Stepping through the Door, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Posted on March 28, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon delivered by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on March 27, 2022

Turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. Paul is writing to the church describing his intent to come and see them, but he has been delayed in leaving. Immediately preceding our text today, Paul reminds the church that what keeps him and his companions going in the face of hostile persecution. “The love of Christ urges us on because we are convinced that…he died for all so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.”

This is important for us to remember. Paul’s motivation for doing what he’s doing is because Christ’s love is urging him forward so that he can tell as many people as possible that Jesus died and was raised for all people. Paul wants people to experience the same life change he has experienced himself. Let’s now turn our attention to today’s reading beginning with verse 16.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.[1]

After a very emotional ten days, I drove my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter to the airport as they had to get back home to work. They also had to get back before this blizzard hit Boston. Time slowed down for me once I kissed them goodbye and started back home. It was Sunday morning and the streets were pretty clear but I drove slowly nonetheless. You see, I really did not want to go home but I must. I walked slowly from the car to the front door of the apartment and literally froze as I grabbed the door latch. My hand was shaking as I held the handle for about twenty to thirty seconds before I walked into our apartment all alone for the first time since Kelly’s death; as I stepped through the threshold, I was very conscious of stepping out of a wonderful past while heading into a very unknown and perhaps a very lonely future. It was one of those moments you do not forget as it gets etched into your memory. Walking through that door I realized my life was forever changed.

Beloved, this is what Paul is describing today in our text. He’s saying that when a person is pursued by the love of God and they turn to embrace Jesus, their life is never the same.  As Paul puts it, he or she becomes a new creation; it’s a funny word Paul uses for ‘creation.’ It’s the ancient root word for cosmos; in other words, a person’s entire universe, world, environment get a heavenly reboot and a new operating system is installed. Paul reminds us that our old life dies because of Jesus’ death on the Cross; through the Risen Christ, an entirely new life begins for us. Everything in our lives has changed as we step into a redeemed future; each of our lives will never be the same again.

At least they shouldn’t be. Frankly this is why Paul is writing the Corinthians. He’s reminding them that a relationship with Christ demands a life that is different from those that are, as Paul says, in the world. It’s a new life not because it’s some quid pro quo arrangement with God where we are made whole and are saved so therefore, we have to act in a certain way to continue being loved; on the contrary, our lives are so radically different because they are lives full of divine peace and joy.

Friends, our lives will change in at least three ways after we embrace Jesus. First, the way we see the world, others, God, and issues of injustice changes. The second thing that changes is our language and the way we speak of God, of others, of the world, and its injustices. Finally, our community changes because the virtues our old networks and groups value do not fulfill the same type of values our Christ-infused life embrace. Get embraced by Jesus and the way see, the way you speak, and the people you hang out change.[2]

It’s at this point we need to pause, sit back, close your eyes a moment, and take a breath. In the silence you experience as you retire to the back of your mind to ponder, I want each of us to reflect upon questions like these: Do I see others from a worldly point of view or through the eyes and understanding of God’s? Does my life outwardly demonstrate that I am a brand-new creation, that I have had a total system reboot, and live a light that reflects the healing love of the Lord? Then again, I need to ask if there’s really no difference in the tone and texture of my life after I have professed to follow Jesus? Can the people I encounter around the kitchen table, the board room table, the check-out line, or in the classroom even tell I am any different from the rest of the dog-eat-dog frenzy in the world? Does the way I speak about others, social issues, politics, or social justice change?

Paul is reminding us that Christ reconciled us to God. As such, our new life in Christ is one that has the specific ministry of sharing the unmerited love from God we received with others. This ministry we have been given is part and parcel of this change of ours as we step through the door to Jesus. He says that when we fall in line behind Jesus, we are sent out, not as apostles per se; rather, we are sent out as ambassadors of Christ in the world. For what it’s worth, the word for ambassador Paul uses in the original language is where we get the word presbyterian. Paul is calling us to literally be presbyterians in the world spreading a message of reconciliation. If love is the highest spiritual gift all Christ-followers are given, the delivery system to share that love is through the ministry of reconciliation. Reconciliation literally means ensuring that the books are in order, where all the debits and credits line up evenly. Balance is restored, not only in the accounting ledgers but more importantly in our relationship with God and those around us.

It means restoring balance and reconciliation with those we know and with those we don’t know. Restoring balance and reconciliation of not only individuals but of communities. Restoring balance and reconciliation with people we may not like very much as well as with people we feel a sense of hatred toward. Scholar Casey Thompson reminds us, “For once we have discerned Jesus to be the Savior of the world, we cannot limit our estimate of other human beings—the born or unborn, exploiters or murderers, terrorists or militarists, frauds or failures—as dwelling beyond his reach. We cannot see any person as anything other than a creature for whom Christ has died and risen, and thus as one meant also to become “a new creation.””[3]

Yesterday, the Session examined this incredible Confirmation class. One of the things we had them do was recite the Apostles Creed. When they were done, I asked a question that was not on their exam. Basically, I wanted to see how well they engaged in doing theology. So, I asked them, “Why did Jesus descend into hell?” Their answers were profound.

Jesus descended into hell because “He didn’t want to leave anyone out who may not have had a second chance.” Another replied, “Because he descended into hell, it reminds us that there is no place too dark and scary that God can’t go.” Wow. Just wow.

This is what Paul is talking about. Because God was/is/ and shall actively go to people as well as to the spiritually dark and scary places to reconcile the winners and losers, the pious and the misfits, the Republicans and the Democrats, as well as the Russians and the Ukrainians to both himself and to one another. God does this through Spirit in and through each one of us here.

Today, these young men and women have embraced Jesus just like you. Today they have been and are reconciled to God. Now, it’s their turn to be vital presbyterians, ambassadors, engaging in a ministry of reconciling others to God as they are. Their profession of faith is their stepping through the door leaving the past and walking into a new life and future; their lives will never be the same because their lives will never be the same.

Can people tell we have been reconciled to God? Can they experience in us that our lives are not the same? How effective of an ambassador am I?  Do we see and speak about God, people, or institutions differently than before we met Jesus? These are all relevant questions to ponder on this fifth Sunday of Lent. Let us pray. 

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] I read this by Rev. Dr. Alan J.  Roxburgh in a book that has been misplaced. I wish I could remember the book! He is the one who highlighted these changes in newly faithed people.

[3] Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide by David L. Bartlett,  Barbara Brown Bartlett .https://a.co/4NevUkz

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He Came Down and Then He Looked Up, Luke 6:17-26

Posted on February 14, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon preached by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min., on February 13, 2022

If you would rather listen to the service and sermon, please click here.

Growing up in north Georgia gave me ample opportunity to go ambling through the woods and mountains. Over the years I began to have a close affinity with the rugged Appalachians of Georgia, Tennessee, and western North Carolina. I particularly loved them when it was overcast or in the winter months when the tourists were gone, and all the leaves were stripped off the trees revealing the rugged landscape of the Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains were the places I would go to find myself and ponder life. In my early years, I left the Mother Church and wandered into Mother Nature. God felt so much larger than the walls of a sanctuary, and the dear Reverend who was pastor of the church I belonged to was a nice enough guy and all but he looked and acted as though he was cut straight from casting at Disney.  He was too polished, too perfect, and too strait-laced; my life at the time was a mess and I needed something more than a spit-and-polish pastor and a congregation who tried to outdo themselves in wearing their Sunday best. My heart was yearning for something more, something larger, something wilder.

The southern Appalachian Mountains and woods became to me a vast, great cathedral where an untamed and whimsical Spirit lived, taught, and played. The older I became, the more I discovered the Cherokee had a name for the Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge. It was there amid the upper elevations that the Cherokee believed the Great Spirit lived and they referred to the area as the Thundering Mountains. If you wanted to be stripped of yourself and come face to face with God, you wandered and spent time in the Thundering Mountains. It was the Great Cathedral of the Thundering Mountains that I encountered God who brought me back to the church and a larger vision of who and what a pastor should be.

In retrospect, I imagine that’s why I connected so well with Jesus.  He took off and headed into the wilderness and the mountains to get away from the people and to encounter a wild and whimsical God who had not been domesticated by all the religious leaders of the day. It was there his faith was forged through prayer and temptation as well as with solitude and discipline. Jesus knew, however, that as fulfilling the wilderness and the mountains could be, he would have to come back down “into the real world” and be about his work. This is where we pick up in the Story today. Jesus and the disciples have gone up a mountain and it’s during this respite he chose twelve of the men to be his apostles. Listen to what happens next beginning with Luke 6:17.

Luke 6:17-26

17 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
    for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you[a] on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now,
    for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
    for you will mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.[1]

He came down with them and looked up. Very unassuming words but are powerful in their explanation of who Jesus was and what he taught. Today’s scripture from Luke is often referred to as Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. In Matthew 5 through 7, it’s called The Sermon on the Mount. If you have not had a chance to compare these two sermons with their beatitudes, I strongly encourage you to do so. They are similar but they are way so different. Matthew has Jesus going up the mountain and sitting down and the people came to him. The image is of a Rabbi looking down over the multitudes and teaching as his voice flowed down the mountainside. In Luke, Jesus comes down from the mountain and wades into the midst of the people waiting for him.

In Matthew, the beatitudes are phrased in spiritual overtones like, “blessed are the poor in spirit” or “blessed are the gentle in spirit for they shall inherit the earth.” Luke’s version is more down-to-earth and raw. Luke doesn’t spiritualize the beatitudes like Matthew; no, Luke keeps it real and in the present tense. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, you shall laugh.” Gone are the generalities of Matthew where Jesus speaks non-specifically and says, “Blessed are the poor, the gentle, the peacemakers, the merciful.”  Luke contextualizes it and adds the second person plural “you” that causes it to become personal, real, and quite immediate.

In Matthew, the crowd is made up of his disciples.  In Luke, the crowd is composed of both his disciples as well as the looky-loos from around a sixty-mile radius who simply wanted to check Jesus out or be healed by him. Whereas in Matthew, we would say, “Jesus has just been a preaching!”, in Luke’s version, Jesus is moving in and out of the people healing them, ministering to them personally, and grounds his beatitudes to what he is doing right then. For Luke, the healing and compassion lavished on the people preclude any sermon that Jesus gives. The image we have is Jesus kneeling down in the midst of this sea of broken humanity healing someone and then the scripture says, “he looked up at his disciples and said.” Jesus is not talking generally about the poor, the hungry, the mournful, and the persecuted of the future; Jesus is telling his disciples, “Blessed are all these poor people, blessed be all these hungry people, blessed be all these emotionally torn up people, and blessed are these folks who are reviled by others.”

In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus seems to be comparing and contrasting Jewish law and tradition with how God really intended the Law and tradition to be interpreted and lived out. Luke, however, does something totally different. Luke goes on to add a list of woes to contrast his list of blessings. This is where Jesus goes from preaching to meddling. “Woe to you who are rich now…woe to you who are fat, full, and happy now…woe to you laughing now…woe to you when people speak well of you now.”

Now, let’s get this straight, Jesus’ rhetorical use of naming opposites with his blessings and woes is not celebrating poverty and neither is he saying to be rich is a bad thing in and of itself. What Jesus is saying is that the family of God includes the poor and the rich, the hungry and the sated, the grieving and the mirthful, and those of ill repute as well as though of high social standing. He is reminding you and me that those of us on the positive side of the equation have a responsibility to model Jesus’ habits and wade into the midst of the poor, the hungry, the broken, and the reviled and minister to them right outside our doors. Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain is to jolt you and me out of complacency and our own sense of self-satisfaction with our life. Jesus is challenging the ancient Jewish notion that those who experience ease and prosperity are that way because God approves of their life and blesses them; the Sermon on the Plain turns that notion on its head and demands that we followers of Jesus understand that God is a God of the underdog. God will always side, stand with, and care for the poor, the hungry, the broken, and the reviled. The whole point of the Sermon on the Plain is that we, sisters and brothers of the Church, are to do the exact same thing.

Jesus looks up at his disciple and provides them with blessings and woes. Another way to hear that is Jesus provides his disciples with blessings and ‘wake-ups’. Wake-up those of you who are rich. Wake-up those who are full and stuffed with food. Wake-up all of you who frolic in all the pleasures your good life provides you. Wake-up all of you who are self-satisfied in your fine reputations. Wake-up. Wake-up. Wake-up. Come on down from your Thundering Mountains and wake-up. All who have ears, let them hear. Amen.

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida and may not be altered, re-purposed, published or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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A Disciple’s Job Description and What to Do With It, Luke 5.1-11

Posted on February 9, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon delivered February 6, 2022, by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min.

(If you wish to watch and listen to the sermon, please click here.)

Our reading this morning is from Luke’s gospel, and we pick up early in the Story. Jesus has already struck out on his own in the region of Galilee and has been teaching, healing, and casting out evil spirits. He’s already begun raising the ire of his fellow Jews to the point the people in his hometown of Nazareth have already tried to throw him off a cliff for his Messianic assertions. We finally arrive in the Story when Jesus begins calling specific followers to be his disciples. As you listen, pay attention to what the three basic qualities of discipleship are and how those qualities enable us to see and respond to God’s presence. Listen to the Word of the Lord!

Luke 5:1-11

5.1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.[1]

Today marks the fifth Sunday in the season of Epiphany. The Christian calendar begins with the season of Advent, then Christmas, and then Epiphany. In other words, we intentionally move from preparing for the coming of God to welcoming the presence of God in the Christ child, and now, people are beginning to see and experience Jesus as the promised one of God. Epiphany is the time on the Christian calendar when we begin seeing Jesus as the manifestation of God among us and that’s exactly what happened in our text this morning.

Epiphanies are personal experiences that are presented to each of us that demand our personal response to them. You only know if you have experienced an epiphany or revelation of God’s presence after the fact. God provides both the environment for the epiphany to occur as well as the specific manifestation of the divine Presence. It’s up to the individual to recognize what has just happened because God doesn’t force Himself on anyone. With epiphanies, God leaves us a gift in plain sight but it’s up to each of us to be alert and aware to recognize them.

This morning, we find Jesus teaching from a boat. He asks Peter to put out into deep water and drop the nets. Jesus is setting the stage for an epiphany to occur for Peter but now it’s up to Peter. Peter and his companions have been up all-night fishing with no luck and now Jesus wants them to head back out. Peter and the others have had abysmal luck and they’re tired, but they’ll humor this itinerant Preacher. “Drop the nets here,” Jesus tells them. They begin hauling in so many fish that their boats begin sinking. The epiphany has been given by Jesus. What will the fisherman do with it?

On one hand, they could write the catch off as simply just good luck. They could have interpreted what just happened as a matter of fact: This Preacher is a pretty good fishing guide and wow, what a score!

On the other hand, they could have seen it as a glimpse of the extraordinary amid the mundane. This is what Peter did; this was Peter’s epiphany, and we don’t know if the others got it or not. The circumstances and events all wove themselves together for Simon Peter and he was able to see the manifestation of God in Jesus sitting in his boat. We are not sure the other fisherman, presumably James and John Zebedee, got it or not. All we know is that Peter experienced and claimed an epiphany. Jesus set the stage; Peter had to put all the pieces together and decide what to do with it.

Peter, the first called male disciple of Jesus, has already exhibited two out of the three qualifications of a disciple at this point that enabled him to “get” the epiphany presented.  The first thing Peter did, the first qualification of being a disciple was that he obeyed what Jesus asked. The encounter could have gone this way: Simon Peter put out to deep water and let down your nets. It’s at this point Peter could have very well answered, “Ya’ know, Jesus, that really just doesn’t work for me right now.” And as we have come to know Peter over the years, all we can do is utter, “Thank God, he chose wisely this time!” Peter obeyed what was asked of him. It was a crazy suggestion, but he went along with it when suddenly, God showed up and Peter saw it. This is where many people get to in accomplishing this first qualification of being a disciple. Jesus calls and people will say, “Okay.” But it’s the second qualification of discipleship many people fail at accomplishing.

The second quality a disciple demonstrates that enables him or her to fully grasp an epiphany is they openly confess to what they have seen. Jesus set the stage.  Peter obeyed and saw the epiphany. The next step is for Peter to confess what he has seen. Our Story says that when Peter saw the boats getting swamped with the huge haul of fish and Jesus sitting there watching, most likely with a little grin on his face, Peter confesses to Jesus that he sees what the epiphany is: It’s none other than the presence of God in his midst. The other fisherman experienced the catch, but Simon Peter is the only one who is recorded as having had the epiphany and that’s when he confesses, “Lord, please go away from me as I am a sinful man” he embraces the revelation.

It’s one thing to experience an event. It becomes an epiphany when we ascribe credit for what it is we are experiencing as that which is from the Lord. Peter obeyed. Peter confessed. Now, there is one more exhibition of discipleship that needs to occur for the epiphanic cycle to be complete. Peter followed Jesus.

Beloved, this is the one piece of a disciple’s job description that is ignored or omitted. We obey Jesus. We confess Jesus. Yet, it’s this following Jesus that’s hard to do. You see, if we are given an epiphany, we are expected to do something with it. What good would the catching of all those fish be and Peter’s realization of who Jesus is if it all remained on that boat? What if Simon didn’t tell a single soul about what he recognized and experienced? He was given a glimpse of the presence and gracious provision of God and now he’s responsible to do something with that.

Our Story says Peter and his business colleagues got back to shore and followed Jesus for the purpose of catching people alive as fishers of people. Peter was given the epiphany for a reason; Jesus asks him to do something with it. And Peter did and his business partners went along as well.

What are the epiphanies God has provided you, my friends? Can you remember God creating the environment for you to experience a revelation of the Divine Presence? Did you have this epiphany and confess to God what it was you experienced? But the most important question of all is, what did you do with the epiphany that was shared with you? Did you stay put where you were, or did you set out and follow where it would lead you? As we come to this Lord’s Table, let’s reflect upon these things and keep our eyes open for God’s presence! Amen.

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Strive for the Greater Gifts and I Will Show You a More Excellent Way!, 1 Corinthians,12:31-13:13

Posted on January 31, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

 A sermon delivered January 30, 2022 by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min.

Paul has a problem with the Corinthian Church. If the Corinthian Church was Presbyterian, it would probably have an Administrative Commission come in and take control of it because it was so unruly. Last week, we noted there were all types of divisions within the community. They were segregated by ethnicity, wealth, social status, and between slave owners and slaves themselves. Those who had higher social, economic, political clout got their way with how the church operated, where people sat worship, and when they could receive the Lord’s Supper. The church members even segregated themselves with assumptions about whose spiritual gifts were better and more important than other people’s gifts[1]. All of this is the impetus for Paul’s writing the letters to First Church Corinth.

This morning, our scripture reading is one that you have probably heard at weddings all the time but unfortunately do not hear the context for what it’s saying.  Well, today you’re going to get the context. As you listen to our scripture, I invite you to listen out for the issues of segregation by spiritual gifts and what Paul says is really most important. As I read our text, I am going to parenthetically add words in the reading that are not actually there in the original text but are understood as being there by the Corinthians when they heard the letter read[2]. You will be able to pick it up. Listen to the Word of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. 13.1 If I speak in the GIFT OF tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have THE GIFT prophetic powers, and THE GIFT TO understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have THE GIFT OF all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I HAVE THE GIFT OF BEING ABLE TO give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 THE SPIRITUAL GIFT OF Love never ends. But as for THE GIFT OF prophecy (ies), they will come to an end; as for THE SPIRITUAL GIFT OF SPEAKING IN tongues, they will cease; as for THE SPIRITUAL GIFT OF knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes I.E. WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three SPIRITUAL GIFTS; and the greatest of these GIFTS is love.[3]

Verses 1 through 3 outline what the Church felt were the more important and desirable spiritual gifts. For the Corinthians, the gift of speaking in tongues, i.e. an unintelligible form of prayer language, was the most important gift. This is followed by the prestige of the gift of prophecy, followed by the gift of faith, and finally the gift of giving things away and liberality.

In verses 4 through 7 Paul then inserts what love looks like. In the biblical paraphrase The Message, the late pastor/linguist/author Eugene Peterson describes love like this and writes:

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.[4]

It’s in chapter 13’s last paragraph Paul contextualizes love and ranks it as not just a feeling or attitude but is insisting it is the spiritual gift above all others. All the talk about looking in the mirror dimly and thinking like a child and then growing mature is Paul’s shorthand way of saying, “One day, when Jesus comes again, the only gifts that really matter are faith, hope, and love but the most vital, important gift for all members of the church to possess and share is the gift of love.” You see, there will not be any need for mysterious prayer language or the need for prophecies. We no longer will be searching and seeking knowledge because we will be in the presence of Knowledge itself. You see, God wants his beloved to have the same gift God has exhibited since the foundation of time itself: Love. When we meet Jesus one day, we will experience first-hand the most precious gift God gives his beloved: Love.

On this beautiful morning when iguanas rain from the trees,[5] I am aware that the English language has more words to describe the temperature than we do for the word ‘love.’ There is freezing, cold, cool, tepid, warm, hot, scalding. Love?  The only we have for love is just plain old love. The only way we differentiate between different types of love is the tone behind how we say it.

“I love you!”

“Hey, baby, I luuvvve you.”

“Hey man, I love ya’!”

The problem in our culture is that we use the same word for love to describe everything from gelato, our dog, a TV show, the weather, and football to our spouse or partner. The word is bantered about like a shuttlecock in a badminton match. In Paul’s time, there were over four different words to define love. Eros, or romantic passionate love. Storge which is the natural affection one has for something nice or pleasant like a sunset or a delicious meal. Phileo, which describes the affection between two close friends. Finally, there is agape. This word for love was not used often in ancient Greek literature but it is used over 300 times in the New Testament.[6] Do you wonder why?  I believe it’s because agape describes the very essence and character of Jesus, of God.

Agape love is intentional, sacrificial, difficult, and costs the giver something. It is totally other-focused and is often inconvenient to express. Agape love requires the lover to totally empty his or herself for the sake of another. You see, this is the depth of love Jesus demonstrated to you and me.

The whole upshot is this: When the Church, those rapscallion Corinthians of First Church Corinth as well as First Pres Fort Lauderdale, manifest the gift of love to one another and to the world, all forms of division and segregation cease; all of those doctrinal issues and arguments we think are so important don’t really matter at the end. The Church becomes the living essence of being Jesus in the world.

Friends, look around the room right now. You see the faces of people who have certain spiritual gifts among us. Some are great teachers. Others are great givers, while others have the spiritual gift of service or evangelism. No one’s gift is better than anyone else’s gift. They are all needed to make a unified demonstration of Jesus in our community.

Think of it this way: In order to graduate spiritual high school, a Christ-Follower needs to know and use his or her spiritual gift God has given them.  In order to graduate spiritual college, a follower of Jesus worships and serves in a community and live agapegetically! Ha! I just made up a new word! When we do that, we are working with God to show the community, show the world, a little of what heaven will is like. So, the question for each of us to ask this week is: Do I speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child, or do I see clearly and am a graduated adult in Christ?

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida and may not be altered, re-purposed, published or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] “Chapters 12 through 14 concern the presumed hierarchy of spiritual gifts within the community, gifts that lent status to some and second-class citizenship to others, thereby causing divisions.” See, Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: 1 (p. 217). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

[2] I have added these parenthetical words by making them all caps.  This is a text that is often read out of context at wedding. The insertion of these words reinserts the contextual background of spiritual gifts as opposed to looking at love as some sappy emotion.

[3] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. PLEASE NOTE: Words in parentheses are not in the original Greek text.

[4] The Message(MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson.

[5] https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/brrr-it-got-so-cold-in-florida-iguanas-fell-from-trees/2675477/?_osource=SocialFlowFB_MIBrand&fbclid=IwAR0FjxYJ89zZiU0wMTGuThoDOYHvWIX_cON3FcQkKsybugKJVT4GXTSjJRk

[6] Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: 1 (p. 216). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

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What is your charisma?, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Posted on January 24, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

Preached January 23, 2022, by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min. 

To better understand today’s text, we first must slide our fingers back a bit in this letter to the church in Corinth to chapter 11:17 where Paul writes, “But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear there are divisions among you.” From this point extending for three more chapters, Paul is outlining what it means to be the church, how the church is to worship, and how members of the church are to relate with each other and the world.

There was significant segregation in the Corinthian church on several levels. There was segregation between rich members and poor members, between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, between slave-owners and the slaves, between men and women. Right there in the first-century church, there were discriminatory practices based on sex, race and ethnicity, politics, economic and social status. I am glad that doesn’t happen in the church anymore! Oh, if that were only the case!

So, our reading today begins with 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. As you listen, see if you can pick up two primary themes Paul is unpacking. Listen to the Word of the Lord!

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.[1]

Did you pick out the two primary themes? The first is the radical inclusivity the church is to demonstrate. The second one is that the Church is a community of charisma!

The first theme Paul tugs out can be said either positively or negatively. The positive way is to describe the radical inclusivity of the Church. The negative way to describe the first theme is prejudicial exclusivity in the Church. Corinth was a melting pot of cultures and people back then. It was a hub for commerce as it linked the east with the west. It was both a major crossroads for shipping and for highways. Think, a melting pot. People from all over the known world were thrown together and as the common habit, like seeks like. It’s no different today really. The rich folk hangs together while the poor members huddle to see what resources they can collectively muster. Jews hung out with other Jews while the non-Jewish members of the church felt as though they were missing something because of their non-Jewish heritage. Men and women were often separated culturally but Jesus’ teaching was all about pulling people together. Slave-owners wanted to make sure their personal slaves remembered who the boss really was. Paul looked at all this from a distance and said, “Enough!”

First, Paul reminds them (reminds us) that all people who follow the Way of Jesus are baptized into one Spirit. Baptism is a form of adoption and when people follow Jesus, they are baptized into one family. The long-held divisions of Jew and Gentile are torn down. Men and women are now brothers and sisters and can worship together. Slave owners and slaves are all seen as equals. Resources are pooled together and the community cares for her own, both rich and poor alike.

Paul uses a metaphor that was often used in antiquity and that is of the body. Paul is unique however because he sets his description of the Body apart by calling it the Body of Christ where each member or part of the body is connected to something larger than itself.[2] Paul goes so far as to talk about those “inferior” parts of the body as being the most important parts of the body. Those inferior parts of the body are just as important as the more prevalent and non-descript parts of the body. You may be a genius and can speak with utter beauty and passion, but if your bladder is full, you are going to attend to one thing first, aren’t you? Just try telling a full bladder it’s not as important as the speech or presentation you are making and see how that well that works for you. Paul says it beautifully in verses 25 and 26 where he writes, “But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”

So, beloved, the Body of Christ has many parts; what part are you?

The second theme Paul pulls out is every member of the Body has a gift to be used for the others in the Body and for the ministry of Jesus. The word for ‘gift’ Paul uses is the same word we get our word ‘charism’ or ‘charisma.’  It’s also translated as ‘grace.’ He is telling the Corinthians that everyone in the church, male or female, slave or free, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, all have charisma! Every single person in the Church has a special gift and grace that is to be shared with others in the community and the Body of Christ.

A gift is used, or it’s left unwrapped and unopened. An unopened gift, an unused gift, demonstrates ingratitude to the gift giver and selfishness to other members of the Body and church family.  So, what’s your charisma? What is your gift? The challenge in many churches today is that people are not using their gifts. When this person doesn’t use her gift, it forces another person who really doesn’t have that gift to try to use it anyway. When you as members of the Body of Christ don’t use your gift, it means you and I have to use gifts and charisma we don’t have because you are failing to use yours. Folks, if you have charisma, it’s for the sake of God and others and not for you. Each of us has been gifted, blessed to be a gift, and a blessing to others. What is your gift, wrapped up and given by God through the Spirit to you? Are you using it or are you like a spoiled child in a play space and when asked to share, you reply, “No! It’s mine!”?

Friends, think about our lesson from Paul today. Can you see the implications of what he is saying? Do you see the ramifications and impact on others if we lived into what he asked? It would be this:

This Church, this Body of Christ, would be a change agent of grace in the world. The Church is called to be a radically inclusive community where there are no divisions based on race, ethnicity, politics, or economics. The Body of Christ is uniquely being set apart in the world to show the world that when everyone uses the charisma God gave them for the greater good, a community arises that sees no lines of division between business class and working class, between my understanding of Jesus and your understanding of Jesus, between black or white or yellow and brown, between straight people and gay people.  In essence, if the Church can figure it out – i.e., how to use everyone’s gifts, working to wrong injustice, caring, and respecting the most destitute person in her midst, then and only then can we expect Christ through the church to change the world. The Church becomes the living textbook for the world to see how people are to work together, care for one another, and honor one another. 

So, what part of the Body of Christ are you? What gift, what’s your charisma to be shared with others? Are you using it? Amen.

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] “The comparison of a human community to the physical body was certainly not original with Paul. The trope already enjoyed a long history in classical literature. However, Paul gave it a revolutionary new twist. Previously, the comparison had reinforced hierarchy, suggesting that the lowly workers, the drones, should obey and support their military, mercantile, and political leaders. Those at the bottom of the social ladder should stay put and be grateful for the guidance and protection of their natural superiors.”  David L. Bartlett; Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 1: Advent through Transfiguration. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

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