1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Called to Christ

Theological Proposition/Focus: Christ alone is worthy of our worship, dedication, and focus.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We must remember that we are called first and foremost to Christ, this means our focus needs to be on Christ rather than anything else.

Introduction:

Image: The introduction to a letter, more than just a formality.

Back when I was a professor at the University of Nebraska there was only one course in the entire Math PhD program that every student was required to take. I had created the course Teaching and Learning Mathematics at the Post-Secondary Level to help novice instructors quickly develop the skills needed to teach math well. The result was that I had taught every PhD student in our program which meant that I wrote a lot of letters of recommendation each year. I know a lot of faculty members simply submit the same letter for every student only changing the names, if they even remember to do that, but I refused to partake in this. Instead, I wrote a personal letter for every student and while there was a lot of overlap, there was also a lot of difference. Even in my introductory statements, you could learn a lot about the student.

We are going to dig into Paul's letter to the church at Corinth and while it might seem silly, we are actually going to have an entire sermon on the introduction to the letter. Why, because ven in the introduction there is something for us to learn.

Body

The call to Christ is nothing short of miraculous (1-2).

Look at how Paul describes the call of Christ.

Paul was called to be an apostle by the will of God.

First Paul recalls that he was personally called to be an apostle of Christ.

The word called is not a verb but a noun

I don't want to read too much into this but at the same time, this surprised me. I expected a verb in my naivety. Instead, I see a noun and it makes me think that are calling to Christ is a fundamental part of our identity. Paul was called to be an apostle for Christ and that is fundamental.

The word apostle means sent one, but is an explicit reference to one sent to bear witness to the risen Christ.

The corinthians had a hard time recognizing authority and part of what Paul does here clearly establishes his authority. Paul is very definitively stating "listen up, what I have to say here is important." We need to recognize the authority of Scripture. These are not suggestions up for debate. These are mandates we are given.

Paul's call is by the will of God! not himself, not the church.

When we talk about being called we need to recognize the source of our calling. Our calling to salvation, to service, to ministry is by the will of God. We don't get to create our own calling! Similarly, the church does not call an individual, instead, the church acknowledges God's call on an individual. This is really important, for us in practice. When it becomes clear that God has called someone we need to recognize that call. The purpose of a call is to fulfill the purpose of God and we need to make sure that we understand this.

Sosthenes perhaps an amanuensis was brought along as a sort of yoke-fellow.

I am guessing that Sosthenes was the ruler of the Synagogue mentioned in Acts 18:17

Here Paul chooses to include him in the letter.

I think that Paul is not including Sosthenes for Paul's benefit but rather for the benefit and growth of Sosthenes.

In our call we are not called to be solo, we are called to disciple others and so at every opportunity, we need to ask, how could I include someone else? What could I do to make sure that so and so it part of this and has the opportunity to serve alongside me?

The Corinthians were the church of God, called to be a holy people.

The identity of the church was "of God"

The church is God's church, not my church, not your church, not the council's church, not the deacon's church. This is God's church. Let us never forget that we belong completely to God.

The Corinthians were sanctified in Christ Jesus (perfect passive plural participle).

There is a lot going on in the grammar here. This is a perfect passive plural participle.

That his happened in Christ Jesus means this is a reference to positional sanctification.

That is, the church is made up of individuals who have been mark as set apart for God because of the work of Christ on the cross.

Paul was called to be an apostle, the church was called to be saints.

Understand the significance, we have a tendency to think of the call to a pastor or deacon as a big deal. However, each and every one of us is called to be a saint, to be holy set apart to God. We need to take our calling seriously. Your call to be part of the church parallels my call to be a pastor, it parallels the deacon's call to serve.

All who call on Christ are called to holiness.

Just in case you were tempted to say something like "this applies to the Corinthians not to me," Paul goes on further reminding us that all who call on Christ are called to be holy. What is miraculous is that our holiness ends up coming with our call.

Paul concludes this section with a statement of grace and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ. The miracle of the call of Christ is that ultimately the call is to grace and peace. Grace, being unmerited favor with God and peace between the sinner and the holy God of the universe the call of Christ truly is miraculous.