Sermon series: When Relationships Collide (Theme-based)
To be used with: Session Two: It's Not About Me
Alternate title: The End of Selfish Thinking
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 1:28-2:5
Connection to unit theme
The small group session this week is called "It's Not About Me," and the main point is "Conflict can arise when I'm thinking only of myself." Paul's declaration, "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (NIV) is the best alternative to conflict arising from selfishness.
Introduction
Have you ever thought about what you want inscribed on your gravestone? Probably not a very happy thought to start off a sermon, but think about it: what someone has engraved on their headstone is their final summation of what they hoped their life was about - what they hoped they would be remembered for. Here are some great examples [Note: Images of these are available on the internet if you want to have visuals.]
Thomas Jefferson: "Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia." (Anybody notice what's missing?)
Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny and every other Warner Brothers cartoon character): "That's All, Folks!"
A.T. Robertson, one of the most renowned New Testament scholars, who died in 1934, has inscribed on his gravestone (in Greek, of course!) "To Live Is Christ, to Die is Gain"
All of these are memorable. But as I was preparing for this message, I tried to think of any epitaphs I had committed to memory. And I could only think of one: Here rests in honored glory an American soldier, known but to God.
You know that one, don't you? It's the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. What makes this one so powerful, and so memorable, is that the only thing you know about the person buried here is that he was an American soldier.
Maybe the young man buried in that tomb would not have chosen anonymity. Maybe he dreamed of fame and fortune. But the very fact that no one knows who he is has made his tomb one of the most visited places in Washington DC.
Today, as we continue our series "Corinthian Collisions," we're going to look at the identity Paul chose for himself. In small groups this week, you'll be talking about how conflict arises when we only think of ourselves. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, we're gong to find the exact opposite of selfishness. Let's go there now.
[Read 2 Corinthians 1:28-2:1-5]
I. Who we are in Christ (1:28-2:1)
Paul saw himself as one of those "lowly and despised things" that God chose in order to shame the wise. The Greek culture was one that valued worldly wisdom and rhetoric. In fact, the book of Acts describes the men of Athens as spending their time "doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas" (Acts 17:21). Paul wanted to make it clear that he wasn't coming as a brilliant philosopher. He had nothing to boast about except who Jesus was, and neither did anyone else in Corinth.
Paul's name itself means "small." We don't know from Scripture how Saul came to be known as Paul, whether God gave him this new name or he chose it for himself. But either way, it is descriptive of how Paul saw himself in light of who Jesus was.
Verse 30 says that it is because of God that we are in Christ in the first place. Not because of our wisdom, or our goodness, or our anything else. Only because of God's gracious choice of the foolish and despised, the Corinthians themselves.
Christ is (verse 30):
Our wisdom
Our righteousness
Our holiness
Our redemption
Application Points: If all of our wisdom comes from Christ, all of our righteousness, all of our holiness, and all of our redemption, what does that leave us to boast about? Doesn't bragging about a new car, or a promotion, or a great golf score seem pretty puny in comparison?
II. What we know in Christ (2:1-5)
Sometimes we picture Paul as a fearless, bold, superhero. Afraid of nothing. Snake bit,shipwrecked, stoned, but still standing (see 2 Corinthians 11:25 and Acts 28:1-5). So his description of himself coming into Corinth "with weakness and fear, and with much trembling" seems a little surprising. But think about what he had been through up to this point his ministry.
Prior to setting foot in the wicked wasteland of Corinth, Paul was beaten to within an inch of his life (Acts 16:22) and imprisoned in Philippi. They ran him out of town in Berea (Acts 17:10-14). And they laughed him to scorn in Athens . . . As was true throughout Paul's ministry, whatever he accomplished - from leading people to faith in Christ, to starting and establishing new churches, to mentoring men like Timothy and Titus, to writing much of the New Testament - he did so not in his own human power, but solely in the power of God, a power beyond the natural. [The Smart Guide to the Bible: 1 and 2 Corinthians, 43]
Paul wasn't just expressing false modesty. He probably really did feel weak, and he probably really was trembling. But his point throughout this passage, as well as in other places in his letters (see 2 Corinthians 4:7-10; 11:29-30; 12:7-10) is that God's power is perfected in our weakness.
Verse 2 doesn't mean that the only doctrine Paul taught on was the crucifixion. Compare 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, in which Paul presents the resurrection is just as important. But he was highlighting the cross as central to his preaching and teaching. The NIV Application commentary points out that the Corinthian church, "in particular… needed to embrace more of the humility of the cross and tone down the triumphalism of the resurrection." [NIV Application Commentary, 55]
Application Point: Can this also be said of our churches today? Without a doubt, we experience victory because of the resurrection. But when the gospel so often gets muddied up with teaching about prosperity, health, and wealth, it wouldn't be a bad thing to "know nothing… except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
Conclusion
Why is "Christ and Him crucified" such a powerful antidote to selfish thinking?Because the crucifixion is the greatest act of selflessness in history. At the cross, Jesus gave Himself completely for us. And at the cross, we surrender ourselves completely to Him. All our accomplishments. All our intellect. All our supposed righteousness. It's true that "conflict can arise when I'm thinking only of myself." But it is also true that conflict disappears when we are thinking only of the cross. There couldn't be a better epitaph for any of us to follow Christ than "I know nothing except Christ and Him crucified."
[Suggestion: Use "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" as an invitation hymn. ]