Mansplaining jesus
Before there was the religion OF Jesus (the kingdom of God, all that compassion), there was the religion ABOUT Jesus (doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus the Christ). 1 Corinthians is a primitive document from an ancient archive of correspondence by the church’s first theologian, Paul the Apostle, who never knew Jesus of Nazareth but developed the Christology that informs so much of our Christian habitus. We’ll explore five sections of 1 Corinthians to see what they say about Jesus the Christ, and what that means for our church now.
Nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified: Making sense out of a foolish cross. How does the whole life and ministry of Jesus get condensed to this one event, the crushing defeat? What sense does that make? (And in light of that, what do we mainly want to talk about? How is the cross definitional for what we care about most? “Paul… Apollos…” seems ridiculous in the shadow of crucifixion.) 1 Corinthians 1:1–2:2.
You were bought with a price. Moral codes for personal purity derive from the idea that we (including and especially) our bodies do not belong to us; they have been “purchased” by Christ’s sacrificial act. Treating my body like a vessel of the living Spirit of Christ – like a temple – might change the way I think about what comes next for me. 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; 5:1-2, 9-13; 6:12-20.
The [sibling] for whom Christ died. 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10 are about whether to eat meat from the altars of pagan, little-g-gods -- but really they're about how we think about each other, our “siblings for whom Christ died.” Decision-making is never that simple when you think about everyone who's affected by whatever you decide. Please note: this sermon is incomplete without the Litany of Confession that follows in our next recording from the same date. 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 9:19-23; 10:23–11:1.
This is part two of “Mansplaining Jesus 3/6” from 3/19. You’ll hear the voices of our Missional Logistics Team, our Care & Feeding Team, and our pastoral staff, describing a situation that feels like a turning point in our church life. We confessed before the church that our welcome had reached a painful limit, and asked our Area Shepherd, Rev. Dick Lord, to pray for us and assure us of God's pardon. Listen with care, as there is a mention of sexual assault in the telling -- not among the people of Galileo Church, but in the story of another who asked for refuge with us.
You are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. The discovery of giftedness by Christ’s Spirit empowers the church to do more than any of us could do alone. And we do it under the governance of love, the “still more excellent way.” 1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-31; 13:1-13.
Christ, the first fruits of those who have died. The promise of resurrection as vindication of his way of life – and ours. The centrality of this creedal statement in 15:3-8, “handing on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received…” This is the basic creed, the central formula of Christian belief: died – buried – resurrected – appeared. Our life under the canopy of this story, the resurrection-promised life. 1 Corinthians 15:1-28.