As a Society
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
I had a lot of difficulty trying to find relevance for our modern world with a Bible passage. Part of it is because, if I’m being honest, I don’t like this passage! This passage is Paul being, in my view, kind of annoying, arrogant, and confusing. And for the past two Sundays, we’ve been able to talk about universal things like working together and Love, but this week, it’s just Paul being kind of defensive and trying to be convincing.
Now this passage is confusing. Let me do my best to try to lay out some context and how I read this passage—first we have Paul reminding the Corinthians that the whole reason they latched onto this new Jesus movement is because of the proclamation of Jesus’ death and resurrection. So this, apparently, is something that’s come into question with a subset of Corinthians (and as a little teaser for next week, we’ll be getting more into the resurrection itself). So Paul briefly retells the Easter story, first the really basic version, but then he adds 500 people were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ being risen, then Jesus’ brother James, then of course, Paul himself. He gets really self-deprecating here, but in a way that, to me, sounds a little phony—because then, he gets right into defending himself, talking about how hard he’s worked, and why he’s a legitimate apostle.
So here’s this guy, telling a very specific group of people, who have been skeptical of him (and who can blame them since he’s been lecturing them this whole time) that they have to believe him because there are still a lot of eyewitnesses alive to prove that Jesus rose, and that though he himself is unworthy, he’s been called to be an apostle and to spread this Good News.
Well—we live in a world where all these eyewitnesses to the resurrection are long dead; and regardless of our own skepticism about the concept of resurrection itself, we understand and accept it as a basic tenant of the Christian tradition and belief system. And we live in a world where Paul, regardless of how some of us may feel personally about him, is accepted as one of the most influential and legitimate church fathers.
This is where, when we go by these little chunks we’re given to preach on in the lectionary, we can be at a real disadvantage. If we take this passage completely on its own, it’s kind of useless. But let’s take this passage into account with our last two weeks. Remember two weeks ago, Paul told the Corinthians, they have to act as one body, rather than elevating only certain people skilled with only certain spiritual gifts. It was about coming together as one for the good of all. And last week we talked about how to go about acting as one—by living your life by way of love above all else—by not being selfish or boastful or rude, but always acting with love—capital-L love, and therefore acting with others in mind, again, for the good of the whole.
I wonder what was going on in Corinth that Paul had to remind these folks why they came to believe in Jesus and this new Jesus movement in the first place. We know that there were some Corinthians who were claiming to have direct lines to God, claiming they could prophesy, could see the future, and that because of this supposed gifts, they should be lifted above others. With this in mind, I’m gonna go ahead and make some assumptions about the Corinthians. It would make sense that there were maybe a handful of Corinthians, likely the more powerful ones, the ones who maybe had more to lose, trying to create tension and sow division in order that they could be lifted above others, in order that they could profit off this division, simply by maintaining the status quo, and maintaining their power.
Jesus was trying to create a world without hierarchies, a world where all are equal, and all are working together for the good of all. And Paul, for all his faults and quirks, was trying to do the same, in the name of Jesus. And change is scary—especially the kind of change and complete rewrite of systems of power that Jesus was put on this earth to introduce and exemplify, and that Paul continued to try to implement. I can’t help but wonder, if maybe, some Corinthians got cold feet. I imagine that first hearing about this man, both human and divine, rising from the dead really blew people’s minds. I don’t blame people for being drawn to something so spectacular. But I wonder if after that, they realized what it would take to be a follower of Jesus. I wonder if they realized would have to make some sacrifices, they’d have to give up some of their comforts, some of their power, so they decided to take things into their own hands and distort this new Jesus movement, this new belief system for their own gain. It also makes sense, that as this Jesus movement grew and threatened those in power, that those who got cold feet would go even further and attempt to discredit the whole reason people were drawn to Jesus in the first place—if they can discredit the story of the resurrection, they can start to tear this new belief system out from its very foundation.
I think it’s been clear in our world, for the past decade or so, as social media has become the dominant news source for so many people, that those in power are more than happy to destroy foundational or deeply-held beliefs for their own gain. The fact that companies like Facebook—or should I say Meta—have completely disregarded disinformation campaigns or sometimes even promoted them in some way, has proven this to be true.
A while back I preached on Jesus and the rich man from Mark 10—a story about an otherwise good man who just couldn’t imagine a life without his beloved possessions. The rich man just could not fathom making a change in his earthly comforts and so he accepted the possibility that he may actually not make it into the Kingdom of Heaven. I’m thinking of him now, because I’m thinking of the people in charge of companies like Meta, like Spotify who seem to be unable to imagine giving up just a little bit of their wealth in order to improve the world as a whole. A few months back, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen made headlines making it clear that "The company intentionally hides vital information from the public, from the U.S. government, and from governments around the world." The kinds of information Facebook was disregarding ranged from troubling statistics on how Instagram destroys teen girls’ self-esteem to the fact that it was fanning the flames of ethnic violence in places like Ethiopia.[i]
And of course just over the past two weeks, there’s the controversy about Spotify and its podcaster Joe Rogan, continually stoking vaccine skepticism, in addition to his history of inviting white nationalists and conspiracy theorists on his show. Is it really in the name of free speech that people like Rogan continue to have such a huge platform spreading dangerous disinformation? Is it really in the name of free speech that companies like Meta are allowed to ignore the wellbeing of teenagers and the destabilization of whole countries? I don’t think so. I think it’s all a red herring. It’s in the name of these companies remaining profitable via ad revenue, and it’s in the name of the powerful staying powerful. The rich and powerful are taking long-held values and truths—that vaccines are safe and effective; that our youth should be protected and uplifted; that it is possible to work together for the good of all the people, not just some of the people; they are taking these values and trying to undermine them for their own power and gain. Author and cultural critic Roxane Gay just wrote an excellent and nuanced op-ed in New York Times about why she chose to remove her podcast from Spotify amid the Rogan controversy. She writes:
There’s a difference between censorship and curation. When we are not free to express ourselves, when we can be
thrown in jail or even lose our lives for speaking freely, that is censorship. When we say, as a society, that bigotry and
misinformation are unacceptable, and that people who espouse those ideas don’t deserve access to significant
platforms, that’s curation. We are expressing our taste and moral discernment, and saying what we find acceptable
and what we do not.[ii]
“When we say as a society that bigotry and misinformation are unacceptable, that people who espouse those ideas don’t deserve access to significant platforms”—this is thinking, acting and working with the greater good in mind; this is acting with capital-L Love.
Some Corinthians were sowing division by trying to discredit Paul and badmouthing the foundational tenet of Christianity so that they would remain powerful and above others. Back in chapter 12, from our passage two weeks ago, Paul made it clear: “God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” I think this scared people. Some weren’t ready to “honor the inferior.” Some weren’t ready to act as one. Some continued to act selfish and boastful and rude.
So enter Paul, to remind people what brought them together—to remind people of the unfathomable capital-L Love that God showed us by putting Jesus on this earth. The love of parting with your own child so that we could see the truth of what it means to act with capital-L Love. The resurrection, for all its glory and magic, is ultimately about the Love that God has for us, and the Love that we need to act out in the world. It’s about making sacrifices and doing without for the betterment of all. It’s about honoring and being one with those who mourn, those who weep, those who are addicts, those who struggle. So if the people of Corinth do indeed believe in Jesus, then they do indeed believe that the right way to act is with love and with the knowledge that Jesus was put on this earth and lived and died and rose so that we would see that ultimate Love and act on it in our everyday lives.
Public pressure has mounted in the past few days, and Spotify has taken 70 episodes of the Joe Rogan experience off its platform. Rogan has actually apologized for some of his past antics. It’s a good start—but you know, you also have Neil Young who really helped to spur this movement, declaring his allegiance to Amazon music and bringing his music there. And honestly, considering the known evils of Amazon, is that really much better? We live in a world where ethical consumption is pretty much impossible unless you’re fully living off the grid; we live in a world where being a pure and good Christian is impossible. So what do we do? Despair and give up? No, of course not.
We take a deep breath and we listen to this initial reminder from Paul—that the good news of Jesus’ Love has brought us together. That regardless of our differences, we have this in common; and regardless of our differences with anyone in this world, Christian or not, we have capital-L love in common. So we will go through this difficult life, doing our best, working to honoring those who are perceived to be inferior. We will go through this difficult life doing our best to recognize the motives those in power have to sow instability and division, and to not be drawn in or provoked by it; to remember the foundational beliefs that we have in common with one another; to remember the Love that brings us together to act as one. Amen.
[i] https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1043377310/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-congress
[ii] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/opinion/culture/joe-rogan-spotify-roxane-gay.html
