What’s Cookin’ in Corinth ?

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

January 18, 2004

 

INTRO

In Paul’s zeal to convert people to Christianity > he worked his way north and west

      First Missionary Journey > started congregations in Galatia

      Second journey went farther > over into Macedonia north of Greece

      And then dropped south into Athens and Corinth

He probably arrived in Corinth about the year 50 > 15+ years after Jesus’ resurrection

People of Corinth had reputation for being unruly, hard-drinking, promiscuous bunch

      He taught them how to live new life of wholeness and holiness as community of believers      

      Just because they became Christian did not automatically mean they would change

      Eugene Peterson: When Paul arrived with the Message and many of them became believers in   

        Jesus, they brought their reputations with them right into the church (The Message, page 340)

Paul spent 1-1/2 years with them as their pastor

        Then he left > sailed across the Aegean Sea to Ephesus > leaving them to live out their new lives

Generally speaking, people have a hard time changing their old destructive habits     

      You and I have a hard time > Corinthians no different from us      

      They found it hard to change > What Paul worked so hard to put together > fell apart

            Or, their ways tore it apart

      Word about the chaos got back to him > and some of them asked for help

      So he wrote them several letters to remind them how to do their job

The new Christians in Corinth were like new postmaster in little town in Vermont > Maple Corner

      Jake was his name > and he had never been postmaster before

            But he was very happy to have been appointed

                        Every day or so someone would come in to mail a letter

                        And he would dutifully place it in the mail sack

            After about six months State Postmaster General called him on phone

            “Jake, is everything okay?  No record of any mail from Maple Corner in a long time.”

            “Oh,” Jake said, “I haven’t sent it because the mail bag isn’t full yet.”

      Poor Jake was postmaster, but didn’t know the ins and outs of the job

      He had title of postmaster, but he was going about it wrong

There were no postmasters in the Church in Corinth > but they had the same problem

      Members of the church were Christians, but they didn’t know the ins and outs of the job

      They had title of Christians, but they were going about it wrong

Paul wanted to help them get it right > to help them be, well, Christian

      So he wrote them several letters > which have been collected into 1^st and 2^nd Corinthians

      We studied first 11 chapters early last year

      Today we pick up where we left off a year ago

PAUL CHANGES SUBJECT IN CHAPTER 12

Last part of Chapter 11 > Paul had been discussing the Lords supper

      Then he shifts abruptly to the subject of spirituality

      But before he can discuss spiritual matters > he has to establish a very important boundary

            That is boundary between what God’s spirit inspires > and what another “spirit” might do

            He gives a shocking example:

                        Anyone who said Jesus was an anathema [literally what Paul wrote] was wrong

                        Anathema in Paul’s world meant anything from making mistake to serious immoral

                        May have been Corinthians saying that about Jesus

            Paul wants them to know that any person making those statements . . .

              . . . could not possibly be inspired by Holy Spirit

Then he launches into full description of gifts and services and activities inspired by Holy Spirit

      It is a representative list > not an exclusive list

      And it is simple a list > and Paul does not give any example of these gifts

      Does not tell any stories of people he has known when each of these gifts

Eugene Peterson paraphrases with a vertical list:

      Wise counsel > clear understanding > simple trust > healing the sick > miraculous acts

      Proclamation > distinguishing between spirits > tongues > interpretation of tongues

You may be more familiar with list in one of the translations > this is New Revised Standard

      To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  To one is given through the

      Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another utterance of knowledge by the same spirit; to

      another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one spirit, to another the working

      of  miracles, to another prophecy , to another the discernment of spirits, to another  various kinds

      of tongues [lit. languages], to another the interpretation of tongues/languages

What is missing in all English Bibles is distinction between words “another” that introduces each

      Paul uses “another” to differentiate between those of the same kind and those of another kind

I tried to think of an analogy between Paul’s thinking about spiritual gifts

      and something with which we’re more familiar

      I think maybe he groups gifts of the spirit a bit like we group ingredients in a recipe for a cake

SPIRITUAL GIFTS LIKE INGREDIENTS IN A CAKE

Baking a cake

You’ve baked a cake, haven’t you?  Or watched someone else bake???

Or, if you’ve never actually been around when cake was baked > surely you’ve seen a recipe

      When you look at that recipe > you’ll notice that often ingredients are identified by categories

      Like > ‘dry ingredients’ and ‘liquids’ and ‘seasonings’

      So the recipe will say “stir liquids together in small bowl > set aside”

            You look and see liquids are buttermilk, oil, eggs and melted butter               

            Then it says > mix dry ingredients together in large bowl”

                        Dry ingredients: Flour, sugar, baking power and cocoa

            Then: pour liquids into dry mixture and stir until smooth

            Then > “add spices” > salt, cinnamon and nutmeg”

      Important point to remember:   No one ingredient is more important than another ingredient

      Each ingredient needs to be what it is > in amount recipe calls for > to make cake just right

Building a church

Using ingredients to bake a cake is much like using spiritual gifts to build a church

The important point to remember about using ingredients to bake a cake

      is same important point to remember about using spiritual gifts to build up a church

            No one spiritual gift is more important than any other spiritual gift

            And not only is no one gift more important than another

                        every spiritual gift comes from God

                        Who gives each spiritual gift, not by merit or favoritism

                        But because that’s the way it needs to be

And that is why Paul groups the gifts the way he does

      Because some Corinthians had idea that gifts had a kind of ranking order

      And thought gifts they had were more important than others

GOOD ADVICE FOR US, TOO

We can all take something from Paul’s words to the Corinthians

The spiritual gifts God has given you are exactly what God needs to make our church just right

      For these gifts we can thank God!

Next Sunday we’ll explore the incredible interrelatedness between all these various gifts.