A Tale of Two Churches: Roots - 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

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I am part of something bigger than myself. I'm part of my family of origin, and of my family of choice.  

Every now and then I might be looking through an old photo album and come across a black and white picture of my Great-Aunt Alberta or my Uncle Fred, and see coming back to me from that photograph my own forehead underneath a bouffant hairdo, or my own chin just above a skinny tie. I might see my smile. My frown.  

I can pile up all of my shared experiences from my family of origin and my family of choice, and that great big pile of things is me: the influences and the decisions of others (and of myself) that made me who I am today, because I am part of something bigger than myself. 

If I try to cut myself off from where I come from, can I really be me?  

As individual Christians we are, by definition and by Christ's design, part of His gathering, part of His Church.  

As a church we are, by definition and by Christ's design, part of the never-ending, indestructible, life-giving, name-affirming universal Church of Jesus.  

We share the great story, walking the same path, in the footsteps of those who came before us. We stand on the shoulders of giants, inheriting their strong foreheads and their pointy chins. 

The church in ancient Jerusalem and the church in ancient Corinth have some amazing things in common. And they have some amazing things not in common. But these two churches are among our great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents. There are strengths and weaknesses that we inherit. There are difficult stories that they lived that we may find instructive. There are things that they had to learn and unlearn the hard way. By spending time with these ancestors, we're going to have a better understanding of who we are today, and where we're going.  

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If, like me, you spent a lot of time in Sunday School, in church, reading the Bible, you probably know more about Jerusalem than you know about Corinth. So that’s where I’ll start. 

Corinth was a really important place, commercially and strategically. Everybody and everything came through Corinth on its way from one place to another.  

The population of Corinth was about 200,000 free people and about half a million slaves. It was designed like a Roman city with a big central agora (marketplace) where everything happened: commerce, grocery shopping, kids playing, musicians busking, beggars begging, and trials being heard by judges. The city had two big theatres for entertainment one of which sat 18,000 people, the size of a typical NHL arena. The culture was a mix, as you would imagine, of everything: Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and Asian plus a small community of Jews.  

There were temples to—among others—Apollo, Poseidon, and Aphrodite. The latter was known quite widely for its temple prostitutes. There is archaeological evidence suggesting that in those days the city had a real problem with sexually transmitted infections. 

The history of Corinth is all wrapped up in wealth, and the things that people do with wealth; what happens in Corinth stays in Corinth. 

Around 50 AD, into this city stepped (for the first time, as far as we know) the apostle Paul who had been on the road now for nearly 20 years, preaching about Jesus, writing to different churches here and there, annoying the heck out of people pretty much everywhere he went, and then moving on.  

God blessed his ministry to churches. 

Paul... went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he debated and discussed in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. Acts 18:1-4 

Paul went to work with Aquila and Priscilla during the week, and every Sabbath to the synagogue to debate and discuss, trying to persuade the Jews and the Greeks about who Jesus is.  

He stayed there for about a year and a half, gradually laying the foundation for what would become the church in in Corinth.  

When Paul left, he left behind a church where, worshipping side by side on a Sunday morning, you would find slaves and slave owners. Retired army veterans and the people they had colonized. Rich and poor. Men and women. 

Romans like Fortunatus and Justus. 

Jews like Crispus and his household.  

Greeks like Chloe and her household, and like Stephanus. 

Blue collar workers and tradespeople, like Priscilla and Aquila. 

Wealthy and influential people like Erastus (who was the town treasurer and the director of public works. He was in charge of building that 18,000 seat theatre) and Gaius (whose house was big enough to host the whole church). 

That church—that diverse jumbled mixture of people who gradually became a church—grew up in a city that was culturally and racially diverse; rich and poor; free and enslaved. Among people who were influential and invisible. A city that was loyal to the Roman empire. A city that was sexually easy and tempting, politically complicated, and spiritually jumbled.  

It all began because one day Paul showed up, got a job, and just started doing what Paul did.  

That's Corinth... 

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Churches in Jerusalem and Corinth looked very different on day one. They started in very different ways. 

But they had this in common: they both began with people who listened to God. People who gathered in the name of God. And people who passed on the message wherever they went because they belonged to something that was greater than themselves.  

Jerusalem and Corinth were founded with people called by God to gather. People who heard the call and said “yes.”  

The Church is not a political entity. The Church is not a charitable organization.  

The Church is a gathering of human beings called out and called together by the triune God.  

The Church is a gathering of human beings sent on the same mission that God has been on since day one, since before day one: to bring humanity into right relationship with Himself, and with each other. 

The Church is a gathering of human beings called to go into our world, speaking His name. Doing His work of reconciliation, because that is our task. 

So whether we are, as a church, a Corinth or a Jerusalem... 

• Whether we began with a whisper, or began with a shout,  
• Whether we are in the centre of our own God-focussed identity, or in a city that is a complete mishmash cross-section of the entire world.  

...Whether we are Corinth or Jerusalem, God works in our churches to raise us up.  

Whether we are insiders who have been here forever, or newcomers stumbling across the threshold, the great Church is God's vision for us. The Church is Christ's gift to us. The Church is the identity that the Spirit builds in us. Because we are part of something greater than ourselves. With our great, great, great grandparents in Corinth, and our great, great, great grandparents in Jerusalem, we are part of all God is doing. 

Being gathered into that Church, being gathered into that body, being gathered into that family, surrendering what we need to surrender to be part of what God is doing... It's worth it. It is worth the effort. It is worth the risk.  

Being part of the Church is not something that we as Christians can take or leave. The Church is who we are. Being part of the Church is worth fighting for. 

 

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