1 – Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.
2 – I gave you milk, not solid food,for you were not yet ready for it.Indeed, you are still not ready.
3 – You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
4 – For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”are you not mere human beings?
5 – What, after all, is Apollos?And what is Paul? Only servants,through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
6 – I planted the seed,Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
7 – So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, Who makes things grow.
8 – The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
9 – For we are co-workers in God’s service;you are God’s field,God’s building.
10 – By the grace God has given me,I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.
11 – For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 – If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 – their work will be shown for what it is,because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
14 – If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
15 – If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames
16 – Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
17 – If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
18 – Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age,you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.
19 – For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness;”
20 – and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
21 – So then, no more boasting about human leaders!All things are yours,
22 – whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,
23 – and you are of Christ,and Christ is of God.
I was alive way back in the early 70’s when Contemporary Christian Music was just getting off its feet—and I remember a new group called Glad forming. I have to say—in my opinion—when they first started they weren’t that big of a deal—just five guys singing praise songs trying to make their mark in an increasingly crowded stage. And with singers like Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant and BJ Thomas and so many others cranking out hits—Glad just didn’t stand out. Then in 1988 Glad changed their format—by putting out an a cappella album—and the harmonies were so wonderful that the group immediately rocketed to the top of the CCM charts. I want you to listen to one of their first hits and as you do notice their tight harmonies.
PLAY “In the First Light” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOob4CRW8m0
Can you understand why Glad did so well after making this change? Harmonies like this always stand out. People want to listen when a group has good harmony. I mention this because the same is true of a church. When a group of Christians are enjoying genuine harmony—a sweet, sweet spirit—they stand out—and people are drawn to listen to their message.
Well, as I said a few weeks back when we began this series, the church in Corinth was NOT enjoying harmony. If they made music it sounded more like this:
LISTEN as pianist plays a few HORRIBLE chords
Yuck! I’m sure their neighbors were NOT drawn to that church. Their “sound” was repulsive. No one wanted to listen to their message because of all their squabbling—their lack of harmony. And—they didn’t argue about just ONE thing. No—if you read Paul’s entire letter it becomes obvious that they argued about EVERYTHING: sexual morality, church discipline, lawsuits, what kind of food was acceptable to eat, which spiritual gifts were more important—they argued about worship; there was chaos around the way they did the Lord’s Supper. I mean, when it comes to harmony it was terrible—they couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket!
You know, when we think of 1st Corinthians one chapter comes to mind. In fact, if you “google” 1st Corinthians this chapter comes up. Can anyone guess what it is? Right—it’s the 13th chapter—the LOVE chapter that we hear so often at weddings. In that popular Scripture Paul says that love is patient, kind; it doesn’t envy or boast; it’s never self-seeking; it keeps no record of wrongs; it always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, etc. Well, the reason Paul was inspired to write those words is because this church had forgotten about the importance of love in their relationships. Keeping with my musical theme—LOVE is the tuning fork of any relationship and the church at Corinth had lost theirs. Everyone was in a different “key.”
And—as I said a few weeks back church harmony was always a big deal with Paul. In every one of his letters he tells the churches he had started about the importance of loving one another—staying in the same key so to speak. Borrowing an idea from Michael Breaux of Willow Creek, Let’s do a quick scan of his letters and you’ll see what I mean.
Turn to Romans 12. Paul says to that church that they are not to be like the rest of the world. Instead they are to let God transform their minds. And in verse 3 Paul says, here’s what that transformation looks like.
“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Let love be sincere. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. DO not be conceited. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:3, 5, 9, 10, 15, 16, 18)
Do you get Paul’s point? HARMONY IS A BIG DEAL. Look at his letter to the church in Galatia. In chapter 5 he says,
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom—the freedom of grace—to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.” (13-16, 24-26)
HARMONY IS A BIG DEAL.
Look at Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. In chapter 4:1-6 he says: “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit–binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father—Who is over all and in all and living through all.”
HARMONY IS A BIG DEAL.
Look at Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi where he says, “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.” (Philippians 2:1-2).
HARMONY IS A BIG DEAL.
Look at Paul’s letter to the church in Colassae—and these words should be very familiar. He writes: “Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect HARMONY. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” (3:12-15)
HARMONY IS A BIG DEAL.
Listen! We can’t follow the leadings of our HEAD—JESUS—unless we are one loving, UNIFIED body.
And understand harmony is not just a big deal to Paul—it’s a big deal to God as well. Look what’s written in Psalm 133:1. Let’s read it together: “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Jesus, in His last prayer before the cross prayed for oneness and harmony among His disciples. Look in John 17:20-26. Jesus said, “My prayer is not for them alone (the disciples with Him that night) I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, (He’s talking about us)—that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.”
SO—HARMONY IS INDEED A BIG DEAL.
If you were here last week, then you know that we talked about how Paul underscored the importance of our having the mind of Christ. We talked about the fact that as Christians with Jesus’ Spirit living in us—we should think and perceive—we should SEE— different than the culture around us. And this morning we are preparing to take communion by underscoring ONE WAY we do that. Again, as Breaux points out, the world says, “Look out for #1.” But the mind of Christ says, “Honor one another above yourselves.” (Romans 12:10). The worlds says, “Payback feels so good.” The mind of Christ says, “Forgiveness is the key to freedom.” The world says, “Do only what you have to do when someone asks you to serve them.” The mind of Christ says, “If someone asks you to go with them one mile, you go with them two miles.” The world says when you don’t like something complain—loudly and frequently. The mind of Christ says, “Do everything without grumbling. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Philippians 2, Ephesians 4)” The world says when someone hurts you—build a coalition against that person by gossiping about them behind their back. The mind of Christ says, “Go to that person and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.” (Matthew 18) These are examples of what Paul meant in last week’s text when he said, “We no longer think from a worldly point of view.”
This IS one way the mind of Christ GROWS us—it’s seen in the way we treat one another and sadly from what Paul heard about the Christians at Corinth—they were no longer growing spiritually. Breaux tells of a pastor in Oklahoma who got a wake-up call at a restaurant, indicating that he, in fact, wasn’t really growing. And the thing that helped him to SEE this was a time he was sitting in a restaurant, complaining as he said he normally did. It was a really, really busy restaurant; and his waitress was really, really rushed. She brought out the steak he’d ordered. He cut into it and said, “This steak is not done. Take it back.” The waitress said, “Sure, I’d be glad to take it back.” She does this and brings out another steak. He cuts into it and says, “It’s too done now.” The waitress says, “Really, really sorry.” She took THAT steak back and brought him another steak. He cut into it, took a bite, and said, “This steak is too tough.” She said, “I’ll get you another steak.” Which she did. Went back, got him another steak—his fifth and it was fine. Then he cut into his baked potato, and found a black spot. He says to his hurried and harried waitress, “Come here, come here.” This poor server walks over and says, “What’s the problem, sir?” He says, “This potato is bad.” She reached down, picked up the potato, and slapped it repeatedly going, “Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Potato! If it gives you any more problems, you let me know.” And she walked away. This jolted him into thinking “What am I doing?! I’m the one who is bad. I need to grow up!”
Well, as I said, their lack of harmony indicated that the church in Corinth was not growing. There were cliques and division over things like who had been the best pastor. There was dissonance. In fact, they had regressed in their growth back to the baby bottle stage of maturity.
And in our text for today Paul reminds them once again how foolish—how CHILDISH it is to fight over something as silly as pastoral preference. He tells them that he and Apollos and Peter were just servants of Jesus and that anything good that came from them was not because of them—it was IN SPITE of them. It was all Jesus.
Just a thought—how is your growth when it comes to church harmony? How mature are you when it comes to LOVING others as Jesus loves you? If we got out our “love tuning fork” deal would it show that YOU are in the right key?
You know, the first two words a two-year-old learns is “okay” and “share” — right? WRONG!
It’s usually what? Right—“no!” and “mine!” And—unless we teach them otherwise—unless we help them to grow and think and act like Jesus—they stay off key and use those two words throughout their lives. Here’s a few examples:
“Listen—we’ve got problems in our marriage. Let’s go to counseling.” “No.”
“You need to deal with this disagreement you have with that person. You need to forgive. You need to let go of the hurt they have caused you.” “No.” “Mine!”
“Now remember, you’ve got an eleven o’clock curfew.” “No.”
“Come on, you’ve got plenty of money. That family could really use some help.” “Mine.”
“Let me lead your life. After all I purchased Your redemption on the Cross.” “No. Mine.”
You see, “no” and “mine” come pretty easily unless we mature. Unless we embrace the mind of Christ, we’ll say those two words all through our lives. And again I have to ask—how often do you use those two words? Are you still a “no—mine” Christian—or have you matured to a “yes—Yours God” Christian?
I don’t have to tell you, but selfishness is the #1 cause of relational breakdown. It’s the thing that destroys friendships. It destroys marriages. It will destroy a family. It will destroy a church. And—many times we don’t think we are being selfish—when we really are. I mean, we don’t have pastor cliques here—but like all churches we DO tend to cluster. We tend to love on and gather with the people that we are most comfortable with. And that’s not bad—unless we get selfish and lazy to the point that we don’t involve new people. I mean, we do have great harmony here—but there are times when someone comes to me saying they don’t feel like they have friends. And—it’s not necessarily that we’re not friendly—it’s just that many times we assume. We don’t go to the trouble to make SURE a new comer is enjoying harmony. Another thing—we need to remember that harmony is something we have to constantly work at around here because we are SO BUSY—SO HURRIED—and often we use that as an excuse not to reach out to others. Let me just encourage you NOT to do that. Reach out to others—especially new faces. Leave your comfort zones—get to know a new person. Invited them over for dinner or something.
And—to help motivate you to do that—Paul reminds us that we will be judged on this. We won’t be judged for our sin—that judgement took place on the cross—but we will be judged for our love. All the “DISSING” of life—the DIS-harmony—all that will be burned away. Like a heavenly form of AMERICAN IDOL—we will be judged on the harmony of our relationships or the lack thereof. And remember—the more people we have enjoying fellowship—the better our harmony is. How will you do on Judgement Day when it comes to loving—producing harmony?
I want to show you a quick YOU-TUBE ad. Watch. Pianist Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLhJIFC8xkY
I thought of this ad because to me it shows that music can be beautiful if we have different notes. If everyone is the same all we have is one note and some rhythm—not very attractive or compelling. But when a diverse church like ours—people of different backgrounds—different ages—different worship preferences—when we come together different—but tune to the right key—that is love each other as we have been loved—we can make beautiful music together. The lost will be drawn to our fellowship—they will “glad” to listen to what we say if we are a church that enjoys harmony. We come now to partake in that meal that reminds us of what it is that unites us and keeps us in the right key—our personal experience of the love of God—the love He showed by sending His only Son to die for our sins.
Let’s take a few moments to prepare our hearts. Now as we come to this meal, let me invite all Christians present to partake with us because even if you are not a member of this church….If you are a Christian…if you are His, this is Yours.