Epiphany 3B 2nd Reading

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Chris Reiter

“Almighty God, in every age you have called our men and women to be your faithful servants. We believe you have now called us to join that great company who seek to follow you. Grant unto us today and always a clear vision of your call and strength to fulfill the ministry assigned to us. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen”

We look to heroes in history, those who have been influential in positive ways, the men and women to whom God has called to be faithful servants. We read Hebrews chapter eleven with awe and wonder at these people who indeed were faithful—pillars of strength and courage to what God had for them. Now, make no mistake about it, these people were not flawless, they were not purely pure, right? Even our guy…our go-to theological powerhouse, John Wesley, had some strange ways about him. But what seems to set these heroes apart from others is their submission, a word that we are not very comfortable with. I find it interesting though, that we never talk about John Wesley’s tithe habits, his submission to financial giving—living on only 10% is admirable from a distance. Will we ever be able to let loose of the desires that we have been shaped to love?

Do you remember reading the classic novel, Where the Red Fern Grows? This is a story about a boy who is to raise a couple of young pups, Little Ann and Old Dan, to be coon dogs. But he needs a raccoon pelt to teach them the scent. So, Billy gets advice from his grandpa. His grandpa helps him to understand the nature of raccoons – they like shiny things and have a really hard time letting go of that which is shiny, that which captures their attention. Billy was told to drill some holes in old stumps and downed trees and put something shiny in the bottom of those holes, followed by nails driven in at an angle pointed toward the bottom of the holes. A raccoon, once captivated by the object in the bottom of the hole will do about anything to get it. It will reach in and grab hold of the object and never let go. With a clinched fist and the shiny object in it’s hand, the raccoon is caught, unwilling to release that which it desires.

Paul’s message to the Corinthians is one the raccoons might do well to hear. There are attractive objects in this world that may not be helpful. Paul is speaking to a very distracted, or misguided, Corinthian people. A people hearing all kinds of religious banter from all kinds of angles. They are embracing their God-given sexual desires, by choosing to engage in sexual misconduct, rationalizing it under the sake of grace, and they are caught—trapped fulfilling disfigured desire.

In The Daily Study Bible Series commentary, William Barclay quotes Collie Knox saying, “Don’t make an agony of your religion”. This sets a tone that suggest that one’s religion ought not to upset or redirect life in any way, or perhaps that a person should not be haunted by or “ashamed of” what they are called to. However, if we are not careful, we will have a gospel that is not transformational, but a gospel that leaves us as we are, unchallenged and unchanged – so graced into antinomianism that humanity is no longer living in submission of God, but only living into a life of self-gratification.

This was the case for the Corinthian church. They found themselves living selfishly under God’s gift of grace. They excused all of their sexual misconduct, because of grace and their God-given sexual desires—inappropriately fulfilling their desires, while assuming they remained free and safely under grace. They had grasped the shiny object, unwilling to let go, and still claiming an entire freedom under God.

We don’t have to look far to see Paul’s discipline of the Corinthian church as relevant to modern day. There are so many voices and so many thoughts, that submission to God gets lost in translation. From the workingpreacher.org, Israel Kamudsandu makes this statement concerning 1 Corinthians 7:29-31,

“The central message Paul has in this passage is that the call of God on people’s lives should be the governing axiom. All peoples, nations, male and female, are called to a life of service and that should be the main focus of our life in these borrowed times.” —Israel Kamudzandu (workingpreacher.org)

Paul’s wisdom in the text encourages us to not be bothered by that which is captivating or enticing—that our “desires” under the reign of King Jesus are upset and redirected from self-gratification to others-centric – from selfishness to selflessness. We might have to admit that at times our religion may be calling us to the agonizing release of the shiny object. Sexuality, quite possibly, might be the most debated, divisive, captivating, shiny object of our time, and maybe of all time.

This, quite possibly is the face of what humanity sees as total, “personal autonomy”—that what one does with their life is strictly between them and, well, them. That one’s sexual engagement has no effect on anyone outside of themselves and therefore demands the fulfillment of desire determined by that individual alone. “If it feels good…” is being taken to a whole new level. If it feels good, or if if fulfills ones desires it must be one’s “identity” and no one can refute it. Another way of living into person autonomy is the evangelical claim to a personal relationship with God. While our relationship with God is personal, it is also equally communal. All to often “personal relationship” with God is used to hide ourselves from communal direction. The personal island owned relationship silences the relational effect of the God-designed communal holiness.

In the narrative of all of scripture, the call on ones life transcends one’s “desires.”

Chris Reiter

Pastor, The Connection Church of the Nazarene. Castle Rock, CO

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