Good morning. Good to see.
You all here really. Glad you're here.
We're we're looking at First Corinthians Chapter 9.
It's on page 899 in the black. Church Bible really urge you to
follow. Along You're not too cool.
To read the Bible so if. You find one, take it out and
page 899, Chapter 9, First Corinthians, and we're reading
slowly. Through the.
Bulk of First Corinthians this summer.
Today's. Lesson is about remaining
faithful to our mission as Christ ambassadors, even if it
means having to. Sacrifice our rights.
Even if it means having to lay down our rights.
And this is a complicated. Passage So let's ask God for his
help. Let's, as we just heard, ask.
Seek and knock asking for his help and understanding.
His word to us today. Let's pray.
Almighty God, we thank you that you speak.
To us through your. Word and we want to understand.
So give us. Ears to hear and minds to
understand. And then give us the.
Courage by your Holy Spirit to obey.
To trust and obey, to go out from this place, and to live
according to what you teach us. And this we ask in Jesus name,
Amen. So right in the middle of this
long, long letter that Paul has written to the church in Corinth
and on to all. Of the other.
Churches, including us. He devotes 3 chapters. 3
chapters. Including today's lesson to a
question that the Corinthians sent to.
Paul, which was whether they should eat food that was
sacrificed to. Idols.
It seems that in those. Days.
Throughout the Roman Empire, wherever there was a temple to a
Pagan God, there would. Usually be a butcher's shop
associated with it. And when animals were brought in
to be sacrificed in these temples, the animal would be
slaughtered and then given over to the butcher, and the butcher
would prepare the meat, and that meat could be sold then in the
butcher's shop, and people could take it home and cook it for
dinner, or sometimes they could eat in.
At the cafe. At the temple, and so in 1st
century Corinth. Where Paul is.
Writing to them, this is the church that.
He had started there. There were.
Two prominent temples in Corinth.
One was to Aphrodite and the other one was to.
Apollo. And presumably one could
purchase meat if you were looking for meat this.
Is where you would go. You could purchase meat at the.
Butcher's shops. In those places, or you could
eat in in those temples. And this presented the
Corinthian Christians with a moral dilemma.
Should. They now that they don't believe
in those gods anymore, they don't follow those gods anymore.
Now that they are, Christians should.
They. Eat this meat that had been
dedicated to Pagan gods. So they wrote to Paul.
They asked for his. Reading on the issue and that's
what. We have.
In First Corinthians 8 through 10, and the gist of Paul's
answer is that. We as.
Baptized Christians have. Died to the.
Elementary principles. Of the world we have died to,
that world that is ruled by these false gods.
Under Satan and we have been raised to new life in Christ,
and we're freed from Satan's tyranny through these.
False gods. So we're free.
We are free. Even to eat.
Food. That has been.
Dedicated, sacrificed to these gods.
One might even say. That we have the right to eat.
This meat. Paul says, though, that.
Exercising our rights isn't always in the best interests of
our mission as. Ambassadors for Jesus Christ
today we are. Blessed to live in a nation.
Where rights rule. You know where our nation.
Protects the exercise. Of individual human rights, it's
one of our country's greatest strengths.
But there is a. Flip side.
And that is whenever we selfishly insist on our.
Rights, regardless of how our choices hurt others.
Just because we may do something doesn't mean that we should.
Always do it. We have the.
Right as Americans to. Say whatever we please to, to
eat, whatever we please to watch whatever we like to.
Smoke almost anything that we like and.
Yet it. Doesn't mean that.
We should always. Do it because sometimes it
doesn't serve the common good. Sometimes it's not best.
For us as well. With rights come
responsibilities, including the responsibility to sometimes
voluntarily lay down our rights. For the good of others.
So Paul is making this point here in Chapter 9 of First
Corinthians. In what seems to be a
digression. It seems like he's taking up a
different. Topic he was.
Talking about food. Sacrifice to idols.
In the last chapter. Now, has he lost the thread?
No, he hasn't. He knows.
That the bigger issue here. Is about following Jesus
faithfully, representing Jesus to a watching world, living as
ambassadors. Of Jesus our.
King, and that requires often. That we stop.
Being so selfish and that we lay down our rights in order to
better serve him so in this. Chapter Paul uses.
His own story, his own testimony of how he became an apostle in
order to emphasize this point and teach us.
So that's why he begins at the beginning of this.
Chapter if. You look at verses 1 and 2 by
reminding the Corinthians of how he came to be an apostle and how
he came to. Start the church.
In Corinth, let's look at those. Verses together verses.
One and two on page 899 Chapter 9 Am I not free?
Am I not an? Apostle Paul says.
Have I not seen Jesus? Our Lord are.
Not you, my workmanship in the Lord.
If to others. I am not an apostle, at least I
am to. You for you are the seal.
Of my apostleship in the Lord. So if Paul.
Had not met Jesus on the road to Damascus and been knocked.
Off his high. Horse and blinded and then come
to faith in Jesus if he had not been commissioned as an apostle
to the Gentiles and eventually gone to Corinth and started.
A church. There then he would not be the
then this church would never have been born, and he would
not. Have the authority.
Over them now. But this church with the others
that he has. Started have now become the
seal. Or the proof of his apostleship.
That's what he's saying, the proof of his.
Authority and his. High office.
As an apostle of King Jesus and as King Jesus's.
Apostle as the Secretary of State.
To the Gentiles, Paul has. Certain rights.
And he lists. Out just a few of those here.
In verses 4:00 and 5:00. Paul says he has the right.
To eat and drink food. Dedicated to idols just like
they do verse 5. He has the right.
To be married if you remember we talked about.
This a couple of chapters ago, Paul has the.
Right to be married if. He so chooses.
And he goes on to say in verse. Five that if.
He brings his entire family along.
If you had a family, if you brought all of them along to
Corinth, then he. Would have the right to be.
Compensated by the Corinthians, be paid by them.
To support his. Family just like.
Peter. And just like James and.
Other apostles. Had experienced, had benefited
in other places. The point Paul is making,
though, is he did not. Exercise his right to be paid by
the. Church in Corinth look at verse.
Six, he says. That he and Barnabas voluntarily
paid their own way in their ministry at Corinth.
They didn't ask for or depend on the Corinthians for financial.
Support. Even though they had a right.
To do so. And if you read in Acts chapter
18. You will see Luke's.
Reporting of this very same thing, Luke tells.
About how the. Church in Corinth was started
and he. Says that after Paul left.
Athens. He went to Corinth.
He found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come
from Italy with his. Wife Priscilla because emperor.
Claudius had commanded. All the Jews.
To leave Rome and Paul went to see them, and because he was of
the same. Trade, he stayed.
With them and worked with them for.
They were all. Tent.
Makers by trade. So both Luke and in the book of
Acts and now Paul in First Corinthians confirm and report.
That Paul was. A bi vocational pastor that's.
What we would call it today, he was a bi.
Vocational pastor, at least during his time in Corinth, even
though. It was Paul's right.
As an apostle. To be paid by the church he
chose. To lay down this.
Right. And earn his own living as a
tent maker, he. Chose to work.
Much more and earn his living as a tent maker.
Why do you suppose Paul chose to do this?
He doesn't. Tell us yet Instead he wants to
belabor the point, and he gives a number of analogies from
everyday life and then from Scripture.
Verse 7 from Everyday Life Roman.
Soldiers, he says. Of course they don't pay their
own way. They don't have to buy their own
equipment, they don't have to buy their own meals.
They're getting paid, they're getting compensated.
To be soldiers, likewise farmers were 7.
Farmers are entitled. To the fruits to at least.
At least eating some of the fruits of their own laborers.
Another example from everyday life.
Likewise, shepherds. Shepherds.
Are also entitled to enjoy some of the benefits from the flocks.
That they care for. And then verse 9, he moves on to
an even greater reason, which is he's arguing from the Old
Testament scriptures, from Deuteronomy chapter 25, where.
It says. You shall not muzzle an ox.
While it is. Treading out the grain.
So verse. 10, he says. If a.
Plowman plows in hope of benefiting from the crop and if
the. Thresher thresh threshes.
In hope of sharing in the crop, then arguing from the lesser.
To the greater, the Apostle Paul had every right look at verse.
11 to reap material benefits from the church in Corinth.
He had. Every right, In other words, to.
Collect a salary for his work. With the church in Corinth, why
didn't he do it? Why didn't he collect?
He wanted them to love and follow.
Jesus. He cared more for them.
Strangers. Gentiles.
Greeks, people. Of an entirely different
ethnicity and place than where he was from from his.
People he. Cared more for them than for his
own ease and comfort. Do you see the point?
Look at the second-half. Of verse 12.
Nevertheless, we have not made. Use of this right?
But we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way
of. The Gospel of Christ Why choose
to work? An extra job when you.
Could get paid. Just for one, why make tents
when you could have the? Church support you.
Paul says we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in
the way. Of the gospel of Christ.
Itinerant teachers and philosophers in those.
Days had. Different ways of making a
living as they went around to speak in different.
Places they could pass the plate.
Collect an offering. Or they could charge tickets.
But if they did that. They might have to change what
they. Talked about.
In order to please the. Crowd a lot.
More, it might shift. How they spoke about hard
topics. Shifting to receive more likes.
They could also. Raise support from.
Wealthy benefactors, but. Again, that might impair their
freedom to speak. Truth to power or?
1/3 alternative was to support themselves.
That's what Paul had. Chosen this by vocational
option. It certainly sounds like the
hardest one to do, but I'm struck.
By the fact that Paul. Doesn't say so he doesn't.
Describe it as the hardest option.
He certainly felt it. If he hadn't.
Felt it. He wouldn't say in verse 12 we
endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the
gospel of Christ voluntarily working an extra job wasn't.
Pleasurable it required. Endurance.
Yet under the circumstances, Paul preferred supporting
himself. Over the other.
Options because he knew that it would.
Best serve. In his mission of sharing the.
Gospel with others when he. Talks about sharing the gospel.
By the way, this is just a way of.
Describing the good news of Jesus.
Who had died? And who is risen and who?
Is the rightful heir to all the world.
Everyone needs to hear this good news and preaching the gospel
over sharing the gospel is not just.
For pastors or apostles, it is for.
All Christians. That's what the.
Argument is here from Paul. He's urging everyone.
To be a gospel. Proclaimer now years ago when I
was newly ordained and we. First started rez.
In our home, I remember thinking, how in the world is
this going to work? I'm called to lead a voluntary
organization upstream against a decadent culture in a city where
many of the. Other churches tell people just
to go with the flow. My job is to convince and lead
people in a challenging way of life, yet I have no.
Power. To command them to.
Do so you. Are not enlisted.
As soldiers, you. Are not enrolled as students.
You are not incarcerated as prisoners.
You are here. Voluntarily and you might drop
out when the going. Gets rough which?
Might include, but is not limited to, sermons that are
boring or too long winded. Or.
The quality of snacks after worship not being up to par.
Right there are. Lots of reasons to not stick
around and I remember thinking years ago, if only I were a.
Pastor back. In the good old.
Days right back. In the days.
Before the divided church back. In the early church, when
people. Would follow.
Jesus, even if it meant being thrown to the lions.
But then the more I read the Bible, particularly Acts and
Corinthians books like this, the more.
I realized that. Things haven't changed that much
at all. Leading a voluntary
organization. Has always.
Been like this. It has always been about more
about carrots than sticks, you know?
It's always been about trying. To help people.
Understand. How to sacrificially?
And lovingly follow. Jesus.
And go against the flow. Of culture.
And so I've come to appreciate Paul's example in this.
Chapter in particular. So much more.
Over the years. Corinth.
Was a wealthy. Decadent.
Powerful. City just like.
Washington, DC Paul knew that his ministry.
There would require. Challenging.
The people's way of life. And saying some very hard things
to them. So from the.
Outset, he opted. Not to.
Be paid by them so that he was better.
Positioned to speak the truth and love and the.
Proof of this is what? We have now in our New Testament
2 very long letters. That are shared.
With us now and in these two very long letters, Paul pulled
no punches. His honesty is extraordinary and
we are the beneficiaries of it. Instead of selfishly.
Insisting on his right. To be paid he.
Voluntarily laid down his rights.
For their. Sake so that he might fulfill
his mission as Christ ambassador.
Look at verse. 16 he says. Woe to me if I do not proclaim.
The Gospel. This is what mattered the most.
To Paul. So he ordered his.
Life accordingly. It's easy to think that he was.
Special because he. Was an apostle that he made.
Extra sacrifices because of his high office.
And that rank and file Christians needn't worry about
these things, but the. Whole.
Point of this. Passage is exactly the opposite.
Paul is. Calling all Christians,
including you and me. To joyfully.
Lay down our rights. For the Lord's sake to see.
His will done and His Kingdom come in Washington as it is in
heaven. This is for us to the wealthy
powerful. Decadent culture in which we
live we are invited to do something different to.
Set aside our. Selfishness and to live.
For God's. Kingdom and the.
Glory of His. King Jesus Christ.
Paul. Learned this from.
Jesus, of course. Who did not count equality with
God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking
on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of human
beings and being found in human form.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient even to the point of
death, even death on a cross voluntarily.
Jesus did these things. He lay aside his.
Rights as king and sacrificed himself therefore.
God has highly. Exalted him, Paul says, and
bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven, and on earth, and
under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus.
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
And the selflessness. That Paul.
Demonstrated in Corinth has been replicated.
All. Over the world, I want to give
you 3 examples of this happening as a way of inspiring you.
Also to do the. Same St.
Basil, 4th century Caesarea. Bishop of Caesarea.
Lay down his rights to wealth and comfort in order.
To establish the. This amazing outpost of God's
Kingdom in Caesarea that included.
A hospital, a Hospice, Schools, houses for the poor.
A copy centered for distributing the Bible.
Throughout the world. And all of this at his own
expense, donating his own money and never profiting from the
work. Itself, Basil set aside his
rights for the glory. Of the Lord and for the
proclamation of the Gospel. But it hasn't been just.
Clergy through the. Ages.
Think about William Wilberforce. Many of you know his story.
The 18th century British Member of Parliament who faced immense
opposition and sacrificed his time, his own money and his own.
Political future? In order to advance God's
Kingdom through abolishing. Slavery.
But it hasn't just been wealthy people.
It hasn't just been powerful. People, it's also.
Been ordinary Christians Think of Corey Tin Boom in the 20th
century. Somewhat of no Great.
Wealth or? Status who voluntarily.
Risked her life. During World War 2IN.
Order to create. A tiny embassy of the Kingdom of
God in her house in order. To protect Jews.
From extermination by the Nazis. These are just. 3 examples.
There are so many other examples down through.
The ages. Of Christians who have chosen
as. Paul has been.
Talking about here. To lay aside their rights.
For the sake of the mission of proclaiming the Gospel.
The Lord is. Calling you.
To this today, this is that. One of those seam weekends here.
At res 1. Of those transitions, a lot of
interns are finishing up. You're going to be going back to
where you're from and we're saying goodbye.
To you we've. Had a great time with you this
summer. We hope that you've been blessed
by being a part. Of the church.
And. There are people.
Who are going off to college and many moves are happening right
now. As you go, are you?
Going now, Convinced. That you too.
Can be an ambassador of the. Gospel that you?
Too can lay down your. Rights for the sake.
Of the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus and for all who
are staying, who are seeking renewal and your calling to be
here. For whatever God has called.
You this message is for. You as well.
God is. Calling you.
To set aside your rights for the good of these.
Strangers all around, just as Paul had done.
So that the. Gospel might go forth, and the
world would know. What is God?
Saying to you. Today.
He invites you into this same joy by voluntarily sacrificing
your rights. For the sake.
Of your mission as an ambassador of King.
Jesus, will you heed his call? Let's pray.
Thank you Almighty God. That you do give us grace to set
aside our rights for your glory to serve You.
In sharing this Kingdom. With others.
Thank you for your own. Sacrifices for our sake.
Now. By the power.
Of your Spirit, enable us to do the same.
For we. Pray in Jesus name, Amen.