Thomas J Parlette
“What’s in a Greeting?”
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
1/15/23
When I was in college, way back in the mid-80’s, I had a fraternity brother named Dale who had a particularly annoying habit. Our house had about 20 guys living there, so the mailman would just bring in a big box with all our mail in it. Sometimes it would be bundled with a rubber band – but not always. Sometimes we had to rummage around in the box and find what belonged to us on our own.
Well, Dale thought that meant that he was entitled to read whatever mail he came across. If it looked interesting, Dale would help himself. Magazines were his favorite. Sometimes I got to read my Sports Illustrated two weeks late when I dug it out of Dale’s room. If there was a post card in the mail – well, forget about it, Dale would read it. A shoebox with cookies from home was of course half-eaten by the time I got back from class. Just part of living in a fraternity house I guess.
Well, it’s been said that whenever we read one of Paul’s letters, we too are reading somebody else’s mail (1).
Paul always wrote to particular churches with particular problems and unique situations. And it seems the church in Corinth had quite a few problems they were wrestling with.
Evidently there were some in the church who were feeling pretty full of themselves, as Paul warns against boasting. There were social and economic divisions within the church as well, as some members were of an upper-middle class background and were quite wealthy, while others were former slaves who were struggling to get a foothold in the bustling Corinthian economy.
There were questions coming up about marriage, sex, lawsuits between church members, whether they could take part in the city’s festivals and even what kind of hairstyles were appropriate for church. Let’s be honest – the Corinthians had a lot of questions.
They also had a lot of money. The church in Corinth had ample resources. They had some members in the church with some pretty deep pockets. And that fact was not lost on Paul. He needed to give the young Corinthian church some answers, maybe some answers they didn’t really want to hear. He needed to remind them that they were part of the larger Christian movement – but he needed to do so tactfully, because frankly – Paul needed their financial support.
It’s tempting to skip over the first part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. It would be easy to sum these verses up as quick “Hello. How are you. Good to hear from you,” and move on to the meat of Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians.
But let’s not move past Paul’s greeting too quickly. For right here at the beginning of his letter, Paul is laying the groundwork for everything he is going to say later. In these words of greeting, Paul is introducing the concept of being “called.”
He reminds the Corinthians that he himself has been “called” by God to be an apostle. And the church at Corinth are a community – also “called” by God for special service.
So, as we go about opening someone else’s mail this morning, we can learn some things from Paul’s greeting to the Corinthians…
- We are called to be part of the story of God’s redemptive work in creation.
- We are called to be in fellowship with each other, as the church, for that is how God’s work gets done.
- And, we are called to be thankful for each other and for the church, for although we are imperfect – the church is God’s vehicle for the salvation of this world.
First, we are called to be a part of God’s story. We are not just observers, sitting here passively watching as the world rolls by. We are participants, called to actors in God’s redemptive drama.
Woody Allen once made a movie called “The Purple Rose of Cairo.” The story follows an unhappy waitress named Celia who finds an escape from her abusive husband in her local movie theater. She has seen one particular movie, “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” so many times that she knows every line by heart. One day though, something unusual happens – her favorite character in the movie looks directly at her sitting in the audience and says, “You must really like this movie…”, then he steps off the screen and persuades a stunned Celia to show him around her world.
After a few very odd days, he returns the favor and invites Celia to join him in the movie onscreen – and the two of them step into the world of “The Purple Rose of Cairo.” Celia becomes a participant in the story she knows so well. She is no longer sitting in a dark theater, all be herself, munching her popcorn and mouthing the words. Now she is involved. She is part of the action. She is part of the story.
God calls us to do the same thing. Get out of our seats and step into the action. “Called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” says Paul. We are called to be a part of God’s story.
We are also called to fellowship. We are not meant to pursue this life of Christian faith on our own. God’s church, as we know it through Jesus Christ, is not set up for Lone Rangers. We are meant to be in this together. We are meant to be part of a team.
For instance, Jenny Thompson is the most decorated American woman in Olympic swimming history. If you count World Championships – Katie Ledecky takes the crown, but for Olympic swimming, it’s still Jenny Thompson. Over the course of four different Olympics, Jenny Thompson won 8 gold medals – but interestingly, she won only one medal, a bronze, in an individual event. All of her medals came as a part of a relay team. Her greatest success came as part of a team.
That’s how the church works too. Our greatest success occurs when we participate as part of a fellowship, as part of a team. God wants us to be in fellowship with each other, for that is how God’s work gets done.
We are called to be part of the story, we are called to be in fellowship with each other, and we are called to be thankful for each other, thankful for the church – for although we are imperfect, the church is God’s vehicle for the salvation of the world.
Two decades ago now, Jesse Ventura was the Governor of Minnesota – remember him? I remember when He made national headlines when he said something to the effect of “Religion is for the weak. Religion is a crutch.” It’s not a new idea – people have been saying that for years. I have always liked the answer William Sloane Coffin gave when he said, “Some say religion is a crutch. Well, of course it’s a crutch. What makes you think you don’t limp?”(2)
Sure, everything the critics say about churches is true to some extent. Our pews are filled with people who say one thing and do another. We have our share of hypocrites, we often fall short of what Jesus taught us to be. We are weak, we do fight, we squabble and we disagree. We are often guilty of having small minds and closed hearts. All of that is sometimes true – but only sometimes.
Not all the time – and not for every one of us. And that’s the important thing. We don’t ALL fall short at the same time. Whatever our problems might be in the church, Paul is right to point out that the church is the work of God in this world. God has called the church to do specific work – not to be a perfect community. And that is reason enough to be thankful. We don’t have to be perfect. We just have to be faithful. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book, “Life Together” –
“If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even when there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”
“What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God… the more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more sure and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases.”
“The Christian community is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate.”(3)
So, as we sit here this morning, reading someone else’s mail – what can we find in this greeting from Paul?
Well, we find nothing less than a blueprint for the life to which we have been called.
We are called to be part of the story of God’s redemptive work in creation.
We are called to be in fellowship with each other as the church, for that is how God’s work gets done.
And we are called to be thankful – for although the church is imperfect, the church is God’s vehicle for bringing about the salvation of this world.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Homileticsonline, retrieved Dec. 27th, 2022.
2. Ibid…
3. Ibid…
