“Has Christ Been Divided?”

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

I picked this text when I saw it in the lectionary readings this week because it seemed relevant and applicable. After the week our country has been through...I kinda resent myself for making that selection. “I appeal to you that all of you be in agreement and that there be no division among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” Richard Hays summarizes this section of the letter in a single sentence: “Paul, writing to community torn by divisions, calls for unity.” It’s almost too relevant and applicable.

Paul is, of course, writing to a church community, not to an entire nation. The schisms he’s addressing do not directly translate to the partisan politics which have turned our political parties into little more than one another's punching bags. Yet, while I seek to preach from Paul’s words and avoid directly addressing politics, I pray that God would also have words for us in this day and time and place, because "this" is simply not sustainable. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted by it all, and embarrassed. We might be exhausted and embarrassed by different things, but that’s okay...I’d like to take a page out of Paul’s book and focus on what we share in common.

There’s clearly division going on amidst the Corinthian Christians, they’re rallying around the names of different preachers and leaders: “Each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’” “Despite many scholarly speculations,” writes Hays, “it is not possible to assign a distinct ideological program to each of these factions.” That is to say that there’s no clear set of differing beliefs held by each of these preachers and teachers that can explain why some would claim to follow one’s teaching over or against another’s. “Indeed, Paul’s remarks here suggest that the emergent factions may be created more by personal allegiance to particular leaders than by clearly defined theological differences.”

It’s as if the word of the gospel has been subjected to brand recognition. Interestingly enough, the word for word in Greek is “logos” from which we also derive the word logo--which we use for brand identity. Paul’s appeal, above and beyond all these separate factions, is to the logos ton theon, the word of God, the Word which became flesh. So why then does Paul include those who say “I belong to Christ” among his list of quarreling factionists? Isn’t that what all Christians are supposed to claim?

Richard Hays explains that the claim was being made in an exclusivist way, as if this small group were implying, “We are the ones who really belong to Christ, but we’re not sure about [the rest of] you.” “When ‘I belong to Christ’ becomes the rallying cry of one contentious faction within the church, Christ is defacto reduced to the status of one more leader hustling for adherents within the community’s local politics.” That is not what the logos ton theon came to do. Christ came to seek and save the lost, which sometimes, per Matthew 18:12-14, involves leaving the flock on its own. If the flock, when left to its own devices, splits while the shepherd is away...to whom will the shepherd return with the lost sheep?

Paul isn’t concerned in answering that question, his address to each of these groups is the same: “You’ve all lost your way at this point.” His concern isn’t who is right and wrong in this exact moment, but what is right in the eschatological plan of God, revealed to us through the gospel of Christ Jesus, and that is that all of us shall be united as one in him. Do you think it is possible for us to look past our quarrels over who’s right or wrong right now to a greater vision of unity? What is more important to us: feeling smug and superior, or responding to our salvation which is our being reconciled to God and to one another?

“How naive,” you say. There’s no possible way for me, for us, for all of this broken, factioned, warring mess of a world to settle in to the wholeness and peace of God’s shalom. Universal reconciliation is a pipe dream. Peace on earth is the punchline to a terrible joke. It’s all foolishness.

Well, says Paul, “the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” That is to say, there are visions loyal to maintaining division, there are words seeking to split us apart, there are fears and falsehoods which all must perish. This means that there are parts of us which must perish if we are to be saved. We must die in order to receive new life in Christ. We must die to those things which make reconciliation impossible: pride, selfishness, cruelty, prejudice, any false sense of superiority.

Now, I don’t know specifically or exactly what each of you need to let go of. First: that’s not my job, and I would warn you to be wary of those human leaders or preachers who try to tell you that they do know. Second: I’ve got my own sins to deal with. Only God knows what those are, and so I must listen to God for discernment. It is perhaps a frightening prospect to approach prayer with a willingness to sacrifice a part of yourself before God. Which is why we must trust God’s grace as we enter into the conversation. God is not trying to destroy us, but save us. God isn’t trying to manipulate us, but to open our eyes to the things which are. God isn’t trying to break us, but to fix us.

At the table, Jesus gives us all a glimpse of what lies beyond our brokenness. “Do this in remembrance of me,” he said. What are we remembering? A life and legacy of keeping people apart? Surely not.

Let’s tweak the metaphor of the factioned flock and speak instead of a serving platter. If we are trying to present the bread of life for the world, should we take pride in being the largest piece of a shattered plate? Here’s the thing about the bread of life...it is broken so that we might be reconciled. When Jesus took the bread and broke it before his disciples he did so to open their eyes to the brokenness of the world: a brokenness sustained and exacerbated through pride and fear. Jesus was opening their eyes to the false security gained by factions which really just increased the pride and fear and the true security found in God’s kingdom which exists in our loyalty to God’s plan for reconciliation. Christ faced the cross so that we might face our own brokenness with honesty, with open eyes, open hearts, open minds: to confess, repent, and receive a new life beyond the one to which we cling in fear.

Christ broke bread apart so that we might come together in our own brokenness. For too long have we used our jagged edges to defend ourselves from the jagged edges of those we fear...rather than recognizing that our jagged edges fit together into something whole.

Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.