anywhere you wanna go

i really want to roll with you

a sermon on S. Paul's perfect opening salvo of 1 Corinthians:

How’s it going? How did last week go? And how do you feel about this upcoming one?

Or, what about you? How are you? I mean, really, how are you? 

Or, what about that old question? You know, the one clergy used to ask, but now, for whatever reason, never seem to anymore. You know the question. How is it with your soul?

Well, how is it? I mean it! How goes it? Take a moment to consider the inquiry. Whichever one you like, too. As it suits you. How are you? How’s life? How’s your soul? Well?

Honestly, you probably won’t be asked to consider your interior life this week. What’s more, you won’t be asked in a place like this. This is a space that’s as sacred as it is safe. You’re in practically the ideal place to consider how it’s going. Not only are you protected, eternity itself is also shedding its indelible light upon your reflections. 

Not bad. Huh?

But that’s not all, either. If you are asked such an idle question, it’s unlikely you’ll be asked without any ulterior motive. I’m not asking because I want anything out of you. I’m just asking because it’s important. 

There’s a whole dimension to who you are that is forever unseen. Isn’t there? Furthermore, in this material ol’ world of ours, it’s also a part of life that tends to go neglected. Doesn’t it? 

And it’s not just others who disregard this aspect of our existence. Is it? We do too. We do too…

So let me ask again, how’s it going? How did your week pan out? What about the prospects for this upcoming one? Or, what about life? How are YOU? Really. How are you? Or, what about that old question; how is it with your soul?

Go ahead. I’ll wait…

Alright. And don’t worry. We’ll come back to these questions. In fact, we’ll make a little game out of it. In the meantime, though, I want to talk a little about today’s Scripture.

This epistle to the church in Corinth is a bit unique in the body of letters we have from Saint Paul. Whereas Roman is a theological treatise from start to finish, Corinthians is more of a series of responses. In fact, so wide-ranging is this letter that some scholars suspect it is more a compilation of various letters Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians over time.

That’s unlikely, though. More likely is the case that Paul received a number of reports about AND from the church in Corinth. First Corinthians is not a collection of letters so much as it’s one letter responding to a collection of issues.

That does not mean, however, that there’s no unifying thread to First Corinthians. There is. And, as you might expect, Paul alludes to it here at the outset of his letter. 

Like a masterful diagnostician, Saint Paul puts his scalpel to the source of the infection. And the real problem is that not only is the source of their problems not what anyone expected, but it’s also further along than anyone knows. What’s more, the infection is also much more harmful than anyone imagines.

Reading First Corinthians, you can almost feel Paul’s distress radiating from the page. Saint Paul is clearly at pains to explain just how dire the situation is. Like a doctor explaining how all the seemingly unconnected symptoms betray a more severe ailment, Saint Paul’s measured and sophisticated language belies a more urgent prognosis. 

And what, exactly, is the malady? Well, it’s not rampant immoralism. And neither is it flagging belief. On the contrary, it’s an overabundance of all that.

Karl Barth, the great twentieth-century theologian who stood up to the Nazis, said the Corinthians’ problem wasn’t that they didn’t have enough religion. It was that they had too much of it! The problem for the Corinthians was that they were over-enamored with their spirituality! In fact, by cultivating their piety, the Corinthians were losing all faith in God! 

The Corinthians were in danger of losing faith in God and replacing it with a pernicious belief in their own belief!

…Did you catch that? Belief in belief! Try that on for size. It’s a lot to wrap your head around, I know. But I also want you to know this is the rich theological heritage you are heir to. 

On account of your presence here right now, you are entitled to consider such subtle and self-critical considerations. You don’t have to sleep through life, never pondering the deeper things. In fact, by the fact that you are a Christian, it’s imperative you do so!

So let me ask again, how’s it going?

Ok. So I said we would make a little game out of it. Well, here it is: What color would you choose to describe how you’re doing?

And take a little time, too. In fact, be as free and imaginative as you want! Don’t forget about all those ostentatious colors out there. Crimson, emerald, vermillion, chartreuse, amethyst, pewter. 

And play fast and loose with the rules, too! There’s no regulation that says you have to use English names. I always thought the Spanish “amarillo” was more indicative than just “yellow.” 

And that’s not all. No one says you can’t make up a color, either! How about “blurple?? You know, blue and purple! Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t choose good old green if that works for you, too. 

Got it? Alright. Now, take a couple of moments to come up with your answer. What color would you choose to describe how you’re doing?

…Alright. Now I want y’all to form little groups and share your answer with one another! Here, I’ll go first, “Burgundy.” 

Alright, go and share. Oh! And if you see someone sitting by themselves, invite them to play along with you, too. Ok? Ok. Go!

…Alright. Let’s bring it in. And don’t worry. We’ll come back to these questions. In fact, I’ve got another little game planned for us. In the meantime, though, I want to talk a little about how we’re NOT so different from the Corinthians.

Because we’re not. Are we? We, too, want to make something out of our lives. Don’t we? And our desire runs so deep it even seeps into faith, too. I mean, I know it does for me. And I bet you’re no different, either.

We all want to have something to show for our time here. Don’t we? And we also want to believe that our belief has grown, deepened, and matured over time, too. And not only that, but it also seems like a reasonable expectation. Doesn’t it? 

Saint Paul, though, couldn’t disagree more! As Paul, that master doctor of the soul, knows, the first step to establish some progress of our own only ever leads away from the cross of Christ. Let me say that again because it’s important. The first step to establishing some progress of our own leads us away from the cross of Christ every time.

That’s right, EVERY time. No exceptions. Sorry.

Yes, I know that sounds like a bunch of foolishness. It SEEMS reasonable to want signs that mark our progress and a little wisdom to show for it, too. However, for those of us who have backslid, for those of us who haven’t made the kind of headway we’d like, and for those of us who have little to nothing to show for our efforts, the cross of Christ will prove to be nothing less than the very power and wisdom of God ALMIGHTY every time!

That’s right, EVERY time. No exceptions. Not sorry.

…So let me ask again, how’s it going?

Ok. So I said I had another little game. Well, here it is: What shape describes your faith right now?

And let me tell you where I got that idea. It comes from this excellent little animated movie, “The Secret of Kells.” The story takes place in a religious enclave in the ninth century. 

But the really neat thing is how each character is animated. The shape of each character tells you something about them. The stern abbot is a thick rectangle. The curious novice is a soft oval. And the invading Vikings, Ann’s ancestors(!), are these sinister black triangles that constantly encroach upon the rest of the frame.

So, how would you be animated in that film? What shape would you be? And be as free and imaginative about it as you want, too! Don’t forget those wild shapes! Heptagrams and nonagons! Polygons and prisms! 

And play fast and loose with the rules, too! No one says you can’t make up a shape. How about a “squircle?” A combination of a square and a circle. And, of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t choose a good old star if that suits you, too.

Ok. Got it? Alright, take a couple of moments to come up with your answer. What shape describes your faith right now?

…Alright. Now I want y’all to form little groups and share your answer with one another! I’ll go first again, “a bulb.” 

Ok, go and share. Oh, and don’t forget, if you see someone sitting by themselves, invite them to play along with you, too. Got it? Ok. Go!

…Ok. That’s going to be the last question. It’s time to bring this home. And anyway, it actually doesn’t matter. I mean, it does. It matters. It all matters. And it matters to none other than God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, too. It just doesn’t matter in the ultimate sense. 

Know this; you are more than your feelings. And so are you more than your projections of yourself and your life too. No, in all truth, you are nothing less than ground zero for one of God’s favorite miracles!

You don’t exist by a chance encounter, the mechanics of the reproductive process, or the homeostasis of your biological integrity, either. No, you exist because God is, moment by moment, God is thinking you into existence! God is thinking you into existence out of nothing! Nothing but God’s own prerogative! 

You do not exist by necessity. No, you exist because, as far as God’s concerned, the party would be incomplete without you! You exist because God wills. And God wills it from moment to moment, including, but not limited to, this one!

It all hangs on God, you understand! What really matters, what really comprises how you’re doing, isn’t what you think or how you feel about this or that. No, it’s what God thinks about you! And God thinks, in Jesus Christ, you’re just God’s cup of tea!

I’m not making this up, either! Saint Paul says as much himself when he invites the Corinthians to consider their own call. Paul reminds the Corinthians that they weren’t much to look at when he first met them. And neither was he, for that matter! Nonetheless, God was pleased as punch to make a whole bunch out of all their nothing! In fact, all their nothing was everything GOD needed! 

“Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth,” Paul notes. “But,” Paul continues, “But GOD choose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; GOD chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; GOD chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, TO reduce to nothing the things that are.”

…Now, Paul is decidedly not saying the Corinthians were far enough along when he came a’preaching. No, Paul’s saying that all of us are, moment to moment, nothing more than nothing at all! However, nothing more than nothing at all is all that God needs!
Nothing, you must constantly remind yourself, is what God loves to work with! Making things jump out of nothing is God’s favorite act! God creates OUT of nothing. AND God raises from it, too!

This is why any so-called progress is always only ever a step away from God! We’re always being raised from nothing! As Saint Paul said, God is the source of your LIFE in Christ Jesus. And I don’t know about you, but I never tend to get any further than my source! In point of fact, you can’t. It’s impossible.

All our progress isn’t just a step away from God. It’s really a step away from reality itself. We like to dream—and remember, dreams aren’t reality—but anyway, we like to dream that life happens out there, somewhere else. Don’t we?

But let’s be honest. Life tends to happen right under our nose. Doesn’t it? We all know that if you wait around for life to get started, you’ll miss the train every time! Won’t you?

And that’s not all, either. Because it’s not just that life happens much closer to home, it’s that home is where all the good stuff happens, too! Isn’t that what the old saying means, there’s no place like home?

Yes, those far-flung excursions are fun. But what they usually teach us is how much we were taking for granted all along. And then, even when we do experience something profound on pilgrimage, we also learn nothing was stopping us from having that very same experience back home. And anyway, neither is there anything stopping us from taking that experience back home with us!

None of us ever get any further than ground zero of God’s creation and recreation ex nihilo, out of nothing. But the even capital “T” truth is there’s nowhere else to be anyway! God hasn’t held back. God is giving with both hands. And God is doing so right now. Right here!

…Alright. I know I said it was time to bring this home. And that was a minute ago. So let me make good on that. Remember those faces you looked into and those voices you heard when you shared about shapes and colors? Well, that was nothing less than a miracle you heard speaking back to you! 

Your sisters and brothers in Christ don’t exist by chance. Everyone here exists because God wants them to! Each person here exists because God is, instant by instant, willing them into existence!

And so is God for you. So is God for you. You.

Here. Try this. *Touch your fingers together. Do you feel that? That’s another miracle! What you’re feeling is nothing less than what God is right now, speaking into existence out of nothing! And by nothing, too! Nothing more, that is, than God’s sheer delight at the plain fact of your existence!

And if all that wasn’t enough, even though it is, God’s going to do still more! Not only will God continue speaking you into existence, but God is also even, right now, speaking Jesus Christ himself into our very midst! In fact, it’s happening right now! In this living Word, alight with the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ himself stands in our presence. 

And that’s not all! God will also facilitate an even more intimate and profound encounter between you and Christ, too! And it’s all going to happen in the meal. Around this table. At this rail. 

Shortly, God will make that bread and wine become for YOU the true body and blood of Jesus Christ himself. Jesus Christ, the alpha and the omega. Jesus Christ, the beginning AND the end. Jesus Christ, your surety onto salvation all the way from eternity and back again! 

…So let me ask you one last time, how’s it going? And more to the point, how could you, and why o why would you even want to try to improve upon ALL that?

What, nothing to say? Don’t worry. There isn’t.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no response! Where all our equivocations and evaluations end, the real fun begins! And that’s when music comes in real handy!

Carol, would you take us home? Our Hymn of the Day is “In the Cross of Christ I Glory.” Hymn number 324. 

Hymn number 324. In the Cross of Christ I Glory.” 

Let’s sing!