I Corinthians 1:3-9

I didn’t have a chance to say Happy New Year to you because I took first two Sundays off in the New Year.  So…, Happy New Year everyone!  By the way, are you keeping our New Year’s Resolution?  Yes, OUR resolution…, that is, “Exercise Daily; Walk with God; Run from sin.”  Usually, I do not bother with New Year’s Resolutions, because they prove to be too discouraging when I find out how little real resolve I often have.  But, I think, if I had the support of a whole group who were making the same resolutions and could encourage me when I might be tempted to slip, I might do better.  So, for my own benefit as much as anyone else’s, what I would propose to you this morning will be some resolutions for the whole group of us… as individuals… and as a congregation… and by extension, as the denomination, UMC, as we continue our journey into the future.

Let us look at the passage we read from I Corinthians, the lectionary epistle lesson for this Sunday, and use them to begin our work.  What is the first thing we run into?  Paul’s greeting to the church (verse 3): “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  If we take those words and then consider the verses immediately following, we find some fruitful direction for resolution building.

Of course, the place to begin is at the beginning.  What is the very first word? GRACE!  My favorite word!  Grace…, God’s unmerited favor.  We have grown up in a society which tells us that “You get what you pay for.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.”  But GRACE is never paid for, never earned.  It is just THERE.  We don’t deserve it, but it just comes.
For years and years, I have begun every worship service I have been privileged to lead with, “May grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!”  Do you know why?  It is because I want the first word you hear from me to be GRACE.  

There is something extra special to me as I read this text last week in thanksgiving for each of you…, faithful servants of God, serving our church together.  I wanted to say what Paul said to the members of Corinthian Church: I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.  For in him you have been enriched in every way-with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge- God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

Yes, that’s right…, when I think of you, our church, our small congregation here in Darien, the first word that comes to my mind is Grace.  And the second is thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case with our denomination and you know why.  Over the course of church history, there have been some incredible fights.  Should infants be baptized or only adults?  Do women have the same standing as men in the church?  What do we say about human sexuality, abortion, capital punishment and so on?  The fight goes on.  

I have never thought of the denomination as parents and the local churches as children.  But, as I found out Barry’s sermon title last Sunday, I thought it’s an excellent analogy.  Yes, our parents are getting divorce. 

Such a time as this, we need to hear “Grace and peace to you from GOD OUR FATHER (AND MOTHER)…”  What do we know about God that would lend itself to preparing for a difficult time ahead?  Well, we have learned since childhood that God is love; that God is all-powerful and all-knowing; that God is the source of everything.  The list could go on and on.  But if we are giving ourselves some good direction for a difficult journey ahead, perhaps it would again be helpful to note what Paul talks about as he continues his letter.  The Apostle says, “you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Well, if we have been given spiritual gifts, we know where they came from… from GOD!  Okay, how does that help?

Well, first of all, there is something in Paul’s statement that is really a little surprising.  He says the church is not lacking in ANY spiritual gift.  Paul explains a bit later on in the letter: “God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.”  And then Paul goes on at length about the most important gift of all… the gift of love.  That is quite a list, but what is most surprising is that Paul says that even as messed-up a church as the one at Corinth had them ALL.  And the implication is that the church in our own day CONTINUES to have them all.  Whether it’s the current UMC or a NEW Methodist denomination that will be created, the church continues to have them all.

Last week, I read Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation.  This long document lays out a plan that would allow conferences and local churches to leave the UMC – with their assets and liabilities – and join a newly formed “traditional” Methodist denomination.  Before I read this, I was wondering if I should leave the UMC (when the time comes) because my theology and belief on human sexuality are not compatible with the “Traditionalist Plan.”  But, after reading this, I realized that it is the “Traditionalist Group” who wants to leave and create a NEW Methodist denomination.  But, it is not important which group will leave the UMC.  The bottom line is: the church will continue to have all the spiritual gifts… its ministry will be continued… its proclamation that Jesus is the Christ will never be ended.

The point that I am trying to make here is: If both current and new Methodist denominations indeed DO have all the spiritual gifts… if there really is NOTHING they are not capable of doing spiritually… then the resolution is to take those gifts and put them to work no matter to which denomination we belong.  Of course, one of the things that Paul took pains to point out to the people in Corinth was that every individual did NOT have every gift.  We only have them ALL as we come together in the worshiping community.  For the local churches, the task is to seek out the spiritual gifts among the individual members; for you and me, the task is to make ourselves available so that the church can put those gifts that God has given to USE in the name of Jesus Christ.

This is what we will continue to do as Christian individuals who belong to a local church.  How about our denomination?  Well, I am convinced that if the apostle Paul would come to us this morning and have anything to say about resolutions for the Church, for such a time as this, he would say, “Please, please, resolve to be a Christ-centered Church.”

It might seem that a church which calls itself “Christian” would automatically be Christ-centered, but we know that such is not always the case.  With more frequency than we might care to admit, the church has gotten off on its own agenda or own tangent and seemed to forget about Jesus.  The result has been that people’s pain has been ignored, people’s hunger has been ignored, people’s basic human rights have been ignored, and even people’s relationship with God has been ignored.  That is sad.

Over a hundred years ago, a book was published that, in its day, became the second most widely purchased religious book in history.  Only the Bible sold more copies. The book is called In His Steps.  This book is set in the fictional town of Raymond, Kansas and deals with what happened to that town and the people in it when the folks in First Church there resolved to make their lives genuinely Christ-centered by trying to base all their activities on their answers to one question: “What would Jesus do?”   Yes, this famous question originates from this book.

Things change when Jesus is really Lord.  If we want to put it in the form of a resolution, such a time as this, perhaps it would be as simple as, “We resolve to be genuinely Christ-centered as we move through the different paths ahead of us.”

I pray that the following be our Resolutions as United Methodists: To show GRACE to each other and the world at large; to seek PEACE by being as positive with one another as we can; to honor GOD by putting our spiritual gifts to use in God’s service; and to be genuinely CHRIST-centered people, both as individuals, and as a church.  May God grant us the strength… the resolve…to follow through!  Amen.

                  Let us go forth to celebrate and strengthen

                  our inescapable network of mutuality,

                  and become the radiant hope needed in the world.

                  As we go forth in this mutuality,

                  may we experience our God rejoicing over us and with us.

                  Let us go forth confident that

                  unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. Amen!