"Same Mind, Same Purpose" - Sermon, January 26, 2020
Community UMC, Quincy
“Same Mind, Same Purpose”
Rev. Andrew Davis
January 26, 2020
1 Corinthians 1: 10-18
This has been one of those weeks where the week has gotten away from me. I don’t know if it’s because of the MLK Jr. Birthday holiday/day of service on Monday, or from meeting with my clergy mentor in Reno on Wednesday and being away, or immersing myself into the work of PCIRC as my mission immersion project for ordination on Thursday and Friday, although this has been a week I wasn’t always sure what day it was. And we’ve all been there at one time or another too. I know that as I get ready to go on the road for the next two weeks, it might be the same case as I attend the CNUMC Gathering of the Orders in Livermore this week, then my last Residents Practicing Ministry winter academy in Sutter Creek the week after. Nevertheless, as intensive as this last week was and these next two weeks will be, there is so much valuable learning that happens each step of the way and I look forward to learning new skills that will help our ministry together and future ministry.
As we continue our series, “Somos Del Señor,” or “We Belong to Christ,” we continue working through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Last week, we talked some about who Paul is and the purpose of his letters to the churches that were established in the Mediterranean region that Paul oversaw. In the letters to the Corinthians, Paul is addressing some divisions and conflict in the church in Corinth, as he mentions Chloe’s people bringing him word of such divisions and disagreement. As I’ve been reading through our text this week, these words that Paul writes are timely as ever, as there is plenty of division and disunity happening around us in the world today just like was happening in the church in Corinth. We can definitely take Paul’s message to the Corinthians as a message to us, as Paul once again speaks to having the same mind and purpose as Christ, even amidst our divisions, disagreements, or differences.
Rev. Dr. Derek Weber from Discipleship Ministries of the UMC in Nashville explains that amidst divisions and differences that Paul is addressing,
there is hope in our common baptism, in our belonging to Christ. To be clear, this unity does not do away with the diversity, even the diversity of opinions and positions on crucial issues. But Paul argues that our purposes in Christ, our mind that is in Christ – namely to love God and love neighbor – can bring us to unity in mission and action.[i]
Difference can be healthy and a good thing too, although not always easy to face. One of the things this past week about engaging in work around our greater community in my mission immersion project is coming face to face with people I don’t know, but people who are dealing with hard times in their lives, and homelessness. It was an eye-opening week and definitely stretched me, all while seeing a lot of greater needs in our community that I ask why I didn’t do this when I started here almost four years ago. Still, when it comes to differences, it is a matter of loving God and neighbor, which gives us the same mind and same purpose of Christ, and most importantly BEING Christ in our community and greater world. As we talked about last week, there are times we will come in contact with people who are different, maybe even people we cannot stand, or stuff that makes us uncomfortable. I know when I’m faced with an uncomfortable situation, see someone approach me that I don’t want to engage with, Jesus shows up. Having the same mind and same purpose of Christ means that we need to engage, show our love of God, and our love of neighbor to everyone, even when we are uncomfortable. Of course, there may be some exceptions to the rule, but even when we have been wronged or hold a different viewpoint, we need to have the same mind and purpose of Christ.
Some of Paul’s admonishments in our lesson this morning center around belonging and identity, as some people feel they belong to Paul, some to Apollos, and some to Cephas, while Paul says, ‘no, you all belong to Christ. Get your head out of the clouds.’ It’s a lot like having conflicting loyalties to different leaders, yet in reality as people of faith, it’s all about belonging to Christ here in the church. Just like what happens at times today, Paul’s main
Issue [here] is division. The issue is factionalism. The issue is us and them, left and right, good guys and bad guys. The issue is that the church has begun to reflect the larger society around it. Rather than living as an example of what community is supposed to be, we have shifted into the same sorts of line drawing and team choosing that the rest of our culture revels in. [ii]
There are so many parallels between the church then and the church today in Paul’s letter, especially with some of the divisions we currently face. We don’t always agree on the polity or doctrines of the church, we might not always agree with one another’s interpretation of Scripture. At times, we may not agree about what we sing on Sunday. Yet, instead of drawing lines or choosing us vs. them, we ultimately belong to Christ, while striving to keep our common focus on Christ, and striving to have the same mind and purpose of Christ in everything we do.
In the coming days and weeks, I want us to think about how we belong to Christ, how we love God and neighbor, how we can have the same mind and purpose of Christ, then take it into our community into the mission field. What are some ways that we can have the same mind and purpose of Christ in helping people in need around our community, or even in our own church? How can we unite around Christ while we still may have differences, especially with General Conference in May and as another presidential and congressional election on the horizon this November? And in a world that is more skeptical than ever about hearing the message of the Gospel and about the church, or even God, how will we have the same mind and purpose of Christ through our words and actions this week and beyond? At the end of the day,
Paul is asking for a profound humility to govern the behaviors of the body of Christ followers. He even diminishes his actions with his “senior moment” of whom he has baptized. It’s not about me, he declares to them. It’s about him, the Christ who calls Paul and who calls the community of faith in Corinth. So, set aside the other allegiances and cling to the one who gives life. Be like him. Be like him in his humility. Be like him in his suffering. Be like him in his death.[iii]
As we continue our journey of faith, let us strive to be like Christ, having the same mind and purpose of Christ in everything we do and with everyone we encounter.
Offered to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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