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1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
New International Version (NIV)
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What’s in a name? For good or bad, cities get reputations. If we say Las Vegas, or San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New York, something comes to mind. For what is our city famous? The Corinthians had an unfortunate reputation for immorality. In fact the name of the city became a verb, “to corinthianize” was to be involved in immorality.
When Paul established the church in Corinth, he called them to separate themselves from the accepted sinful norms of the city. In other words, majority opinion did not make sinful behavior less sinful. The majority, it turns out, can be wrong. But the church in Corinth had a member who was living in immorality with his father’s wife. Paul observes that even the non-Christians in Corinth would be appalled. But not the church in Corinth. It was not their business they wrongly reasoned. Who were they to judge. They had rationalized it away, with the attitude of a popular country song, “You love who you love, nothing you should ever be ashamed of.”
“No,” says Paul. A little bit of yeast fills a whole loaf and makes it rise. Paul says a little bit of sin will work its way through a whole church. Christians, he observes, do not judge people outside the church. That is not our job. But we do call each other to a higher standard within the church. A recent Christian magazine article suggested the next sin the church will face is “polyamory,” multiple people in one marriage. God forbid.
Like the Corinthians, we could be proud of our sin, or we could mourn over it. The church is the people of God. God told Solomon at the consecration of the Temple in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.” We can apply this not only to ancient Israel but to the church, God’s people in the world today. What if the church humbled ourselves and prayed? What if we sought God’s face diligently? Wouldn’t we find him? I like the old Shaker Hymn, “When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we will not be ashamed. To turn, turn will be our delight, ‘til by turning, turning we come around right.”
Now listen to God’s three-fold promise: he will hear our prayers, forgive our sin and heal our land. We have no time to lose. Paul wrote in Romans 8, that the whole creation is groaning for the redemption of the sons of God. We are not waiting on the world to change. The world is waiting on God’s people to turn back to him. When we do we will become so heavenly minded that we do lots of earthly good.
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Pray with me:
Father, thank you for calling us to be your people through the sacrifice of your only Son. Today we call upon your Name, believing that you alone can save us. Reveal our sin to us. We don’t judge the world, but let the church be the church. Today we humble ourselves and pray. We seek your face and turn from our wicked ways. Father, we trust you to keep your promise. Hear us from heaven. Forgive our sins. Please heal our land. We have no other hope but you. There is no plan B. Thank you for keeping your promises. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Join us in memorizing the Word. Scripture for this week:
Matthew 5:27-28
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
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| Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan. Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week. In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year. Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter (also found at REPLICATE.ORG). Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.
Joyfully,
Duane
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