PAUL’S FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
Part II
OVERCOMING DIVISIONS
January 25, 2014
Westmount Park United Church
A week ago we began a series of six readings from the opening chapters of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. I said last week that where Paul begins is of vital significance because he starts his letter with the declaration that the Christians in Corinth are a “church of God” [I Corinthians 1:2] because God has called them into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. [I Corinthians 1:9] This declaration is of fundamental and primary importance.
It was of fundamental importance to the Christian Church in Corinth in the mid first century and it is of fundamental importance to the Christian Church in Westmount in the early twentieth first century. We are who we are only by the grace of God. Then, having proclaimed the foundation of what makes the Christians in Corinth a church, and which makes any company of Christians a church, he goes on to deal with certain problems which have arisen in the church in Corinth. It is very important that Paul begins with the affirmation that they are called into fellowship by God and strengthened by God, and, I believe, it is also significant that the first concern he raises with them is the divisions which are disrupting their fellowship.
(I Corinthians 1: 10‑18)
By a happy coincidence the epistle reading for this, the third week after Epiphany, finds us also on the final day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. First Corinthians, chapter one verse ten says, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” That passage seems made to order for a sermon about the ecumenical movement and how it strives to overcome the denominational divisions which exist within the Christian Church. There should be no divisions among us. If Christians are divided then the power of the gospel is weakened. At best our denominational differences and divisions make the Christian Church awkward and inefficient, at its worst denominational identity preserves nationalistic rivalries which perpetuate bloodshed and even all out war from generation to generation. For instance, the denominational divisions in the Christian Church have helped to perpetuate violence between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, and between Orthodox Serbs and Roman Catholic Croatians. We do well to have a week dedicated especially to praying for unity in the Church, just as Jesus himself prayed that his followers would be united so that they would have credibility in the world as ambassadors for the gospel.
What we usually think about and pray about in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is the fact that we are divided into various denominations in the Christian Church, and our need to overcome or bridge those divisions. But today I would like to shift our focus to what was Paul’s concern when he wrote to the Church in Corinth. Paul was troubled by the divisions that existed within the fellowship of the Christian community in Corinth. He was not dealing with barriers which separate Christians of one denomination from Christians of another denomination, rather he was concerned with what happens to a church community when there is controversy and disagreements amongst those who gather together for worship. It is when there are division and disagreements right inside a congregation that our unity in Christ is most seriously threatened and our effectiveness as Christ’s ambassadors is most severely weakened.
The Revised Standard Version of the bible translates the verse we are looking at from First Corinthians in this way: “I appeal to you … by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you.” (That translation uses the word “dissensions” rather than “divisions.”) What threatens our unity in Christ, perhaps more than our denominational divisions, is the sort of bitter dissension that can poison our communion with Christ within a denomination or within a congregation.
That is Jesus’ concern when he gives us this advise in the Sermon on The Mount. “When you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.” [Matthew 5:23‑24] In the Masonic order there is a rule that differences between individuals must be dealt with and settled before entering a lodge meeting, and if they cannot be resolved then it is better for those bearing disagreements not to come into a meeting until they are reconciled. It seems a simple truth that we must resolve our differences but the unfortunate reality is that jealousies and resentments between individuals who worship side by side can last for years and years without ever being addressed.
The United Church of Canada has as its motto the words of Jesus’ prayer for unity in the Church, “Ut omnes unim sint,” “That they all may be one,” and we state in our foundational document, The Basis of Union, that we wish to be not just a “united” but a “uniting” church. But the most critical issues of unity for United Church congregations have not been the ones which keep us separated from other denominations but the ones which have seriously threatened the peace and unity of the United Church itself and of its individual churches. Take, for instance, the controversy which erupted several years ago around the issue of homosexuality, particularly the rights of gays and lesbians to participate in the order of ministry and in marriage. It is disagreements around these sorts of concerns which cut sharply into the midst of families and which divide us from those sitting beside us in the pew that should concern us in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
It is true that denominational divisions weaken our Christian witness but the really serious divisions which we should be praying to overcome are the rivalries and jealousies that come between us and our brothers and sisters in Christ who are sometimes literally our brothers and sisters, and our parents and our children. Our prayers for Christian unity should include prayers for unity and reconciliation within denominations, within congregations, and even within families.
It has often been said, in the context of the ecumenical movement, that our quest for unity is not a quest for uniformity. To say that there should be no divisions or dissension between us as Christians, as brothers and sisters in Christ, cannot mean that we must never have any arguments or disagreements. The basis for solid constructive unifying relationships is not miraculously to have no disagreements, rather it is to learn to handle arguments and disagreements with respect and caring. Indeed our unity in Christ will be deepened and strengthened as we reach out to one another in love and respect at the same time as we deal with controversies that find us engaged in serious disagreements.
We need to pray for the peace and unity of the United Church of Canada, for we know that whenever we confront difficulties or controversies they have the capacity of seriously dividing us. We need to pray for our own congregation so that we may be a united and caring fellowship, not allowing any disagreements to become divisive. And perhaps most important of all we need to pray for those most near and dear to us, the members of our own families, because our unity in Christ can often be most severely threatened by the deep and bitter divisions that happen within families. In all these things let us continue to pray earnestly that through Christ we may overcome our divisions and live in unity and love.