We serve to share in the Gospel promises.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 22, October 22, 2024

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence.  Amen.

1 Corinthians 9:7-12, 19-23  ⁷What soldier ever serves at his own expense?  Who plants a vineyard and does not eat some of its fruit?  Or who takes care of a flock and does not drink milk from the flock?  ⁸Am I saying this just from a human point of view?  Doesn’t the law also say this?  ⁹Yes, it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out grain.”  Is God really concerned about oxen, ¹⁰or does he say this entirely for our sake?  Yes, it was written for our sake, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher ought to thresh in hope of getting a share.  ¹¹If we sowed spiritual seed for your good, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?  ¹²If others have some right to make this claim on you, don’t we even more?  But we did not use this right.  Instead, we endure everything so as not to cause any hindrance for the gospel of Christ. … ¹⁹In fact, although I am free from all, I enslaved myself to all so that I might gain many more.  ²⁰To the Jews, I became like a Jew so that I might gain Jews.  To those who are under the law, I became like a person under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might gain those who are under the law.  ²¹To those who are without the law, I became like a person without the law (though I am not without God’s law but am within the law of Christ) so that I might gain those who are without the law.  ²²To the weak, I became weak so that I might gain the weak.  I have become all things to all people so that I may save at least some.  ²³And I do everything for the sake of the gospel so that I may share in it along with others. (EHV)

We serve to share in the Gospel promises.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

            As we contemplate this chapter of Paul’s letter to the Corinthian congregation, there might be a temptation to pit ministerial workers and other members of the congregation against each other.  Paul seems to be justifying his service as worthy of compensation from the congregation.  Yet, he has refused to make use of his right to just compensation so that the spread of the Gospel is not hindered.  The temptation to fight over this comes when members imagine that Paul was showing that called workers are to sacrifice in ways that the general congregation does not.  This is not the point Paul is making, but rather, that We serve to share in the Gospel promises.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul is teaching just what Jesus taught as he sent out His disciples: “The worker is worthy of his pay.” (Luke 10:7)  Contrary to what I have heard some express, a called worker does not take a vow of poverty to serve the Lord.  Those who are served with the Gospel message owe support for the physical lives of the ones bringing the Good News.  Because we all participate together in the body of Christ, each part should work together for the eternal good of the whole.

At the same time, the Gospel worker should be content with what the Lord provides through His congregation.  Having said that, the reality of this text becomes clear for all of us.  We are not on opposite sides in proclaiming the Gospel.  That is the duty and privilege of the whole Christian Church on earth.  We work together to reap a harvest of souls for eternal salvation, not because we can save anyone, but because the Lord Jesus has paid the redemption price for all people, and those who proclaim the Gospel are the conduit through which Jesus brings salvation to more people.

Now, some may have accused Paul of preaching to enrich himself.  While that accusation is clearly false, Paul wants it to be understood that he too deserves support even though he has not demanded it from any of his audiences.  Thus, He wrote:

Yes, it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out grain.”  Is God really concerned about oxen, or does he say this entirely for our sake?  Yes, it was written for our sake, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher ought to thresh in hope of getting a share.  If we sowed spiritual seed for your good, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?  If others have some right to make this claim on you, don’t we even more?  But we did not use this right.

Paul made no claim on his right to physical support because he recognized that our true reward comes not on earth but in heaven.  However, just as every business, doctor, mechanic, and government official who serves us in some way expects to be paid, so too do God’s servants deserve their due compensation.  Paul didn’t demand that right because he wanted nothing to stand in the way of spreading the Gospel when it was so newly appointed in the world.

The second portion of this text could also lead to grave misinterpretation.  Paul declares, “I have become all things to all people so that I may save at least some.”  When preaching to Jews, he lived as the observant Jews had lived for centuries.  He did this not as though masquerading as a Jew, for he himself was of that heritage, and it was normal for him as well.  At the same time, when preaching to the Gentiles, Paul rightly operated in the same manner of life as they did without demanding observation of Jewish law and custom which was foreign to their way of life.

None of this means that Paul was willing to live in any form of sinful disobedience to the Ten Commandments, the moral law God has laid down for all people of all time.  This moral law is written in our hearts and makes even the most lawless feel guilty.  Paul was not misleading, misappropriating, nor in any way deceiving those to whom he preached.  Thus, like Paul, we realize that wherever we proclaim the Gospel, we do so in the midst of people who may think and act differently than what feels normal to us.  We therefore accommodate as we are able, while at the same time being faithful to the instructions of our Lord and Savior, which brings us to the main point of our text, and the motivating force in the Christian Church on earth.  Paul explained, “I do everything for the sake of the gospel so that I may share in it along with others.”

Like Paul, you and I have been granted forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  This is not something we discovered on our own.  We did not choose to walk in the holiness of our Lord.  We didn’t make the decision to believe in Him on our own.  We didn’t earn any portion of this gift.  Instead, through faith granted to us by the Holy Spirit, we each have been rescued from the condemnation our natural status deserved.  We have been redeemed by the holy blood of Christ shed for us on the cross.  We were washed clean of all guilt in Baptism.  Through the hearing of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit has given us new life in connection with Christ Jesus.

Therefore, because of all that the Triune God has done to deliver us from the forces of evil and the eternal punishment waiting for the devil and his followers, we who believe in Jesus are connected with Christ as the body is to the head, so “in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28).  Thus, because Jesus in in control of our hearts, we now welcome His call to serve in rescuing others from the devil and death.  This isn’t forced upon on us, but instead has become our way of life.

In light of this reality, everything we do here on earth is aimed at serving the Lord Jesus in His goal to harvest souls from the clutches of the old evil foe.  Jesus told His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Therefore pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)  Consequently, some are called as pastors, teachers, and leaders.  Others serve this harvest mission through their secular vocations, but we all serve together as the Church headed by Jesus to win souls to fill His Father’s house in heaven.

Unfortunately, as we all know, our sinful natures often lead us to forget the blessed gift we are given—not just that we are saved by faith, but even forgetting how great a blessing it is to us and to others to share the Gospel with those who still need to hear it.  There can be times when selfishness leads us to focus on what we can store up for ourselves here on earth.  Yet, everything we might store of worldly goods will pass away. 

However, what we can take along with us to heaven are the souls who are won through loving concern and sacrifice as we become the conduit through which Jesus reaches the lost with the Good News of the life He lived so that we might be credited with holiness and the death He offered to His Father in heaven as full payment for the sins and guilt of the world. 

On top of all that, the Father raised Jesus from the dead on the third day, just as promised and foretold.  He has given us certain and sure proof that our salvation is accomplished.  When Jesus declared from the cross, “It is finished!,” everything needed to bring us home to heaven was done.  All sin was paid for.  All our wicked deeds and desires were wiped away from God’s remembrance.  No longer can the devil or anyone else accuse us of sin, because Jesus redeemed us from them all.

That, dear friends, is the message of this text for us today—that We serve to share in the Gospel promises.  We are able to serve because God has rescued us from darkness and death.  We are able to serve, because Jesus took it upon Himself to come down to earth and live among us, not in judgment or divine retribution, but to dwell with us in humility and weakness and become for us the great Intercessor we need.  The One true God who knows our weaknesses and faults no longer holds them against us because He counts us righteous for the sake of His own life lived in our place.

Paul wrote, “I became weak so that I might gain the weak,” not because this was a choice he devised on his own, but because Paul, having been rescued from condemnation, was now living connected to Christ and serving Christ to share the forgiveness and salvation of the Gospel with other sinners.  This, then, has become our assignment, our joy, our way of life, and our hope.  Because we are connected by faith to Jesus who lived, died, and rose again from the dead to give us eternal life, and because “in Him we live and move and have our being,” (Acts 17:28) We serve to share in the Gospel promises.  Consequently, Jesus grants us the same promise He gave His apostles, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11-12)  Amen.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.  Amen.