1.
Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation
of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our
Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word this 5th
Sunday after Epiphany is taken from 1 Cor. 9:16-27, it’s entitled, “Christ for All Rather Than Coexist,” dear
brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Maybe
you’ve seen the “Coexist” bumper sticker that’s become popular in the past few
years. The letters in the word “coexist” are made up of symbols for various
world religions and ideologies. The T is a cross, but the X is a Star of David,
signifying Judaism. The C is a crescent moon and star for Islam, and so on. It
seems to suggest that all world religions have equal validity and are of equal
value and that all religions are merely different roads that lead to a generic
god. It’s a plea for tolerance and peace in our generation, but how can one
turn a blind eye to philosophies and ideologies that are eternally destructive?
The answer is “We can’t!”
3.
St.
Paul, in his former life in Judaism, was not interested in coexisting with
Christians, which he saw as a heretical movement away from the truth of his
Jewish religion. Then after his conversion on the Damascus road, he remained as
zealous as ever, but he had seen the error of his former ways in Judaism. Paul
determined to do whatever he could to influence both Jew and Gentile by
proclaiming the Gospel, making himself a servant to everyone, and becoming all
things to all men that he might gain some for Christ (1 Cor 9:19–23). Becoming
all things to all men did not mean that Paul was willing to “coexist” with the
false religions of those who believed differently than he, for he was zealous
for the truth. It did mean, however, that he would willingly go wherever and to
whomever the Lord sent him—to the lost sheep of Israel and to the lost of the
nations—always bringing the one and only saving message, the Gospel of Christ
Jesus, dead and raised.
4.
Today,
we see the lengths St. Paul was willing to go to see that others might know the
grace of God. And we see that he was certainly someone God used to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called
[us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9). That’s what
missionaries are like. Not like me. Surely
It’s Those Who Go to Such Great Lengths—as St. Paul Would Be All Things to All
Men to Save Some—Who Are Christ’s Missionaries, Right?
5.
St.
Paul went to such great lengths to save some—being all things to all men—that
surely he was a missionary for Christ. Paul
was chosen in eternity and then called on the Damascus road. St. Paul’s story really began in eternity,
when God chose him for salvation and determined he would play a major role as
an apostle and missionary in the Early Church (Gal 1:15–16). And what a story! God allowed Paul to become
“chief of sinners” so that he might show him mercy. What a blessed picture of
mercy Paul is! To Timothy, he wrote: “But
I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost [sinner], Jesus
Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to
believe in him for eternal life” (1 Tim 1:16).
6.
Paul could point
to his former life as a lesson to others: in the mercy of God, in the patience
of God, there is hope for the worst of sinners. Even in an age when persecution
was prevalent, the Word was all-sufficient!
Such lengths of sin to which Paul had gone! Such lengths of mercy God
had shown to win him! There’s a missionary recruit for you!
7.
And now Paul
was freed to serve. St. Paul had no
earthly master, but he did have a heavenly one! Paul had been entrusted with
the Gospel, or as he puts it, “entrusted with
a stewardship” (v 17). In freedom, Paul desires to be the instrument
through whom many will be saved. Paul
knows it isn’t about Paul, but rather that God brings the elect he’s chosen in
eternity to faith through Word and Sacrament in time. This is not something for
Paul to boast about (vv 16–17). He is simply discharging a trust, or as he said
earlier in 4:1, he is merely a steward “of
the mysteries of God.”
8.
Paul is “free” to receive financial support from
the Corinthian congregation, but he refuses to accept what’s rightly due him,
in order that his service might not be brought into question by those who’d
attack his character (vv 13–15a). Choosing to deny himself and be
self-supporting, he realizes he’s putting one less obstacle in the way of his
hearers. For Paul, it’s a question of gaining “some” and gaining “more”
for the kingdom. This would also make his service stand out over the false
prophets who were interested only in their personal gain.
9.
See the lengths
Paul was willing to go as a missionary for Christ! Paul would even become a servant (slave) to
all! After the example of his Master who
came not to be served but to serve, Paul makes himself a slave, being all
things to all men (v 22b). He is willing
to go whenever God sends and to whom God sends. Following Jesus’ practice of
eating with tax collectors and “sinners,”
Paul seeks the God-given opportunities to connect people to Christ. As long as the Gospel isn’t compromised, Paul
conforms to others’ customs: “To the Jews
I became as a Jew. . . . To those under the law I became as one under the law.
. . . To those outside the law I became as one outside the law. . . . To the
weak I became weak” (vv 20, 21, 22).
He does this for no other “reward”
than the joy of preaching the Good News (vv 18, 23). Paul goes to such lengths
to be Christ’s missionary.
10.
Finally, Paul
disciplines himself that he, too, might receive the prize (vv 24–27). Make no mistake, the prize is a gift, and
Paul knows it. Christ won it for us by his blood shed on the cross. But Paul concerns himself with avoiding sin,
avoiding complacency, avoiding anything that could hinder the life of faith God
has given. There’s no length to which
Paul won’t go for the sake of the Gospel! Your missionary!
11.
Some years ago,
the Barna Organization published a study of what those outside think about the
church. The study revealed that many see the church as hypocritical and
unconcerned about them, concerned only with filling their pews. Many described
the church as judgmental. Others said the church today is too politically
focused and essentially out of touch with reality. So how is the church doing when it comes to
being all things to all men? If this study is any indication, not very well! Comparing
that perception St. Paul’s concern for the unbeliever, you see a radical
disconnect. Not many of us, I’ll bet, will be so committed to reach out with
Christ.
12.
Like most of us
in the church, haven’t gone to such great lengths, so surely we’re not
missionaries for Christ, right? We might
think that the Apostle Paul may have lost his identity in trying to reach so
many people for Jesus. It’s like the
story of two men that were on a trip to London from their country of
Australia. When they got to London they
entered one of the local pubs there and had a little too much to drink. When the left the pub they couldn’t remember
where they were. They ran into a 4 star
general on the side of the street and asked him, “Say ya bloke, can you tell us where we are?” To which the general replied, “do you know who I am?” The man’s friend
said, “Now we are really in trouble, we
don’t know where we are and he doesn’t even know who he is.”
13.
Unlike that story
we do know who we are in our baptisms and we like St. Paul know the message of
Jesus Christ we have to give to those around us. Our baptismal rite tells us, “In Holy Baptism God the Father has made you
a member of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and an heir with us of all the
treasures of heaven in the one holy Christian and apostolic Church. We receive
you in Jesus’ name . . . that together we might hear His Word, receive His
gifts, and proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His
marvelous light” (LSB,
p 271).
14.
God has gone to
the same lengths with me, with you, that he did with St. Paul: chosen in
eternity, called in Holy Baptism. We are
members of the elect from eternity. Christ died for us as surely as he did for
Paul! He went every last step to the cross for us! In Baptism, God added us to his holy people,
that we also might proclaim his excellencies.
Therefore we, too, are freed to serve.
15.
It’s not about us
any more than it was about Paul. It’s about the lengths God has gone! God would have us, in freedom, serve others.
He desires us to be the instruments through whom many will hear and be saved.
God has bound himself to his Word, so as we speak the Word, the Holy Spirit
will change hearts.
16.
God goes to great
lengths—spares no energy—to complete his mission of saving souls! Since we are Christ’s holy people and have
eternity with him, we can be servants to all for now. God calls us to be all things to all men,
boldly confessing Christ and going to great lengths—like next door, down the
street, to the office, to school—to speak Christ in our little worlds. That means relishing every opportunity to
connect people to Christ and learning how we can reach them where they are, not
expect them to conform to us. We can go to those lengths. And we will go to these lengths too:
disciplining ourselves—that we might, as Christ’s missionaries, receive the
prize, won for us by the blood of Christ, by avoiding sin, complacency, anything
that could hinder the life of faith God has given;
daily
remembering our Baptism, being in the Word, and frequently at the Lord’s Supper. Then, what a day that will be. Amen.
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