The warm Texas afternoon mixed with friendly neighborhood kids created a very good environment to blow bubbles. The bubbles and giggles filled the air until someone popped someone else’s bubble, someone else spilled half the container of bubble mix on the driveway, and someone else wanted to use someone else’s bubble wand. With a few huffs of frustration, the very good day ended with arguments, tears and going home early.
Packing up our things early when things do not go our way does not only affect children. A few mistakes and a few selfish moments in the front yard playing with bubbles can end in a big mess of trouble rather than a fun memory for kids. Adults face the same bitter endings rather than peace when mistakes and selfish moments are not met with understanding and forgiveness. The Christians living in the Greek city of Corinth two thousand years ago were blessed as we read the mission pastor and Apostle Paul’s description of them in 1 Corinthians 1, 4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. If grace and spiritual gifts were bubbles, the Corinthians could fill a whole neighborhood with bubbles for a week, but as Paul continued in his first letter to them, he burst their prideful bubble with reality. The list of sins addressed by Paul to the Corinthians is long so I will read them off to you, factions or cliques, incest, lawsuits against one another, sexual immorality, marriage issues and divorce, abuse of Christian freedom, misunderstanding the role of women in the church, abuse of the Lord’s Supper, abuse of spiritual gifts and even the denial of the resurrection of the body. For all the very good things God gave them, they turned on one another in selfish perversion, greed, arrogance and fighting.
We face the same temptation as the Corinthians having been blessed by the same God. After God pours out blessings on us, we can manage them in very good ways or very destructive ways. One of the blessings God has given to us is recorded in our Gospel reading from Matthew 28, 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus spoke these words after his resurrection and before his ascension. They have been referred to as ‘The Great Commission.’ This is the work we do together as Jesus’ disciples as believers as Christians. We are blessed to have Jesus with us as we do this good work of baptizing and teaching all of Scripture. With this good work to do and the almighty Lord Jesus with us, like the gifted Corinthians, we ought to thrive. Yet, we find ourselves caught like the Corinthians. We get caught believing things like avoiding difficult conversations, blaming our bad mood on others, setting unachievable expectations for ourselves and others leading to disappointment and resentment, and blaming all our marital problems on our spouse. As these attitudes and feelings grow sin takes hold ruining grace, restoration, encouragement, unity, peace and love. Rather than being filled with God’s blessings and blessing others, we turn on one another, isolate ourselves and create an idea of God that affirms our behaviors and condemns others.
The love, peace and unity we lost are restored to us from God. The source for what is very good is God. In our Old Testament reading from Genesis 1, we hear the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth, of all things in the universe and of this life filled earth we call home. In six days, God created everything as we read in Genesis 1, 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. 2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. What God had made was very good or perfect and without sin. There was harmony between God and man, angels and animals, plants and dirt and water. As the wise, powerful and immortal God, he was not left stumped and speechless when Adam and Eve then brought chaos and death with their fall into sin. God had the solution for restoration ready and shared his promise of salvation with Adam and Eve. God did not leave us the work of salvation but gave us Jesus as we read in 2 Corinthians 5, 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God restored harmony and peace with humanity by becoming one of us. Jesus was made without sin and lived a very good, perfect gracious life for us so that he could be separated from God and punished on the cross for our sins. In Jesus, we are now righteous and restored to ‘very good’ status. Creating our own God leaves us with nothing, but with the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we have love, peace and unity. In our New Testament reading from 2 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote to the Corinthians and for all Christians with absolute confidence that we have been restored through Jesus, 11 And the God of love and peace will be with you.
With the God of love and peace, we have very good work to do. After Paul addressed the many sins afflicting the Corinthian Christians in his first letter, his second letter gave thanks for their repentance and encouraged them to continue in their spiritual growth as we read in 2 Corinthians 13, 11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Uncomfortable circumstances, temptation, sickness, personality conflicts and sin would still plague the Corinthians as they do us, but God gave them and us what we need to face them together. We are restored through repentance and forgiveness guaranteed by Jesus’ death and resurrection. We are encouraged with the hope of eternal life in heaven because our Father chose us to be his own sons and daughters. We have unity in the Gospel and its truth by the power of the Holy Spirit who calls us to faith. And we live in peace with our identity, purpose and future from God who takes away our fears.
The warm Texas afternoon mixed with friendly neighborhood kids created a very good environment to blow bubbles. Bubbles and giggles filled the air until things did not go someone’s way and with a huff of frustration, the very good day ended with arguments, tears and going home early. The Gospel message mixed with many spiritual gifts created a very good environment for believers in Corinth until their selfishness and perversion threatened to break up the believers and even drive some from faith. Paul wrote to the Corinthians calling them to repentance and restoration through the Triune God. Our own selfish attitudes, pride, perversion and sin were put to death in Christ, and we have been restored to the God of love and peace. With confidence in our God, I say to you brothers and sisters, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”. Amen.
Gunnar Ledermann, Pastor Divine Peace Church
Gunnar Ledermann
I’m passionate about Rockwall’s vibrant community and actively engage with local non-profits and community organizations, including the Rockwall Chamber of Commerce, the City of Rockwall, and the Downtown Rockwall Association. My background includes a bachelor’s degree in Classical Languages and a master’s degree in divinity. Currently serving as a pastor at Divine Peace Church in Rockwall, I also enjoy spending time with my wife, Marinda, and our five children.
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