A
Epiphany 4 BFC 2020
1
Corinthians 1:18-31
February
2, 2020
Especially for Paul’s letter to the churches in
Corinth for today, we need to know some of the historical matrix or context, to
get an idea for the genius and beauty of the apostle Paul and his writing. So . . . once again . . . Mike Mulberry as
Biblical geek appears.
The ancient Greek city of
Corinth was destroyed by Roman forces in 146 BCE, and then re-founded as a
Roman colony by Julius Caesar a little over one hundred years later, in the
year 44 BCE. Connections with the Greek
culture remained, but the new organization of Corinth
Upon
being rebuilt, Corinth rapidly became a center
of seaborne commerce and the gate to the east for Rome Corinth
Less than 3% of the wealthy
minority lived in luxury in cities like Corinth Roman Empire lived just above, just at, or just below
subsistence level. The Roman
Empire was a slave society.
Slaves were so inexpensive that slave ownership went far down the social
scale. It is estimated that slaves may
have made up as much as 1/3 of the population and another third of the
population were people who had been somehow been released from slave
status. Slaves were “animate tools,”
nonpersons, with no legal rights, and permanently designated as
dishonorable. Some slaves were better
off than others, but all slaves were marginal, having experienced a “connection
death” in relation to family, society, and the cultural identity of their
origins. Besides being socially
dishonored, slaves were routinely subjected to physical and sexual abuse.
In Corinth, with so much of
the population being the descendants of slaves, a desire for social status was
likely a prominent part of the value system that permeated their culture. One strong indicator of this quest for social
status was a society of freed slaves called the Augustales, (hear the ode to Caesar Augustus in that title, August,
the One to be worshipped). The Augustales were societies, political
associations, of freed men and women dedicated to the cultivation of Emperor
worship. Their inscriptions are found
all over ancient excavations of the city of Corinth
These Augustales were probably organized into a common Greek word used
throughout the New Testament, a word commonly used for political organizations. These political organizations were
considered to be the governing assemblies of free citizens in a city. Varieties of groups used this Greek word for
political organizations to represent a gathered assembly. The Jewish people commonly used this word to
refer to a local group organized as a synagogue—an assembly of the
Israelites. The Greek word used is ekklesia, and for centuries upon
centuries, we have commonly interpreted that word as “church” in the New
Testament.
It is into this culture and
climate that the apostle Paul writes probably some of the most well-known and
most beautiful prose known in Christian faith to these political organizations
in Corinth
It
is to say to the wider populace, “You are first and foremost a Roman
citizen.” It is to say, “By any other
cultural definition, you are a nobody.
And, if you think you are somebody by any other cultural identification,
Rome
But
. . . but . . . I believe, in a move of spiritual genius, this is the image
Paul uses to define his ministry—we preach Christ crucified. He owns what it means to be a nobody. Paul preaches a fundamental disarming and
disabling to the Corinthian quest for upward social mobility. Paul
wants the Corinthians to be known (best
Ricardo Montalban accent) not for the supple feel of their Corinthian leather, but by the hard work they do to build
community. And that Greek word used in first century Rome
Pete
Seeger, the wonderful folk singer, died six years ago at the age of 94. Seeger was huge in so many movements to bring
people together in this country, routinely blessing the nobodies, and bringing
forward words and music to attempt to build a lasting peace in our communities,
in our country, and in our world. In
keeping with Seeger’s character, much of his famous music came to be through
collaboration and community-making.
Seeger wrote the first few verses to “Where have all the flowers gone?”
after reading words from a Russian poet.
The final verses were put together by an Oberlin college student who
figured the verses out at summer camp. Seeger sang “We Shall Overcome” to Dr.
Martin Luther King, who thought it was a tune that really stayed with you. Seeger discovered that the song, “We Will
Overcome”, was one done by United Mine Workers in the early 1900s and probably
was a derivative of the old gospel tune, “I Will Overcome.” Every Pete Seeger song seems to have a
history like this, ancient truths sung with a slight change in words or a new
melody to make them true and real for a new day.
Near
the end of his life, Seeger would regularly sing Yip Harburg’s beautiful song
from The Wizard of Oz, “Somewhere
Over the Rainbow,” along with his audiences.
He would brief the audience, letting them know he was changing two
words. Seeger told it this way:
But near the end — I
do this whenever I sing the song — I say, "There’s two more short lines to
this song, but I have to change two words." And I look heavenward and say,
"Somewhere up there I can hear Yip saying, 'Pete, you can fool around with
your old folk songs, but don't you touch "Over the Rainbow," please.’
Yip, wherever you are, I got to change two words 'cause if I'd been there when
little Dorothy said, 'Why can't I?’ I’d tell her, 'You know why you can't,
Dorothy? Because you only ask for yourself. You’ve got to ask for everybody,
because either we’re all going to make it over that rainbow, or nobody’s going
to make it.’ And so, sing it, 'If plucky little bluebirds fly beyond the
rainbow, why can't you and I?'" And the whole crowd sings these slightly
different words. It's beautiful. And, of course, that’s the story of Noah’s Ark
and the rainbow. I’m sure Yip was thinking of that.
This world will
survive when we learn how to coexist. Okay, we disagree. You like to eat this
way, and I like to eat that way. You like to dance that way. I like to dance
this way. You think of this word meaning such and such. I use the same word,
but I’m thinking of something different. But if we learn the lesson of the
rainbow, we will be here a hundred years from now.[3]
In contrast to what was taught in
churches for years, that the early church leaders all agreed with one another
in some glorious monolithic unity, walking hand in hand with little to no
conflict, what we are discovering more and more are the arguments among early
political association leaders (ahem), church leaders and the diversity found in
the early Christian Church. If that early
Christian Church was to survive and thrive, they had to find ways to come
together from a beautiful and glorious diversity. For there are forever ladder climbers,
pundits, and people who talk about the glory of being baptized by Mike Mulberry,
rather than some other pastor schmuck, to show their spiritual
superiority. No? Nobody glories in a Mulberry baptism? Ok, maybe not, but there certainly is a
bastardized form of the gospel which is always telling us who goes to hell and
who does not, who is first and who is last, and who belongs and who does not,
who was baptized by Mike Mulberry and who was not. For Paul and for the crucified Christ, it was
never just about churches or political associations—it was about the world--who
receives healing in health care and whether we are willing to share our bread
to feed the crowd. Blessed are the
crucified, the nobodies, to own that to build community with one another.
Pete
Seeger said it best in one of his final interviews.
I honestly believe that the future is
going to be millions of little things saving us. I imagine a big seesaw, and at
one end of this seesaw is on the ground with a basket half-full of big rocks in
it. The other end of the seesaw is up in the air. It’s got a basket one-quarter
full of sand. And some of us got teaspoons, and we’re trying to fill up sand. A
lot of people are laughing at us, and they say, "Ah, people like you have
been trying to do that for thousands of years, and it’s leaking out as fast as
you’re putting it in." But we’re saying, "We’re getting more people
with teaspoons all the time." And we think, "One of these years,
you’ll see that whole seesaw go zooop in the other direction." And people
will say, "Gee, how did it happen so suddenly?" Us and all our little
teaspoons. Now granted, we’ve got to keep putting it in, because if we don’t
keep putting teaspoons in, it will leak out, and the rocks will go back down
again. Who knows?[4]
Who does know?
Today, I believe, the letter from the apostle Paul invites us to pick up
our hammers and teaspoons so that we all might get over the rainbow. You and I.
Today we say farewell to
one of our dear brothers in Christ, a person who has been making coffee,
playing in bells, cleaning, leading the bell choir, teaching Our Whole Lives,
overseeing our finances, saying “yes” to so many ministries, doing so many
other things, and, finally, leading out our church. For many years, Aaron Blakeslee embodied what
it meant to live in community at Billings First Congregational Church. I was honored to be pastored by him, loved by
him, and he was the first person who told my daughter she was loved at this
church. Sadly, it is time to say
farewell to this beloved disciple of Christ.
[1] Ray Pickett, “Conflicts at
Corinth ,” A
People’s History of Christianity (Minneapolis
[2] Matt J. Rosano, “Why Was
Jesus Crucified?” HuffPost Religion,
April 2, 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-j-rossano/why-was-jesus-crucified_b_842509.html
[3]
“We Shall Overcome: An Hour with
Legendary Singer and Activist, Pete Seeger,” Democracy Now!, July 4, 2007.
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/7/4/we_shall_overcome_an_hour_with
[4] “Pete Seeger on Democracy
Now!” Democracy Now!, January 31,
2014, http://www.democracynow.org/special/pete_seeger_on_democracy_now
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