Stephen spoke from 1 Pet 2:4-5 this morning at Cherry Tree Court, commenting on the fact that Jesus is the cornerstone, chosen by God, and we are living stones being built into God’s house. Each one of us has a talent and are able to build in God, from the oldest to the youngest. As we serve God in love, we lay down stones, and we can use our gifts to love and encourage one another (see Rom 15:2, 1 Thess 5:11.)

Eph 4:16 reminds us that the whole body is joined together and grows and builds itself up as each member does its part. What matters in this work of building is that we are building on the rock (see Matt 7:24), secure in our foundations, but hearing the word of God and putting it into practice. We are rooted and built up in Christ, strengthened in faith and overflowing with thankfulness (Col 2:7) and we all have a responsibility to build ourselves up in the most holy faith by praying in the Spirit (Jude 1:20). As we use our skills to show love, encourage each other and pray, we can set our stones upon the solid rock and allow the Master Builder to build His house.

I have spent most of the week without any connection to the Internet, sadly not because I was in some remote but exotic location, but because of unresolved and apparently inexplicable problems with my Internet connection at home. This is an ongoing problem, but also intermittent: sometimes the connection is fine and I can go weeks without hitches; on other occasions, the connection drops for a couple of hours; on other occasions, I can lose connection lots of times within a day or even go days (as this week) without any connection. BT Broadband engineers are such frequent visitors at the house these days that one of them (who has now been three times) joked that he was going to book his Christmas dinner with us, because he was sure to be back… We have changed filters, routers, re-wired the system and even had something changed at the exchange. Each time the engineer leaves with a cheery ‘That’s solved the problem, then!’, only for us to see the little green lights on the router fail almost as soon as he walks out of the door… The problem appears to be worse in wet weather, which is bad news if you live in the UK; friends have joked that maybe it’s like incy-wincy spider; one suggested a Mac may be the solution if rain is the problem…

Apart from being irritating and annoying, making it difficult to work at times, losing this connection reminds me how dependent we have become on the Internet for information and contact with the outside world. People regularly communicate with me by email, but if I can’t receive the email, I don’t know what they’re saying. Bible studies are made easier by the variety of Bible versions and commentaries available at the click of a button; this week, I’ve had to dig out my paper copy of Cruden’s Concordance and Nave’s Topical Bible, much loved, but nowhere near as fast as their online versions! It’s also very difficult to compile an online photo book if you’ve no online connection!

Sometimes our relationship with God feels as intermittent as my Internet connection. There are days when He seems incredibly close and His voice so clear and speedy; I pray and the answer is there instantaneously (see Is 65:24). But on other occasions, He seems like a God playing hide-and-seek (see Is 45:15), and the heavens seem silent (see Ps 83:1). The Bible reassures us that God will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5). His presence with us is constant and faithful, even when we cannot feel or see Him. As Rend Collective sing,

‘You are my shepherd
Faithful forever
Your hand is strong when my faith is weak
Close as my heartbeat
You won’t forsake me
You are the love that will carry me.

And I won’t be afraid
I will trust Your heart and say,

I will never, ever, ever walk alone
You are with us, for us
Always holding on
Though I wander, Your love goes further.
You are my hope and future
I will never walk alone
I will never walk alone.’ (‘Never Walk Alone’, Rend Collective)

1 Cor 6:1-11 is peppered with Paul’s questions to the Corinthians, with eight questions asked in eight verses. Questions can be a valuable way of making us look at situations differently, forcing us to think about our attitudes and actions. They are a powerful teaching aid, helping to create a conversation between the teacher and learner, often making the learner focus on what he is learning, rather than simply passively sitting and absorbing what he is being told. We learn much better when we have to think through answers ourselves than simply being told what to do (though many of us, being fundamentally lazy, quite like the idea of having answers dished out to us in the same way that food is placed before us in a restaurant!)

Jesus frequently used questions when he was teaching people. Mark 8:1-23 shows us many different types of questions (some simply gathering information, open-ended questions, personal questions, rhetorical questions.) Rhetorical questions often do not require an answer because the answer is apparently obvious (eg ‘Who would not hope to stay healthy in old age?’) but by asking ‘obvious’ questions, however, we are provoked into looking for answers which are not necessarily ‘obvious.’ When Paul asks ‘Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?’ (1 Cor 6:7), we can, in the natural, think of many reasons why not! (It’s not fair; we don’t like to be cheated! We don’t want to be doormats!) But by asking these pivotal questions, Paul helps us to look at things from a different perspective; by using emotive language, he helps us to see his passion for change. He focuses on puncturing the pride of the Corinthians and on redirecting their sense of honour towards mutual service in the community, using powerful questions to help them to see the urgent need for change. We know from various passages in 2 Corinthians that they heeded the rebukes and did indeed listen to his advice; by shaking them from their arrogant complacency and misplaced sense of superiority, the questions achieved their purpose of reformed behaviour.

In 1 Cor 6:5, Paul talks about shaming the Corinthians, clearly being astounded at their immaturity and lack of Biblical wisdom. Earlier (1 Cor 4:14), he has written not to shame but to warn them, but now he wants them to be ashamed and to change their ways as a result. Shame (a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour) can be a powerful motivator to godliness, but the point of shaming someone in a way that is approved by God is to make them see the error of their ways and offer them the opportunity to repent and change. It is not an end in itself. Just as Paul’s intention behind expelling the immoral brother in 1 Cor 5 was ultimately salvation and restoration (1 Cor 5:5, ‘so his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord’ and 2 Cor 2:7, ‘you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow’), his intention in this passage is to get the Corinthians to change how they are settling disputes amongst themselves.

Shame can be, in Robert Douglas-Fairhurst’s words, ‘a powerful social corrective.’ (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/11376490/Is-Shame-Necessary-New-Uses-for-an-Old-Tool-by-Jennifer-Jacquet.html) Nonetheless, we do well to realise that some people are over-sensitive to sin and guilt and can become very easily condemned by others, feeling ashamed when there may well be no legitimate reason to be ashamed. The experience of shame can help to reinforce social norms within an organisation and so help social cohesion, but the reason the Corinthians needed to change was to live out their identity as children of God. A desire to live as God wants because we long to please Him seems to me to be better reason for holiness than simply wishing to avoid other people’s condemnation or value-judgments.

The Bible study on 1 Cor 6:1-11 looked at Paul’s advice to the Corinthians about lawsuits, looking at how he applied the spiritual wisdom he had previously taught about (1 Cor 1:18-1 Cor 2) to everyday situations. In these verses, Paul continues to teach about church discipline, relating this now not to believers’ sexual morality, but to their practice of going to court against each other over civil disputes, a practice he condemns, saying the problem was not so much the disputes but that the Corinthians were resolving these through the secular law courts rather than dealing with them within the church, using spiritual wisdom and godly teaching.

Paul is adamant that there must be a radical difference between the way Christians live and the way the world lives. We need to understand who we are in Christ (see Eph 1:18-23, Eph 4:23-24, Col 3:5-10), which involves following the example of Christ (Phil 2:1-11), putting other people’s needs before ours. He reminds the Corinthians that it is God’s people who will even judge angels, therefore exercising spiritual judgment over everyday disputes is well within their capability. The pivotal questions in 1 Cor 6:7 remind us that the old nature does not like to be wronged or cheated, but in putting our needs before other people’s, we show that the old nature has not been crucified with Christ (see Gal 2:20, Rom 6:1-6). Only when we surrender our need to be in control and to always be right can we hope to find spiritual solutions to practical problems. Paul is adamant that the solution to these disputes can be found within the church, but only as people realise their status in Christ (washed, sanctified and justified by God.)

As we think about the importance of God’s word to our own lives, let’s remember that this living word is necessary for the whole world and pray for our witness using that word.

Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,” ignore what the world worships; the world’s a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts. Nothing and no one comes close to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you.

(Ps 40:4-5, The Message)

Pray for:

• each one of us to be ambassadors for Christ, spreading His truth through our words and through our lifestyles
• our corporate witness – at Cherry Tree Court, in the coffee mornings, at Parent & Toddlers, at youth group
• ways of reaching out to those attending the car boot/ market on Sunday mornings
• plans to reach out over Christmas (for ideas, creativity and wisdom in sharing the word of life)
• Bible Sunday (25^th October) to be a powerful witness to God’s word throughout the whole world