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What is L.I.P. ?
This
Week's L.I.P.
Prior
L.I.P. Pieces
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Synopsis of Sunday’s
Sermon
In the first place,
I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions
among you, and to some extent I believe it. For there must be also factions
among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you.
That’s what Paul had to say to the saints at Corinth. The specific
context, from I Corinthians 11:18-19 (NIV, ASV), had to do with their
eating what should have been the Lord’s Supper. But Paul says
they should rename this celebration the “Me Meal”, because
they — the rich, at least—went ahead and ate without waiting
for the poorer people in the church body to get to the church assembly.
He was pretty irate at the self-centered, lack of consideration that
he had heard about (and assumed was at least partially true) and spends
the rest of I Cor. 11 chiding them for what was going on.
We noted Sunday that Paul, while condemning division in the church (I
Cor. 1:10), said that it is often inevitable. He even says it can even
have a purpose. Specifically, he says, these little ’factions’
point out who is ’approved’ or ‘tested and found to
be genuine’...and who isn’t. We end up finding ourselves
in little groups that respond a certain way in certain situations and
it is precisely that response that shows what we are made of. In the
case of the Corinthians, each (presumably Sunday evening) gathering
was a test. Will you reflect the oneness of the church, the body of
Christ, the one bread, by showing concern for the other segments of
the church as you wait for them to arrive...or will you say, “The
food’s warm. Enough of us are here. Let’s go ahead and eat.”
Those who went ahead and ate were one ‘faction’, those who
opted to hold off eating until the poor arrived were another ‘faction’
or ‘group’. Which group was ‘approved’? The
waiters.
I know I took some of you on a nostalgic tour Sunday morning as I described
my vacation to Florida memories from childhood. But I hope you weren’t
so wrapped up in the flashbacks that you missed the point. Each local
church (Corinth in 50 C.E. or Robinson in 2011) is like that: a group
of people, called to love one another, on a journey, facing less than
ideal conditions, who have to learn to get along as they travel together
with different opinions, wishes, longings and desires. And that is the
test. Will we act as we should? I cannot help but think that the building
renovation’s inconveniences (and the selection of 2-3 ministries
that we will focus on as a church, for that matter) will be as much
of a test as any 15 hour trip to Florida in an un-air conditioned, 1964
Chevy Biscayne ever was. The education wing will be wonderful when completed...but
the real issue is how we will live and react to one another on the journey.
Wednesday Morning’s Reflections
It is Wednesday now and I cannot help but think about life in general
and the Christian life in particular. As I reflect on Scripture, I notice
two things about the composition of the church and God’s actions:
1) that the church is always composed of a mixed group (good and bad,
faithful and unfaithful, approved and unapproved); and 2) that all of
life is a test (a sifting process, if you will, where the two groups
above are eventually sorted out).
I don’t have time to develop both of these aspects, so let me
focus on the first. Ever notice how often Jesus envisioned the kingdom
of God as being a mixed composition? Especially in His parables. The
kingdom of God is composed of precious wheat (but also weeds); wise
maidens (but also foolish ones); faithful servants (but also wicked
ones)?* There will be a final day of sorting, these parable proclaim.
But in the meantime, there is the mixture, and a time for transformation.
A chance for the unapproved to repent and become approved (why else
would Paul have written what he wrote in I Cor.11 if not to get the
‘unapproved’ to change?). But it is also a sore test for
the approved. But the ones who see clearly know what is the right thing
to do and do it even to their hurt (Psalm 15:4).
Omission
Oh, and before I close, I entitled my sermon, “It’s Time
to Load Up” but never explained it. As we launch out into some
inconvenient and stressful days ahead we need—to borrow my metaphor
from Sunday— to load up the family car with all of our members
as we head out on our journey in unity...not load up our guns to shoot
our brother whom we don’t see eye to eye with.
-David
08/18/2010
*Matthew 13:24-30; 47-50; Matthew 25:1-13; Matthew 24:45-51; Matthew
7:21-27, etc...
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