Evensong 20 July 2025
Primary Texts:
Genesis 41:1-16, 25-37
1 Corinthians 4:8-13
Occasionally, you hear people saying that they wish we could go back and be like the early church. Perhaps they are thinking of the signs and wonders that were happening through the work of the Holy Spirit. Or maybe they are thinking about having proximity to the first disciples who knew Jesus and could share first-hand testimony about his life and teaching.
However, I am not sure they have read their Bibles very well. A number of the New Testament letters are Paul writing to Churches across the Roman World, correcting the way they are living and reminding them of the true message of the Gospel. Our snippet from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth is no exception. Casting an eye back over the early section of his letter, the Corinthians have been corrected for:
- Being factionalised over which apostle they followed – Peter, Paul or Apollos
- Arguing with each other over baptism
- Posturing themselves as full of wisdom
- Being impressed by persuasive preaching
- Being infants in the faith who are still jealous of one another and quarrelling with each other
- Thinking they can do anything with their bodies because it doesn’t impact their spiritual lives
They are not in a good state. Picking up our reading, you certainly get a sense that there is a tone underlying this passage. If he was writing now, perhaps he would be writing an email in ALL CAPS, shouting at his readers. There are certainly a number of exclamation marks in the written text!!
Already you have all you want!
Already you have become rich!
Quite apart from us you have become kings!
There is a strong sense of sarcasm or irony in Paul’s communication. Commentators make clear that the majority of the Corinthian church were neither wealthy nor royal. Paul, too, makes this clear in his next statement when he says, “I wish you had become kings so that we might be kings with you!”
Some commentators suggest that the Corinthians have an over-realised eschatology; they think that all the blessings of the coming kingdom of God had already arrived. But if this is the case, Paul and the other apostles should also be experiencing the blessings. Instead, Paul’s rebuke suggests that the Corinthians are behaving as if they have achieved some high level of spirituality that has made them spiritually elite.
Paul goes on to contrast the reality of his life as an apostle to their “glorious success.” The apostles are:
- The last of all – hardly kings.
- Sentenced to death – like those who would have been sacrificed in the gladiatorial encounters in the Roman arenas.
- A spectacle to both the human and angelic world.
The life of Paul and other apostles is an exhibition and a witness to the world around them via their actions and way of being in the world. They are on display. Their life is a living testament to their Lord, who also lived as one willing to lay his life down for others to the point of crucifixion. Jesus called those who followed him to pick up their cross daily, and Paul’s life reflects obedience to this command.
Paul goes on to show how this lifestyle may look foolish, but he is willing to look foolish for the sake of Christ. He is not coveting power or honour because he knows this is not the way of the kingdom. Spiritual maturity isn’t found in having everything you want, or being rich, or sitting in positions of power. Our possessions, our wealth and our power are not what make us mature. They are outward signs of achievement in the world, but they will not draw us closer to God.
Paul, the famous apostle to the Gentiles, highlights his suffering for the sake of the Gospel. He is hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, beaten and homeless and growing weary from working to support his ministry. Some of his hardship comes from those who persecute him for sharing the gospel, and others come from the reality of his life, travelling from place to place.
Like the Corinthians, we need to ask ourselves whose approval we are seeking. Do we want to look good, or are we striving to be godly? Sadly, it is often suffering and tragedy that remind us that we have been looking in the wrong place and true peace and comfort are found in God.
Paul suggests that true maturity mirrors Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes, which turned the world’s ways of doing things upside down, finding blessing in mourning, meekness, peacemaking, mercy and a pursuit of righteousness. When we are confronted with trials and struggles, how do we respond? In the face of opposition, persecution and slander, Paul encourages the Corinthians to respond with blessing, endurance and kindness. Walking in the way of Christ can look like failure to the world but it will keep us facing towards God and living in the way that Jesus taught us.
In this way, may our lives also be a witness to others of the goodness of the God we follow.