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SERMON
You'll remember that in these past few chapters, the underlying issue
weighing on Paul's heart had to do with our attitude as
Christians. That's why he wrote to the folks in Corinth, "Everything
is permissible, but not everything is constructive or beneficial. Nobody
should seek his own good, but the good of others." That is,
when it comes to exercising your freedom as a Christian, your attitude
should be one of concern for your brothers and sisters, and not one of
insisting on your own rights.
And that should be a Christian's attitude in every area of life.
According to Paul, doing something (or not doing it) really isn't nearly
as significant as the attitude with which we do it (or don't do it). As
a matter of fact, Paul would say that in everything we do we
ought to be acting out of a desire to honor the One who gave up not only
his rights, but his life for our sake. That's why he went on to say in
chapter 10, verse 31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever
you do, do it all for the glory of God."
Well, today we come to chapter 11. And while, at first reading, Paul's
focus has changed from "the propriety of eating meat offered to
idols" to 'proper behavior in worship," his underlying concern
is still the same. From Paul's perspective, whatever happens in
Christian worship should be done with an attitude of deep respect and
concern for others. That's the bottom line. Why? Because that is what
honors God. And in whatever we do, says Paul, we should do it all to the
glory of God.
Now, Paul begins this part of the letter in verse 2 by commending the
people in Corinth for maintaining certain traditions that he evidently
thought were important. And here the specific traditions have to do with
how wives and husbands relate to each other in the context of worship.
Paul is dealing here with this specific issue; and in verse 3 he gives
the theological basis for the tradition. He writes that, as God is the
head of Christ, so Christ is the head of each man, and each man is the
head of his wife. That, says Paul, is the starting point from which we
can talk about proper behavior of husbands and wives in worship.
I don't see how you can read that without concluding that Paul is at
least implying a chain of command, a hierarchy of authority. Now, most
of us probably have little difficulty dealing with the notion that God
has authority over Christ or that Christ has authority over man. It's
the man having authority over his wife that raises the eyebrows.
Incidentally, a good part of the trouble we have here, I think, has to
do with the way people infer from that statement a doctrine of male
superiority. There is absolutely nothing in Paul's words here to support
that notion. That is a gross misreading of Scripture! Remember that he's
talking specifically here about the behavior of husbands and wives in
worship.
Well then, how are we to understand Paul's idea of the
"authority" that a husband has over his wife? I think we have
to let the Bible speak for itself. We need to let the Scripture explain
what it means in its own words. Listen again to what Paul writes: "I
want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head
of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." The same
term - "head" - with the same nuance of authority is used the
same way in all three cases. So I think we have to conclude that, from
Paul's perspective, the character of these three relationships is
substantially the same.
But how can they be? Well, think about the relationship between God and
Christ. There's no question that Jesus referred to God as his
"Heavenly Father" with all the authority that is implied by
that term. But Jesus also said, "I and the Father are one"
and "All that belongs to the Father is mine." And Paul
in his letter to the Philippians reminds us that Jesus is by very nature
God, and is God's equal. Yet the Father and Son don't seem to have a
problem with that apparent paradox. There can be a relationship of
authority and equality between them at the same time. Now look at the
next relationship - between Christ and a man.
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." But he also
said to his disciples, "You are the light of the
world." And in his great prayer in John 17 he prayed, "Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that
the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory
that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you
in me." There is no question that Jesus has all authority in
heaven and earth. But it's also true that in his sovereign authority he
has made us one with him. We are the "Body of Christ," we are
"one with Christ," to use Paul's terms. That's not just
a metaphor, it's reality. So we need not have problems with the fact
that in our relationship with Jesus Christ there is both authority and
equality. Now take it one step further.
Paul says right here that the relationship between husband and wife is
intended to be the same. Because Jesus made no distinction between men
and women in calling them to faith, there can be a relationship of
authority and equality at the same time in a Christian marriage. The
husband can be the "head" and still the two be equal. How?
Because the authority implied in headship has to do with the ordering of
family life. In no way does it grants arbitrary power to one while
subjecting the other to groveling subservience. And anyone who reads
Holy Scripture that way is going to pay for it dearly, sooner or later.
Paul then talks about one practical aspect of the way in which this
relationship of mutual respect between husbands and wives is played out
in the context of worship. He says in verses 4 that every man who prays
or prophesies should uncover his head. And then in verse 5 he says that
women who pray or prophesy should cover their heads. Don't ask me why.
It's a tradition with an origin that is obscure at best. (Of course some
people still carry on the practice of men taking off their hats and
women wearing head coverings in church.) Then he gets into a rather
elaborate discussion of the proper length of hair for men and women.
But I wonder if you noticed the "sleeper" in that passage.
Paul was talking about the proper way to pray out loud and prophesy
(that is, to bring a teaching from God to the people) in worship. Keep
in mind that he was writing in an almost totally male-dominated culture.
And here Paul casually throws them a curve ball. He says that women have
just as much right and reason as men do to be praying out loud and
prophesying in church. They just have to follow reasonable protocol.
Folks, this was revolutionary teaching for that day - both men and women
having equal access in worship. Of course, there were already women in
key leadership positions in churches in Philippi and Colossia and
Laodicea. Why? It's largely because Paul, the missionary who had planted
those churches, had been taken captive by the truth that we are all one
in Christ and that there is, therefore, no distinction to be made in
that regard. Paul clinches this teaching in verses 11-12. He writes: "In
the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man
independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of
woman. But everything comes from God." By God's design we are interdependent.
Therefore we are to treat each other, regardless of gender, with
profound respect and mutual concern. We're back, you see, to the
fundamental issue of our attitude.
The balance of chapter 11 deals with the sorry fact that church
gatherings in Corinth seemed to have become occasions for fragmenting
the body rather than drawing people together. Paul was chagrined to
learn that when they gathered for the Lord's Supper, some of them were
using it as an opportunity to feast and get drunk while others went away
hungry. Paul was clearly livid when he wrote in verse 22: "Don't
you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God
and humiliate those who have nothing?"
And yet it was this deplorable situation that prompted Paul to write
perhaps the most eloquent introduction we have to the Lord's Supper. "I
have received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus
on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks,
he broke it and said, 'This is my body which is for you (all of
you); do this in remembrance of me.'" Then Paul summed up this
teaching by saying, "So then, when you come together to eat,
wait for each other." That is to say, be more concerned about
others than about yourself. Because if we're going to survive as a
community, then all of us need to treat each other with an attitude of
deep respect and love.
That is how the chapter ends; so I suppose that is how this sermon
should end. But before I do that, let me address the one question that
is undoubtedly on many of your minds. The question is: Why did I not
choose a more appropriate text for today's message? In light of the
horrendous events of this past week, how could I justify preaching on
such a mundane topic as "propriety in worship" or
"potluck protocol?" I'll tell you how I justify it.
I chose to preach on 1 Corinthians, chapter 11 precisely because it is
so mundane. This chapter describes the kind of problems that beset
garden-variety Christians day-in and day-out, in both the first and the
twenty-first centuries. And until we realize that the healing of our
nation must begin with asking God to heal our own personal attitudes
about others, then the tragedy of last Tuesday is going to fester and
haunt us. Because if our faith doesn't work in our daily dealings with
others, then it doesn't work, period. When it comes to coping with the
events of last Tuesday, I am persuaded that there is only one practical
way that you and I can begin to redeem the effects of that tragedy in
our own lives in any truly lasting sense; and that is by being willing
to humble ourselves before God in mutual submission and love - agape
love.
It's true that invoking our patriotism will do monumental good in
drawing us together as a nation and galvanizing our resolve as a people
to fight for freedom. We have to do that, of course. And our President
in the past days has touched our patriotic hearts deeply and eloquently.
The respect that has been paid to our nation by countries all over the
world has moved us to tears again and again. And I am hard-pressed to
remember a time when I have been more proud to be an American. But
patriotism by itself will not redeem our loss, nor heal the pain.
We may have the world's most sophisticated means of intelligence
gathering. We undoubtedly have the mightiest and most technologically
advanced military in the history of the world. And we certainly seem to
have the support of the vast majority of the community of nations. We
may even be able to identify with pinpoint accuracy the location of
those responsible for the brutalizing of our land. And being able to
drop a cruise missile in Osama bin Laden's lap might satisfy a deep
hunger for justice and revenge; I don't deny that. But it will not bring
back the life of one person who died in New York or Washington or
Pennsylvania. It will not redeem the tragedy of last Tuesday, nor will
it heal our hearts.
As far as I know there is only one way to do that, and that is by
admitting before God that we are utterly interdependent. Thank
God, we have seen that commitment to interdependence lived out before
our eyes again and again these past few days. We have seen firemen put
themselves in harm's way, and in many cases pay the ultimate sacrifice,
in an effort to rescue those without hope, because they were more
concerned for others than for themselves. We have seen hard-hats
laboring long hours together in the rubble without complaint out of a
deep respect for the value of one person's life, because they were more
concerned for others than for themselves.
We have seen ministers and teachers and counselors giving of themselves
unselfishly to comfort the grieving, because they were more concerned
for others than for themselves. And we've witnessed people of faith
praying in deep contrition, asking God's forgiveness and praying for
those who cannot pray or who don't know how to pray, because they were
more concerned for others than for themselves. We have been privileged
to see this interdependence and mutual concern played out eloquently in
the last few days.
But that attitude that we have witnessed has to become our way of
looking at the human family if we hope to come to terms with the tragedy
of this past week. God put the matter this way in his Word: "If
my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and
seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from
heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2
Chronicles 7:14)
It is when people of faith recognize their own culpability in the
besetting sins of a society that God's kind of healing will happen. And
that kind of deep mutual responsibility and respect for each other is
where it begins. Brothers and sisters, that is the only way that the
tragedy of last Tuesday will be redeemed in any lasting sense.
So let's pray:
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart. Lord, I want to be more
loving in my heart. Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart. Lord, I
want to be like Jesus in my heart. Lord, only you can heal our land,
because only you can heal our hearts. Please do it. Begin with me right
now. In Jesus' name.
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