Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Apr 21 2020 - 1 Corinthians 16:1-24 – Family

When you read the last chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians you quickly become aware of the fact that the Christians at Corinth belong to a wider family. Greetings are sent from the churches in Asia as well as mention being made of a number of individuals such as Apollos and Timothy, Aquila and Priscilla.

The hallmark of this new family is love. It is firstly a love for the Lord who loved us and gave himself for us – Paul writes, “If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Those who do not love the Lord have not understood his love for them – or have rejected that love.

The family of Jesus are also to be marked by love for one another: “Do everything in love” says Paul, and “greet one another with a holy kiss” (16:14,20). They are also to be a people who long to make Christ known and to draw others into the embrace of his love. Paul was looking forward to visiting his friends at Corinth but was unwilling to leave Ephesus at the moment “because a great door for effective work has opened to me” (16:9); he was eager to make use of this opportunity to win people for Christ – even from those who presently opposed him.

One of the most remarkable ways in which the love of this new family was expressed was in the collection (16:1-4). Paul had been organising a collection from the predominantly Gentile churches around the Mediterranean to be sent to the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea who were suffering because of a famine. This collection served not only to supply their needs but also as a practical and visible expression of love and unity. It demonstrated that Gentile and Jewish Christians had become one family in Christ – a family in which the needs of one became the concerns of all.

It is good for us to be reminded that we are members of one family that stretches around the globe. When Christians in Africa (or elsewhere) suffer hunger we cannot remain unmoved; we need to do what we can to help. When Christians in Muslim countries suffer discrimination and persecution we cannot remain unmoved; they are family. We need to ask how the principle behind Paul’s collection can find practical expression among us today. Our prayers are not enough.

So Paul concludes this letter to the troubled Church at Corinth. They were living in an amoral culture; one preoccupied by the cult of celebrity and personality – much like the television culture of our day. Paul has exhorted them to live distinctively different lives as those who belong to Christ. They were an argumentative and divided church. Paul calls them to a unity grounded in the fact that they are members of one body. There were those among them who were spreading false teaching. Paul calls them back to the gospel he had preached to them. His message to them is summed up in his closing words, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love” (16:13-14).

Living God, we give you thanks that you have made us members of your family through the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us by your Spirit to live well as your children: to be on our guard against the subtle influences of the world, the flesh and the devil; to stand firm in the faith, rejoicing and glorying in your saving purposes for us and for all creation; to be strong and courageous in making the love of Christ known; to do everything in love even as you have embraced us in a love beyond words.

Apr 21 2019 - Psalm 46 – God our refuge

We are beginning to realise that we cannot take the stability of our planet for granted. Our actions over the past century have contributed to climate change which is leading to more erratic weather conditions: summers are getting hotter, winters becoming colder; hurricanes are becoming stronger and more devastating; rains are failing in some parts of our world and droughts bring death to plants and cattle; floods devastate other parts of our world bringing landslides and mudslides. Climate scientists warn that we may be reaching a tipping point beyond which there is nothing we can do to prevent increasing chaos. On top of all of this is the frequent news of earthquakes, volcanos and tsunamis. It seems as if the very fabric of our world, of our home, is falling apart.

The psalmist did not have these things in mind when he wrote this psalm – though certainly he would have been familiar with earthquakes and their devastation. His concern was the threat from hostile nations that surrounded the people of God. There had been times in Israel's history when the very existence of the nation seemed to be endangered by threats of war from stronger nations around them or, indeed, by warfare between the different tribes that made up the nation.

In an uncertain world, the psalmist delights in the fact that there is a place of safety and stability for those who trust in the living God. God is a refuge – a fortress or place of safety – for his people. As David writes in Psalm 18:1-2:

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge… my stronghold.

Even if the worst imaginable disaster might actually happen, God remains our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble (Ps 46:1). This means that those who trust in him need not fear, no matter what the news, no matter what the threat. "The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress" (v.7).

I have sometimes seen the text, "Be still, and know that I am God" (v.10) on church walls or on greetings cards sent from one Christian to another. There is nothing wrong with that, but I think we need to look at its context in this psalm. In face of the hostile threats God's people face from the surrounding nations, God addresses them with the command, "Be still, and know that I am God." He commands the nations to stop their warfare, to put down their arms and to recognise the God of Israel for who he is. "He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth" (v.9).

It's not easy to get the balance right between the demand to take action and the need to trust God. We need to do all that we can to mend the hurts of our world. We in the West need to repent of our thoughtless and unsustainable lifestyles that have led to the present crisis for our planet. We need to respect God's world and to heal its hurts before they are beyond human healing. We need also to be peacemakers who seek to reconcile the warring factions of this world.

Nevertheless, we who know the living God can trust in him in every circumstance as our place of safety and of joy; the Spirit of God and of our risen Saviour "is a river whose streams make glad the city of God" – the people of God. Trust in our heavenly Father frees us from fear in the personal crises of our lives as well as the national and global crises which seem to threaten our world.

Think of the things which make you fearful right now and then read through this psalm again slowly seeking God's help and presence to still your fears.

Father God, we thank you that in the Lord Jesus you have made us heirs of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Help us to care for your world and be a blessing to its peoples rather than being those who threaten your world. Help us also to point others to our Saviour that they also might find their secure refuge and unfailing hope in him.

Peter Misselbrook