The Growing is up to God

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 (Matthew 5:21-37) Sixth Sunday After Epiphany February 16, 2014 Year A The Growing is up to God Digging a hole, but no planting A fellow stopped at a gas station and, after filling the tank on his car, he paid the bill and bought a soft drink. He stood by his car to drink his cola and he watched a couple of men working along the roadside. One man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on. The other man came along behind and filled in the hole. While one was digging a new hole, the other was about 25 feet behind filling in the old. The men worked right past the fellow with the soft drink and went on down the road. "I can’t stand this," said the man tossing the can in a trash container and heading down the road toward the men. “Hold on,” he said to the men. "Can you tell me what’s going on here with this digging?" "Well, we work for the government, " one of the men said. "But one of you is digging a hole and the other fills it up. You’re not accomplishing anything. Aren’t you wasting the People’s money?" "You don’t understand, mister," one of the men said, leaning on his shovel and wiping his brow. "Normally there’s three of us--me, Sam and Jesse. ”I dig the hole, Sam sticks in the tree and Jesse here puts the dirt back. Now, just because Sam’s sick, that don’t mean that Jesse and I can’t work." When it comes to the church of Jesus Christ, sometimes people do not think very much, either. People attend church, but they don’t get what church is all about, or they are blinded by assumptions. They just dig holes instead of planting trees. I think that is how a lot of us go to church. We go through all of the motions of being a Christian, but every Sunday that we come to church, we expect to go out the same way that we came. Nothing changes. We Have to grow We don’t realize that things are always changing. Everything that we do as Christians is intended to change us. Everything that we do is intended to help us to grow spiritually. Everything that we do should bring us closer to God, make us a better person, help us to have a better understanding of our purpose, and give us more power to do it. Explanation of Corinthians I have decided that we will hang out in the First book of Corinthians for a few weeks. Because Paul’s whole message is to encourage us to grow, and to constantly examine what it means to be a Christian. Now remember, last week Paul told us that there were two types of people in the world. There are spiritual people who are attuned to God, and there are physical people who think that this is all that there is. He encouraged us to strive to be spiritual persons. Flesh vs Spirit In chapter 3 this week Paul goes a little more in depth. In all of the teachings of Paul, he is obsessed with distinguishing life in the flesh and life in the spirit. We are all flesh – that what it means to be a human being. As long as we are alive, we are flesh. Jesus was flesh – that was the point that God put on flesh and showed us what it means to live a holy life. But Paul accuses the Corinthians of being obsessed with the fleshly life. But when Paul talks about life in the flesh – he doesn’t just mean life as a human. He means life as a human with no relationship with God. Who would you be and what would you be doing if you did not have a relationship with God. Living in the flesh while still in the spirit We may be very different people, doing very different things. It would be okay for us to hate people, to be resentful, to be destructive, to be disrespectful, to steal, to run red lights, to do whatever we wanted as long as there were no consequences to our actions. Paul expects that from others, but not from Christians. Even though we may have started with that fleshly nature, we should be growing and maturing in order to do different. Paul’s concern is that the same behavior that he would expect in the streets is present in the church. We separate ourselves, we disagree with one another, we have unresolved resentment, jealousy, an unwillingness to help one another, we learn all there is to know about God, and we still live in the flesh. All that is a sign of life in the flesh. Human nature – with no relationship with God. Are there Methodist in heaven? The story is told that John Wesley, a founder of Methodism, changed his view about church division after a dream in which he was first transported to the gates of Hell. He asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?” “Yes,” was the reply. “Any Roman Catholics?” “Yes.” “Any Congregationalists?” “Yes.” He hesitated, then said, “Not any Methodists, I hope!” To his dismay the answer was “Yes.” Suddenly in his dream he stood at the gate of Heaven. Once again he asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?” “No,” was the reply. “Any Roman Catholics?” “No.” “Any Congregationalists?” “No.” Then he asked the question which most interested him: “Are there any Methodists here?” He was shocked to receive the same stern reply, “No!” “Well then,” he asked in surprise, “please tell me who IS in Heaven?” “CHRISTIANS!” was the jubilant answer. From that dream Wesley determined that unity was essential to the church’s success in her mission. What are we to think of division? Some today agree with Wesley: division is one of our greatest sins. We must unify at any cost. Others believe any effort toward unity necessarily involves compromise; therefore we must avoid it. Jesus prayed for unity; yet he preached that we must leave even father and mother for his sake and the go I heard Hans Kung, a catholic scholar tell it like this. At the end of the world, someone asked God, if the Baptist get it right and make it to heaven, or the Catholics, or the Pentecostals. And God said no, because in the end there will be no Baptist, no Catholics, no Pentecostals, No Methodist. End the in – none of them will exist, because in the end all that there is is God – and those who made a point to get right with God. In order to get right with God, we have to grow, we have to learn more, we have to do more, we have to commit more. We have spend less time trying to judge the journey of others, and concentrate on our own walk with God. And reach out to help others on their positive journey. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 is one of my favorite verses. I used these verses are the guiding verses for my campus ministry at UIC. Paul says “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. I want to repeat that – I planted, Apollos watered but God gave the growth. The king james version of the bible says God gave the increase. We do all of the work, God gives the blessing. Without God’s blessing our work is in vain. We can plant trees, we can take care of them, but we cant make them grow. When we are obsessed with who gets credit for our work – we are living in the flesh. When we give God the credit – we are living in the spirit. We are excited about what we did – we are living in the flesh. When we are excited about what God has done, we are living in the Spirit. It is God’s ministry, not ours. But here is the good news for us. Paul planted, Apollos watered, God gave the increase. Paul, Apollos, God. The work of man is put on equal footing with the work of God. God needs Paul and Apollos and God needs you and me to do God’s work. If we do God’s work, we don’t need to be acknowledged, God will acknowledge us. what we don’t get from others, we get from God. Paul says “For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.” It is okay for us to work, to be faithful, to give with all of our heart – God gives the rest. We are to be planters, and to water the crop. That is good news to a declining church, a church who wonders if the next generation will take over, who struggles with who is going to join our church. None of that is our issue. God works harder than any of us. God has a bigger stake in the future than we do, God will be here much longer than any of us. All that we have to do is plant and water and let God do God’s work. 1854 Tam’s Partnership With God Young Stanley Tam had failed in his silver reclamation business—even though he had tithed since its beginning! “Why God?” he prayed as he drove homeward with numb disappointment. Then an inner voice from the Lord seemed to say, “You don’t need to fail; turn your business over to Me and let Me run it. Remember the promise. “My God shall supply. …” “ Finally, Tam replied: “Take it God and if you’ll make it succeed, I’ll honor you in every way I can.” He returned home and the business grew. Many months later, after he had married, he wrestled with his conscience once more and told his wife, “I feel God would have us take a bigger step of faith than tithing and make Him a senior partner in the business—50% of the stock belong to Him.” States Smelting and Refining Corp. of Lima, Ohio, was reorganized that way. Soon a new corporation, United States Plastic, was added to God’s partnership. Growth was so phenomenal that the IRS audited their books for 10 consecutive years. Dividends from God’s 51% were put into the Stanita Foundation which helps overseas missionaries mainly. As the business passed the multimillion dollar mark, God’s share was upped to 60% annually. Then one day the ultimate happened. Stan and Juanita Tam turned over the ownership of the entire business to God. They became just salaried employees. Since then, a new plant quadrupled its original size sprung up and the business continued to prosper. What would happen if we became employees of the church and not owners. What would happen if we stop worrying about giving our lives to God and realize that God has given his life to us? God has given us an awful lot of power and control. God has put a lot of trust into each one of us- to plant, to water, and to trust God for the increase. Let us pray……Amen. Children’s time Volunteers by Shirley Jennings Passage: 1 Corinthians 3:1-23 • Lectionary: Epiphany 6 Item 5 of 8 | Back to Results Children can help at church. Props: Bulletins. Volunteers at church are important people. They sing in the choir. They teach Sunday school. When someone needs a ride to church, a volunteer picks up that person. Is a volunteer paid a lot of money? Right: a volunteer isn't paid any money. A volunteer is someone who does things to help other people and doesn't expect to receive any money for helping. Are you ever a volunteer here at church? What are some ways that you can be a volunteer here on Sunday morning? What are these in my hand? (Let them answer.) We can hand out bulletins before church begins. We can pick up bulletins left in the pews when church is over. We can help wipe up punch spilled on the floor during the coffee/punch time after church. We can help a younger child get a drink at the water fountain. We can open the church door so a younger child can come in. I want to tell you a little rhyme about being a volunteer. Every Sunday morning I will try to be A helpful volunteer. Just watch me and you'll see. Now please listen while I say it by myself once more. Then we'll all say it together. God's Love Is For You, Shirley Jennings, CSS Publishing Co., Inc., 1984, 0-89536-689-4