After Pentecost (2)
(Unity in Diversity)
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
1- Unity is the topic I
addressed in the Armenian sermon.
There was a man who did not
know how to swim. One day while he was fishing, he caught a real big fish and
trying to pull it, he fell down into the water. He started screaming, “Help,
save me, I can not swim.”
His friend immediately
reached out and grabbed his hair. But the man was wearing a wig; it came off
and he remained struggling in the water. So his friend tried his arm. As he
pulled his arm, it came off because it was an artificial limb. Then he tried
his leg. Once again it was a wooden leg, which separated from the body. By now,
the drowning man is urging for help. His friend said, “How can I help you if
you won’t stick together?”
Paul is saying to the Corinthians:
“Hey friends, how can you go on asking God’s help in a divided attitude?” (double vision)
Some claimed they belonged
to Paul. They thought they were the genuine Christians, since Paul was the
pioneer. Others followed Apollos, others Cephas (Peter), and others Christ. Apollos was a gifted man from
Peter, the rock, some think he
should be the genuine leader. Jesus gave him the keys of heaven.
Paul, Apollos,
Peter, all were working for Christ. Yet, the
followers were divided and that was hurting the church.
Paul says, “I appeal to you,
brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with
one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you
may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1:10)
Some problems arise when
individuals find themselves indispensable. Do you find sometimes if you don’t
do it no one will do it? Examine your life in the church dynamism.
We are different from each
other. Paul is speaking about unity and not uniformity. Thank God we are
different from each other; that makes our lives richer and more colorful.
So I move to second point:
2- Unity in Diversity
(there is unity in diversity)
We read in chapter 3:4-6
“For when one says, "I
follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos,"
are you not mere men? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants,
through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it,
but God made it grow.” The key words are
those : “as
the Lord has assigned to each his task.”
In chapter 12, one can read
more about the body and its function.
“The body is a unit, though
it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they
form one body. So it is with Christ” (vs 12). We are
made up of many parts. That is good. The problem is when those parts decide not
to function together.
Do you find that God assigned you to a task in this
church?
Statistics indicate that 15%
of the members do the work of the church and 85% observe as spectators. Two
problems: either the 15% does not give the chance to the 85%, or the 85% is not
interested to see their role in the Body of Christ.
Our church banquet was a
wonderful positive example of different talents working together. We heard, and
I still hear wonderful comments about this banquet. I thank God for His blessing
on this event. In addition, I see that a group of people tried to work
together. Paul mentions that the body has unique diverse parts.
Well, here is the test. Your uniqueness
and talent should be leading you and the church towards one goal: Christ to
be glorified. Each of you is the best in who you are. No one is like you.
Each person should see that his/her role has an important function in the Body
of Christ. If you decide that this is not your place to be involved, you are
not indispensable. Although you will leave a gap, but God will fill it with
someone else. And you know, you lost the chance to be a
part of the unique body.
This will move us to the
third point,
3. Use the
I don’t know why we are like
tigers that jump when there is an opportunity in the world. But when the matter
is Christian faith, we become soft or silent, or even a “secret agent”- no one
will know that we are Christians and we have Christian principles.
Paul planted it, Apollos watered it but only God made it grow (3:6,7). Each had a task, but also each used whatever they had.
They used the opportunity. They did not know if tomorrow is still an
opportunity. They knew today is the day to do something. They used time wisely.
In Matthew 25:15, we read
that God gave talents to each according to his/ her abilities.
Once here was a man who asked
God in the morning, “God, please let me have a chance to tell about you today.
Give me a sign to witness.”
Later during the day, he took
the bus to go somewhere. After a while, a man came and sat next to him. This man
was desperately looking for someone to listen to him. He had tears in his eyes;
he was asking for help to know more about God. The Christian man, who was
looking for sign, turns to God and asks, “Lord, is this a sign?”
Badveli Krikor
talked about Christian commitment. His message was very clear. A friend of mine
who does not read the Bible told me he was touched by the message. He wanted to
go home and start reading the Bible. This is a sign from God to follow up with
my friend to invite him to Bible Study, to pray for him. Many of you invited
some friends. Use this opportunity to talk about our faith in Jesus Christ.
4. Why are we doing all this? FOR
HIS GLORY.
“For we are God’s fellow
workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (3:9)
Paul is careful in his
ministry. He can boast of it, he can be proud of it. Yet, he is cautious so
that the believers were turn to Jesus and not to him. He even was careful to
not baptize people so that people will be using that baptism for wrong motives.
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.(1:13-17)
In verse 7, we said each
person can do something in planting and watering. But the growth comes from
God. (only God makes things grow.)
I once gave the example of growing
corn. All the work that the farmer does in putting the seed, watering and so on
is 5%. 95% is done by God.
Whatever we do is for the
Glory of our Lord. It is a good examination when we plan an activity in our
church.
Last week I said it, let me
repeat it again. After receiving the Holy Spirit as we read Acts 2, the church was empowered and was never the same. The
Unity in
Christ, diversity in secondary issues. And courage so that each individual will use his/
her ability for God’s glory.
Next week we will continue
our life after Pentecost with the
Amen