02.08.2015 How to Have an Attitude of Equality and Mutuality and Oneness

02.08.2015 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

02.08.2015 Worship from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

SermonAudio

Open our ears to hear what You would say to us. Every moment of our lives, You are there- desiring our attention, desiring to lead us further. In Your name we pray. Amen.

1 Cor. 7:1 Now with regard to the issues you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with his own wife and each woman with her own husband. 3 A husband should give to his wife her sexual rights, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 It is not the wife who has the rights to her own body, but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights to his own body, but the wife. 5 Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then resume your relationship, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control
What is that doing in there! And what are we doing talking about it in church?! Some of you may be saying, "It’s about time we talk about this in church!"
From the beginning, we have said that there are a lot of interactions going on in between Paul and the Corinthian church – an ongoing discussion that has been going on for months and month, and we are entering into the middle of this discussion.
From what we can figure - The Corinthians had asked about celibacy – and in the church, there were two extremes going on – people who were conforming to the culture in relationship to this area – they had taken their freedom in Christ too far and in this area, they had an anything goes morality – we looked at that last week.
The other extreme – in reaction to the other group of people – Paul had told them that this is not a right way to live. The other extreme overreacted and took Paul’s restrictions so far as to promote celibacy even in marriage! So Paul is addressing this. They were promoting that married people should abstain from sexual relations.
What is that all about? Our tendency is to pull verses like this out of context – but Paul is trying to teach bigger lessons.
He is dealing with the source of the problem – the issue of spiritual superiority. There are those in the church who believed that if you abstained from sex, you were spiritually superior to others. So he is addressing equality, spiritual oneness, and spiritual equality in the church.
We tend to lean toward extremes – Paul says in 1 Cor. 13 that there is a difference between religious behavior and wholehearted devotion to God. You may give your body to be burned – you might do all these ‘spiritual things’ – but you are missing the heart of it.
The people in Corinth are focusing on the externals.
There are two main lessons – the first is addressed in this letter – this relationship of oneness and equality in the Church – Galatians/Ephesians/Colossians – and it is summed up in Galatians 3:28
Gal. 3: 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
This sums up chapter 7 of 1 Cor. There are three categories for them that determine a place in society – Race – Jew or Greek – They had two races only – Second: Socioeconomic status – slave or free – , and gender – male or female – a person’s status must change in Christ – we cannot look at people the way the world looks at people.
These divisions must end in the church. We are not allowed to conform to the way the world views things and the way the world does things.
Equality and mutuality – the consistent teaching of the New Testament. Paul takes all three of these categories – Race, status, gender – and he practically lays out what it means to be equal.
This chapter is really about Galatians 3:28 and what it means to be one in Christ. The first one he deals with is the issue of gender.
1 Cor. 7: 4 It is not the wife who has the rights to her own body, but the husband.
Can you imagine how this would ring out in the news today? If you go on the news and say that, you are a psycho. This was commonly accepted in their day – in their world, the husband owned everything in the household – she was his property - but the following will make the first century person’s ears perk up:
In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights to his own body, but the wife.
What do you mean by that, Paul? He is saying – look, in the marriage relationship, the gospel demands oneness, equality, mutuality. In context, 1 Cor. 7:1 – do you know what it comes after? The end of chapter 6:
If you read the verses at the end of 6 – just before this –
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
We think our body – anything inside this skin - belongs to us – and we can use it however we want. But that is not what Paul is saying – it belongs fully and completely to God – and whatever we do with it needs to be done for His glory. Therefore, in light of that – He has full authority over us – therefore we belong to one another and need to learn to live our lives in such a way as to benefit other people – that we live not for ourselves. In the marriage relationship – neither the husband nor wife can be thinking of themselves – they are to live for the other person – and this goes for every area of our lives – we need to learn to live for others.
Now in the church – we need to live in oneness – equality in these relationships. That is what he is getting at when he says this –
They are equal in this – one is not treated as better than the other – and we are to view ourselves in the same way.
Even in Ephesians where Paul lays out the responsibilities and roles of each person in the family structure – He qualifies by starting with – Be subject to one another – Submit to one another – and we think – that is a terrible thing – we are Americans, we don’t submit to anything! But this means to humble oneself to make the others important – be a servant to one another – that the other may be blessed, encouraged, helped. – and that is what makes for a good marriage – when you have two people fully concerned about the other’s well-being. They were so concerned about who is first – and Paul is coming at them.
1 Cor. 7: 17 Nevertheless, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches. 18 Was anyone called after he had been circumcised? He should not try to undo his circumcision.
I don’t know how anyone would even DO that!
1 Cor. 7: 18b Was anyone called who is uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Instead, keeping God’s commandments is what counts. 20 Let each one remain in that situation in life in which he was called.
This is the second lesson – the first is equality and oneness in Christ.
Second – He is dealing with race – Jew or Greek – Circumcised or uncircumcised. There were those who thought they were spiritually superior – and Paul is saying – it is nothing.
If you are counting on your circumcision as your religious practice – determining who is right and wrong – if you are counting on you being in and right – and that is what you are counting on – you are a zero – a big nothing.
Instead – keeping God’s commandments is what counts – if you want to start counting – adding the numbers on your side – keep the commandments! What was in the top 3 for the Jews? Circumcision! But it doesn’t matter anymore – because that commandment was to separate you from the world and now I have brought it all back together. We are so sensitive to race in this world – but Paul is saying there is only one race – Christian. You are more Christian than you are white or black or Asian. They don’t let you fill that out on the tax form!
That is your race – that is to whom you belong. SO if someone from another race is a Christian – they are more part of your race than those who look like you.
1 Cor. 7:21 – socioeconomic status: 21 Were you called as a slave? Do not worry about it. But if indeed you are able to be free, make the most of the opportunity. 22 For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. In the same way, the one who was called as a free person is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. 24 In whatever situation someone was called, brothers and sisters, let him remain in it with God.
In their culture – the free people were superior to the slaves in every aspect of life – you had every advantage – and if you were a slave – you had no advantage. Some say that up to 60% of the Roman Empire were slaves. Paul is not promoting slavery – some are saying that – but he says if you can get free – do it. Slavery is huge in the world still – think about what it took to end it –
7: Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches.
What he is not saying – you can never change something about your life – that is what he is NOT saying – but he is saying – if we belong to God, we will not be hindered by our status and stature – we tend to think if we could change our stature – we could better honor God – but Paul is saying – right now – where you are – you can be blessed by God – God never blesses anyone except where they are - it is good to remind yourself! When you head off to work – think – God never blesses anyone except where they are!
Again, it does not mean that we can’t change our circumstances – but it does mean you do not need to wait for your circumstances to change to be blessed by God.
“Jews, Greeks, Slave, Free - the social circumstances of each of Paul’s readers created unique opportunities for discipleship”
Whatever race you are – whatever your economic situation – each creates a unique opportunity to follow Christ in that situation.
“God’s gifts and call are not limited to any single culture or social status. Paul tells the Corinthians that for each of them there is a calling or assignment. Paul does not endorse slavery – it is an evil system – but the call of God can be heard in it” – in whatever situation you find yourself in. In whatever situation – you are in the perfect situation to be called by God and to be blessed by Him.
Right before this – Paul talks about divorce. It is a long section – so I will summarize. First, Paul affirms and honors the sanctity of marriage. Second - he instructs them to do all they can to stay married – to be faithful to their wedding vows – and even in a difficult marriage – you can honor God and be blessed. Then, however - he also acknowledges that divorce is a reality and that there are some valid reasons for divorce – there are times when divorce is necessary – some not so much – but some are. If you have been through a divorce – then you can honor God and be blessed in your life. He is saying, if you are divorced, you are not an inferior Christian. Sometimes the church wrongfully puts divorced people as second class Christians – and Paul is saying – don’t get divorced – marriage is to be for life – but he understands – Jesus gave reasons – they are not second class Christians – wherever you find yourself – you can honor God and be blessed by Him – fully and wholly.
Some practical applications – to have an attitude of equality and mutuality and oneness
First attitude – God is somehow sovereign in our current situation.
And the second being that we can honor God and be blessed by Him in whatever circumstance we are currently in.
Right now – we are forgiven and God loves us where we are and wants us – right at this moment – to experience Him.
Four attitudes – God is sovereign in your circumstances – that does not mean He is to blame – some of us carry the fault and sometimes others are to blame – but He is sovereign and wants to bring about good.
Second - In your current situation – there is work to be done inside of you – there are things that God wants to transform in your heart – and we need to focus on that and not the outward aspects of our situation. We need to focus on the inward – on the heart. As we correct and get right what is inside of us – then and only then can we focus on the external. If you try to change the external circumstances without changing the heart, we will end up back in the same circumstances.
In marriage – if a couple is having problems – they have to be transformed on the inside first – there are external techniques – but those need to reach the inside.
Third - God wants to use you in your situation. There are people to be reached.
Just this week – I noticed something outside our door – I thought it was a brown box – but it wasn’t - it was the neighbor’s dog! She has one of those collars that is supposed to keep her in her yard. She likes me because I play with her – unless she has escaped from her yard – and then she doesn’t want me to catch her! Then I noticed Mike walking down the street – I didn’t know she was out – hey – you’re a preacher – aren’t you? And then his voice cracked – can we talk? And he started sharing what is going wrong in his life – he is a big guy – and he just starts sobbing - his life is being ruined – how he is ruining it – I need God – is God really helpful? Can you help me? I said, No. Just kidding – and we talked for about an hour and I took him through the gospel and the Bible and he admitted he needed it. Here is the deal - We live there. It is nothing special. Sometimes God takes our normal life and uses it. God has a way through our circumstances –
Fourth – God may be calling you to make changes in your situation. I know I have focused on seeing God in your situation – but sometimes He calls for change – and we should give ourselves wholly to it – and we need to be “proactive” (as they used to say back in the early 2000s…) If you are stuck in a job overworked, underpaid and poorly treated – God is not saying you shouldn’t change – if you can get free, get free – but until you do – you can honor God right now – in that – lousy job and circumstance – you can honor God and be blessed by God. Let’s pray…