Of the Same Mind and Purpose
A Sermon by The Reverend Shearon Sykes Williams on The Third Sunday after the Epiphany, January 22, 2023.
“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…For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18.
Saint Paul knew a thing or two about human nature and he definitely knew that churches could become fraught with the same divisiveness that separates people from each other in the culture they are a part of each day. Paul went all over the first century Roman world planting church after church after church. And after he had moved on to the next one, he would write letters back to address issues that had arisen since he left. The church in Corinth was one of the most diverse churches that he planted. Corinth was a busy hub of east-west trade and it was the center of Roman imperial culture in Greece. Everyone was there, from the very wealthy to recently freed slaves. And every rung of the Roman social ladder was represented in the church. Paul was there for 18 months, along with a team of co-workers, Priscilla and her husband Aquila, Phoebe, Timothy and Silvanus. Together they organized a group of house churches that came together periodically as a larger church to celebrate the Eucharist and have fellowship with one another. They came together to proclaim Jesus’ death and resurrection and to be the Body of Christ, a new people, no longer separated by distinctions of class, wealth or education.
But people being people, and sin being sin, divisions started creeping in. Some reverted to treating each other according to their social rank. And there were disagreements among them. Paul isn’t exactly clear about what those divisions were, but factions were starting to form, and people were identifying themselves with the leaders of the various factions. There is a suggestion that there may have been some doctrinal differences between the groups. But Paul is not primarily concerned about right belief in this instance. He is concerned about right action. He has a laser focus on how people are treating one another. This whole passage could be summed up in two words: “Act right”. The wealthy business person and the low level worker are the same when they come to church. And they are meant to relate to others outside of church in the same way. They come together to be transformed and then to be agents of transformation in the culture. Why? Because, he says, “the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The cross of Jesus is the great equalizer. And when we follow Jesus, we claim God’s power and not our own. And that gets lived out through Christian ethics. Treating one another with kindness. Speaking the truth in love. Showing humility. Being gracious with one another. Holding our opinions lightly. There is so much wisdom in Paul’s exhortation to “act right” today. The social context was very different in first century Corinth, but the dynamics are timeless.
And this passage is a good reminder for us on the day we have our annual meeting. This is a day to take stock of our communal life. When we meet at 9:00 in the parish hall, we will look back on 2022, with all of its joys and challenges, and look forward to all that God has in store for us in 2023. We are extraordinarily blessed, exceptionally blessed here at Saint George’s. I thank God every day for each of you and the life we share together in Jesus’ name. We are remarkably free of division and discord and Paul’s words are a good reminder about how to keep it that way. We can’t take it for granted. We have to keep working at it. For the life of our church community and for the life of this world, which is so bitterly divided in a myriad of ways.
Saint George’s is a training ground for each of us. We come together first and foremost to worship, to claim the foolishness of the cross and the power of God. We also come together to learn how to become the beloved community. Treating one another with kindness. Speaking the truth in love. Showing humility. Being gracious with one another. Holding our opinions lightly. We are a diverse community is so many ways. And we want to celebrate our diversity while remaining one unified whole because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Saint George’s is a multi-faceted community. Some of us love worship support and are ushers or Altar Guild members. Some of us are passionate about our social justice or outreach ministries. Others really love small groups and are all about adult forum or our house churches or one of our affinity groups. Still others are committed to finance or buildings and grounds. Each of our ministries is important in and of themselves, and they also support and strengthen each other and help us to live out our mission of “Growing in God’s love to promote justice, healing and reconciliation.” Many ministries, one Saint George’s.
Today we will elect 6 new vestry members who will join 6 continuing vestry members who are all representative of the diversity and vitality of our church. The vestry works with me to make decisions affecting our life together at Saint George’s. One of the things that we will talk about during our vestry retreat this coming Friday and Saturday is group discernment. Discernment is prayer decision-making. Whenever we have a big decision to make, we will try to discern what God is calling us to do. We will pray, asking the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and then go around one by one, while each person says what they believe we are being led to do and what is best for our faith community as a whole. We are each asked to “speak the truth in love” and to hold our opinions lightly. And that is easier said than done! Each of us sometimes has strong opinions, and that is a good thing. We Saint Georgians are a passionate people. We ask God to help us voice our own thoughts and feelings clearly and then to listen, really listen to each person in the group very intentionally to hear them speak the truth as it has been revealed to them and to honor them as a fellow sibling in Christ. It requires humility and forbearance. It opens our hearts and minds to God and to one another. After each person speaks, we take a vote and then go forward as one, unified group to support the discernments we have made for the good of Saint George’s as a whole. Treating one another with kindness. Speaking the truth in love. Showing humility. Being gracious with one another. Holding our opinions lightly. Taking Saint Paul’s sage wisdom to heart.
“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…For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18