Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, the 9th chapter:
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
About 7 years ago now, while I was in Cincinnati and working with my congregation down there, a man approached me. He gave me two choices. He told me I had to either become an elder of the congregation or I would have to go to seminary and become a pastor. I wasn’t given an option. He didn’t leave me one. It was one of the two. Now, an elder is obviously not a pastor, or vice versa. There are very different responsibilities in those jobs, but there is some overlap. It involves the care of the Church. But the decision was between those two jobs, without any other option, and I made my choice, and here I am today.
For Paul, it’s not that much different. He wasn’t given a choice in being an apostle. It wasn’t as if Jesus came to him, dangling the carrot in front of him, and asked him if that’s what he really, really wanted. Jesus just told him, actually even through Ananias, not even directly to Paul right off the bat, that Paul is Christ’s chosen instrument to carry the name of Jesus to the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. That’s what Jesus says in the book of Acts. And Jesus also says that Paul is going to suffer. A lot.
It’s not a choice Paul got to make. It’s the choice that was made for him. And it’s not a bad choice. It’s a wonderful choice for Paul to bring the name of Christ to all the world. It’s a great gift and a wonderful job to see people repent of their sins and be turned toward Christ. It is. But Paul didn’t get that choice at all. He was just shoved into it.
And that’s kinda where this passage is picking up. After all, Paul just got finished telling us that, for the sake of the weaker brother, he would work to never offend the conscience of that brother in Christ. Remember last week? The meat offered to idols? Paul said he wouldn’t eat of it if it would offend someone with a weak conscience. And he’s sort of picking that up in here, where Paul is saying that he is going to preach the Gospel to all those who are weak according to their flesh.
Paul didn’t get the choice, remember? He was called to go into the world, as a missionary, which is not a call we all share, but Paul was called to preach Christ to the world, to all different people groups. And specifically, Paul even subtly names here the groups that Jesus mentions He is going to send Paul to: the Jews, to the Gentiles, the kings; and ultimately, that just means that Paul is sent to the weak. That’s what he says. All these groups are those who are weak according to the flesh. And why?
Because they are sinners. The Jews under the Law of God have no ability to fulfill it, though they count themselves righteous. The Gentiles, who have not heard the Law of God, are yet guilty of breaking it, of sinning, for the Law of God is written on their very hearts. And the kings, who abide by the law, yet themselves rule and judge the law, are even convicted by it, though none would say so for fear of their lives. But, Paul calls all these people, not strong by their might, but weak in the flesh, weak in their conscience, weak in their will to even cling to Christ.
And that, too, is even what we are. We have to realize that we are weak in all these ways, as well. We are the ones to whom Paul would have been sent to minister. We think we’re so good, even that we’re good Christians, until someone does something that seems offensive to us. Perhaps it’s seeing a movie that has a little too much violence, perhaps it’s drinking a bit of alcohol, perhaps it’s their vulgar language, perhaps it’s even something that actively do against us. It really could be anything, and we stumble. They’re fine, but we stumble in our faith, judging them, or saying that we don’t want to be worshipping the same God they do. Or hating them, holding a grudge, talking behind their back, gossiping. And we know we shouldn’t do that. These are all sins. But we justify it. They did it to me, now I have to let everyone know that they did it so that they will suffer the collective wrath of my people.
Now, our brothers and sisters in the faith have the duty to not be offensive, but instead to live lives that are wholly pleasing to God our Father. But we are sinners. And we are sinned against. And for this, there is the Gospel. For this, there is the sweet news of Jesus Christ, there is the message that Christ, the Son of God, has come to die for me, has come to die for my brother, has come to die for anyone in the entirety of the world, whether that be space or time, and that He has forgiven all of my sins. Jesus was the one who was gossiped about. Jesus is the one who was hated. Jesus was the one who had grudges held against Him for no reason. Jesus was the one who was backstabbed. Jesus was the one who suffered the collective wrath of the people.
This allows us to see that our brother or sister in the faith is forgiven as well. If we have been forgiven, if we have been Gospelized, so to speak, then we can and should and will forgive others. When we realize how deep our sin has taken our Lord, which is all the way to hell itself, then we know we are in the same trenches as our brothers and sisters, and we look upon them with compassion and care.
This is the Gospel life, but it is not yet what Paul is talking about. What he is getting at is that we then go out and Gospelize. We share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those we offend, and those who offend us. We become weak for those who are weak. We become like they are for their sake, so that we may bring them Jesus. For indeed, Jesus is brought to you, He comes to you, even today through His Word. He comes to us through His Sacraments. And there is nothing better than this, that Jesus is for us, Jesus is with us, Jesus is in us. We have this Good News and so we Gospelize, we teach, we confess it.
Now, this passage can be ripped out its context and be made to say that we stop short of nothing for the sake of winning someone over. So, should we all worship like pagans? Should we even then start to preach false doctrine for the sake of getting someone to at least know who Jesus is? Paul isn’t saying that to fit in with the culture of Bemidji, we should all go out and start living like the Bemidjians. If there were no Christians here, and they worshipped the tree gods, well, is Paul saying to worship the tree gods? Of course not. If you were ministering in Madagascar today, would Paul expect you to worship your ancestors? Of course not. That’s not what he’s saying.
What he is saying is this: to the heathens, to the pagans, to those who are under the yoke of the Law in Judaism, to those who have no law they abide, in order to witness to them, be with them, live among them, do as they do, but do it all under the Law of Christ. That’s what Paul is talking about. The Good News of Jesus takes us from the Law of God, as in the Ten Commandments, which we are still supposed to obey, and gives us the Law of Christ.
The Law of God demands our perfection, and we are supposed to obey it. We should be perfect. But, we can’t. So we need something to help us in this. We need a law of righteousness, but not of our own righteousness. We need the righteousness of Christ. And His Law says that those who believe and are baptized shall be saved. And so, who here does not fall in this category? Who does not believe? Then believe. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, makes you believe. Stop resisting the work of the Holy Spirit. And be baptized. Be saved in Baptism, as St. Peter says. There Jesus saves you by His own hand, giving to you the righteousness He won for you upon the cross.
This, indeed, is the Gospel. This is how we are Gospelized. That’s really Paul’s word for “preaching the Gospel” here. It’s more than just preaching it; it’s a whole way of Churchiness. Be Gospelized. Hear the Word. Receive your Baptism. Receive the Lord’s body and blood for you in His Supper. And then, having been strengthened in the goodness of Jesus Christ Himself, look to see how we can Gospelize others.
Sitting with them when they are sad, hugging them in joy, praying with them in need, teaching them of the Good News, bringing them to the Church, teaching them the faith even slowly, loving them despite their sin, abstaining from that which would offend them, forgiving them and forgetting their sins against you. This is being Gospelized, and this is Gospelizing others.
This was Paul’s call. He was called as an apostle, with specific work to do for Jesus. And you are called with specific work, too. Be a good son, a good daughter. Be a good doctor, teacher, counselor. Be a good friend, be a good husband, wife, mother, father. Be a good student. Be a good parishioner. Be a good pastor. Be a good whatever. Love and serve your neighbor, as Paul did. Work in your vocation, as Paul did. Gospelize your neighbor, as Paul did, because Jesus Gospelized you. Jesus Gospelized you, and no matter your call, you are always His, weak though you may be. You are always His and He is always yours, for you have already won the prize of everlasting life in Christ’s Resurrection. The prize is yours forever; the prize has been won for all the earth forever. Jesus says so. And so in Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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