February 4, 2018 | Rev. Graham McCaffrey
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
“I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.” – 1 Corinthians 9:22b
As many of you know I’m a little bit of a Blue Jays fan, but only just a little bit. Many weekends or weeknights during the summer if we’re not having a church event, you’ll find me down at the stadium with a friend or more likely one of my daughters enjoying a good ol’ fashioned game of baseball. I come by the love of the game honestly, both my grandmothers were avid baseball fans – one of whom taped the ’92 and ’93 World Series’ for our family because we were living abroad at the time. If you’ve ever been down to a game, one thing you’ll notice, – other than the overpriced beer and hotdogs – is the in game entertainment: the games to get the crowd involved and keep their attention in between innings.
When I was a kid growing up the holy grail of in game entertainment was the game entitled ‘What would you do for a Klondike Bar?’ The premise of the game was simple: the camera would pan around the stadium and the crowd would be encouraged to do whatever it took to win a year’s supply of Klondike ice cream sandwiches. You can imagine how alluring this was to me as a child.
When I was 13 my family attended what would turn out to be the longest game in Blue Jays history up to that point, a 17-inning 6 hour and 15-minute affair, where the game ops department had to go into overdrive to fill the time with games and music and everything in between. In about the 11th or 12th inning, the video board flashed ‘What would you do for a Klondike bar’ and the camera began panning around the emptying stadium looking for someone to win a year’s supply of ice cream. Much to my surprise, my fairly subdued father got up and started dancing in the most awkward ridiculous was possible.
My sisters and I hoped beyond hope that the camera wouldn’t pick him up, but instead they found him, for the whole stadium to see and he ended up in competition with a young pretty subdued girl making silly faces. As you can imagine I was thoroughly, thoroughly embarrassed with the video board coming back over and over again, to my father really going all out, sparing no embarrassment to win a Klondike bar. He lost in case you were wondering – it’s difficult after all for a grown middle-aged man to beat a kid, even if begrudgingly, he really deserved it!
“I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.” – 1 Corinthians 9:22b
You might be wondering what my teenage embarrassment has to do with God, Jesus and the Church, and most days you’d be right to ask, but it does because in today’s reading from 1st Corinthians we have Paul’s response to the hypothetical game “What would you do for the gospel of Jesus Christ?” And much like my Father trying to win a Klondike bar, Paul would do anything, even risk embarrassment, weakness, failure.
Throughout his correspondence with the Corinthian Church Paul consistently finds it necessary to defend his apostleship and just before our reading today Paul wrote about his rights as an apostle, rights to be supported and fed, to be respected, all rights that he deserved because of his encounter with Jesus and the call that Jesus put on his life to preach the Gospel. But in our reading today, he counts all of that for naught, he readily gives up all that he deserves out of the sheer joy and exuberance for the Gospel, for the Corinthian church and for the salvation of the world.
In our reading we heard Paul write “If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.”
Throughout the passage we get a glimpse of how far Paul will go to for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we get a glimpse at the sheer joy and unbridled enthusiasm. There is a bubbling escalation, an almost manic quality to Paul’s lines as he speaks about his calling as an apostle, his calling to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Paul wants nothing more than for the Corinthian church and the whole world to share in the joy that he has experienced in Christ.
To Jews he became as a Jew, to those under law he came as one who is under the law, to those outside of the law as one outside the law, to the weak he became weak – all so that he might save some. Paul in his exuberance states that he has made himself a slave to all – the lowest level of Greco-Roman society – so that others might come to know the riches and blessings of God. All of this Paul does for the sake of the Gospel, and so that he can continue to share in the joy and blessings which the gospel brings.
Being all things to all people is a pretty immense and nigh on impossible task. Over the course of your life, I am sure that you have either been told ‘you can’t please everyone’. I know it might come as a surprise to some of you (especially those of you who have disagreed with any decisions I’ve made… like moving the pews around), but growing up I was very much a people pleaser; and it was exhausting and more often then not, no one was happy with me, because when you try to please everyone you often please no one. And yet here Paul says that for the sake of the Gospel, he would do anything and everything to make the Gospel accessible and understandable for everyone.
Like my father dancing and making a fool of himself to answer the question ‘What would you do for a Klondike bar’, Paul’s answer to the hypothetical ‘What would you do for the Gospel of Jesus Christ’, is to risk, embarrassment, riches, status – in short risk everything so that others might share in its blessings. And all of it was rooted in his joyous response to God’s generosity, grace and mercy that Paul experienced in his own encounter with the risen Christ.
“I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.” – 1 Corinthians 9:22b
Today the question lingers just as it did for Paul and so I want to play a little game of ‘What would you do for the Gospel of Jesus Christ?’; because as Christians we are encouraged and challenged to ask ourselves to what lengths we will go for the sake of the Gospel, how will we respond joyously to the good news of our salvation that we have come to know in Jesus Christ.
Rest assured you don’t need to dance around and embarrass yourself (or your children) like my father did for a year’s supply of ice cream – but don’t get too comfortable because while God might not be calling you to dance awkwardly or make a fool of yourself, as Christians we are called just as Paul was to respond joyously to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and risk more than embarrassment so that others might come to know the salvation of the crucified and risen Lord.
Each of us answers the question ‘What would you do for the Gospel of Jesus Christ’ differently, and to different levels based on different factors: on the talents, abilities and spiritual gifts we have; on the financial resources we have at our disposal; and on the time we have to offer for the Gospel work of the church. As Rev. Chris Harper highlighted and challenged us last week, each of us – that means all of you gathered here today – have a ministry, not just those of us in a collar or upfront here and our calling and vocation ensures that the church can thrive and flourish to spread the word of God and the good news of God’s love and mercy in our community here in South Scarborough.
This ministry looks different for each of us, but when each of us responds with joy to this call then we can truly be called the church: because Grace Church is not the building we worship in (as lovely as it is) it is all of us gathered here to respond in joy to the grace, mercy and love of God.
When each of us respond to the Gospel, it also makes the call to ‘be all things to all people’ more manageable and attainable. As a church we are called to be all things to all people, but fortunately each of us has different abilities, backgrounds, strengths and weaknesses which allow for the Gospel to reach more people than if it relied just on any one individual of us. Each of us has networks of people, each of us is able to relate differently based on our experiences and our talents and abilities, each of us has financial resources at our disposal.
None of us is uniquely called to be like the Apostle Paul to bring the Gospel to everyone by ourselves (and let’s be honest, even the vaunted Apostle Paul worked with a host of co-workers in his gospel ministry). If we work together by the power of the Holy Spirit we can accomplish more than we can ask or imagine, as Paul famously wrote in his letter to the Ephesians (and we repeat every Sunday morning).
Today as we play the hypothetical game of: “What would you do for the Gospel?” we also begin our Joyful Giving Campaign, a campaign that is quite simply an opportunity for us, as individuals and households, as a church, to prayerfully consider what it means for us to respond to the Gospel, and what we would risk for the sake of others, in the context of our life at Grace Church. And because we are called to risk everything, we are being asked to think about how we respond to God’s call in three categories: Time, Talents and Treasure. I want to conclude today by examining each one, and how God might be calling you to risk for the sake of the Gospel.
Sacrificing Time for the Gospel
When we think about what it means to risk our time for the Gospel, I think about what time I am offering to God and the Gospel? Maybe as we prayerfully think about this category you might experience God challenging you to spend time reading the Bible, or praying that you have ignored? Or perhaps, God is inviting you to engage with a true practice of Sabbath, taking time to rest and worship. Perhaps you’re being called to spend more time serving others, volunteering here at the church or in your local community. What does it mean for you to sacrifice your time for the sake of the Gospel?
Sacrificing Talents for the Gospel
When it comes to talents, we are talking about your gifts and abilities. Perhaps God has given you the gift of hospitality, the care and welcome of others but maybe you haven’t been using it? Maybe God is calling you to participate in our greeting ministry, or help welcome newcomers. Maybe you have financial skills, and God is calling you to help others in the community with their taxes or financial counseling?
Perhaps you have a gift of encouragement or consolation, but as a senior bound to your apartment, you aren’t able to get out. Perhaps God is calling you to use your gift to send cards or letters to others who are in need of encouragement. What does it mean for you to sacrifice your talents for the sake of the Gospel?
Sacrificing Treasure for the Gospel
Finally, when it comes to your treasure, this deals with your material possessions, both the ways you give back financially to God and his Church but also the way you use your material possessions – your home, your car whatever you own. What does it mean for you to joyfully sacrifice your financial resources for the Gospel, this year? We are asking households to include, in this process, their giving intentions to the ministry of the Church, to help us be faithful stewards as we plan our budget.
Perhaps as you consider how you financially contribute to the church you can think of other ways to use your material blessings to help others. Maybe you have room at your table to invite someone over at Easter, who normally would be alone? Maybe you could offer your vehicle to drive a home-bound senior to appointments they otherwise would have to use cabs. What does it mean for you to joyfully sacrifice your treasure for the sake of the Gospel?
As we explore the question, ‘What would you do for the sake of Gospel?’, I hope that our Joyful Giving campaign will give you an opportunity to engage, more deeply, with God’s call in your life to take a risk for the Gospel, and my hope and prayer is through the cumulative risks that we all take we can just as the Apostle Paul did ‘become all things to all people so that we might by all means save some.
Let us pray.