This week we have seen the mother of all processions! Everyone perfectly dressed and in step, pomp & circumstance like no other, crowds lining streets with respect and cheers. Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians about another procession. It too had king & soldiers finely dressed, marching in step as well as crowds along the streets. But a key difference is that at the back were an additional group of people, dressed in rags and dragged by chains. The crowds jeer at them as they pass. This was the scene of the victory return of a conquering king, with the conquered captives dragged behind.
Paul writes that his place as an apostle - a bearer of good news - was at the back of this kind of procession. He implies through his writing that our place is to be at the back too! That might seem strange - in the summer we did a series on Affirmations, looking at our status as a Royal Priesthood, being Temples of the Holy Spirit, ambassadors of Jesus serving in His power & authority. Yes absolutely all those affirmations are true - let us not forget our status in Christ - but in the eyes of the world none of that matters or makes any sense. As a believer of Jesus you are (by the world) to be pitied, despised ... a mere scumbag! To follow Jesus and be at His service means you are at the back of the procession with the scum, not at the front.
Paul saw that the Corinthian believers were already making a mistake by seeing and looking for Status. They would compare leaders, looking at who speaks better, who draws a bigger crowd and so on. To this Paul says: 'This is worldly thinking, not the way of Jesus!'. The way of Jesus is not about having a bigger platform, or building, or the better whiz-bang resources. Paul talks in this passage of the Kingdom of God being of power (v20), and talks about being rich and reigning (v8) ... but not as the world understands these concepts. The power and reign of the Kingdom of God was shown by Jesus to be in working with the last, the least and the lost. That means working in the rubble & mess of peoples lives, working through frustrations (e.g. someone says "I will come to your meeting", but never turns up), and of seeing real progress only to be followed by horrendous setbacks.
Some Christians today pray to see the power of God when we come together as church - that is great. Yet it seems that some pray as if the only place we will see such power is when we come together. That is a problem! We must learn to see the power of God out there in the messy world. For God's power is not limited to our gatherings, not dependent on how good our music is, or our PA system, or lighting or whatever else. In situations out in the everyday world of total carnage, things desperately going wrong ... it just takes the slightest openness of heart for it to become the very place where God is at work! A place where there is no special status, where it is more hard graft than clever lighting.
The world's way in simple terms is about power, status and stuff - and thus the strive to build a good life based on stuff and things. That leads many people to have a clear priority to paid work. That is not necessarily wrong, and involves trying to do well in a good job, earning to provide, build status and do well. Yet for the follower of Jesus the priority of work is subtly different: it is about honour - honouring the workplace, the colleagues, the customers. For some their work may resonate with their sense of God-given calling - but in any case the priority of work is set in the context of who the person is in Jesus.
Ordinary people also have a priority in commitment to family - wanting their children to do well, to prosper etc. This is reasonable, and the follower of Jesus has clear commitment to family as well (family is also important to us as a church). Yet whilst ordinary people might hold just those 2 priorities (work and family), the follower of Jesus has a third priority too: they have work, family and serving as Jesus has called us. That means there is a whole extra thing in the mix. That means our work/life/time balance is way different to others. It might mean we don't always go for promotion, or the highest paid job, and it certainly means that we learn to do family in conjunction with ministry & serving. As a church we have the motto Seeking to Worship, Seeking to Serve that encompasses these 3 priorities integrated together.
To do that seriously is in fact hard work - and often leads to lesser status in the world's eyes. No wonder the world might pity us! At the very least they would ask 'Why would even do that?'. Paul writes in v10-11 that we are fools for Christ - we go hungry, thirsty, living in rags and on top of all that people may mis-treat us, even curse us. Yet we respond with kindness, we bless, and we endure (v12). For all the world cares we might as well be scum - slum dogs - because we set the priorities of work & family with serving Jesus!
The ministry of Paul & Apollos meant getting their hands dirty - it wasn't all nice tea parties with the best china! It meant putting themselves out there in the dusty square, available for the last, the least and the lost. That requires grit and determination. This should be no surprise - the way of Jesus was to go to the cross with grit and determination. Some see difficulties and suggest that we 'wait until things are better', noting that people are tired, they have suffered life-troubles and so on. Those troubles are very real, but the problem is that I don't believe we have the option to 'wait until things are better' - the need for ministry out there is now! All around the world Christians are ministering in the face of unfathomable hardships and difficulties. They do not have the option of waiting, and they figure out how to get on with it. We have to learn to minister in the power of God out in the world even though we ourselves have people suffering, in difficulty and plain tired. The mentality we need is more like that of a 'Slum Dog' - who has to improvise and daily use whatever they can find to make a way through.
This does not mean we ignore the hurting, or we deny people time out to recuperate and so forth. It also absolutely means we have to look at our own spiritual practices, our attention to sabbath rest, and our rootedness in the cross & resurrection. Paul wrote to the Corinthians 'Imitate me ...' (v16). His call to the Corinthian Christians was to drop worldly ideas of status (with the priorities that follow that), and join him at the back of the procession. In the world's eyes 'scum', but in God's eyes a Royal Priesthood, a Temple of the Holy Spirit, ambassador sent by Jesus to reign, to declare and see the power of God.
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