We are God's Coworkers - repreach 2/14

February 16, 2020 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Year A Sixth Sunday of Epiphany We are God’s Coworkers Children’s Sermon Object: A pile of bricks Lesson: Do you not know that you are God's temple. Good morning, boys and girls. How is everyone today? (Let them respond.) I'll bet you are wondering why I have this pile of bricks here! When I read Paul's letter for today, it made me think of brick and stone and all the things we do with them. What are bricks used for? (Let them answer.) Good. We use bricks to build all sorts of things, don't we? Fireplaces, houses, all kind of buildings, like libraries and banks and churches. Do you think that bricks are good things to use for a building, boys and girls? (Let them answer.) That's right. They are usually very strong. A house or building made with bricks would probably last a long time. Do you remember the old story about the three little pigs? (Let them respond.) Each one of them decided to build a house. Do you remember what the first pig used to build his house? (Let them answer.) That's right. One of them used straw. What happened to that pig's house? (Let them answer.) The wolf came and blew it all down. The second pig built his house with sticks. What happened to his house? (Let them answer.) That's right. The wolf came and huffed and puffed and the house fell apart! But the third little pig was smart. What did he use to build his house? (Let them answer.) Right! He used bricks, just like these. (Point to bricks.) And his house turned out to be safe and strong. Today we will hear Paul say that you and I are like the bricks that make up "God's building," the church. In fact, he says we are God's church! That means that we have to be very strong and sturdy parts of the building, don't we boys and girls? (Let them respond.) We can't be like straw that will blow away when the winds blow, or like sand that will crumble when a storm comes. We have to be like one of these bricks. How can we be good bricks in this church, boys and girls? (Let them answer.) That's right -- by coming to our worship service, listening very hard to God's word and to the sermon. We should also pay good attention to our Sunday school teachers and to our parents. Then we will be good, strong bricks for God's church. Will you try to do that, boys and girls? (Let them respond.) Good. God bless you. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, WE ARE THE CHURCH, by Wesley T. Runk Stewardship Moment There was a church who had a big building project, and have a campaign to raise the money to make it happen. After the project, the finance committee met to decide how to acknowledge those who gave. One person felt that each person who gave should be named on a placque. Another person made the comment that they ran the risk of forgetting someone, so names should not be used. This debate went back and forth. Until another person decided that instead of naming names, that they should just say thank you to all who donated. Another thought that people should be named in the order of the amount of money that they gave. Finally, one woman who had not said anything in the meeting, reminded everyone that God was the one who gave all of the gifts. God invites each of us to participate. But it is all a gift from God to be able to give and to help. They decided that the placque would be in honor of the blessings of God. It is a privilege to work right along side of God and to give. Scripture 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Common English Bible (CEB) Wisdom applied to divisions in the church 3 Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t talk to you like spiritual people but like unspiritual people, like babies in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink instead of solid food, because you weren’t up to it yet. 3 Now you are still not up to it because you are still unspiritual. When jealousy and fighting exist between you, aren’t you unspiritual and living by human standards? 4 When someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and someone else says, “I belong to Apollos,” aren’t you acting like people without the Spirit? 5 After all, what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants who helped you to believe. Each one had a role given to them by the Lord: 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow. 7 Because of this, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but the only one who is anything is God who makes it grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together, but each one will receive their own reward for their own labor. 9 We are God’s coworkers, and you are God’s field, God’s building. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Sermon 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 Paul’s message is to encourage us to grow, and to constantly examine what it means to be a Christian. Paul tells 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. We should be able to make that move from being ordinary to extraordinary. 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 When I was in seminary, I was fortunate to attend some lectures of the World Parliament of Religions. They are coming again this year to Chicago. At one event, 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. I think that is the greatest lesson of this text, that when we work in God’s church and fulfill God’s mission – we get to work with God as co creaters. 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. The Greek word used for cocreater is synergoi – that is the same root word for synergy. – working together. We are all different people, with different gifts, but when we work together in unity we work with God. Paul’s message to us is that you can tell the quality of a person’s relationship with God, with how they work with other people. Believe and Behave There is a church in Columbia, SC near a seminary which has one of those bulletin boards out front to list service times, special events, sermon subjects, and so on. For several years there was one other thing on that bulletin board, one of those little "sentence sermons" that we see so often. It said, "The same Bible that says BELIEVE also says BEHAVE." I do not know if there were any significance to the fact that it was located so near to all the seminary students; perhaps someone figured they would need it more than anyone. At any rate, it was there, and for a LONG time: "The same Bible that says BELIEVE also says BEHAVE." David E. Leininger, Make it Right! Our primary purpose is walk in God’s ways. Walk in God’s ways together. We are truly blessed – because we are the people who are called to walk with others who have chosen to walk in God’s way – be part of the church – those who make a difference because we are walk in the presence of God. Let us pray in thanks…….. Let us pray……Amen. Additional Illustrations….. Christians under Construction People print all sorts of things on T-shirts, from advertisements to obscenities to affirmations of faith. One fellow was seen wearing a T-shirt with the words, "Christian Under Construction," printed on it. We can all appreciate what he meant by that. We can talk about the difference faith in Christ is supposed to make in our lives and about how it is supposed to work and even about the samples of the new life in Christ that we have already experienced. But, most of us know that we are not yet what God wants us to be. At our best, we are Christians under construction. And, that is all right. That is a good way to be. The changes that God will make in our lives don't happen all at once. It is a good thing to know that we are in the process of becoming what God wants to make us and to participate in that process very intentionally and joyfully. In our scripture lesson for today, Paul reckons with the fact that the Christians at Corinth, to whom he is writing, are still Christians under construction. He has been talking about new life in the Spirit and about the Spirit interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. Then he comes down to earth and says, "But, you folks obviously aren't there yet. If you were, you wouldn't be arguing about petty little things like which pastor you like best." He says, "I could not talk to you as spiritual people. I must speak to you as people who are still in the flesh, as infants in Christ." Paul seems impatient at this and disappointed in the Corinthians. But eventually Paul came to understand that this is just part of the process, something that has to be worked with. James L. Killen, Jr., From Expectancy to Remembrance, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. You Are Promise If you say, "She is grace," you tell others more about a dancer or gymnast than if you say, "She is graceful" or "She has grace." If she is grace, she takes on all the properties of gracefulness; you will not know how grace looks or is supposed to look until you watch her in action. Similarly, the phrase, "He is courage" tells us that an athlete or a soldier shows all the qualities that go with heroism. These phrases are rarely used because we do not find many people who live up to them. "You are promise." People should feel free to use this phrase more liberally. In some sense or other, it ought to apply to virtually all humans. I would say everyone is promise, but that might be too literal. Does someone who is "hopelessly retarded" or in a coma near death embody or represent promise? On the basis of reports of what severely handicapped and dying people have done to expand the lives of others, it might be wiser to reserve judgment. In the meantime, it seems worthwhile to use the equation sign and say that "to be human = to be promise." Martin E. Marty, You Are Promise (Allen, Texas: Argus Communications, 1973), pp. 16, 18. Copyright 1973 by Tabor Publishing, 25115 Avenue Stanford, Valencia, California 91355.