January 27, 2008

Lesson: 1 Corinthians 1.10-18

Sermon Title: Power

(Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)   (Back to Shultz Home Page)

INTRODUCTION:

One night, a hotel guest stepped into the hallway to go to the ice machine and accidentally locked himself out. The problem was he was in his underwear.

Knowing he had no choice, the guest went downstairs, across the lobby and up to the front desk. He asked for another key to his room.

The young lady looked at him and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but before I give you another key, I need to see some identification."

    1. Don't question the foolishness of this decision.

      1. He had the power of choice.

      2. He did not make a wise choice.

      3. There is nothing else to do.

      4. All his options have been reduced to this one.

      5. You have to admit that he felt rather foolish standing there in his underwear.

    2. The young lady exercised her power.

      1. She also made a rather foolish decision.

      2. She sees a man standing in front of her in his underwear.

      3. She asks for identification.

      4. What kind of identification do you think the foolish man might have on him.

  1. We have an example of the misuse of power.

(Top)  (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)   (Back to Shultz Home Page)

MAIN BODY

  1. The people in Corinth had the power.

    1. They had the power that comes from being faithful to the context where God has placed you.

      1. No matter where you are situated, there is power in that situation

      2. There is power for good and God, and power for ill and evil.

    2. They could use their power to assist and to heal.

    3. They could use their power to oppress and to aggravate.

  2. They chose to create factions that threatened to split the community and to bring disrepute on it.

    1. ...it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.

      1. What I mean is that each of you says,

      2. "I belong to Paul,"

      3. "I belong to Apollos,"

      4. "I belong to Cephas,"

      5. "I belong to Christ."

    2. Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

    3. Paul appeals for unity

      1. Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement

      2. That there be no divisions among you.

      3. That you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

  3. The question is always how?

    1. Unity depends on your point of view

      1. Astronaut Sultan Bin Salman al-Saud from Saudi Arabia, observes (1)

        1. The first day or so we all pointed to our countries.

        2. The third and fourth day we were pointing to our continents.

        3. By the fifth day we were aware of only one earth.

      2. There is only one earth.

        1. Why should we destroy it for the sake of country or continent.

        2. Only unity for the preservation of the planet will achieve its ecological salvation.

    2. Unity is the recognition of oneness of whole human family

      1. Nikos Kazantzakis describes his experience in returning to his native Crete. (2)

        1. As he walked along, an elderly woman passed by, carrying a basket of figs.

        2. "She halted and lifting the two or three fig leaves which covered the basket, she picked out two and presented them to me.

        3. "Do you know me, Old Lady," I asked.

        4. She glanced at me in amazement.

        5. "No, my boy. Do I have to know you in order to give you something? You are a human being, aren't you? so am I. Isn't that enough?"

      2. We are all related to one another.

        1. Isn't it time that the human family became very serious in seeking the means of reducing and eliminating ethnic and tribal strife.

        2. This is very important as we are made deeply aware of the ethnic and tribal strife that we hear and read about.

      3. I am not a pacifist, but neither am I a militant.

        1. I would seek peaceful means to resolve differences.

        2. There are times when it is necessary to use force.

        3. Sometimes people do not respond to other means.

    3. We recognize that divisions lead to dissolution.

      1. This was the point of Abraham Lincoln in a speech delivered to the Illinois Republican State Convention by Abraham Lincoln on June 17, 1858. (3)

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." (4) I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved--but I do not expect the house to fall--but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the best course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South."

      1. He was quoting part of Mark 3:22-25:

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons." And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

(Top)  (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)   (Back to Shultz Home Page)

  1. A house divided against itself cannot stand!

    1. How may we achieve unity of the house?

    2. Biblical principles that demonstrate way to unity.

      1. No one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common, (Acts 4:32).

      2. Do not be haughty.

      3. Associate with the lowly

      4. Do not claim to be wiser than you are, (Rom 12:16-17).

      5. Pursue what makes for peace

      6. and mutual upbuilding, (Rom 14:19).

      7. [Live] in accordance with Christ (Rom 15:5).

      8. [BE constrained by the] bond of peace, (Ephesians 4:3).

      9. Striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, (Phil 1:27).

      10. Have sympathy for one another

      11. Have love for one another

      12. Have a tender heart, 1 Peter 3:8).

  2. This kind of unity may not, for the whole human family, be possible.

    1. Henri Nouwen, in Mornings With Henri, wrote: (5)

"What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life. Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" We ask, "Can we sit at your right hand and your left hand in your kingdom?" (Matthew 20:21). ... We have been tempted to replace love with power."

    1. This kind of unity is possible in the Christian community of the Arena Congregational Church

      1. This is why Paul could write:

      2. For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. -- 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

        1. The power of Christ is in the power of the cross.

        2. The power of the cross is Christ's single-mindedness to fully associate with God for the salvation of the whole human family.

        3. It may be that only in Christ can there be this kind of unity, and that may be a presumptuous statement.

(Top)  (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)   (Back to Shultz Home Page)

CONCLUSION:

  1. The power of the cross is exemplified in the song, Onward Christian Soldiers.

    1. This is a militant hymn that is not as popular as it once was.

    2. It is still appropriate.

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war.
 With the cross of Jesus going on before;
 Christ the royal Master , leads against the foe;
Forward into battle, see his banners go,

Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
 Brothers (and Sisters), we are treading where the saints have trod.
 We are not divided, all one body we;
 One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

    1. Don't we wish it were true.

  1. The people in Corinth had the power.

    1. They could use their power to assist and to heal.

    2. They could use their power to oppress and to aggravate.

    3. They chose to create factions that threatened to split the community and to bring disrepute on it.

  2. We have the power.

    1. We may use our power to aggravate or oppress.

    2. We may use our power to assist and heal.

    3. We can use the power of the Holy Spirit to create community.

    4. We can use the power of the Holy Spirit to bring glory to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

    5. How do we use the power?

    6. Remember what has already been said about the biblical principles that demonstrate way to unity.

      1. No one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common, (Acts 4:32).

      2. Do not be haughty.

      3. Associate with the lowly

      4. Do not claim to be wiser than you are, (Rom 12:16-17).

      5. Pursue what makes for peace

      6. and mutual upbuilding, (Rom 14:19).

      7. [Live] in accordance with Christ (Rom 15:5).

      8. [BE constrained by the] bond of peace, (Ephesians 4:3).

      9. Striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, (Phil 1:27).

      10. Have sympathy for one another

      11. Have love for one another

      12. Have a tender heart, 1 Peter 3:8).

    7. These are vital principles that help us use the power wisely and well.

Amen.

1. Quoted in The Home Planet, ed. Kevin W. Kelley (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1988), 81.

2. Quoted by Cross, from his sermon, Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child, Bradenton, FL, 6.

3. Speech, Republican State convention, Springfield, IL [June 17, 1958]

4. See Mark 3:25

5. Henri Nouwen, in Mornings With Henri, quoted in Christianity Today, February 8, 1999, 72.

(Top)  (Back to Study Home Page)   (Back to Sermons for 2007-2008)
(Back to Sermons Home Page)   (Back to Shultz Home Page)