SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 2:1-13
TEXT:2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.6“For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. THEME: Living inspired lives with the mind of Christ. INTRODUCTION There are two great lines in the scripture reading for today, the first is in the beginning with Paul preaching nothing but ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’ and the second is at the very end stating that ‘we are having the mind of Christ’. SCRIPTURE When Paul brought the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Corinth, he spoke plainly about Jesus, the champion of God, the Christ, who was crucified. No compelling theological argument, no creative storytelling, no feats of strength, or fanfare, just the plain truth about Jesus being stranger than fiction. Jesus Christ and him crucified. That in itself is a loaded statement. Jesus being the Christ. What kind of champion of God would be crucified? Doesn’t this spell defeat? But Paul, by his action and tenacity, turned persecutor of the church to evangelist. His life speaks volumes. Jesus Christ speaks volumes, Him crucified is a mini-series. There is so much more to the story. The Holy Spirit takes over. After hearing, moving in the hearts of the hearer, with more than human wisdom, the Spirit questions, prods, weaves and reveals. The beginning part of verse 10 says, “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.” The end result is a miracle in itself, as we have the mind of Christ. I remember when I was writing my ordination paper for the Kauai Association, and in it I talked about feeling a sense of call to become a minister. My Mother asked why I thought I was called. I have stories of how God worked things out in my life. There were experiences of answered prayers. There were scriptures that have guided my life in different times. I felt that God wanted me to be a pastor. How can any of us presume to know the will of God, the mind of Christ, or the heart of God? As arrogant as it is to think that we can know what God’s will is, we can for the simple fact that God chooses to reveal God’s will to us. If we see, listen, feel and are open to the Spirit framing of things for us, we can have the mind of Christ in what to do, or what God wants to accomplish. And others are able to confirm what they see in us by the way we act, the things that we do and the things that we say. When we know the mind of Christ, then we are participants in God’s mission. APPLICATION The Wisdom of God helps us to understand the mind of Christ. How do the gifts of the Spirit help us live according to the will of God? Christ crucified and the mind of Christ sparks a transformation in our lives and in how we live. Sometimes the Holy Spirit gives us an inclination, a thought, an insight or an urge to go one way or another. A wind surfer always went left at the beach, but one day he felt he should go right. He just had an urge. When he got out, there was a downed wind surfer with a broken mass. He was able to rescue this stranded surfer by giving in to that feeling. Sometimes the Holy Spirit prods us to think about what we believe. Rapture theology never quite set right with me. It seems more about self-preservation motivated by fear or a way to escape suffering. Christ’s loving example is about coming to us, to help others as he embraces suffering on the cross for our transformation. I held these opposing views until I heard a podcast of Barbara Rossing at Trinity Church in New York. She said, that if the Raptured occurred as portrayed in the “Left Behind” movies that she would want to be left behind to help those who remained, to heal and help them, to tell them about Jesus and God and give them hope in the love God has for them in this time of chaos. This fell in line with the Good News of Jesus’ love that I felt, more than the fearful escapism of rapture theology. I’ve been reading about sacrifices in the Old Testament. A sacrifice is not a bribe or a payment but is an act of devotion or gratitude directed towards God. Sometimes to express remorse or an acknowledgment of God’s greatness. When we load all of our sins on Jesus, as a sacrificial scapegoat, we negate the need for grace and purchase forgiveness from God. I didn’t like the judgmental, condescending, self-righteous attitude that TV evangelist projected. There was an air of superiority and success that were supported by our generous donations that solicited God’s favor towards us. Their argumentative style always made me feel inferior, competing for one upmanship. Then I learned that salvation is not always personal but also communal. I remember seeing Edgar G. Robinson being saved in the Exodus of the 10 Commandments, not because he was a Jew or because of his faith, but as he was just swept away for being part of the crowd. The ark, the crowd, the nation of Israel, the church are all communities where we find salvation by being part of that group. Later in Paul’s letter, he will be addressing the use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit of God for the building up of the Body of Christ. The building up of the community, the people of God, is always part of the will of God. We have to take some of the things we have learned and apply them in the way we live, in our families, in our relationships, in the church and in our communities. The gifts of the Spirit are given to help us live according to God’s ways and to equip us to participate in what God is doing in our world. Sometimes the gifts are to bolster us up individually, at other times they are used as an encouragement or help towards others. We can tell if we are doing what God wants by the fruits that are produced by our actions, by the feelings we have, a sense or peace or fear, or if they are signs along the way that we are headed in the right direction. Having the mind of Christ means we have to think about what things mean? What is its purpose? With God, the end result always is about loving relationships. If our actions are mean, harsh and do not display the love, they require a bit more thought. CONCLUSION Christ crucified is God’s intervention in this age, to bring about a new one. Christ’s self-emptying and self-giving love culminates in Christ’s giving of his life. The Message of the cross is transformational and enables us to live differently, knowing of the love of God and by participating in God’s ministry revelation, knowing, kindness, forgiveness and living with the help of the Spirit.
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