JANUARY 14th, 2024 PASTOR DON PIEPER
The Corinthian Complex 1 Cor 1:1-9/Acts 18:1-18a
“YOU'RE INVITED!”
Imagine a letter arrives in the mail with no return address on it. There's an air of mystery about it. You wonder what's in it. Who sent it? Why me? Why now? So it was for six-year-old Calvin...
Calvin: Hey Hobbes, you got a letter. (handing me/Hobbes an addressed envelope)
Hobbes: A letter for me? I wonder who sent it? I wonder what it says? What might it be about?
Calvin: Well, open it and find out, you lunatic tiger!
Hobbes: Don't get huffy. Don't get huffy. I want to savor this....
Calvin: (pause) Well? Well? (Hobbes opens envelope to find another inside) What is it?
Hobbes: It looks like an invitation of some kind.
Calvin: There must be some mistake. Noone invites tigers! Who can afford the insurance?
Hobbes: Well somebody is inviting me – I have an invitation to prove it! (waving it in front of C)
Calvin: Yes, but from WHO? WHAT DOES IT SAY?! READ IT ALREADY, HAIRBALL!!
Hobbes: Call me names, will you? I'll read it when I'm good and ready. (Calvin loses it.....@*!)
Okay, now I'm ready. Ahem..... (clearing his throat) “Dear......”
Calvin: FASTER!!
Hobbes: “Hobbes” - I told you I've been invited! I wonder if they'll be any Tiger Tarts!
Calvin: Tiger Tarts? Oh brother.... (walking back to his seat) Never mind!
Today we open an ancient mysterious letter that also contains a timeless invitation: “God has invited you into a partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord!” (1 Corinthians 1:9) To better understand the nature of that invitation we need to revisit its original context.
Like Paul, Claudia and I made our way from Athens to Corinth during our sabbatical back in 2018. Conquered and leveled by the Romans in 146 BC, it was rebuilt by Julius Caesar and became the political and commercial center of Greece, more important than Athens. It's strategic location here, (map #1) at the center of a north-south and an east-west axis of highways, as well as being in the vicinity of four major seaports, guaranteed its military and economic importance in the vast Roman empire.
It's there that Paul sets up shop as a tentmaker alongside Aquilla and Priscilla, who are selling tents in Corinth because the Roman emperor Claudius booted the Jews out of Rome, an event validated by historical Roman sources. When Paul tries to convince the local Jews that Jesus is the promised messiah, they haul Paul in on charges of breaking the law, but the Roman proconsul, Galileo, rules in Paul's favor, providing him legal grounds for sharing his faith and enabling his extended stay in Greece
(map # 2)
Not only that, but the reference to Galileo is significant in another way as well. One of our stops during my sabbatical was in Delphi, an amazing ancient site located high on the bluff of a steep mountainside. It was there that nine fragments of stone were discovered in which there's an inscription naming Galileo as proconsul on the 26thacclamation of Emperor Claudius. From that inscription we learn that Galileo was only proconsul there in Corinth for one year, from July 1st, 51 AD until June, 52 AD.
By this we know that Paul arrived in Corinth in the Fall of 50 AD and left again in the spring of 52 AD. The naming of Galileo provides the most precise, non-biblical, historical source for dating the mission work of the apostle Paul. Galileo, by the way, was also the younger brother of Roman philosopher, Seneca, who wound up being chief advisor to Nero before and as Nero took the throne in 54 AD. Both brothers, incidentally, were forced to commit suicide in 65 AD...by neurotic Nero!
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There's also a bit of mystery. When Galileo released Paul, the crowd attacked their synagogue leader, Sosthenes. Scholars believe this to be the same Sosthenes who Paul identified as the co-author of his first letter to the Corinthian church: “This letter is from Paul, and from our brother, Sosthenes.” If so, that means that Paul successfully converted both the synagogue leader and his successor. (1 Corinthians 1:1)
In his brevity, Luke omits much. He reduces eighteen months of trail-blazing, church-planting, mission work to a mere eighteen verses, stating simply Paul identified Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews.
Yet clearly there's a lot going on in Acts 18. Two things particularly stand out. The first is Paul's declaration; the second is his vision. When the Jews rejected him, he declared, “Your blood is upon your own heads – I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:6)
This was a public statement. He was saying to those who'd rejected him and his gospel message that their salvation was not his responsibility. As Jesus had taught, he shook the dust from his clothes to say that he was moving on. They were on their own. He was also declaring that from that moment on, his time in Corinth would be spent seeking to reach the Gentile pagans, that is, the non-Jews.
Though, this was a public declaration, it has personal implications. As we stood in the ruins of ancient Corinth, we stood at the judgment seat, or Bema, where Galileo presided over Paul's case.
Nearby was a plaque quoting Paul's declaration. As I stood there I found myself being deeply moved. It was so powerful I had to sit down. I sensed God saying to me, because of what happened here..., the gospel was handed down until it came to you, Don - from Corinth, to Germany, to Illinois!
I sensed God saying to me: Just because someone rejects your witness, or your invitation to Alpha, don't give up. Shake it off..., and move on. Don't be afraid...and don't be silent!
“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, 'Don't be afraid! Speak out! Don't be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack or harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” (Acts 18:9-10)
This was Paul's vision; but it has timeless ramifications. Within it we find the Command, the Confidence and the Connection to do likewise. The command is clear: Don't be afraid! Speak out!
It's understandable that Paul would be afraid. He's been threatened and insulted, yet God tells him not to be afraid. It's the most common command in scripture, found some 366 times in the Bible...
Why so? Because fear has a way of disrupting faith, obstructing our ability to trust and obey God. All of us struggle with a certain instinctive fear. Ever since falling from a two-story slide on my head as a kid I've had a fear of falling. I was also attacked and bitten by dogs, and before that I was afraid of the dark. Now I'm afraid of falling, in the dark...on top of our dog...! Some have a fear of public speaking..., or sharing their faith...., or of the words, 'some assembly required'!
Jesus reminds Paul why Paul is there – to speak out, to share the gospel wherever he goes, regardless of the response: “No one will attack or harm you!” This promise is specifically for his time there in Corinth. Paul made reference later to it in his letters to them: 'We stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely on God, who raises the dead. For He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him.' (2 Corinthians 1:9-10)
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So where does this confidence Paul speaks of come from? It comes from a promise Jesus made: “For I am with you!” (Acts 18:10) It’s a promise repeated throughout scripture. Joseph had courage facing formidable odds and circumstances because, he knew, “The Lord was with Joseph!” (Genesis 39:2) Likewise, God tells Joshua as he takes over from Moses: “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!” (Joshua 1:9)
And to his disciples, past and present, Jesus says: “Go, therefore and make disciples of all peoples..., for lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age!” (Matthew 28:19-20)
This is the source of our confidence. If we do what Jesus calls us to do, to love our neighbor as our self, which is the great commandment, and to share our faith, which is the great commission, Jesus promises he will always be with us. When I was in seminary, I visited a friend of mine in the south side of Chicago. I was the only white guy but I wasn't afraid because Jim's nearly seven feet tall. I might've been in scary surroundings but I had the big guy by my side! So do you! There's none bigger!
He also offers us connection. Not coincidentally when Jesus told Paul he would be with him
Paul's friends, Silas and Timothy had arrived. Before that he'd made new friends in Aquilla & Priscilla.
Other connections followed, with Titius Justus, a next door neighbor, & with Crispus, the Jewish leader, along with his entire household, with Stephanus & family, Corinth's first converts, with Sosthenes, and Phoebe, Tertius, Erastus, Quartus, Chloe, Gaius, Fortunatus & Achaicus – all named in Paul's letters!
Paul was definitely NOT alone! Jesus was filling others with his Spirit and connecting them with Paul and with one another. That's why Christian community is so vital! This is the most profound and visible way Jesus assures us that he is with us. Paul was definitely NOT alone – and neither are you as you deepen your connections within the Body of Christ – Jesus' family hear beside you.
What's more, Jesus promises: “I am with you..., for many people in this city belong to me.” (Acts 18:10) He's saying that when you go about sharing your faith, in word and deed, he has already gone ahead of you to claim the people around you for himself. He does this by creating circumstances and moving his Spirit in people’s hearts in order to prepare the soil for you to plant seeds of the gospel.
In this way we partner with Jesus by his spirit: 'God's invited you to partnership with His Son, Jesus!' (1 Corinthians 1:9)
This verse was in Joanne's devotion the morning she was getting her hair cut, and while her new beautician, Kathy was working on her hair, she felt a nudge, so she prayed: “Lord if you want me to talk to Joanne about you, you're going to have to give me some kind of sign, because I don't want to do it.”
Kathy then said, “Joanne, someone at your church invited me to something called Alpha but I feel so conflicted.” Kathy took that as a sign. Joanne went on to tell her story; how her Dad took her with him to a Jewish service on Saturdays and then her Catholic mom would send her upstairs with a rosary to ask God to forgive her for going. She left home as soon as she could and began drinking...
She wound up in an AA meeting, referring to God as Ralph, out of defiance. She was probably the only Ralphist on the planet. Then one day, a man reeking of booze and vomit came in and blurted out: “Hi. My name is Ralph, and I'm an alcoholic”. Joanne started to cry, 'That's not my God!'
That's when Joanne invited Kathy to her home group and offered to go with her to Alpha. A few weeks later, Kathy and her husband opened their hearts there and accepted Jesus' invitation.
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Kathy came to realize that Jesus is for real. He's alive and offers to make his presence known to us, even to the point, as Paul points out in his opening to the Corinthians, that he makes us holy - not because the things we do or have done are particularly holy but because he is, and if he is with us, then he imparts his essence unto us. As Paul confidently proclaimed: “Jesus will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and has invited you into partnership with His Son, Jesus!”
(1 Corinthians 1:8-9)
So you see, my friends, “You have been called by God to be His own holy people, by means of your relationship with Jesus, just as he's done for all people everywhere who call on Jesus' name!”
(1 Corinthians 1:2)
So “Don't be afraid! Speak out!” Jesus says, “For I am with you & going out ahead of you!”
(Acts 18:9-10)