11-15-2022

Good Morning All,

        1 Cor. 4:1; “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”

     There are some types of people who really can drive us nuts.  One type of person is the guy at work or on a board who thinks that he is the smartest guy there.  He thinks that he has all the answers, his jokes are always funny, and his opinion is enough to settle any type of discussion.  He’s the kind of guy who you can almost hear him end each statement that he makes with,” I have spoken, the issue is settled.”  That guy thinks he knows it all and gets real upset when it is blatantly obvious when he doesn’t.  This guy has a very bloated opinion of himself and his value.  The only thing worse than trying to work with that one guy; is trying to work with 2 or 3 of them.  That is where Paul finds himself when he writes this first letter to the Corinthians.    

    Paul spends the three chapters before this condemning the divisions within the Church at Corinth.  Some of the members thought that what they said was what was to go.  And the phrase members (with an “s”) is important.  There was the equivalent of political parties lobbying for control within the church.  So, Paul uses a different tactic in chapter 4.  He calls himself a servant of Christ.  That sounds pretty good.  We should be regarded as servants of Christ.  That sounds nice enough, even gives us a little sense of pride in our place in life.  Unfortunately, if we read it that way, we miss the whole point that Paul makes.

    Here is a case where our English misses the real point.  Paul actually calls himself an “under oarsman.”  This was the galley slave who rode on the big Roman warships.  There were three levels of oarsmen.  The bottom level was where the under oarsmen would be lashed to their rowing stations.  You can only imagine the conditions here.  No real good ventilation, there were no bathroom breaks for the slaves and the food and water would have been suspect.  So, all the human waste, the vomit, etc. would have washed down from the top two decks onto these “under oarsmen.”  It is as low on the power totem pole as you get, and Paul calls himself one of these.

    Here Paul is clearly pointing out to the Corinthians that what they bring to the table when it comes to their salvation is complete garbage.  All our righteousness is from God.  All that we have or possess is a gift from God.  The Good News of our salvation through Christ is given to us and Christ, in his mercy and grace, has raised us from this under oarsman to be a steward.  A steward was the most trusted household slave.  He took care of the family business while the owner was away.  He was entrusted with the power to make deals, to buy and to sell just like the owner.  We went from totally nothing to being the most trusted servants of Christ given the mysteries of God, the Gospel, and the sacraments, which the world sees as foolish, but we know to be true.  We don’t fully understand how these mysteries work but we know that they do. 

    So, Paul tells us, “see that you do not inflate your own worth but look to Christ Jesus as your only hope of salvation, trusting in his promise and blessed with his mysteries to have, to hold and to share with others in faith.  We are cleansed by the blood of Christ to be his stewards entrusted to do his work until he returns.

Father in heaven, keep us humble as we look at the blessings which we receive from you.  Lead us to see that it is your great love that sustains us and not our knowledge, skill, or wisdom.  Lead us to share those great mysteries of faith with all that we meet.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret