Jerusalem on a journey, heading north.

Backed by the full power of the religious authorities in Jerusalem, Saul, as he then was known, carried official letters licensing him to look for Christian men and women in the city of Damascus, take them prisoner and ship them back to Jerusalem for trial. When we first meet Paul, or Saul as he then was, in the New Testament, he was out to destroy the Church.

But on the road to Damascus, just outside the city, the Risen Lord Jesus Christ met Saul, and instead of sweeping Saul from his horse, instead of taking away Saul’s life, to protect the Church in Damascus, instead of endng Saul’s days there and then, Jesus in His love and mercy met Saul opened up a new way of life. When Saul, met the Risen Jesus Christ he came to know the living power of the Gospel for himself - the living power of the Gospel. Which is this, that when sinners, meet Jesus Christ they find not judgment, but grace. When we guilty men or women meet Jesus Christ, we find, not condemnation but love, the wonderful love of God in Jesus Christ, shown at the Cross.

And that’s who Saul met that day, Jesus Christ. And it is absolutely abundantly clear - that Saul was a changed man, a sinner meeting Jesus Christ, saved.

So obviously, if even Saul, the destroyer of the Church, can find grace, and mercy through Jesus Christ, there is nobody, no situation, no place on earth, which is beyond the hope and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the grace and mercy of Jesus.

Now that same man who met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus all those years ago, writes to the Church at Corinth...........

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus !

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, he then continues.....

to the Church of God at Corinth............

And there are many very interesting things here for us...........over the next few verses that give us a fresh view of the Church, fresh eyes through which to see the Church, to glimpse, to think about the reality of the Church. For here Paul is writing about what the Church is........ to an ordinary, not very special congregation of men who were involved either in the shipping in the docks, or in trade associated with the harbour, women who worked in the town, or looked after their families there in Corinth. What is the Church ?

Well, to begin at the very beginning, it almost goes without saying, the Church is a gathering of men and women....... above all.

Most people, if they hear the word Church, think of a building. But in the New Testament, there is no mention of stained glass windows, pulpit, pews. Instead, in the New Testament, the Church first and foremost a gathering of men and women followers of Jesus Christ. They may meet in a side vestibule in the Temple, they may meet in a hired room in Jerusalem, they might meet in a hired lecture hall, but in the New Testament the Church is made up of men and women like ourselves, who know and follow Jesus Christ. That’s who Paul is talking about when he says....... to

the Church of God at Corinth............

But, second, the Church is a gathering of men and women who are sinners.........

Paul, once wrote another letter to his friend and helper Timothy. He mentions his early life before he met with Jesus Christ, ‘even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, writes Paul, - I was shown mercy.’ Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst but ........... I was shown mercy.....

That’s Paul speaking for himself, but it is the same for all the men and women in Corinth, and in every gathering of those who follow Jesus Christ........

the Church is a gathering of men and women who are sinners.........

Paul explains writes in another letter to the Church at Rome. ‘we human beings were alienated, we were far from God. All of us have sinned and we were far away from God’s presence.... But God has done something about this situation. Paul explains what the Cross means. What does it mean for us ? for you and me ? The New Testament declares that at the Cross, our sin our condemnation was laid on Jesus Christ. There, the Lamb of God, took the sin of the all the world, ours included, upon His own shoulders, the sin and guilt that weigh heavy on the conscience, that burdens our hearts was dealt with once and for all for. So that we might come through Jesus into God’s presence, and find peace, rest for our souls.

the Church is a gathering of men and women who are sinners......... but who know that at the Cross, Jesus Christ has taken their sin upon Himself.......

So, we can widen our understanding of the Church to say this:

the Church is a gathering of men and women who are sinners, but who stand in the radiant light of God’s grace. This is its reality.

We might think, as many do, that being a Christian is about trying to be good, upright.

But remember the words of the Lord Jesus. He says: I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners. The Church is a gathering of men and women who are sinners......... who hear the word of Jesus: I have come to call not the righteous but sinners...........and hear gladly because they know that that’s what they are. But who also know that at the Cross is all their life and healing and peace. ....

And so: the Church in its reality is a gathering of men and women who are sinners, but who stand in the radiant light of God’s grace.

that’s the Church of God at Corinth............

But lastly, there is something here that draws us up with a start, because if you read on beyond Paul’s opening words to the Church of God at Corinth, what you find is a surprise.

Because the Church of God at Corinth certainly doesn’t look like it......... the Church of God at Corinth right at the beginning of the letter, we learn has divided into groups. Those who liked Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ............ so very typical. They seem to be caught up, not in the glories of the gospel, or the treasures of Jesus Christ, but in rivalry with each other. That was the reality........ in the Church at Corinth

So, how amazing, Paul addresses these very same men and women, as ‘sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy’.

Is Paul mistaken ? There is rivalry and misrust in Corinth. So is Paul trying to make the best of a bad job by telling the congregation in Corinth that they are those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy. Is he being ironic ? tongue in cheek ? Is he perhaps trying to shame them into coming to their senses ?

No, none of these, when Paul says the Church of God in Corinth,

sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy’

This is what he means - the Church in Corinth is a gathering of men and women who are sinners......... sinners who know that at the Cross, Jesus Christ has taken their sin upon Himself....... Now, Paul declares, the Spirit of Jesus is working among them,

so that in amidst the old sinful life, the rivalries, a new life is unfolding............

to put it in other words, yes, there may be rivalries in Corinth, but more importantly God’s grace is at work among them. Not that the Corinthian church has earned God’s grace, no the absolute opposite...... they have done nothing to earn grace.....

As a congregation a gathering of men and women who were sinners......... sinners who knew that at the Cross, Jesus Christ had taken their sin upon Himself....... they were not perfect, by any means, but God, declares Paul, God is at work among them through His Spirit - to build them up, to strengthen and renew the Church of God there in Corinth, to deepen them in faith and life.

That’s what gives us hope ..........

As a Church we know we are a gathering of men and women who are sinners......... we know that at the Cross, Jesus Christ has taken our sin upon Himself.......

We know that there are many things we do which lack love, and grace, in the Church. But, despite this, God still pours out His grace on us - Paul says: we have been given every gift we need as the Church of God......... sorrow for our sin, joy in the Cross of Jesus Christ, weakness in ourselves, but strength in Jesus Christ, fresh resources in Jesus to love one another.........

And from now, until that day until our own hour comes - says Paul, our Lord Jesus Christ will keep you strong to the end - so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ............ .

AMEN.