Isaiah 9:1-4 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Matthew 4:12-23 Psalm 27:1, 5-13

“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”  [1 Corinthians 1:10-18]

The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Church in Corinth; the words are a continuation of last week’s epistle lesson from the 1^st Chapter of Paul’s 1^st letter to the Corinthians.  Corinth, located in modern-day southern Greece, had been an area of significant ministry, particularly on Paul’s second missionary journey.  Paul is believed to have written two letters to the Church at Corinth in the mid-first century, months or years after visiting there; this first, perhaps, written from his prison cell in Ephesus.

Paul’s letters to the early congregations inspired by his missionary journeys in the areas of modern-day Asia Minor and Southeastern Europe have provided an ongoing wealth of guidance to the Church from these earliest times until today.  These early Christian gatherings were not so different from Christian gatherings 2,000 years later.  The Church of the first century and the Church of today was and is a human relationship; the Church as a human relationship suffers human struggles, just as do all human relationships.  Yet, the Church is founded not on the weakness of humans, but on the omnipotent Jesus Christ, our one and only Lord.  From the beginning and forever, our common ground is Jesus Christ our Lord.  The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul began his letter to the Church of Corinth, as we read last week, with his typical words of greeting and thanksgiving, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Continuing, “I give thanks to my God always for you.” [How we love these words ourselves as we great one another in the name of Christ].  Then, as is typical of Paul’s greetings, he heaped words of praise upon these earliest Christians who were forming and gathering in church houses throughout this Mediterranean area.

It is not until we move into verse 10, the beginning of today’s lesson, that we begin to sense that all is not well; there are divisions among the Christians in Corinth – divisions among Christians; perish the thought.  We learn that the Corinthians were quarreling; disunity had plagued their missionary efforts.  They had begun to split into sub-groups depending upon whom they recognized as their leader.  Subsequent chapters will detail more of the specifics of the divisive issues; Paul’s purpose in the early words of his letter is to denounce soundly the divisions and to stress the essence of oneness in the name of Jesus Christ.  Paul stresses that Jesus Christ is not divided; Jesus Christ is our common Lord.

How ironic that this scriptural theme be our focus on this Sunday preceding the consecration of our 11^th Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia.  With an abundance of diplomacy, our bishop-elect drew from this vein of Pauline wisdom in her letter to the Catholic Diocese of Richmond in which she announced her intention to withdraw from the contract with St. Bede Catholic Church to host her consecration.  Quoting Bishop-elect Haynes, “The Apostle Paul cautioned Christians to be careful about pursuing behavior that might cause problems for others within their community.”

The bishop-elect’s decision to withdraw from the contract was in response to a groundswell of objections from Roman Catholics across the country in opposition to this particular episcopal consecration being held in a Roman Catholic Church.  At least one explosive message suggested that this desecration of St. Bede would necessitate the building being burned down.  As a committee member, I, myself, received a similar message by email.

Throughout the uncomfortable ordeal, the Roman Catholic hierarchy at the diocesan level and at St. Bede, as well as the large majority of parishioners at St. Bede, were committed to honor the contract, standing their ground in unity with the Episcopal Church, even as our committee discussions became consumed with concern for security and the avoidance of embarrassing disruptions.  It was Bishop-elect Haynes who so graciously withdrew out of concern for the “dismay and distress” that our plans were creating within the Roman Catholic community.

If you turn to the Nicene Creed on page 358-9 of the Book of Common Prayer, you will note under our professed beliefs regarding the Holy Spirit:  We believe in one catholic and apostolic Church – small “c” on catholic, big “C” on Church.  The word catholic is not a proper name, but a common adjective that translates as “unified”; the word Church iscapitalized in this sense as it is a proper name that refers to all Christendom emphasizing the one body of Christ.  The church [little “c”] is a building; the Church [big “C”] is the Body of Christ.  And, we ARE the Church.

The Apostle Paul, in his words to the fractured Corinthians, is not calling for their uniformity of opinion; but he offers extreme caution that their quarreling will undermine the community – allowing our shallow worldly wisdom to overshadow the wisdom of the cross.

So many of our controversies are focused on our differences of Christian practices.  Believe me, we should be grateful to the Roman Catholic Church for their commitment to the Holy Communion and for holding the line on a number of moral issues, and I respect the strong positions of those who have objected to our theology of the sacrament of ordination.  My prayer is that this recent kerfuffle will be an opportunity for deeper Communion and greater unity in the mission of Jesus Christ, our common Lord.

As described by the writer of the Gospel of Matthew, our Lord Jesus Christ saw the potential and called simple ordinary fishermen whom we continue to recognize as saints; our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed the good news and brought healing to the sick.  This is our common Lord who has called us to ministry in our simple and ordinary lives; our Lord who has called us to proclaim the good news and bring healing to the broken lives around us.  This is our common ground, Church’s one foundation.