Be Still And Know

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 These words are incredibly important. Remember, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians was written some years before the earliest Gospel. This is, therefore, the first recorded account of any of the words of Jesus. Paul never met Jesus in the flesh but he was convinced that this command had come from the Lord himself. These words are nearly 2,000 years old but they continue to be a fundamental command to the Christian Church today. The key word in Jesus’ command is “remembrance”. When we share in the communion service we are deliberately recalling what Jesus did when he died on the cross. We are recognising that this was an important moment in history but also an event that continues to transform our lives today. In a miraculous way Jesus meets with us as we gather with our Christian brothers and sisters, and he renews our understanding of our own lives and the life that we share together. There is a beautiful variety of titles for the communion meal including the Eucharist (whi

1 Corinthians 11:17-18 Paul loved the church in Corinth with a passion. He had founded the church and so it is not surprising that he longed for the community to thrive. It must have been particularly painful to him that they managed to get so much wrong when they came together to worship. The time when they should have been at their most united seems to have been the time when their divisions were most in evidence. We cannot be entirely clear what the problems were. We do know that their gathering focused on a celebration of the Lord’s Supper, however, the way in which they did so was clearly chaotic. Some people were so eager to eat their food that they didn’t share with others. This was probably exacerbated by the fact that there were both rich and poor people within the church, and the poor were getting left out. Another focus of division may well have been that those from a Jewish background were insisting on kosher food. The fact that there were tensions and divisions in the church is tr

1 Corinthians 10:31,33 Life is forever throwing up questions. Just because we have decided to follow Christ, it doesn’t mean that everything is straightforward. We often have very difficult decisions to make, and the answer isn’t immediately obvious. That was clearly the case for Paul who, in both this chapter and chapter 8, was struggling with the very awkward issue of food that had been offered to idols. In one way it wasn’t an issue at all because idols are false gods. But for some people their conscience made them uneasy about eating something that had been offered to an idol. Different Christians may act in different ways, but what matters is that they act out of a desire to please the Lord, and to be helpful to other people. Paul was so determined to help other people to find Jesus as their Lord, that he didn’t want anything to get in the way. The issues we face today are completely different from Paul’s time, but the same principles hold good. When we decide how to use our money, leisure ti

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 Athletics were taken very seriously by the Greeks. The Olympic Games were established in 776 BC and were held in Olympia every four years. Corinth itself had its own games known as the Isthmian Games, which were second only to the Olympics. It isn’t surprising, therefore, that the apostle Paul often made references to athletics. In preparation for the games, athletes were put through a punishing regime. They were required to prepare for ten months and the entire focus was upon winning. Unlike today, there were no prizes for coming second or third. The winner in Paul’s day would be given a pine wreath to wear but, great as that honour was, it would soon fade. Paul knew that he was working for an eternal prize and so he was determined to be fit to ensure that he could keep going. Of course, the Christian life doesn’t only have one winner. All of us need to ensure that we keep fit for the work that God has called us to do. A contemporary described Paul as “a man small of stature

1 Corinthians 9:19-20, 22-23 Paul had an incredibly clear focus for his life. His longing was that everyone should have the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. He wanted them to know that Jesus loved them so much that he died for their sins so that they could have eternal life. Nothing in the world was more important to him than this. Paul spoke of his willingness to be completely flexible in the way that he got alongside other people. He was brought up as a Jew, and so he was easily able to identify with them and to understand the questions that they might have about Christian faith. But he was just as willing to draw alongside people with no faith background and to understand where they were coming from. He was willing to become all things to all people in order to help them to meet Jesus for themselves. We can probably all identify the people with whom we most easily get on. They probably share a similar background to us and may be of a similar age and share common interests. Tha

1 Corinthians 8:1-2 In writing this letter to the Corinthians, Paul didn’t dodge any of the difficult issues. I suspect that most of us are tempted to avoid grasping nettles, but Paul took on one nettle after another with remarkable confidence. The issue that he grappled with here is totally unfamiliar to us, but we have much to learn from the way in which he handled it. Corinth was a big port and had a very mixed population. The people worshipped a wide variety of deities, and it was quite usual for food to have been taken to the temple gods to be blessed. This posed a major issue for the Christian community. Where should the line be drawn? There were two possible approaches. One was to say that idols aren’t real, so it really doesn’t matter whether the food has been offered to them or not. The other approach was adopted by those who came from a background in which they had been taught to believe that the idols had real power. Now that they had become Christians they found it deeply offensive to eat

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Everything seemed to be going wrong in the Corinthian church. The Christians had become arrogant and were making up their own rules. There was, for example, a case of incest in the church and no action had been taken. There were also reports of Christians taking one another to court. It was all a horrible mess and Paul was eager to put things right. He was particularly concerned that the church should be clear in the matter of sexual ethics. This is not surprising in view of the reputation that Corinth had long possessed of being a hotbed for sexual promiscuity. Our own society, just like Corinth, is characterised by the belief that anything goes sexually. What matters is the freedom of each individual to do what they think is best. Paul countered this kind of thinking by reminding his readers that their bodies were not their own, but gifts from God. They were, therefore, under an obligation to use their bodies in a way that pleased God. They couldn’t simply do whatever they chos

1 Corinthians 4:16-17 When I was learning to play the cello, my teacher always told me to look carefully at other cellists. He told me that this was really important because I would learn something from all of them. It’s just the same with the Christian life. We can read the Bible and Christian books and listen to sermons but watching other Christians is crucial. From their example, we turn the theory into practice. That was exactly Paul’s point in these verses. He was the last person to suggest that he was a perfect example of Christian faith, but he knew that the church in Corinth needed to learn from his example. They had become arrogant and were making bad decisions and so he sent his young friend Timothy to remind them of their need to imitate him. I would be fascinated to know whose Christian example has been important for you. I think of so many people who have been a blessing to me. I think, for example, of the irrepressible joy of my Indian granny. When I lived in India I was generously welco

1 Corinthians 4:7 Try to take a few minutes to write a description of your life. You will need to include things like your health, family, friendships, job, house, car, bicycle and other possessions. Then look over the list and remind yourself that absolutely every item is a gift from God. I know you might have put some hard work into making some of them happen, but none of them would be part of your life without God. So, how dare we become arrogant and boast as if they were our own achievements? Paul’s questions are of enormous importance for all of us. The way we answer them will shape the way in which we live our daily lives. When we recognise that God’s hand has given us everything, we will see the need to have a constant attitude of gratitude to God. The person who brags about their achievements and their possessions needs to be pitied. They have totally misunderstood what is going on. Paul often encouraged his readers to be continually thankful to God. In writing to the Thessalonians he said:

1 Corinthians 3:18-19 Every day we are bombarded with powerful images of what it means to be successful. The advertising and entertainment industries feed us with a continual stream of pictures of wealthy, powerful, glamorous and successful people and urge us to be like them. Life was different in Paul’s day in so many ways, but the same worldly pressures were present. Here Paul encourages the Corinthian believers to turn their thinking upside down. True wisdom would never be found in following the world’s standards and fashions, but only by following their humble, crucified Lord. Paul’s particular concern was the way in which the Corinthian Christians had lined themselves up behind different leaders. This was such a waste of time and energy, and was a perfect illustration of acting according to this world’s standards. Paul would have none of it. He was simply a servant and the last thing he wanted was to be followed by a group of adoring disciples. Jesus showed the full extent of his love not by be

1 Corinthians 3:10-11 Every building needs firm foundations. I’ve just been reading up about the process of preparing good foundations for a self-build. As you can imagine, it’s a major task involving a careful examination of the land with the help of a structural engineer. Then it’s necessary to excavate the ground and prepare it with flood damage-resistant and decay-resistant materials before laying sufficient foundations to take the full load of the construction. It’s a highly involved process but none of that is necessary when we are building the Church of Jesus Christ. He’s already laid the foundations; all we need to do is build. There are two things that you need if you are going to get involved in building up the Church. Firstly, you need to know your role. Paul was clear that he was an expert builder. This might sound like bragging, but it really wasn’t. It was simply the vital task that God had given him to perform. You and I have our own roles to fulfil. Perhaps you are an expert builder, a

1 Corinthians 3:5-6 The divisions that had opened up in the church in Corinth were clearly causing great problems. Divisions always waste time and energy and Paul was eager to put a stop to them. We cannot be sure why people had grouped behind Paul and Apollos in this way. However, we can easily speculate that because Paul had founded the church in Corinth there were those who felt personally committed to him. Apollos, meanwhile, came from a devout Jewish family in Alexandria, Egypt and would have had a very different upbringing from Paul. It is likely that he would have come under the influence of Philo, the great philosopher, and it may well have been that his preaching was more intellectually impressive than Paul’s. We cannot be sure, and it doesn’t really matter. What is clear is that they, like any other church leaders, were different from one another and difference offers the opportunity for division. I wonder what Christian leaders have shaped your Christian life. I can think of a number of p

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 For the apostle Paul, the cross of Christ lay right at the heart of his message. Take away the cross and he had no good news to share. But he also recognised that it was a really difficult message to pass on. As a Jew he was eager to preach the cross to his own people, but they found the whole idea deeply offensive. Their scriptures told them that anyone who hung from a tree was cursed by God (see Deuteronomy 21:23). When he shared the message with non-Jews their reaction was that it was all nonsense. How could someone being killed be a sign of power and victory? They just didn’t get it. But none of this put Paul off. He was absolutely convinced that the message of the cross was both wise and powerful. Paul was so eager that the cross should be the focus of his message that he was happy that his preaching was unimpressive. He described himself as having been timid and trembling when he first got to Corinth, and said that his message and preaching were very plain (vv3-4). He was gla

1 Corinthians 1:10 In this letter, Paul does a lot of straight talking to the Corinthian church. It is significant that the first issue he addresses is unity, because everything depends on it. A disunited church cannot possibly be effective and 2,000 years of Church history have proved that to be the case. Disunity wastes time and energy and prevents any organisation from making headway. In Corinth they had started getting behind different leaders. Some supported Paul, but others preferred Apollos or Peter, while others were only prepared to follow Jesus. It was all getting very messy, and Paul appealed to them to drop this divisiveness. Unity is just as vital today, and we all have a part to play in contributing to it. Absolutely key to unity is humility. Mother Teresa wrote: “Only humility will lead us to unity and unity will lead to peace.” The humble person is willing to listen and to learn. They may have strong views, but they are willing to admit that they might be wrong. They are constantly loo

1 Corinthians 1:4-5 These are incredibly generous words aren’t they? But they are also rather surprising when you know what follows. This letter to the church in Corinth is full of very serious criticisms of their life together. Indeed, at times it feels as if they got nothing right. But Paul was determined to start his letter on a positive note, and he did so by pointing to all the ways in which God had blessed them. First of all, Paul gave thanks for the gifts that God had given them. This letter has a great deal to say about the gifts that God gives to his Church. Paul was convinced that God had given the Corinthians everything they needed to be an effective church. He would spend much time in this letter pointing out the way in which they had mishandled those gifts, but there was no question about the generosity of God. Secondly, he rejoiced that they belonged to Jesus. Amidst all the challenges of life in a hostile city, they had the security of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that

1 Corinthians 1:1 This is a fairly familiar beginning to one of Paul’s letters, but what interests me today are the last five words “and from our brother Sosthenes”. We always refer to this letter as coming from Paul, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard reference to the fact that it also came from Sosthenes. So who was Sosthenes?. He was obviously a very significant person in Paul’s ministry to be mentioned right at the start of this letter. Unfortunately, it is impossible to be sure who he was and not least because Sosthenes, surprisingly, wasn’t an uncommon name. It is tempting to think that he might be the Sosthenes who we meet in Acts 18, who was chief ruler of the synagogue in Corinth, but we cannot be sure. If it was that Sosthenes it would be fascinating to learn how he became a Christian, but we simply don’t know. However, the presence of this mysterious Sosthenes tells us two really important things. Firstly, Paul believed in working closely with others. There is no question that Paul had a r

Psalm 10:1 This is one of many psalms of lament. Like many such psalms it is really a psalm of complaint. David is not at all happy and he wants God to know it. His life is dominated by evil people, and he can’t believe that God doesn’t get involved and do something. He sees his enemies acting wickedly and getting away with it. In fact, worse than that, their lives seem to be very successful, and they live with a confidence that nothing will ever go wrong. I draw great strength from David’s honesty. He doesn’t put on an act before God, but tells him exactly how he feels. I believe that that’s exactly what God wants. The truth is that probably all of us have had times when it has felt as if God was far away. On many occasions people have told me that they felt that their prayers were just bouncing off the ceiling. When we go through a particularly tough time, and especially when we see people doing evil things but still prospering, it is easy for us to feel that God is far away from us. But the truth i

Psalm 9:1-2 It’s good for us to ask the question: “What is praise?” It certainly isn’t simply a matter of singing a few Christian songs, beautiful as they may be. And it doesn’t necessarily happen when we attend a service of worship. It has to do with the state of our hearts, not just our mouths. We can read the Bible and sing spiritual songs all day long, but if our words are not flowing from a heart that is in love with God, then we are just going through the motions. In this psalm David speaks of praising God with his whole heart. He knew that his life depended upon God and his praise flowed from the recognition that without the Lord he would have been totally lost. This is a challenge to all of us. Half-hearted worship is totally inappropriate when worshipping the God who has given us everything. CH Spurgeon, the famous Victorian Baptist preacher, put it well when he said: “A half heart is no heart at all.” We can’t be sure when David wrote this psalm, but it has been suggested that it might have

Psalm 8:3-4 I know very, very little about astronomy. However, whenever I hear about it, I find it mind-blowing. I totally understand where David was coming from in this psalm. Let me give you a few facts about our amazing universe. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second, so it covers 671 million miles per hour. In a year light travels about 6 trillion miles. Even if you managed to travel at the incredible speed of light it would take 96 billion light years to get from one side of our universe to the other. Let’s leave it there! All we need to conclude is that David asks a really good question. Why on earth should God take the tiniest bit of interest in those miniscule specks of dust that we call human beings? The psalm doesn’t offer an explanation as to why God has acted in this way. It simply affirms that that’s the way it is. God has chosen to give human beings this phenomenally important status and asked us to look after his creation. The punch line of this psalm is simply an outpouring of wors

Psalm 7:10-11 Evil is an uncomfortable issue. Most of us live peaceful lives and rarely come up against anger and violence. We don’t deny that there is evil in
the world but we hear about it on the news so, usually, are far removed from it in our day-to-day lives. But as we bring our worship to God we have to acknowledge that there is desperate evil in our world. Our psalm today makes clear that God is really angry about this, and so we cannot ignore it. There are people who die in violent conflict, and many of them are completely innocent. There are millions of people who have been displaced from their homes and as they wake up today they are in a place where they don’t want to be. There are also millions of Christians who are unable to worship God openly because of their government’s laws. Evil was on David’s mind because of a particular person when he wrote this psalm. He was having terrible problems with Cush of the tribe of Benjamin. This is the only reference in the Bible to this particular Cush