Rev. George Miller
1
Corinthians 7:25-40
“We
Live”
Jan 22, 2012
From
time to time, inquisitive people will ask me how I decide what to preach on
each Sunday. Does the denomination
dictate it or do I choose the scripture on my own?
More
often then not, my answer is “The Lectionary”, or as it’s officially known “The
Revised Common Lectionary.”
Simply
put, a group of religious leaders and scholars got together and created a cycle
of readings arranged in such a way that the major
themes of the Bible can be covered in 3 years.
So each
week there are anywhere from 4 to 6 suggested scriptures, from the Pentateuch,
the Prophets, the Poets, the Gospels and the Epistles.
The
Lectionary is helpful in keeping preachers on track, ensuring that
congregations get to hear the full sweep of the biblical narrative and allowing
a diversity of voices to be heard.
However,
as inclusive as the Lectionary tries to be, it still leaves a lot out.
For
example, today we heard this rather interesting piece from 1 Corinthians
7:25-40, but truth be told, the Lectionary only suggested we read verses 29-31.
“I
mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on,
let even those with wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as
though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not
rejoicing and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who
deal with the world as though they had no dealing with it. For the present form of this world is passing
away.”
Short
and lovely, not to mention good news for those men who have grown a little
weary of their maidens.
Yet, if
we had just read the 3 suggested verses we would have missed all this mish-mash
about virgins and impending crises, marriage and distress, anxiety and
uncontrollable desires.
Just
what, oh what, is really going on here? The only way to really know is to read what
goes on before verse 29 and what is said after verse 31.
But more about that later.
I find
it interesting to read this particular scripture during today’s political
climate.
The
topic of marriage has certainly been a hot button issue for years, hasn’t
it?
There’s
Focus on the Family, the Defense of Marriage Act, and now
Then
there are the recent accusations from Gingrich’s 2nd wife that he
tried to redraw the rules of his marriage while Romney is more then happy to
use his long-term marriage as a marketing tool.
Marriage
seems to be on the minds and newspapers and internet screens everywhere. And more often then not, what is used to
uphold the sanctity of marriage? The Bible.
Yet,
listen to the words of Paul: “Stay single.
Unmarried men want to please the Lord; married men want to please their
wives.”
Further,
he writes “He who marries his fiancée does well; and he who refrains from
marriage will do better.”
Holy
Sacred Cow! It’s as if Paul is
anti-marriage.
Notice
what is not said here: there is nothing about marriage being between one man and
one woman or that marriage is for procreation’s sake.
Instead,
Paul is saying “If you don’t have to get married, don’t; but if you can’t
control your urges, go ahead.”
Imagine
that as a campaign slogan. Could any candidate win with that mandate?
Sheer foolishness.
So
what’s going on here? Why would Paul write
a letter to a church in which he tries to discourage people from entering into holy
matrimony?
It’s
more then meets the eye. To understand
Paul’s logic, we have to understand the situation during which Paul is writing.
You
see, Paul is living during a time in which he and many others literally believe
the world is going to end soon.
He believes
that Jesus Christ is going to come back in his lifetime. That the
And
it’s hard to fault Paul for this idea. After
all, this notion of the soon-to-be-end- times appears throughout the
scriptures.
For
example, in Mark chapter 13 we have Jesus himself being quoted as saying that
the current generation will not pass away until the Son of God comes to gather
his elect.
So
Paul, as many others, was waiting and alert for the day when the sun would be
darkened, the stars would fall from the sky and Jesus would swoop in surfing on
the clouds.
So, if
this is what Paul believes, it would make sense that he would advocate for
things to not be radically changed.
To get
married right before the world ends would be the equivalent of falling in love
before going to college, becoming engaged before leaving for war, and getting
pregnant in the midst of a recession.
If the
world is going to end, if the stars are soon going to fall, what sense does it
make to fall in love, what sense would it make to get married, what sense would
it make to bring children in the world only to experience moonless nights?
Paul’s
rationale makes sense, but the thing is this: 2,000 years later, we are still
here.
The sun
still shines, the moon still lights the night and the stars still twinkle in
the sky.
We live.
Yes,
there are burdens; yes, there are trials and temptations, but we live.
I’ve
been thinking lately about how some people talk about the way things used to
be; about the golden age of
But I
wonder: have things ever really been golden; has life ever really been that
easy?
Has
there ever been a decade free from fear and rally cries about it being the
end-times?
In the
30’s it was the Depression. In the 40’s World War II.
In the 50’s people built bomb shelters and school children hid under
their desks.
Was
that the golden age?
The
60’s saw
In the
90’s we had Bush if you were a democrat; Clinton if you were a Republican.
Let’s
not forget 9/11. 2
wars. The Recession,
upcoming election, and the domination of Kim Kardashion.
Yet we
are still here; and we live.
In the
midst of worries, in the midst of fears, in the midst of media manipulation, we
live.
We live
our lives the best that we can.
We
wake, we cook, we work, we dream. We
continue to make friends, fall in love, make love and make plans for the
future.
We do
this with the knowledge that there is no certainty, with no assurance of what
the future brings, with no idea of what lays beyond the river’s bend.
But as
Christians, we live in a way that is different then the wisdom of the world.
We foolishly
live with hope.
Hope
that we know who holds the future. Hope
that one day we will all be free.
Hope
that the
That we
don’t have to wait for falling skies or Christ scooting in on puffy clouds, but
that we can experience and share the gifts of heaven today.
How can
we do that? One way is by doing just
what we are doing now; by worshipping God.
Not
alone, or is separate corners of our world, but worshipping together in this
safe space, in this holy time.
What a
powerful way to show God our trust by joining together, to collectively offer
our prayers, our sweet sounding songs and the tributes we bring.
We also
live by forms of fellowship. The time we
spend together, be it at a table, in the park or at the golf course.
Sharing
of ourselves through stories and conversation, the jokes we tell, the tears we
shed.
The
intimate details told over a game of cards, the welcoming of 400 people to
homemade spaghetti, and the visit to a hospital room.
Two
marks that a Christian community isn’t afraid to live are worship and
fellowship. A third can be acts of
compassion.
Compassion;
the act of emulating Christ by thinking beyond one’s self and one’s situation
to reach out to another.
Compassion:
the ability to be present in empathy and to say “No matter who you are or what
you are going through, I am here for you.”
Compassion:
the way to physically show the presence and love of Christ to a world that
seems to be holding its breath in uncertainty.
Yes, we
live.
As Christians, we live.
As the Body of Christ, we live.
Not
because we are in denial of the world’s issues, not because we don’t believe
there are dark valleys everywhere, but because
we know that in Christ we are given the gifts and the ability to make our lives
more then what the world’s wisdom wants to say.
In
conclusion, we know that as Christians, our ability to worship, to fellowship
and to show compassion gives us the strength to love, to live, to rise above
our fears and to believe in another day.
Who
knows when the appointed time will be; but at least we know that when the
journeys of the sun and the moon comes to an end, we’ll be in the hands of God,
filled with the Spirit, and Jesus Christ shall reign forever, with no end.
For
that, we can say “Amen” and “amen.”