When You Work for the Church

Last Saturday morning, I was surprised to receive an email from Deacon Richard Chau, who is the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations officer for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver. I’d never met him, but he had learned that our church had planned our Sunday morning worship around the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. He wanted to let us know that a few people from the Archdiocese planned to join us.

What a wonderful surprise! I was delighted to hear from him and touched that he had taken the time to email. My congregation is an hour’s drive outside of Vancouver. As a nondenominational church, we’re not Roman Catholic. We’re such a small congregation that I wouldn’t have imagined anyone in his Archdiocese would have noticed us at all.

Below is the edited version of my sermon for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, based on 1 Corinthians 1:1–9.

We’ve Got Mail

Instead of writing a long letter like 1 Corinthians, today it would be more common to dash off a quick email or an even quicker text message. A professor friend who teaches college will often email his students about an assignment, or a student might email him. But to my friend’s surprise, he once received an email from a student that began with “hey dude.”

In contrast, letters in the ancient world were very formal. There was no equivalent for “hey dude.” An ancient letter used more formal language and followed a standard format.

Step One: Identify the Author…

Today, the first step in writing a letter is to start with whoever will receive it. Dear John Doe. Dear Jane Doe. To whomever it may concern. But in an ancient letter, the first step was to begin with the author. So, 1 Corinthians begins with: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes” (1:1).

Paul had founded the church in Corinth, so he identifies himself formally as “an apostle of Christ Jesus.” Later in his letter, he refers to himself more personally as the father of the church: “in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel” (4:16). But in this more formal opening, instead of emphasizing his close, fatherly relationship with the church, he opens with his authority as an apostle sent by God.

and Co-Author

Paul also includes his co-author: “our brother Sosthenes.”

Not much is known about this Sosthenes—his name is not exactly a household word, for it appears only twice in the Bible. Here in 1 Corinthians, he is clearly part of the Christian community, because Paul calls him “our brother.” The name also appears in Acts 18, which tells the story of the apostle Paul planting the church in Corinth.

At that time, Paul had been preaching in the city. But not everyone had welcomed his good news of Jesus. Instead, Paul had been attacked by a crowd and brought before the Roman governor on charges that he had been persuading people “to worship God unlawfully” (Acts 18:13 CEB). But the governor refused to hear the case. In his view, there was no crime. He saw the crowd’s dispute as a religious matter that they should settle among themselves. So, the governor had the crowd along with Paul removed from the court. That’s when the crowd turned on the leader of the synagogue, whose name was Sosthenes. They seized him and beat him up.

Now the name Sosthenes appears for a second time at the start of 1 Corinthians. It may well have been the same man who had been a leader of the synagogue, who had been beaten in the conflict over Paul’s preaching. Perhaps at that time, he had also accepted Paul’s good news about Jesus. And when Paul left Corinth to continue his missionary journey, perhaps Sosthenes had left with him, later serving as Paul’s co-author of this letter to the Corinthians.

That’s the first step of an ancient letter—to identify the author(s). And in this case, it is also an example of Christian unity. For while we might commonly refer to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, or Paul’s letter to the Philippians, most of Paul’s letters were not from him alone.

Instead, those letters were a joint effort:

• 1 Corinthians is from Paul and Sosthenes,
• Philippians from “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ” (1:1),
• Colossians from “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus . . . and Timothy our brother” (1:1),
• Galatians from “Paul, an apostle . . . and from all the brothers and sisters with me” (1:1–2).

While Paul was often the main voice in these letters, while he would often share a personal perspective or story, he was also part of a team ministry—part of the church—expressing Christian unity.

Step Two: Identify the Readers

After identifying the author(s), the second step in an ancient letter was to identify the readers. So, v. 2 says, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people.” This is another example of Christian unity, for Paul and Sosthenes address the whole church of God in Corinth.

As a letter, 1 Corinthians was not written mainly to us. I’ve called my sermon “We’ve Got Mail,” but in a strict historical sense, it’s more accurate to say that the Corinthian church got mail. They got mail, and today we are reading over their shoulder.

But the letter itself gives us permission to do that. Because v. 2 adds: “To the church of God in Corinth. . . . together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So, even though we’re not part of the New Testament Corinthian church, we are part of “the church of God.” Like them, we also call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve done that repeatedly this morning. In our opening prayer as we read together: “O Jesus Christ, Light from Light, dwell within us.” As the Quartet sang: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” As we blessed one another with “the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Like the church in Corinth, we also belong to Christ Jesus. We are also called to be his holy people. So, this letter is also for us—not as individuals, but together as a congregation with every church past and present that calls on Jesus. We’ve got mail.

Steps Three and Four: Offer Peace and Thanks

After identifying the authors and the readers, the third step of an ancient letter was to add a greeting of peace. Just as we share the peace with one another as part of our Sunday worship, a greeting of peace was a regular part of an ancient letter. So, v. 3 adds: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, this is an expression of unity, for this is a greeting of peace for the whole church.

It’s followed by a word of thanks for the whole church. This is the final step in the opening of an ancient letter. So, v. 4 adds: “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” Here, Paul speaks personally, but he continues to address the whole church, giving thanks to God for all the gifts that the Corinthians had received, for the hope they had in Christ, for God’s faithfulness to them.

Christian Unity

On one level, 1 Corinthians is a standard ancient letter with a standard opening that identifies the authors, the readers, and includes expressions of peace and thanksgiving. But on a deeper level, it also expresses Christian unity. For it comes from Paul and Sosthenes to the whole church in Corinth and to us today—to Valley CrossWay Church, to our partner Calvin Presbyterian Church, and to all the churches in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and around the world.

Of course, each congregation and Christian community is different. We vary in size and worship style and even in our different understandings of Scripture. But we are all rooted and grounded and built on the same foundation of Jesus Christ. He is the central vine that sustains us all, and we are the branches. Jesus is at the centre of Christian unity in the New Testament and today.

Centred on Jesus

In 1 Corinthians 1:1–9, Jesus appears in every verse:

• Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus (v. 1)
• To those sanctified in Christ Jesus (v. 2)
• Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 3)
• I always thank God because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus (v. 4)
• For in him you have been enriched in every way (v. 5)
• confirming our testimony about Christ among you (v. 6)
• as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 7)
• so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (v. 8)
• God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (v. 9).

Jesus appears in all nine verses! Clearly, he is the centre of this letter to the Corinthians, the centre of their faith and ours.

We Are Not Alone

A few years ago—before the pandemic—we joined together with other churches in Abbotsford to observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Along with our partner church, we hosted a mid-week worship service followed by a hot lunch, and there were folks from our two churches, from St. Ann’s Catholic Church, the United Church, the Mennonite Church, and other churches all worshipping and eating together. It was a visible expression of Christian unity.

This morning, we will affirm our faith with the words of the historic Nicene creed. This is another expression of Christian unity, for this same creed is repeated by many congregations and Christian communities around the world and throughout history.

As a small congregation in a small corner of the world, we are not alone. We are part of the world-wide body of Christ. The words of 1 Corinthians are for us and for all those who call on his name:

You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
—1 Corinthians 1:7–9

Today and every day, let us walk by faith in God and full of hope. God will keep us firm to the very end. God is faithful. Amen.