2To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours. (1 Corinthians 1:2, NIV)
In 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul reminds the recipients of the letter that they are “called to be saints.” What did Paul mean by “saints”? The Greek word (hagios) is traditionally translated as “saint”, but that is not very helpful in our day. We call someone a saint if that person is truly extraordinary. If we say, “Anna is such a saint,” we mean that Anna is someone who acts in a particularly charitable and sacrificial way as she does good for others. In the church, “Saint” can be used as a designation of a rare Christian whose life of service to God and people is truly exceptional. In 2016, for example, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was declared a saint – “canonized” is the official word – by Pope Francis for her unique life of service to the poor and suffering. But this is not what Paul had in mind when he used the word “hagios.” The basic meaning of this word had to do with things being dedicated or consecrated to God. Hagios is often translated in the Bible as “holy.” Things used in the temple in Jerusalem, for example, were holy in that they were set apart from ordinary usage in order to be used in the worship of God. A person could be hagios if that person was dedicated to God. In the OT, priests were thought of as holy in this sense. But so were all of God’s chosen people. In Exodus 19 God chose Israel to be His “treasured possession out of all the peoples” (v. 5) and to be for God “a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (v. 6). Though some of the people would have an uncommon “holy” role as priests, all of God’s people were set apart for God and His purposes. In this sense, all of them were holy. Or, all were saints. According to Paul, this is also true for believers in Jesus. They were “called to be saints” ( NRSV). A better rendering for today’s English is, “called to be God’s special people.” All Christians, whether teachers, carpenters, realtors, preachers, pastors or missionaries, are set apart by God for God and His purposes. The fact that the biblical title of “saint” is not only for especially worthy people is abundantly clear from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. This church was quite a mess, actually. People were not getting along with each other as they divided up into opposing factions. Some were engaging in prostitution while others were getting drunk at Communion. The Corinthian believers didn’t earn their sainthood by their good works, that’s for sure. Rather, they were “called to be saints” by God on the basis of grace offered through Jesus Christ. And so it is with us today. If you have embraced the Good News of the Gospel, then you are a saint, or as I should say, you are one of “God’s special people.” You belong to God and are a vital contributor to God’s work in the world because God has called you and set you apart through Christ. That is indeed Good News! Gracious God, thank you for calling us to be Your saints, Your special people. Help me so I may live out my sainthood for Your purposes and glory. 2To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours (1 Corinthians 1:2, NIV) Many of us have had the experience of receiving a letter we are not especially glad to receive. Prominent on the envelope in bright red all caps were the fateful words: OFFICIAL JURY SUMMONS ENCLOSED. I have mixed feelings about my last summons. Partly, I felt a sense of duty to participate. Yet, as I gazed at the summons in my hand, I also felt a sense of dread. As much as I want to do my civic duty and serve as a juror, the thought of missing many days of work is a daunting one. My work doesn’t stop when I’m not doing it. It merely piles up higher and higher. But a summons is not something one should ignore. The State of California reminds us, “Failure to respond may subject you to a fine, incarceration or both.” A summons carries substantial authority and needs to be taken seriously. So, we respond to the summons by making ourselves available for jury duty. In our effort to make sense of the biblical notion of calling, we’d do well to keep in mind a summons to jury duty. In fact, the meaning of the Greek verb “to call” (kaleō) in the standard New Testament lexicon, is: to call, call by name; to invite; to summon. The last two definitions are of greatest interest to us here. When God calls, it is a kind of invitation. God doesn’t use His superior power to force us to respond. Rather, God invites us to join His family and His work. He extends this invitation with grace rather than compulsion. But God’s invitation comes with distinctive clout. Though God does not compel us to accept His invitation, it really is a summons. It comes, after all, from the Sovereign of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords. So, in 1 Cor. 1:2, when Paul writes that the Corinthian Christians – and by extension, we ourselves – are “called to be saints,” he doesn’t mean they have received an invitation they might ignore without consequence. Rather, when we are called by God, we are summoned by the supreme Authority. God’s invitation comes with unique clout. We would do well to take it seriously. As we consider our relationship with the Lord, we hold in tension that God’s calling is both an invitation and a summons. We hear the invitation in so many passages of Scripture, including for example, when Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Or God’s gracious invitation in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” At the same time, we rightly understand that God is summoning us to follow Jesus with our whole lives and to live each moment for the praise of God’s glory (Eph. 1:11-14). Let me encourage you today to reflect on the invitation and summons dimensions of God’s calling. Lord Jesus, help me to receive Your invitation with grateful openness. Help me to respond to Your summons with heartfelt obedience. 39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren’t You the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” (Luke 23:39-42, NIV)
As Jesus hung on the cross, mocked by the leaders of Jerusalem, the Roman soldiers, and even one of the criminals being crucified with Him, the other crucified criminal sensed that Jesus was being treated unjustly. “This man has done nothing wrong,” he said. After speaking up for Jesus, he asks Jesus to remember him. Jesus responded to this criminal, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” We have before us one of the most astounding and encouraging verses and also one of the most perplexing in all of Scripture. Jesus promised that the criminal would be with Him in Paradise. Yet Luke gives us no reason to believe this man had been a follower of Jesus or even a believer in Him in any sense. The man might have felt sorry for his sins, but he did not obviously repent. Rather, the criminal’s cry to be remembered seems more like a desperate, last-gasp effort. If indeed Jesus was some sort of king, the man figured, then he might as well ask to be included in Jesus’s kingdom. This was indeed mustard seed faith, a tiny bit at most. Yet Jesus assured this baby believer that he would join Jesus in Paradise that very day. Though we should make every effort to have right theology, and though we should live our lives each day as active disciples of Jesus, in the end our relationship with Him comes down to simple trust, naked dependence on His grace. “Jesus, remember me,” we cry, like the criminal. And Jesus, embodying the mercy of God, says to us, “You will be with me in Paradise.” We are welcome to that place of eternal glory because God is “rich in mercy” and wants to show us “the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4,7). Indeed, Jesus will remember us when He comes into His kingdom. But we don’t have to wait to be remembered by Jesus. In a matter of speaking, He “remembers” us right now. Through the Spirit, He is present in our lives. When we serve others in His name, we are serving Jesus. We don’t even have to wait for Paradise in order to know that Jesus is with us. When we face the uncertainties and fears of this life, when we endure suffering and loss, when we wonder if God is there for us, we need to know that Jesus has not forgotten us. He is with us. He remembers us . . . even right now! Lord Jesus, how I wonder at your grace and mercy! Like the criminal, I cry to You, “Lord, remember me!” Today I live trusting You and You alone. “Happy Easter!” This is the customary greeting we address one another here in the U.S. on this special day. We sometimes limit our conversation to the subjects of new clothes, spring breaks, festive food, and parties, forgetting that Easter’s main concern is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In contrast, the Christians in the early church and elsewhere greet each other with the salutation, “Christ is risen!”, and the response “He is risen indeed!”
Remember apart from the great fact of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, we would have no gospel to preach. By “Resurrection” we do not mean that our Lord’s spirit continued to live after His body died, but that He was actually raised from the dead by the Father, and came forth from the tomb in the very same body that was nailed to Calvary’s cross. In that body, now glorified, He sits at God’s right hand, and He is coming again as the Judge of the living and the dead - the saved and the lost. The resurrection of Christ was the crowning climax of God’s love. Had Christ stayed in the grave, not only would His promises of new life have been unfulfilled and His claims for divine power disproved, but His suffering, the agony of the cross, the unimaginable sorrow that crushed His soul, the forsakenness by God, would have all been in vain. Second, the resurrection of Christ proves that He has power over life and death. It proves that He is no mere mortal human leader. The empty tomb testifies that Jesus is very God of very God, the Ruler of life and death. Third, His resurrection brings newness of life and hope to us all. The radiant joy of resurrection gives life its beauty and blessing. People who reject Easter’s victory suffer despair and anguish. No matter how you classify fears and phobias, the fright caused by sickness, age, loss, and persecution is unbearable without Christ. Lastly, His resurrection guarantees our resurrection. Easter is the divine warrant that God has forgiven the sins which bring eternal death. This day offers the surety that God has accepted the suffering and dying of His own Son as the payment for your sins and punishment. You can be assured that you will be blessed in heaven before the presence of Jesus forever. Notice the threefold response to Paul’s message ‘When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, (rejecters)’ but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” (procrastinators) A few men...believed. (believers)” Acts 17:32-34. Which group do you belong to? |
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