Last night the 1662 Lectionary assigned 1 Corinthians 1 as our Evening Prayer reading, and it’s one of my absolute favourite chapters in the Holy Bible. Let’s take some time to read through it and reflect on how God speaks into our lives through those sacred words.

All quotations are from the English Standard Version.

1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,
• Paul did not choose to become an Apostle, in fact, he didn’t even choose to become a Christian or have faith in Jesus. Instead, Jesus appeared to Paul, illuminating his hardened heart with His marvellous light, and appointed him to be a shepherd in His Church. Great leaders are not self appointed, they are called by others.

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth,
• Similar to how the Triune God is not made up of three parts, so that each Person is one third of God, but rather each Person is fully God in Himself, each local expression of the Church is fully the Church of God. Paul does not say, “the part of the Church of God in Corinth,” and so when we step into a Church, even if there are only 20 members, we stand amongst the Body of Christ in its fullness. Moreover, the universal Church has local expressions, and just as its expression in Corinth differed from its expression in Ephesus, so too did the Church of God in England during the 16th Century have a different expression to the Church of God in Geneva, but both were fully Christ’s Body.

to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,
• As the letter progresses, we will see that the Corinthians are a bit of a bad batch. Sexual immorality, greed, pride, classism, and many other issues, are all rampant. And yet, Paul starts his letter to them by affirming that they are sanctified. How can this be? We will see in verse 30 that it’s because, even when we sin, even when we mess it all up yet again, we are in Christ Jesus. We are in His embrace and He won’t let us go, and since we are in Him by faith we are sanctified by His righteousness. We don’t live our lives going in and out of being justified, we are eternally justified by the faith and repentance that God gave us and that God will preserve. And because of our faith and repentance, the blood of Jesus has cleansed us, and we can approach our God in peace.

called to be saints,
• In Greek, adjectives can be used as nouns, and so when Paul calls the Corinthians “saints” he really calls them “holies” or holy ones. The grammar here is also vague, is Paul saying that God has called them and so now they are holy, or that He has called them and so they must become holy? The answer is that both are true. God has called you to Himself by giving you faith in Him as He is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, and therefore you are sanctified and holy, but, we must live up to that calling by actually striving to be holy. But don’t fear, the Spirit Who gave you faith will also work in you to make you repent of your wickedness and bear the fruits of righteousness.

together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.
• Hey! That’s us! This letter is also for me and you and the sanctification found in Jesus is ours as well.

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Because we have called on Jesus as our Lord, the Almighty God has become our Father, for we have been joined to His beloved Son in Whom is our redemption and hope.

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus… 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
• How often Paul repeats the sweet Name of Jesus! And because of the glory of His Name, we are assured that we will be guiltless before our Father. God is faithful, and if by faith you are sanctified now, you will remain sanctified until the very end. The Spirit Who called you into the embrace of Jesus will not let you down or let you go, and He will sustain you during this journey in the wilderness to the Promised Land, the Land of the Promise that God is good and gracious to those He has called.

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarrelling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul”, or “I follow Apollos”, or “I follow Cephas”, or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
• In an age where the Church is divided so strongly, we can be tempted to say we are “Anglicans” or “Roman Catholics” before we are Christians. Are you a baptized Anglican? Or are you a baptized Christian? There can only be one answer. Remember, there is one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, and one Church that is expressed differently across the world.

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
• On the Cross the Lord of Glory was found naked, exposed, shamed. People walked by and laughed at His nakedness. On the Cross the Lord of Power was found bruised and bloodied, He was scarred, He was hurt. On the Cross, the Lord of Life was found dead. And yet, on the Cross was found true glory, true power, and true life. So step off the road that leads to wealth, success and popularity for true glory, power and life are not found in these things. Instead, take up your cross and follow Jesus down the path that leads to suffering, service and grace. But fear not, the Spirit Who opened your eyes and lifted your head so that you gazed upon Jesus on the Cross will also lead you and keep you on that path, that is why we are told we are “being saved.” He will guide you to the Cross, and there Jesus will wash you with the blood and water that flows from His side.

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
• I know that in the foolishness that is my own self-perceived “intelligence” I could never have come to believe in the Crucified God without His miraculous power. I wanted to be an intellectual, and sometimes the temptation arises again, but intellectuals will not be saved, because they strive after the worldly intelligence that has been pulverised by the foolish wonder of the Cross. I know that though I thought I could see because of the wisdom I thought I had, I was actually blind. Therefore, when my eyes were opened, I knew that it was God, not me, Who opened them. However, as we go through life our sinful flesh constantly tries to close our eyes once again, and one way that happens to me is that the same evilness inside me that strove after being an intellectual tries to turn the simple faith of Christ into a sophisticated, intelligent, armchair philosophy. We read long books originally written in Latin and use big words. We show off our bookshelves and debate the Sacred Mysteries of God as though we were Greek sophists. My friends, that is not what the Spirit has called us to do. You should sooner burn your wretched bookshelf to ashes and spit on your smug reflection than ever think that they give you glory. Remember the folly. Always, always remember the folly of our faith. If you’ve reached a point where Christianity has become a sophisticated and respectable philosophy then you’ve closed your eyes again. Our central claim is that the Lord of the Universe was revealed as a carpenter Who was crucified to death. If that doesn’t send shivers up your spine and slap your cursed intellectualism in the face, then you need to spend some time in deep reflection and prayer. But rest assured, the Spirit will open your eyes again, because God is faithful and you will be found guiltless!

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
• We cannot find God or come to faith through wisdom. Lofty speeches and well considered arguments will not on their own make someone beset with pride fall on their knees at the Name of Jesus. Instead we need God’s calling, and while He can call people in the midst of a debate, it is still by His power alone that we answer the call. But the truth is that God only chooses some people to be His holy ones. And is it not plainly true that God favours the downtrodden? From the Israelites, to the ancient insult that only “women and slaves” were Christians, up to today where Christianity is vastly more popular among the working classes and impoverished peoples of the world, and found practically nowhere amongst the rich and elite, we see that God throughout history has called those the world despises. So do not seek glory from the world, for it is at odds with God. Instead, give thanks that the Lord chose you and called you to Himself, and never think that it was because of your own wisdom that you came to faith.

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
• Finally, we return to our eternal reality. Our circumstances in this world are temporal, but in eternity we remain in Christ. There, in His Spirit, we are made righteous, we are sanctified, we are redeemed. This is your ultimate, unfailing reality. Through all the ups and downs of your life, through all the mistakes and failings, even when you return to the vomit of your sin for the thousandth time, you are held in the eternal embrace of Christ, in Whom you live, and move, and have your being. His unconditional, unfailing love means that despite everything He still washes you with His blood and cloaks you in His righteousness. He is God, the revelation of the Father, and the Spirit They share called you to the foot of His cross where you were made to see His foolish glory. You did not bring yourself there, but were led, and so you must boast only in the Lord. Now that you are here, His blood cleanses you. Approach your God in peace.