Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 4-9
Old Testament: Isaiah 9:1-4
Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
We are at another week of Epiphany, and the theme remains
the same; however, this week I want to take us in another direction in terms of
what an epiphany means. Often when we are writing or doing homework or a work
project we might have a moment of epiphany where something is suddenly made
clear and we are able to move forward with the task. But other times, that
doesn’t happen, so we ask for help or do more research and then are able to
move forward. In these cases, we typically come to some resolution and find an
answer if not necessarily the only answer to the problem. I’m sure we can all
relate to being in this situation, hoping for an epiphany.
But sometimes it seems epiphanies just don’t come because there is not one verifiable answer we can find and then move on. This is the case for certain issues in Christianity and thus the Body of Christ ends up divided and splintered. It is this issue which Paul discusses in 1 Cor. 1. Paul writes, “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.” He is discussing this in relation to division in the Corinthian Church where factions are forming and people are claiming to be followers of Paul or Apollos or Cephas. Yet Paul writes that they are all followers of Christ. Christ is what unifies them when so much wants to divide them. What follows in the rest of Corinthians is an effort to bring the church back together mostly around the issue of behavior and immorality present in the Church, as well as a discussion of the resurrection.
We can think of a whole bunch of issues
that have divided the church pretty much since Paul wrote these words. Some of
these disagreements the Church has historically deemed important enough to
convene councils and set down creeds for the Church to believe and confess. Some issues the church has provided leeway for
various viewpoints whereas other issues, such as Jesus being God, are
fundamental.
I recently went to a conference about one
of these hot button issues in the church concerning faith, science, and dialogue
in the church. The sentiments of Paul
were echoed at the conference. One
particular speaker mentioned three reasons why the church must discuss and
engage these hard topics even when some are uncomfortable with it. First, the Church is not the only one talking
about these issues. Second, people will
get their information from somewhere be that the internet, TV, or the culture
at large. And third, if the Church is silent on an issue, it is either saying
we have nothing to say about the topic or that we are afraid of the topic.
I don’t want to go down a rabbit hole with
all that the conference discussed, but I think the issue of unity in the Church
is important. One new thing I learned is
what Augustine wrote in his Confessions.
In book 12, for example, in chapter 24, he writes, “But which of us,
amid so many truths which occur to inquirers in these words [Genesis 1:1-2],
understood as they are in different ways, shall so discover that one
interpretation as to confidently say that Moses thought this, and that in that
narrative he wished this to be understood, as confidently as he says that this
is true, whether he thought this thing or the other?”[1]
Even as early as the 4th century, the Church was arguing just what
the first chapter of Genesis. Augustine argues in this section that Jesus, in
Matthew 22, says the Law and prophets depend on the two greatest commandments:
to love God and love others. If the law
(which included Gen. 1) is written under the precept of love, we make God a
liar if we use it to divide the Church. (Book 12 ch. 25) I found it fascinating
that Augustine was dealing with the same issues we still have today.
Some things, how God created for example, will never be
solved by a great epiphany, if we can get back to that theme, because no one
alive today was there when it happened.
The Church has set down in the creeds, following Genesis and other places,
that God created. That is a fundamental for the Church. Every answer to the how and the when brings
up challenges both scientifically and theologically that we might not figure
out until the Lord returns. After all, Augustine was trying to solve the
problem over 1600 years ago.
This post took a different trajectory than normal, but the
Gospel repeated a lot of what we read last week in John, and I think this was
an appropriate topic coming out of 1 Corinthians. So many schisms, and I don’t just mean a
little discussing and debate in the Church but an actual fracture in the Body,
come from how we define the fundamentals.
Answering that question is no easy task, but we have so many in the
church who have gone before us to help us answer that question. A great place to start is the Creeds of the
Church. Let us also seek to affirm and pray for the unity in Christ that Paul
desires in 1 Cor. 1.
Grace and peace.
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