We are looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 9 this morning, verses 1 through 18.
And I actually didn't write down the page number, but it's in your bulletin.
So let me encourage you to turn there with me, 1 Corinthians chapter 9.
We're going to look at just the first half of this chapter this morning,
and then we're going to come back to the rest next week.
Let me pray for us as we're turning there.
God, we ask that you would now come and quiet our hearts and help us to listen well to the message of your word.
God, we thank you that we can rest in you, that we can repose in you,
Lord, that we find in you a great and gracious savior.
And Lord, we thank you for your word that instructs us and teaches us and above all reminds us of all that you've done for us in your deep love.
Spirit, would you give us hearts that are eager and expectant to hear your word today?
We ask this, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.
1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 1 through 18.
Am I not free?
Am I not an apostle?
Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
Are you not my workmanship in the Lord?
If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you.
For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
This is my defense to those who would examine me.
Do we not have the right to eat and drink?
Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,
as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?
Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit?
Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
Do I say these things on human authority?
Does not the law say the same?
For it is written in the law of Moses,
Thus you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.
Is it for oxen that God is concerned?
Does he not certainly speak for our sake?
It was written for our sake,
because the plowman should plow in hope,
and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.
If we have sown spiritual things among you,
is it too much?
If we reap material things from you,
if others share this rightful claim on you,
do not we even more?
Nevertheless,
we have not made use of this right,
but we endure anything,
rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service
get their food from the temple,
and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?
In the same way,
the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel
should get their living by the gospel,
but I have made no use of any of these rights,
nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision,
for I would rather die
than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.
For if I preach the gospel,
that gives me no ground for boasting,
for necessity is laid upon me.
Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.
For if I do this of my own will,
I have a reward,
but if not of my own will,
I'm still entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my reward?
That in my preaching,
I may present the gospel free of charge,
so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
Well, it's been observed that one of the great moral gains,
one of the great moral advances of the second half of the 20th century
is the idea that all people,
not just some,
are to be respected and valued.
All people,
not just the rich and powerful,
are worthy of dignity and respect.
All people,
including the weak and the poor,
people of different color and different nationality,
and so on.
And for the last hundred plus years,
this belief has commonly been expressed
by speaking of human rights.
Rights.
The 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
is a great example.
It says,
and it begins by saying that,
the recognition of the inherent dignity
and of the equal and inalienable rights
of all members of the human family
is the foundation of freedom,
justice,
and peace in the world.
But of course,
we can find earlier examples
that speak of human rights
in a similar way.
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their creator
with certain unalienable rights.
But among these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.
Famous lines, of course,
from the 18th century
Declaration of Independence.
And I think we can all agree
that a widespread acknowledgement
of human rights
is a great gain.
As one writer put it,
it's become a way of saying
that we,
the worldwide community,
won't tolerate bullies
who exploit people
for their own ends.
We say that people have rights
in order to say
that other people
don't have the right
to abuse or exploit them.
So talking about rights,
affirming rights,
is a good thing.
And yet,
it can also become problematic,
can't it?
If affirming human rights
is one way of standing up
for the weak,
of affirming the dignity
of all people,
it can also become a way
for people to justify
their own selfish actions.
For instance,
perhaps I technically
have the right
to play
my favorite
Taylor Swift albums
nice and loud
at 8 a.m.
on a Saturday morning.
Because, let's be honest,
nothing says,
good morning,
like a little Tay Swift.
But the rest
of my apartment building
will probably be seething
with their own bad blood,
wishing in their wildest dreams
that my apartment
became a blank space
and reoccupied
by someone
with a little more
musical style.
So rights language
by itself
can be a bit problematic.
It can easily be twisted
to justify selfishness.
My rights are,
after all,
my rights,
and there's nothing
you can do about it.
But rights language
is also problematic
because rights
can sometimes
seem to collide.
And haven't we seen
this all too close
to home?
If your right
to free speech
and my right
to a respectful
learning environment
come crashing
into each other,
how do we work
things out?
And who gets
to decide?
So it seems
that on the one hand
our widespread
affirmation of rights
is a great gain,
and yet our idea
of rights by itself
is still in need
of something else.
Something over
and above them,
perhaps,
that can help us
know how to best
make use
of our many
and good rights.
In other words,
how to really live together
in ways that make
for peace
as opposed to
selfishness
and conflict.
Well, what,
if anything,
does the Bible
have to say
about this issue
that presses down
on us today?
And we find,
actually,
it has quite a lot
to say.
In fact,
our text this morning
speaks directly
to this issue
of rights.
And it shows us
both that it's
proper
to defend them,
while at the same time
it may be best
to defer them.
So let's look first
at Paul's defense
of his rights
in verses 1 through 14
and see what we can learn.
Now, remember the context
of chapter 9.
In the last chapter,
we learned that the church
in Corinth was divided
over the issue
of meat offered
to idols.
Some thought they had
the right to eat it,
and others thought
they most certainly
did not.
But the issue
was more complicated
than it seemed
on the surface.
Because for starters,
there were lots
of different places
where you could come
across meat offered
to idols in an ancient
city like Corinth.
The first place
was in an actual
pagan temple itself.
Most pagan temples
had dining halls
where you could share
a meal.
In fact,
this is where
a lot of the business
and social networking
happened in the ancient world,
especially for the upper classes.
You didn't go
to the Union League
for lunch
in the first century.
You went down
to the temple
of so-and-so
and shared a meal
in the banquet hall
where the table
was set
with some freshly
prepared fillets
recently sacrificed
to whatever god
the temple happened
to be.
Did Christians
have the right
to eat meat
in such a place?
After all,
we know
that there's only
one true god,
right?
And we know
that these
so-called gods
and idols
aren't really real
after all,
so why not?
That's all
some Christians
in Corinth
were thinking.
But second,
you could encounter
meat offered
to idols
if your non-Christian
friend invited you
to their house
for dinner.
And maybe
they would
explicitly say
that this meat
was offered
in honor of Apollo,
let's eat,
or maybe they wouldn't.
But remember,
meat was a luxury
for most people
in the ancient world
to be invited
to a meal
where they were
serving meat
was potentially
a big deal.
So what about
there?
Could you eat
that meat then?
Or should you
refrain?
Would you offend
your host?
Was that right?
But third,
it wasn't just
in temples
or in private homes
that you'd encounter
meat sacrificed
to idols.
Nearly all
of the meat
that you could buy
in the general
marketplace
came from
the leftover
sacrifices
in the temples.
Anything that
they didn't cook
for the banquet halls
was carried
to the marketplace
and sold.
So pretty much
all of the meat
in a city like Corinth
was associated
in one way
or another
with an idol.
It was like
trying to find
a fast food restaurant
in the 90s
that didn't use
partially hydrogenated oils.
They just didn't exist.
Whether you went
to McDonald's
or Wendy's
or Burger King,
you were going
to be ingesting
a healthy dose
of trans fat.
So it was
with meat
in first century
Corinth.
You could probably
trace it back
one way or another
to a sacrifice
to some false god.
So you see,
the question of
whether or not
a Christian should
eat meat sacrificed
to an idol
was a multi-sided question
and that's why
Paul takes
three whole chapters
to parse the thing out.
And as Greg
mentioned last week,
let me say
as a sidebar
this morning
that today
there are some
moral issues
that take some
deep reflection
and some nuance
for us as followers
of Jesus
to parse out.
At least if we're
going to do so
in a way
that does full justice
to the truth
of the gospel.
In Paul's day,
I'm sure there were
people on both sides
of the idol meat issue
who wanted Paul
to just say yes
or no.
Should we
or shouldn't we,
Paul?
Just tell us.
But there was more
to it than that.
Now eventually
Paul will deliver
a clear yes,
no,
maybe.
And if you haven't
yet read ahead
through chapter 10,
spoiler alert,
here's what he says.
No to the meat
in the idol's temple,
yes to the meat
in the marketplace,
and maybe to the meat
in the friend's house.
So there are
some guidelines
Paul can lay down.
But there are
deeper issues
at play here.
Deeper heart issues.
Some Christians
felt like they had
a right
to eat meat
wherever,
whenever.
But before Paul
even parses out
whether or not
they have such a right
and where
and when
and with whom
and under what circumstances,
he goes after
their hearts.
He pushes them
to think about
how they should be
using their so-called
rights at all.
and to do that,
he gives them
an illustration.
An illustration
that they will
know very well.
An illustration
that they've all
experienced and seen
and that will resonate
with each one of them
because they've all
in some way
benefited from it.
Paul uses the illustration
of himself.
Chapter 9,
what he's doing here
is presenting himself
as an example
of how Christians
ought to approach
their rights.
And at first,
he defends his right
as an apostle,
for example,
to receive financial support
from the churches
he ministers in.
This is my defense,
he says in verse 3.
Here it is.
And he does that
in four ways.
Real briefly,
first,
he uses some analogies
from everyday life
in verse 7,
from common experience.
Imagine a soldier
marching off to war
and risking his life
but having to pay
for his own body armor,
his own machine gun
and amusician,
and his own food and drink.
That's ludicrous.
Imagine planting a vineyard
and not eating
any of the fruit.
Imagine working
at J.Crew
and not at least
getting an employee discount
so you can wear
some of the clothes.
If all those examples
seem ludicrous,
well, Paul says,
so is the idea
of an apostle
at least not having
a right to some
material support
from the churches
he's ministering in.
Second,
he uses an argument
not from common experience
but from scripture.
In verses 8 through 12,
he quotes a passage
from the Law of Moses
from Deuteronomy 25.
You shall not muzzle an ox
when it treads out the grain.
Now, of course,
the law wasn't
just about oxen.
It was laying down
a principle about work,
about labor,
and moreover,
about the just sharing
of the fruits of the work
with the workers.
And if it applies
to oxen,
then surely it applies
all the more
to humans, right?
Third, Paul argues
by analogy
from the temple service
in Jerusalem.
That's verse 13.
If the Levitical priests
have a right
to receive their livelihood
from their labors
in the old covenant temple,
shouldn't we apostles
have a right
to receive support
from our service
in the new covenant temple?
the church?
The temple of the Holy Spirit,
as he calls them
back in chapter 3?
And then fourth,
Paul sort of brings it home,
not by way of analogy,
but by way of just
straight command.
Verse 14,
in the same way
the Lord commanded
that those who proclaim
the gospel
should get their living
by the gospel.
The Lord here referring
as it usually does
in Paul to the Lord Jesus.
If you come back
to the evening service
tonight
by a strange
working of providence,
we're actually going
to be studying Luke 10
where Jesus teaches
that very principle.
In Luke 10, 7,
Jesus says in the context
of mission and ministry
that the laborer
deserves his wages.
And Paul will actually
quote that same saying
of Jesus
in 1 Timothy chapter 5
along with his Deuteronomy
verse about oxen
where he makes the same point
about ministers receiving
support for their labors
in the ministry.
Interesting,
as a total rabbit trail,
in 1 Timothy chapter 5,
Paul says,
as the scripture says,
don't muzzle the oxen.
The laborer
deserves its wages.
Very interesting.
The only place
where we know
that that saying
of Jesus exists
is Luke 10, 7.
And Paul says,
that's what the scripture says.
Did Luke know,
did Paul know
about Luke's gospel?
Was he calling it scripture?
Curious.
Yes.
Now,
the main point
of 1 Corinthians 9
isn't really about pastors
being supported
by their congregations.
Of course,
this passage,
along with some others
like 1 Timothy 5
and Galatians 6,
certainly teach
that congregations
should provide
for their pastors.
And I'm thankful,
along with the other pastors
here at Trinity,
that you members of Trinity
do just that.
But,
the main point here,
remember,
is that this is
an illustration
about how
all of us Christians
ought to approach
our rights at all.
And Paul here
at first
defends them.
As an apostle,
he has certain rights
and he can articulate them
and provide ample evidence
for them.
And I think as we
think broadly
about human rights today,
we Christians
should not be shy
about defending
and articulating
the rights
that we have
as human beings.
At the highest level,
the dignity
and honor
that every human being
is worthy of.
In fact,
in a Christian framework
of reality,
the idea of human rights
makes a whole lot of sense.
Does it not?
If there is a good,
wise,
and holy God
who created all things
and created human beings
uniquely in his image
to know him
and love him
and reflect him
in their life together,
then all human beings
certainly have
dignity and worth
and must not be
trampled on
or exploited.
Every human person
is of incomparable value.
They do have rights.
One of the ways
in which we,
I think as Christians,
can serve
the good
of our community
is by continuing
to hold up
a vision of reality
based in God's goodness
and holiness
where we humans
are filled
with value
and purpose
and worth
regardless of our status
or position
or ability
or what have you.
Whether it's in our
work life
or cultural life
or our church life
that we keep saying
that you
and me
and everyone
regardless of what
they believe
are created
in God's image
and are worthy
of infinite dignity
and respect.
Because friends,
the reality is
a lot of the competing
frameworks
in which people live
actually aren't
very good
at giving good reasons
for why
humans have something
called rights
and why
we humans
ought to be treated
with dignity
and respect.
If everything
we see
is simply
the product
of time
and energy
and chance
and if human beings
are just a collocation
of chemicals
and matter
destined to be
utterly extinguished
when our sun
expands
and the universe
rapidly races
ever outward
into cold
dark oblivion.
We can certainly
claim
that human beings
have something
called rights
but it's certainly
hard to say
why we have them
or what indeed
they are.
I'm not saying
you need to believe
in God
to be a good person.
Most people I know
who don't believe
in God
are actually
quite moral
but I'm suggesting
that it's very hard
to know
why we ought
to treat people
a certain way.
Treat them
a certain way
regardless of circumstances
regardless of the benefit
which is what we mean
by human rights
right?
it's hard to know
why we ought
to do that
when there really
is nothing
to ground
those rights in.
So we as Christians
ought to keep
holding up
this vision
of life
where human beings
have dignity
and worth
and where there is
such a thing
as human rights
because of who
God created us
to be.
Now
of course
speaking of our
dignity and worth
as human beings
is perhaps
speaking of rights
at the highest
possible level
right?
But what about
all those other things
we consider rights?
Like Paul's right
to receive financial support
as an apostle
or the Corinthians
right to eat
idol meat.
For us today
what about
our widespread belief
in the right
to life, liberty
and the pursuit
of happiness?
Do we have a right?
Don't we have a right
to comfort
and security
and happiness?
things?
Or what about
even smaller
things?
We could make
a long
laundry list
of things
that Christians
potentially
have the freedom
or the right
to do.
Drink alcohol.
Get a sweet
tattoo.
Go dancing.
Smoke a cigarette.
Go to the movies.
Support a political
party.
Drive a certain car.
Live in a certain
neighborhood.
Go to public school.
Go to private school.
Go trick-or-treating.
Go to yoga.
Listen to rock music.
Drink caffeine.
Save for retirement.
Go on vacation.
Own a vacation home.
Get married.
Stay single.
Have children.
Don't have children.
The list could go
on and on
and on
and on.
What about
all these
sorts of rights?
From the right
to comfort
and security
all the way
down
to drinking
a drink?
What should
our approach
be to these
sorts of
individual rights?
And here,
friends,
I think Paul
challenges us.
Look again
at the second
half of verse 12.
Nevertheless,
we have not
made use
of this right,
but we
endure anything
rather than
put an obstacle
in the way
of the gospel
of Christ.
here
is the
criteria
we ought
to use
when considering
our rights
and how to
use them.
Even if we
have a
legitimate
right,
the question
we must
ask is,
will making
use of that
right put an
obstacle in the
way of the
gospel of
Christ?
And if so,
then we
ought to
voluntarily
defer
making use
of that
right.
And this
is the
second big
point of
our text
this morning.
Even if we
can defend
a certain
right with
airtight
biblical,
theological,
experiential
arguments,
we still
ought to be
willing to
voluntarily
defer it
for the
sake of
others
knowing and
growing in
Christ.
Now,
quickly note,
Paul doesn't
say that he's
absolutely lost
his right or
totally,
absolutely given
it up.
He still has
the right to
receive financial
support.
As an
apostle,
he'll always
have that
right.
And on
top of that,
he in no
way says that
we can force
someone to
refrain from
using their
legitimate
rights.
For Paul,
it is
voluntary.
But still,
the principle
remains.
If
exercising a
right puts a
potential barrier
between someone
and the
gospel,
we ought to
be willing
to forgo
exercising that
right.
Think of
Paul's
situation.
Here he
was,
an apostle
of the
Lord Jesus
Christ,
commissioned
to bring
the saving
message of
Christ,
crucified and
risen to
the Gentiles,
to call them
to faith in
the one
true God,
to call them
out of
darkness into
light,
out of guilt
and slavery
to sin,
an end to
forgiveness
and freedom.
But you
know,
for your
typical
first century
city dweller,
on the
surface,
Paul looked
a lot like
the traveling
teachers and
philosophers who
were out to
make a profit
and make a
name for
themselves by
charging money
for whatever
it was they
were teaching.
You see,
traveling teachers
in the ancient
world could
support themselves
in one of
four ways,
typically.
They could
charge fees
for their
instruction,
they could
get a
wealthy patron,
they could
beg,
or they could
work at a
trade and
support themselves.
And because
begging and
working were
considered
demeaning,
most of the
teachers went
for the first
two options.
But because it
was hard to
find a wealthy
patron,
a lot of them
just ended up
charging money
for their
instruction.
Now, if
paying money
to receive
instruction from
a teacher who
just happens to
show up in
your life sounds
like a strange
practice, just
turn on public
television some
Saturday afternoon.
And what will
you find?
Some medical
expert or some
financial expert or
some other
expert giving a
series of talks
about how what
they know will
make your life
better.
And if you
call now,
they will send
you the DVD
in the large
format book
containing the
full series of
talks with all
the secrets and
insights you need
to be happy,
healthy,
wealthy,
and wise.
Plus, you get
the nice self-righteous
tinge of supporting
your local public
TV station.
Beth and I watch
a ton of public
television.
There's nothing
wrong with public
television.
But Paul knew
that if he showed
up in Corinth
asking for money
in response to
his preaching,
he would have
seemed like just
another Susie Orman
or Joel Fuhrman.
People would have
thought that this
Christian thing was
just another self-help
philosophy, just
another thing you can
dabble in and pick
and choose what works
for you and what
doesn't, just another
thing that will give
you a puffed up
identity over and
against your peers
because after all,
they don't have the
secrets and insights
that you now have.
And so rather than
put an obstacle in
the way of the gospel,
Paul says he made
no use of his right
and endured
anything.
And we know from
Acts chapter 18 a
little bit of what
that anything looked
like.
Rather than receive
financial support from
the church that he
was planting,
he worked a job in
the marketplace doing
manual labor,
building tents,
which didn't just
consume lots of time
and energy,
it also put him way
down on the social
ladder.
You know, today we
think craftsmen are
cool, especially if
they grow beards and
use words to describe
their work like
handcrafted or bespoke
or artisanal.
I mean, if Paul had
made tents in Brooklyn
today, he'd probably
have his own show on
HGTV.
But in the first
century, working with
your hands didn't have
any cultural clout.
It was looked down on
and it was undignified
because important people
didn't work with their
hands and influential
people didn't work with
their hands.
And yet Paul was
willing to endure
anything rather than
put an obstacle in the
way of the gospel.
How about us,
friends?
Are we willing to
endure anything?
Are we willing to
defer our rights so as
not to put an obstacle
between our neighbors
and the gospel?
Or between our
brothers and sisters in
the church and their
growth in the gospel?
Which is what Paul is
concerned about at the
end of chapter 8.
Now the tricky thing
about concrete
application here is
that it's so
relationship and
context specific.
What throws an
obstacle in the way of
the gospel in one
place or in one
relationship might not
do so in another.
So this would be a
great question as you
go out to lunch today
with your friends.
A great question to
discuss.
What particular
rights in my life,
if I were to keep
exercising them,
might throw an
obstacle in the way
of the gospel?
We need to be doing
this kind of discernment
in community,
friends.
We need each other's
eyes to see and to
discern.
But as I thought
about it, here's one
example for me
personally as a
pastor.
And you might think
this is crazy, but
here it is.
I think as a pastor,
I technically have the
right to register with
a political party,
whether it be Democrat
or Republican or
Green or whatever.
I also think that as
a pastor, I have the
right, in the right
context, in the proper
context, not from the
pulpit or not from any
gathered church setting,
but in the proper
context, I think I have
the right to talk about
who I'm personally
going to vote for and
why.
But you know, even
though I certainly
have that right, I'm
probably not going to
register with a
political party.
And I'm probably never
going to talk a lot
about who I vote for
and why.
How come?
Because I think it
would potentially put
an obstacle in the
way of the gospel for
me as a pastor to
strongly affiliate with
any one party.
Because ultimately, the
church stands apart from
any one political party,
just as it stands apart
from any one nationality
or culture.
And in my particular
role as a pastor, I
wouldn't want anyone to
think that this church
or the gospel itself
means buying into a
particular political
platform or agenda,
whether it's right or
left or center or up
or down.
Now, I'm not saying
that all Christians
should do the same
thing, that all
Christians shouldn't
register with this or
that party or shouldn't
strongly advocate for a
particular candidate.
Surely, actually, there
should be robust,
articulate Christian
voices in politics.
And I'm very thankful
for those that exist.
But in where God's put
me in my role as a
pastor, I wouldn't want
my personal political
leanings to stand in the
way of anyone coming to
grips with the gospel of
Jesus Christ, whose
lordship is over every
party and every tribe and
every tongue.
Now, honestly, that's not a
very costly thing for me to
give up.
I don't visit CNN four
times a day.
It seems kind of like a
small thing.
But, you know, I think
along the way, as we think
about this a little more
deeply, I think along the
way, we actually all
encounter moments when
giving up our rights feels
hard and is hard.
And it may not look as
massive as Paul giving up
his financial support or
the Corinthians refusing
to eat meat.
But, you know, when I've
worked a long week and
it's Friday night and I
just can't wait to crash
and sleep in, I sort of
feel like after a long
work week, I have a right
to a good night's sleep.
A right to a little peace
and quiet.
But when one of my kids
wakes up crying and I need
to go to them because
they're sick or because
they're having a bad
dream and then as soon
as that one falls asleep,
the other one wakes up
because they wet the bed
or because they want to
drink a water again.
I start to feel the tug
in my heart of giving up
what I feel is my right.
I don't want to give up my
right to a peaceful night.
I deserve a peaceful night.
I worked hard all week and
now it's being stripped
away one crying kid at a
time.
And not wanting to let go
of my rights, I get angry
and I get impatient.
And instead of displaying
the gospel in that moment,
I display my own selfishness.
I have such a right to have a
right to a certain quality of
life, a certain standard of
living.
I have such and such a
profession.
I make such and such a salary.
Therefore, I ought to have this
size house or drive this size
car or wear these sorts of
clothes.
Now, of course, there's nothing
wrong with those things in and
of themselves.
But what if giving up some of
those rights meant that we
could invest more in kingdom
work?
Would we be willing to surrender
some of those almost
unconsciously held rights for the
sake of the gospel?
Even if it meant living at a lower
standard of living than many of our
professional peers?
And what about our right to
personal independence and
flexibility?
Think, for example, of caring for
an elderly parent.
Are we willing to give up some of
our rights and to be tied down to
caring for them, visiting them,
calling them, possibly even taking
them into our own home?
Even if it means losing a lot of
our freedom, losing a lot of the
flexibility and independence that we
cherish so much?
Even if it means that our
profession might take a hit?
What about our right when someone
has wronged us or hurt us to pay
them back?
To pay them back usually through
cold silence or quiet, even polite
indifference.
Let's be honest.
None of us are out to kill each
other.
But man, we can kill with our
silence, can we not?
Are we willing to give up even this
right to get even and do the costly
work of forgiveness?
You see, friends, at this level, at the
heart level, forgoing our rights is
much harder.
That's part of the reason why Paul
just doesn't lay down rules because
he wants to get down deep.
And it's much harder.
And that all pushes us to ask the
question of how.
Where do we find the motivation, the
ability to actually do that?
All of us, I think, naturally want to
defend our rights, but few of us have
the strength to really defer them.
And where that strength comes from, I think, is
the third thing, the third big point that we
see in our text.
In the last paragraph of our text that we
read, verses 15 through 18, Paul speaks of his
ground for boasting.
And in a parallel expression at the end of the
paragraph, he speaks of his reward.
They're one and the same thing.
And he explains that for him, merely
preaching the gospel doesn't actually give
him anything to boast about.
Jesus has commanded him to preach the
gospel, therefore he has to preach the
gospel.
He's not doing this of his own will.
It's not like he chose one day to say,
oh, you know what I should do?
I should give up this and preach the
gospel.
No, he's doing it by the will of Christ.
So there's no reward for Paul in simply
preaching the gospel.
Just like we wouldn't give sort of
accolades to a certain kind of
car because it accelerates when you push
the gas pedal.
That's just what cars are supposed to do.
They do it by necessity.
So if Paul's reward isn't just the
preaching of the gospel, what is it?
That by voluntarily making no use of his
rights in the gospel, he can then offer
the gospel free of charge.
Isn't that a beautiful phrase?
Free of charge.
There's the reward, Paul says.
Now some have thought that Paul is
speaking of a heavenly reward here,
something that will come to him in the
new heavens and the new earth.
But others have understood Paul to be
saying that the offering of the gospel
itself free of charge is the reward.
How could that be?
How could the offering itself be the reward?
I wonder if you've ever seen something beautiful,
been really captured by it, and then wanted
others to see it and experience it too.
I remember visiting an art gallery with my
brother a number of years ago, and I was so
excited to take him with me.
He studied art in college as graphic designer,
blah, blah, blah.
I was so excited to take him with me because
I'd been there before and there was a certain
picture I really wanted him to see.
I think it was a Monet painting, like one of
his 4,000 paintings of water lilies.
But this one, for some reason, really struck me.
I remember looking at it and thinking that the
canvas almost looked like it was actually water
reflecting the light of the setting sun.
It was mesmerizing.
And I looked at prints of it afterwards, and
they just couldn't do it justice to just standing
before the real thing.
So I drug my brother through this gallery and
into the room where it was hung, only to find
that the painting had actually been loaned out
to another museum.
This is the National Gallery in London.
We were on the other side of the world, and
guess where they were loaning it out to?
Some museum in the States.
It was ridiculous.
I was so disappointed.
Now, maybe for you, it's not a Monet painting.
I get that.
But maybe you've pointed out a sunset to someone as
you're walking down the street.
Or maybe you've hiked with a friend to a favorite
waterfall.
Or maybe you've even handed your earbuds to a friend
and said, you've got to listen to this.
What are we hoping for in those moments?
What was I hoping for in that moment just before I discovered
the Monet had been shipped to a far-off museum?
I mean, at a very simple, maybe, but profound level,
I was hoping that he would be able to see what I saw,
to experience what I had experienced,
and that somehow we'd be able then to share together
in this thing of beauty.
And I wasn't really wanting anything beyond that.
I wasn't expecting the museum to give me a commission
or a kickback on our entrance fee,
because I showed it to him.
I wasn't expecting my brother to buy me lunch
for showing him such a cool painting.
None of that was the reward.
The very act of helping him see what I saw
and of getting him to see what I saw,
that was the reward.
Because the thing itself was worthy of beholding.
When Paul says that presenting the gospel free of charge
is itself his reward,
it's because in doing so,
he gets to participate in a process
of helping others to see,
to experience what he himself saw,
self-saw and experienced.
A beauty so ravishing
that it changed his life forever.
That there was one who was in very nature God
and who possessed every right of God himself.
The right to glory and honor and freedom and strength.
But who, though being equal with God,
didn't exploit those rights,
but gave them up and became a lowly servant
and died on a cross for the sins of humanity.
Friends, what is our sin?
Is it not grabbing to ourselves rights
that aren't rightfully ours?
Putting ourself in the place of God
and demanding the right to run our own lives
and our own world apart from him,
without him,
even against him.
But friends, what is our redemption?
In a beautiful reversal,
Jesus Christ,
the one true rightful one
who has every right,
empties himself of those rights.
and dies our death
and rises again
so that all who trust in him
might be forgiven and made right with God.
when Paul presents the gospel free of charge,
making no use of his rights,
he becomes an illustration of the gospel itself.
The good news of the grace of God
that costs us nothing,
but that costs Jesus everything.
And friends,
every time you and I are presented with an opportunity
to lay down our rights for the sake of others,
we are offered with the prospect of the same reward.
The reward of becoming,
in the very shape of our life,
a display of the gospel.
The reward of helping others to see
and to experience in a tangible,
incarnate way,
the beauty of what Jesus has done
for you and for me.
The thing that's grabbed us
and turned us around
and made our lives completely different forever.
wouldn't that be a reward?
To participate in that kind of work.
So friends, yes, rights are a good thing.
Something to cherish and to uphold.
But don't you see that only the gospel of Jesus Christ
can help us use our rights in the right way
as a means of loving others
and building them up
and displaying the love of Christ to the world?
And may we be willing to lay down our rights
to share in that great reward.
Let's pray.
Father, we confess that we need your Holy Spirit
to take these truths
and actualize them in our hearts
and in our lives.
God, we are so prone to defend
and yet so hard-pressed
to defer.
Lord, I pray that you would give us wisdom
for this task.
God, I pray that you would help us
to see times when
the giving up of our rights
would not be the right thing to do.
God, that we would be willing
to stand up for those who are oppressed
or who are wronged
or who are being trampled upon.
Pray that you would give courage
to those who are in relationships
or situations that are abusive
where their rights have been taken away.
God, I pray that you would help them
to see that their rights are a good thing
and they are worthy of defense
and worthy of standing up for.
But God, I pray that you would also help us
to see those times
and those moments
and those relationships
where we need to lay them down
and bear a cost.
Lord, knowing that whatever cost we bear
is nothing compared to what you bore for us
and knowing that for the joy set before you,
you bore the cross
and that there is joy before us
in following your pattern.
Father, we ask this not
in our own worthiness
or in our own rights
but in the rights of the name
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.