In Matthew 22 we read that “37 Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
There is debate about how often Paul quoted directly from the words of Jesus, but my contention this morning is that Paul’s teaching to the Corinthian church is very much in the spirit of these words. Jesus singles out two commandments from the Hebrew scriptures (Deuteronomy 6:5 & Leviticus 19:18) that encapsulate all the teaching we have about how to live. Although they are two, they work together and in keeping one we find ourselves keeping the other.
How do we love God? By trust, by faith, by expressing worship and adoration. This is our main purpose and excitement. After all, we have a brief time on earth to practice, but then we have all eternity to join in the songs of the angels and all those who have gone before us, singing Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, as we gather around the throne. O praise ye the Lord! Praise him in the height. And in doing this, we show his love for those he has placed us to live amongst.
Therefore it mattered that in the church in Corinth they were more interested in displaying their own apparent knowledge or wisdom. It mattered that in the communion services they displayed wealth and privilege and boorish manners. It mattered that in their worship they acted in ways that seemed completely out of touch with the surrounding culture, thus setting up barriers and making it more difficult for outsiders to come in. They were not open for all.
We have seen over previous weeks that God has given to each one of us at least one gift of the Holy Spirit for the common good, that we are to see ourselves as different members of one body with our own unique part to play, that the gifts we are given are a mix of what we would consider natural and supernatural, but that they are given to build up the church, and of greatest importance that none of this has any use if we do not love. We have observed that the sometimes puzzling gifts of prophecy and speaking in tongues seem to have been overused in unregulated ways so that worship would remind one of a kindergarten, and would hinder outsiders from encountering God and growing in him. My understanding is that Paul wants to encourage responsible use of these gifts, but only in ways that show love and respect for God and concern for the outsider.
Now we come to Paul’s summary of his careful argument over these three chapters, and we note two principles.
First, All Involved. “When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of revelation, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.” This does not sound like the way that we run a Parish Communion, with pre-chosen and carefully rehearsed hymns, readings and a sermon planned in advance, with certain authorised people to “preside” at the Lord’s Table. I wonder if I call for a show of hands – what shall we sing next? Does anyone want to share a thought that has come to them while they were reading the scriptures? Have you felt when praying that God has a message to pass on to us? I could come among you now with the hand-held microphone. I wonder how we would respond to that?
The reality, however, is that we have probably selected this style of worship as it is what we are most comfortable with. To gather several dozen people and engage in collective worship almost necessitates a certain degree of formality. We should be aware, however, that this style is not the only one, and it has not been specially commanded by God. It can even be a stumbling block to outsiders. Imagine introducing the concept of eating to someone who has never seen it. If you take them to a formal dinner with special etiquette, where there are frequent stylised toasts, and it is made obvious if you use the wrong cutlery, they may be put off. They need to know that there is also a family Sunday lunch, and a casual supper around the kitchen table. We do all of these, but at different times. We should consider carefully the extent to which our ways of worship show love for God and for our neighbour.
One way that we try to live these words out today is to consciously do church in different ways at different times. Paul’s command that we all take an active part in worship makes sense when we meet in smaller groups of eight to ten people; we can all have our voices heard and make a meaningful contribution. This is not a different church from our Sunday service, or an extra activity to be shoe-horned into our busy schedules, but the flip side or completion, just as the two great commandments are to be taken as one. I will be delighted to discuss with you further how you could take this thought forward.
The second thought is that in our openness to all, we have order, a proper sense that we are acting in submission to God, and for the good of others. It is possible that you have nodded through the talk of tongues, revelations, prophecy and the rest because you cannot see how it is relevant to you, but you are very interested to hear what I will say about women in church. I would merely urge that you spend time asking God to help you be open for all that he has for you in the area of spiritual gifts. You might otherwise be in the position of a driver who is unaware that there are fourth and fifth gears to be used, or a cook who knows about the hotplate but is ignorant of the oven. No wonder we sometimes wonder, in the deepest recesses of the heart, if being a Christian is all it is cracked up to be.
Just as driver revels in the use of fifth gear but should not exceed the speed limit, and the cook should enjoy the use of the oven but take care not to burn everything to a crisp, so worship should be exciting, joyous, honouring to God and a blessing to all who attend, whether regular attendees or visitors. Paul sets some guidelines to help us. He encourages use and experimentation with spiritual gifts in worship, but always in the context of order, courtesy, mutual understanding and submission. He also talks about the conduct of women in worship. It seems that many people feel very happy to bring their preconceived ideas to these verses.
These verses read very strangely to us in the 21st century west, and are controversial. We need to be aware of their cultural context, and also the ways that we are influenced by our own culture as well.
There are some in the worldwide church who would interpret them to mean that women should literally refrain from speaking in church, meaning to take part formally in the service. We should note however that Paul talks in chapter 11 of women being careful to cover their heads when they pray or utter prophecies – and this may well indicate that women did take a part in worship services. This has obvious relevance as the debate continues about women bishops in the Church of England, and as we note that all the folk going forward for various forms of ministry in this church community are women.
It has been pointed out that these verses make perfect sense in a community that has carried on the synagogue practice of seating men and women on opposite sides of the meeting. It may very well be that there was a problem at Corinth with engaged, inquisitive women throwing questions and comments across the room. In a culture much more akin to what we see today in the near east than to our own, this would have been profoundly shocking. Put this together with unbridled and unwise use of the good gifts of the Spirit that God has given to us, and a general free-for-all at the Eucharist, and we can imagine that love for God and for neighbour would possibly have seemed to be at a low ebb.
Let us seek to be open for all that God has for us and for all who seek him. Let us be Christ centred, personally seeking to be individually disciples, resolved to use the gifts he has given us to be servants of others, striving to do all that we can to build up the community of believers, and passionate to see others brought in to know his love.
Questions to promote discussion
1. What do you imagine would have struck you as most strange about worship services in Corinth? And do you think they would think of ours at St Michael’s?
2. What makes it easier for you to take part in worship?
3. Thinking more widely, how much do you know about the spiritual gifts that you have received through the Holy Spirit? Have you taken a test yet?
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