Who Am I
Notes
Transcript
I Am… Barefoot Man
I Am… Barefoot Man
It started as a simple thing. I think I was 16 years old. I was the “kid from California. Running around barefoot like a surfer or something. Cool, right?
Then people started being surprised I could walk on things without hurting my foot. Like hot pavement. It did hurt my foot, but I couldn’t show that.
Pretty soon, going barefoot became “my thing.” And I started going barefoot more and more often… until it was barefoot everywhere.
And then at college… and church… I was barefoot guy. At restaurants… at public restrooms...
It’s getting gross, isn’t it. But how do you stop if it’s part of your identity. That’s who I am! I’m barefoot guy.
Bad things happen when we forget who we are.
Bad things happen when we find our identity in the wrong place, in the wrong things.
In this case, I just embarrassed myself.
… and that was the last time I ever embarrassed myself.
Okay, maybe one more time.
A few years back we were playing some regular flag football games during the winter. It’s been awhile since we’ve gotten one of those together, B. Logan was just saying he wants to play. Let’s do it.
Anyhow, there was another group of maybe just graduated young men playing on the field and we agreed to all play together. We played a game of flag football and it was great fun. Exhausting, crazy hard, but totally fun.
Then they threw down the gauntlet. Let’s play again… but let’s play tackle. And we thought… no problem. Sounds fun. I’ve played tackle before.
But see, they are all 18-20. And we are all 30-40.
We played. And it was fun… but it hurt. We had people popping knees and bleeding… and the worse part was to come.
I expect they got up the next morning whistling and enjoying life.
Me… not so much. My fellow “grown-ups” not so much. I had bruises on my bruises. My legs didn’t work right. My shoulder hurt for months.
That’s who I was. That’s not who I am anymore.
Bad things happen when we forget who we are. (Or how old we are).
Corinthian Who?
Corinthian Who?
Paul writes to remind the Corinthians who they are. They keep forgetting. They forget who they are whose they are when they fight amongst themselves.
They forget who they are when they arrogantly assume that sin doesn’t matter, that “one of them” is openly sleeping with his father’s wife. It is arrogance to assume that sin doesn’t matter or doesn’t count.
Our God is a holy God. A jealous God. And he is jealous for us… and like any good Father He doesn’t want us hurting ourselves.
It isn’t just sexual immorality. That’s an immediate big one in the Corinthian church. But right here in the middle of his teaching on sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians 5 and 6, it’s almost like Paul changes the subject.
It’s almost like a word association, as he talks about judging within the church instead of outside the church here at the end of chapter 5… but he is going to tie it all together.
To get a running start:
For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
This is about who we are, here, inside the church, inside the covenant. And how we spur one another on to chase after God… in holiness, in righteous, in love, in grace and truth.
On the subject of “judging”, these Corinthians are doing a funny thing.
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?
It seems like Paul is writing against ever going to court.
Now that’s a bit funny, Paul ends up in court a lot… though he is defending himself against persecution.
But God is also the God who set up courts in Israel. He is the God who appointed judges and Judges.
The kinds of courts the Corinthians would be going to here are what we would call “small claims courts.” And we are spoiled by our judicial system, which with all of its incredible flaws… it isn’t generally outright crooked.
Not so for the ancient world, especially for the local courts. Official Roman courts might (might) be better, but for the small stuff it was “he who has the most money wins.”
So the rich could easily bully the poor to get what they want with a “see you in court.” And the poor couldn’t afford to pay the fees or fines or bribes, and the wealthier person got whatever they wanted.
That kind of “official swindling” happened all the time. It was happening to the Christians that James writes to.
But how especially monstrous for people to be doing that to one another inside the church. People who should love each other more than that, bear with one another… and people who should have the wisdom to be able to talk it out in house.
They have no clue who they are. So Paul reminds them.
Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
Wait, what? Did you know you were going to help judge the world? How does that work? Does each Christian get a section? Do we all vote together? I don’t know, there are just these little hints here. I expect we will get instruction when the time is right...
This, by the way, is my Plan for world domination
The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.
But the clear indication is that we should be wise enough to deal with our own “trivial” crises and disagreements, if one day we will be called on to judge the whole world!
Or even more:
Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
We are going to judge angels???
What does he know? He doesn’t explain. His point is that if we are to be able to judge the world and even angels… shouldn’t we be able to settle disputes among us?
There are little hints about angels, possibly disobedient or fallen angels who are being “held for the day.” Are those demons? Is that different? These are fun areas of speculation...
But Paul’s point is that we should be able to sort out these kinds of disagreements… and we certainly shouldn’t be using and abusing the courts to take advantage of one another. To “swindle.”
They again show their spiritual immaturity. They think they are wise… but their every action shows otherwise.
So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church?
I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers,
but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?
To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?
It would be better! It would be better to just suffer the wrong… if the wrong is against me. Even to be “defrauded.” Those are tough words… I don’t like it.
But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
Now we see. Either using the courts, or outside the courts, there are “brothers” robbing brothers. This is the “swindling” of chapter 5. Example.
They are living in sin, still practicing that which they have been freed from.
And so Paul sets up this incredible contrast.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
There’s that list.
They won’t inherit the Kingdom of God? What does that mean? Are these the “unforgivable sins?”
Listen to the words of identity.
These are titles. Not one time acts. Not one time choices.
These are words of identity.
Bad things happen when we forget who we are.
Bad things happen when we find our identity in the wrong place, in the wrong things.
I bet some of those jumped out at us. We hit most of them in detail last week.
“Idolater”. That should jump out at us. I expect this sin is way more common in the church than any others in this list… and probably never called out like some of the others.
Does your time, does your checkbook, does your attention, does your heart or mind declare something other than God worthy? That’s worship. That’s idolatry. It is sometimes as obvious as walking into Zeus’ temple Sunday morning, that’s what they were likely doing. But, like all of these, it comes to the heart issue.
“Sexually immoral...” sure heard a lot about that last week.
He narrows in on two forms of sexual immorality. For clarity. In case we were confused.
Adulterers. Sex that breaks the marriage covenant.
Homosexuality
Homosexuality
I’m going to focus in on this… first because the text does. Second, because this is radically counter cultural today. But we need to understand that it was radically counter-cultural then too… just in a very different way than you might expect.
“men who practice homosexuality.”
Two words there.
One for “giver” or “dominant”.
One for “receiver” or “soft one”.
Wow. That’s explicit. If you don’t understand what that is, ask a parent.
This is not “homophobia,” this is being super real… and it is directly speaking to a huge distinction within their culture.
This was the primary “cultural” distinction for Greek society. It was manly or masculine to be the “giver”. There was no problem and no label associated with men who were married who also had sex with slaves, men, women, boys… as long as they were the “giver.”
It was “womanly” and therefore shameful to be sexually penetrated. That was embarrassing. We see the chauvinist attitude there. (Like that’s the worst part).
But hear what Paul is saying. This is radically counter-cultural in his own time (even as it is today). He is saying both of those practices are sinful.
But more than that, he is rejecting that as any kind of “identity.” It isn’t what a person should be. and in a very fundamental way, that is too small a thing for any person to “be.”
There is a trick sometimes played with words in our society. Tricks like “don’t tell us who we can and can’t love.”
Let’s be clear, the Bible is a HUGE fan of love. God is love. Love is not what we are talking about here. You can and should love men and women and everything in between. You can and should and are commanded to love LGBTQIA+ and any other letter that gets added.
This, with uncomfortable explicitness, is talking about sex… either as an expression of love, or lust or otherwise. And God gets to say what sex is healthy or moral or good… because He made it up.
It isn’t about love. It isn’t about attraction, even. And most of all, it isn’t about identity.
They, the Corinthians, should not be defined by their sexual practice… and they shouldn’t continue in sexual immorality. They shouldn’t be defined by their greediness or swindling… and they should knock i toff!
They shouldn’t be defined by who they worshipped in the past, and if they are worshipping anything now besides God, they should stop.
It doesn’t matter if they were wired or miswired that way… from birth or something that happened along their journey through life… God crafts and creates us and sin distorts and diminishes.
I was born into sinner, a sinner from birth, you were too, so was every one of those Corinthians. Deceivers. Slanderers. Idolaters. Homosexual givers or receivers. Greedy. Drunks.
All of that is who they were.
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Hear that? That is who you were. Past tense.
But when you belong to Jesus… all of that is “washed” away. You were and are even now being sanctified, that is made holy, that is the ongoing lifelong process of repenting of your sin and growing and learning. You were justified, that is, once and for all in the eyes of God, he sees the holiness and purity of His Son, Jesus Christ.
And he, the judge, says you are clean.
All of that sin garbage, all of those old identities… that’s who you were.
Don’t live like who you were. Don’t drape yourself in your old chains. Don’t pretend like you aren’t free. Be free. Be whole. Be His - belonging to Jesus, life and life more abundantly, free and free at last.
You Are More
You Are More
One of the fundamental questions every human is wrestling with: who am I? What is my identity? And the world is lining up to answer that for you. Paul confronts the Corinthians with their identity crisis. They no longer are defined as swindlers, or sexually immoral, or idolaters. They are immortals who will judge the world and angels. We are washed, sanctified and justified. We are His.
Not "who we were" but "who we are".
You aren’t defined by your greed. You aren’t chained by it. Not anymore. You are His.
You aren’t defined by who you think is attractive or not. Male, Female or Other. Even if that has taken you into sexual immorality… you aren’t defined by that. You are His. Then He will help you find freedom in every way.
You aren’t defined by your sense of self or your biological gender or your identified gender. That doesn’t define you. You are His. That is who you are and whose you are. Then you seek how best to live with Jesus, live for Jesus, in light of how He has created you…
You aren’t defined by your failed relationships.
You aren’t defined by your anger.
You aren’t defined by your depression.
You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.