Before we get started let's recognize and give thanks for all the Dads in the room, and all those represented in the room. Let's pray, Lord we give thanks for our Dads, those men who provided for us, taught us and loved on us. Though far from the perfect Father that you are God, these men have been a tremendous blessing in our lives. Please bless them in turn, in all the ways that matter! In Jesus' name!
(Calvin's dad comes up, sits with his feet stretched out on a chair & snores...)
Calvin: Good morning, Dad! Happy Father's Day! (Dad mumbles...) In appreciation of your service as Dad, today I embody the principles of your fatherly wisdom.
Dad: Calvin, what time is it? (looking at his phone) It’s five o'clock in the morning?!!
Calvin: Yes. “Early to bed, early to rise”, as you always say.... I was going to buy you a nice
present but “a penny saved is a penny earned”, as you always say..., so I'm now earning
6% on the money I didn't spend. Thanks to you, Dad, I'm a happier, wealthier person!
Dad: Wonderful. (getting up) Tell you what, let me take your picture. That'll be my gift, ok?
Here, have a seat. (Calvin sits as Dad uses his phone) Ok. Ready? Alright, give me
a nice big smile. (Calvin smiles) That’s good. Ok – one..., two..., three! (C grimaces)
Calvin: (as Dad makes fist and chases Calvin) My hair's getting messed up, Dad!
I was kind of a Calvin like son. I made sure my Dad paid his dues. As a result, I was also in danger of getting my hair messed up - which is less of a concern these days....
The message the apostle Paul writes in today's portion of his Corinthian letter, reflects his concern that his child, the church in Corinth, is letting their worship get a bit messed up. As he puts it: “Make sure that everything is done properly and in order.” (1 Corinthians 14:40)
Their messy, disorderly worship consisted of the gift of tongues causing confusion, too many speakers creating a spirit of competition, while others openly criticized their leaders causing division. So it is that Paul calls for peace and a return to orderly worship by making the following four points.
Point number One: “Use your gifts well to bless each other.” Paul's been repeating this theme throughout this three-chapter section. “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” he wrote back in chapter 12. (1 Corinthians 12:7) Now he applies that same point to the way they enter into worship with one another. The gifts aren't to be used to celebrate the individual but to celebrate the goodness and loving grace of God in Christ Jesus. They're to be used to bless...!
Paul puts it this way: “When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said – but everything that is done must strengthen all of you.” (1 Corinthians 14:26)
Two words leap off the page – “everything” and “all” of you!
Everything we do in worship in other words should have everyone in mind. The purpose is not to glorify the individual, but our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul lists some of the gifts in question. We have even more. We not only have singing and teaching, but the gifts of playing an instrument, public read-ing, serving through Altar Guild and fellowship, welcoming and ushering, serving communion and praying aloud together. Everything – all of this is to strengthen all of us!
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It's with this in mind that I've repeatedly urged us to keep politics out of our prayers, not just the one who gets up front to lead us into prayer, but all of us, so that everything we do serves to strengthen all of us! When we pray, we shouldn't pray as Republicans for Republicans, or Democrats for Demo-crats, or only for Israel or for only those in Gaza, but across the party line, because here we are neither Jew nor Gentile, male or female, slave or free, Republican or Democrat, we are the people of God and so our prayers, and everything we do, should be done to bless and strengthen all of us, all of the time!
Paul's second point is related to that: “Be considerate – let everyone contribute!” Paul spells this out by using the gift of tongues and that of speaking prophetically as examples. He writes: “No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they say... Likewise, only two or three people should prophesy... In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will be encouraged.” (1 Corinthians 14:27,29,31)
Those verses inspired a cartoon of a charismatic church in which a man grabs a mike and yells, “Confound it! Stop talking in tongues while I'm talking in tongues!”
It would seem that some in the Corinthian church weren't given others a chance to contribute to worship. Those with a louder voice or extroverted personality tend to be more visible and audible. Paul urges the church to let everyone contribute who want to contribute so everyone will be encouraged.
Once again, Paul emphasizes the needs of everyone over the one. Everyone should have a voice. Martin Luther saw the importance of that long ago and for this reason constructed worship that includes liturgy. Liturgy comes from a Latin word that means, “work of the people”. It's the parts of worship in which everyone speaks, chants or sings in unison. It's that part of worship in which everyone is given a chance to add their voice and their faith to the act and celebration of worship.
Our issue here, admittedly, is not that too many people are contributing, but not enough. We could use more ushers, readers, 8 am choir members and fellowship servers for example. Pray about it.
Paul's third point: Be respectful – don't let your opinions sacrifice the unity or sanctity of worship. That brings us to what has sadly become a sore point and gravely misunderstood text in Paul's letter. After reminding his siblings in Christ that “God is not a God of disorder but of peace”, (1 Cor. 14:33), Paul goes on to call for the silence of women during their worship services. When I read those verses aloud a moment ago I could feel a certain vibe ripple through the room.
What is Paul getting at here? It brings to mind a classic quote from the Princess Bride's Inigo Montoyo: “I don'ta think that-a means what you-a think it means!”
That is, Paul clearly can't be suggesting that all women are to always be silent during worship services. After all, it is clear from 11:5 that women prayed and prophesied in public worship and as we heard earlier, that women were also given spiritual gifts and encouraged to use them.
As Luther often said, in order to understand difficult texts, we must let scripture interpret scrip-ture. We must also keep in mind the context. In the Corinthian culture, women were not to confront men in public. Apparently, some of the women who'd become Christians thought that their Christian freedom Paul so often wrote about gave them the right to question the men in public worship. This was a further cause of division in the church. Paul was urging the women not to flaunt their Christian freedom during worship, especially at the expense of unity and the sanctity of worship.
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In other words, Paul's words here were intended to promote unity and to protect the sanctity, or holiness, of worship, not to teach about women's roles in the church. Again, the point he's trying to make, is that they should be respectful of one another, and not let their opinions cause division.
It's a good reminder for the church in America today. Opinions about style of worship and music cause friction and division, so much so that someone coined the phrase, “worship wars.” One cartoon features a man explaining to an unhappy looking person: “We have 3 worship services to choose from: 'Suits & Hymnals' at 8; 'Polos and PowerPoint' at 10; or 'Hoodies and Hallelujahs' at 12.”
It's important here, with two different styles of worship, that one group doesn't assume their preferred service is inherently better than the other. That might be your opinion, but to articulate that here or behind closed doors is offensive and divisive. Neither is better, they are simply different. Scripture doesn't dictate specifically the form of worship only the spirit or attitude in worship. Paul's points two and three make that clear: Be Considerate....and be Respectful...!
As Paul poignantly, and rhetorically asks, “Do you think God's word originated with you Corinthians?” (1 Corinthians 14:36) Or to rephrase that for our context: “Do you think worship thru God's Word originated with you Lutherans, or with the rest of you worshipping in Chimacum?”
Of course not! Christian worship originated at the source in Jerusalem, and then spread through Galilee, and then Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, changing and renewing with each culture, and each generation, none of which were better or worse than any other. Just as “there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, the same Spirit is the source of them all. (And even though) there are different kinds of (worship) services, we serve (and worship) the same Lord. (And even though) God works in different ways, (in different cultures), it is the same God who does His work in all of us!”
(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
So Use your gifts well to bless each other and be considerate and respectful of one another.
And Paul's fourth point? Seek orderly yet Spirit-filled worship! Sounds good, but what does that actually look like? We certainly have orderly worship. The service follows the same format and order every week. No one is speaking in tongues or interupting or grandstanding, right? It's orderly.
But what about Spirit filled? How much emotion is experienced or expressed here? How much do we allow what happens here to impact what we do during the week? How expressive are we?
We hoot and holler at ball games, cheer and applaud at concerts, but at worship, must of us keep our hands at our sides and our amens to ourselves. When I was in seminary, we had an African-Ameri-can pastor guest preach. He tried in vain to get us Lutherans to affirm statements that we agreed with, or felt moved by in his message, with an 'Amen'! At one point he asked, “Is anyone out there?!”
The only time anyone here ever claps is to celebrate a beautiful anthem. I saw a diagram with the title: 'How Churches Clap'. It noted that Nazarenes clap on the first beat, Methodists on the second beat, Baptists on the first and third beat, and Lutherans never clap - or should never clap.
There's a Christian cartoon that shows people raising their hands in praise and worship while one says to another: “I think hand raising is kinda like rabbit ears – better reception.”
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Worship is not limited to our emotions but it seems to me it should include them. If something moves us, we should feel free to give expression to that somehow. We don't want to succumb to emotionalism per se but we should be more free to let the Spirit stir us to sing a little louder, to raise our hands a little more often, to applaud when something is praiseworthy, and declare our amen, which is latin for, it is most certainly true, when something is proclaimed that we resonant with. Amen?
Let's use our gifts well to bless each other, seek always to be considerate and respectful of one another, pursuingorderly yet Spirit-filled worship, that God may be visibly glorified in our worship!
Let us “be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs together as we give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!”
(Ephesians 5:18-20)