Last Sunday we had a storm that came through and left very icy conditions. So, we called off the service and because of that my sermon sat on my desk...until now. Thank you for taking the time to read it and I hope it is meaningful for you.
Fr. Fred
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you-- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Gospel
John 1:29-42
John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
The Sermon
Followers
of Jesus Christ
This
reading from Paul's letter to the Corinthians sounds uplifting and
full of goodness and light but as you read deeper into the letter you
begin to understand that there is trouble in river city. Corinth is
a big city and it has a reputation for immorality. That leaning
toward licentiousness has found its way into the community of
believers. Paul basically gives them the 'what for' and tells them
to straighten up and fly right. He encourages them by telling them
that God will give them the strength to overcome the temptations of
the world. They just have to keep the faith.
In the
gospel reading John the Baptist sees Jesus and declares, “here is
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He tells his
followers that this is the one they have all been waiting for. He is
the messiah, the savior. Two of John's followers are so inspired
that they leave John and begin to follow Jesus. One of those
followers was Andrew. He is the same Andrew whom our church is named
after. Andrew has a brother named Simon and Andrew goes to his
brother and tells him what he has discovered. They both then go and
follow Jesus.
While I
was reading and reflecting on what has been chosen for us to read
today I asked myself, what is the underlying message. It came to me
that the message is about faith and spreading that faith to others.
Another term for this is evangelism. Paul, who entered the sinful
city of Corinth with much trepidation moved forward with his message
and found people who had a hunger for a new way of life. Jesus,
through the evangelism of Paul, gave that new way of life to them.
Sure, there were bumps in the road as is clearly evidenced by Paul's
admonitions in his letter. But, the message from Paul was to stay
the course; to get back on that horse whenever you get bucked off.
Jesus
invites his new disciples to follow him, to come and see. As they
travel with Jesus and hear his word, their faith becomes deeper and
their zeal in sharing that faith becomes stronger.
We have
a lot to learn from the early followers in Corinth and Andrew, Peter,
and the other apostles. They were all very flawed people but they
did not quit. They understood there was great power in Jesus'
message. As followers of Jesus, they knew that He had given them a
great commission: to go out and make disciples of all nations.
That
great commission holds true for us today as well. Our mission here
today is to spread Christ's word of love to the people in our world
and invite them to come and see!
Amen
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