May 22, 2005
Trinity Sunday
2 Corinthians 13:1-13
“Put Things in Order”
1. There are two themes running through today’s scripture reading from St. Paul’s 2nd letter to the church in Corinth.
But, before that, a reminder that, unlike the Gospels, Paul did not write these letters with the intention that they would some day be part of the New Testament – part of the Bible. If he had, he might have written them differently. He had no idea.
These letters were written for personal reasons to specific people to address particular problems.
And, as I mentioned last Sunday, the church in Corinth, which Paul had started … and then left … was encountering numerous problems.
Paul, also did not have a word processor or the internet. Nor did he even write these letters with his own hand. Paul dictated them to a secretary and then signed them.
So, we can imagine Paul pacing up and down the floor while talking out loud – and his transcriber trying to write down as fast as he could what Paul was trying to say.
This is why these letters sound the way they do … for they are written out of passion and with a great deal of energy.
2. Paul would often end his letters with a benediction or some closing statement to summarize his feelings – and so Paul does at the end of 2nd Corinthians. It should be familiar to all of you …
And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Do you recognize that benediction? Well, that is the one I usually use at the close of the service (only lately we have been doing a responsive benediction).
This benediction leads to my first point this morning which is to note that today is also called Trinity Sunday in the liturgical calendar.
But, I am not going to say too much about that today, except to note that the idea of the Trinity has often been a big problem for a lot of people. This is because it is a very abstract idea which is difficult to fully grasp in a tangible way. In other words it is confusing.
How, after all can God (Who is One) be three different things? That doesn’t seem to make sense – does it?
And yet we are all familiar from the Apostles Creed with the standard formula … and the Trinitarian concept carries over even into popular culture sometimes …
What was the strange and popular rock and roll song by Don McLean about the death of Buddy Holly … called The Day the Music Died …? Where he has that line about how the three men I most admired “the father, son, and holy ghost took the last train to the coast?”
3. As a child I always had trouble with the idea of a Holy Ghost because I equated it with real ghosts … and scary things like that …
Of course, the newer translations now use the word spirit … which is closer in some ways to the American Indian idea of God as the “Great Spirit.” I find that makes more sense.
In actuality, I think the English word ghost is close to the German word Geist … which is the same as Spirit. The German words Zeitgeist, - a combination of time and spirit - for instance, is often used to talk about the spirit of the times. So, we might say that there was a Zeitgeist of the 1960’s for instance … a spirit of rebellion or something like that.
But, to talk of God as spirit … or the three in one God … can be a little confusing. In actuality, the Trinitarian concept does not really get spelled out in the New Testament and is only mentioned in a few places such as in Paul’s benediction which we just read. As a result there is much disagreement. In fact someone said:
“If you put an expert in Christian doctrine and a biblical scholar in the same room what will you get? A huge argument, most likely. The problem is that people interested in doctrine try to find biblical passages that support their dearly held beliefs, whereas biblical scholars insist that we should read the Bible first and, out of the reading discover what those beliefs should be. One starts at the end and works backward, the other starts at the beginning and works forward. Who is right? Both of them are.”
4. So, if these doctrinal discussion leave you confused, don’t worry. The earliest Christians were not dependent upon having a carefully worked out doctrine of the Trinity. All that mattered was an encounter with the grace of Christ and the love of God and communion with the Holy Spirit.
Or, as I would phrase it … we believe in God as creator, God as Redeemer, and God as Spirit.
Someone else learned it this way: God is in Heaven, Christ is on Earth, and the Spirit is all around us.
And let’s leave it at that … for now.
5. The “rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey says, has to do with the practical matters of the church in Corinth.
Last Sunday we talked about the problems the Corinthian church was having and which Paul was concerned about in his letter. There were many. Corinth was not some rural small town in the Galilean countryside. It was a worldly and cosmopolitan place and people came to Corinth from all over the Roman Empire. It was also a trading center. From the beginning of time it was a pagan capital. And just because Paul had succeeded in converting a number of Corinthians to believing in the Gospel did not mean that they were free from error or that things would be hunky dory from then on.
No, there was controversy and then some new people showed up who claimed to be more spiritual than Paul and who questioned his authority and his authenticity. In short, there was division in the congregation.
This matter eventually came to Paul’s attention and rather than travel back to Corinth right away -- he wrote several letters to them. We have copies of the two of the letters … although some think that 2nd Corinthians is actually a composite of two seperate letters which were later copied down together by an editor.
But essentially, the situation is pretty clear. Paul came and established a congregation and then went on to start another one and while he was gone … things started to get out of hand.
6. Does this sound familiar? Have you ever been in a situation like this where the leader, the teacher, the boss, the parents, the officer … or whoever is entrusted with authority and responsibility leaves for a while … and in their absence … there is chaos and confusion?
What happens when the teacher leaves the class room for a few minutes? What happens when the parents go away for the weekend and leave the kids a home and say “no wild parties?” What happens when the boss goes away on vacation?
Or, when Moses goes up on the mountain to talk with God and the meantime the people lose their faith and build a golden calf.
As the old line goes … “When the cats away, the mice will play.”
Why is it so important to have someone in charge?
Remember when President Reagan was shot and wounded and for a time there was confusion … and I think it was General Haig who suddenly said “I’m in charge here!” Or, when Kennedy was killed and Lyndon Johnson was immediately sworn in as President on the plane back to Washington. People couldn’t wait even a few days or a week … somebody had to be in control right away!
7. So, why is it that we seem to need to have someone in charge?
Someone to give direction? Someone to take responsibility? Someone to lead?
And who is it who is chosen to be in charge? What are the qualifications for being a leader? Who, when it comes right down to it is the final authority?
The question of authority is a problem not only for social institutions, or individuals, for children, and for the family, but also for the church itself.
For instance, the big news lately has been the death of the Pope - the highest authority in the Catholic Church worldwide. Now that there is a new Pope there is considerable debate as the where the Catholic Church will go in the future. Will the new Pope continue the policies of Pope John II – mostly likely it appears. Is this a good thing? It all depends on who you talk to … but, someone has to be in charge.
8. In the Methodist Church we do not have Popes. That wasn’t Wesley’s idea. It was Henry the Eighth’s idea to separate the Church of England from Rome. And the head of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is accountable to the Queen or the King. Which can be a problem sometimes – at least in the old days when Queen Mary didn’t like Archbishop Cranmer and had him burned at the stake.
Wesley borrowed the idea of Bishops from the Church of England and from the early church. In the beginning, he didn’t really want to leave the Anglican Church … but when Methodists started coming over to America … they demanded that he ordain leaders so they could have their own church. This was, of course, after the War of Independence and it was clear to Wesley that the colonies were no longer beholden to the British Crown. So, Wesley did. And then he died and soon afterward the Methodist Church in America became independent from it’s origins in England.
But, the age old question of authority remained. Over time, the Methodist Bishop system has remained much like the Episcopal and Catholic system of governance and very different from the “call” system of Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists and other denominations. Although, as of late, the Lutherans have begun calling their synod presidents Bishops again.
9. So, while we don’t have a Methodist Pope, we do have Bishops.
Bishops are supposed to do everything …or be everything … or be everywhere …but, of course, they can’t …. although they try …
Three B’s – blow in, blow off, and blow out …
What Bishops do is have superintendents to do a lot of work for them. Or, as we call them, district superintendents … and for the past seven years, David Bard has been our DS … and now he is leaving to serve First UMC in Duluth. The new DS, Alan Bolte, is currently the pastor in Tracy, Minnesota.
Now, of course, the Methodists would never let a Bishop be in office for 24 years like the last Pope and so eventually Bishops have to retire … whereupon they become retired Bishops and still get to go to meetings and things … but they have no authority. Apparently it doesn’t work that way with the Pope. You can’t be a retired Pope … you have to die …kind of permanent retirement!
So, Methodism is a little more skeptical about the authority of its church leaders … and more democratic … and therefore Bishops can only serve in one area for up to eight years. That is so they don’t get too much authority. Same thing with District Superintendents. They only get eight years, too.
10. Behind all this is the idea that while people and organizations need authority … that authority itself needs to be checked …from time to time … or it can become corrupt or too powerful … or dictatorial.
Which is why when you have a good Bishop or a good Superintendent, like David Bard … you hate to see them go … and wish they would stay longer … but when you have one you don’t like or agree with … it is good to have a term limit. Incidentally, there will be an open house here on Saturday, June 11th from 2 to 4 PM for David Bard to say farewell.
And, now that we are talking about District Superintendents, it’s time to get back to St. Paul.
In fact, some people have said that in a way, St. Paul was like a Methodist District Superintendent. For he had quite a few churches that he started and he was always traveling around keeping things going, encouraging them, and sometimes disciplining them.
Paul, we might say, was the first DS!
Now, fortunately, we haven’t had any heavy handed dealings with Rev. Bard – which must mean that we are doing okay … which is good. But, I am sure, that is not the case in every church. In fact, perhaps one of the biggest jobs of District Superintendents is dealing with conflict. Conflict management is big part of their work.
11. When I first came back into the ministry, a former DS told me about a workshop on Pastoral Supervision that he had attended and recommended it to me … so I went down to Santa Fe back and found myself in a seminar filled with new District Superindents. That was pretty interesting. I learned a few things. But, since I had already been doing a lot of that in my previous job … it wasn’t all that new, I found out. I later learned that this was part of program called “Boot Camp” for new district superintendents. He didn’t tell me that when I first signed.
Being a DS is a tough job … but somebody has to do it, as they say.
But, chances are we have all had to do some supervision in our lives. Chances are we can all identify with St. Paul – especially if we have been a parent or a teacher or ran a business or been involved in some organization.
It comes with the territory. Being responsible or being in charge means dealing with conflict … sooner or later - doesn’t it?
And it is not always fun…
12. So, here we have St. Paul who started the church in Corinth and then he moved on to start others ... but he kept in touch with those he left behind. And the reports were not good for things were getting out of control. And so Paul wrote several letters. Two of which are part of the New Testament.In his letter, Paul admonishes the Corinthian church to live up to it's best principles and not to degenerate into strife, anger, envy, factions, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.In other words, Paul says: "Shape Up! Because I don’t want to have to come back and deal with you in person!”Paul's letter is a warning and a wish for things to improve and the hope that they will listen to his words - for no church can worship God in a spirit of bitterness.But mostly, he wants them to "put things in order" or to "keep things in good repair."So, as I said, have you ever had an experience like this? Where your boss was away and suddenly came back to find things falling apart. Or maybe you were the boss? What happened? Can that happen in the church or in any organization? Why do we always seem to need some outside authority in our lives - whether it be the District Superintendent or some other boss ... to keep things in line? How much authority should this person have? And, can the outside authority misuse their authority? And, what is the importance of authority in the Church? How much authority does the Pope have, for instance, or the Bishop, or the minister, or the lay people? Who, in the end, gets to speak for God and say "It's time to shape up?"
13. These are tough questions because there seem to be no easy answers. Partly because people and societies are not all alike. Some people seem to need more authority and direction. Others less.
It was kind of like when I was a softball and basketball coach. Each player is different. As I always said, some players you have to pat on the back and encourage them when they are not playing well … and others you have to kind of kick in pants, so to speak. Part of being a coach is knowing the difference it seems. Not all players are alike.
And, like being a parent, it’s a fine line between being too easy going and letting things get out of control … and being too controlling and ending up being a micro-manager – isn’t it?
And, a lot of it has to do with communications. My last boss would often come to me every few days and ask me to do something. Then he would go away and seem to forget about it. After a while he would suddenly remember and then he asked me why it wasn’t done already. And I would say, I didn’t know you needed it today!!
After this went on for a while, I finally started listing all the things he wanted done … and then I would go in to his office every Monday and say … now these are the things you want done … which ones do you want done first and which ones can wait. That made things go a lot smoother and I always made sure to get the ones done that he wanted first. It’s called prioritizing.
14. Well, it is the same in our own lives, don’t you think. So, I ask you this question: “Who is the authority in your life?” Who are you accountable to: your boss, your spouse, your friends and neighbors? How about being accountable to God? How about yourself? That too? Seems like, as adults, we are often accountable to lots of different people.
So, have you yourself (or God) or a parent or friend ever had to say to yourself "Shape up?" What does that mean?
And what part do you (and God) play in setting priorities for what your life is all about? How often do you do it? Once a month, once a week, every day? What does coming to church once a week have to do with taking time to keep your priorities straight? Do you think that taking some time for God in prayer and worship a good way to prioritize your life?
Lastly, I ask you this final question “Why does St. Paul want the members of the church in Corinth to keep their spiritual lives in "good repair?" Is that good advice for us today?
Could it be that it is a lot better to keep our spiritual life in regular “good repair” than have to have someone like St. Paul have to write us a letter and tell us “to shape up!”
That’s really one of the reasons we are all here this morning, isn’t it?
It’s all about “staying in shape.”
Let us pray …
