Life as we know It

1 Corinthians 7:29-31
7:29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,

7:30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions,

7:31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

When something drastic, life-changing happens in our lives we are changed.  We become different people when something like that happens.  Sometimes the life-changing event causes us to change suddenly and other times it causes a slow and calculated change.  For example, when we get married, have kids, have grandkids, lose a loved one, lose a job, or find faith these all all things that cause us to change.  In our scripture for this morning, Paul is trying to relay to the people of Corinth that living as Christians is that kind of life changing experience.  Paul firmly believed that the second coming of Christ was coming much sooner rather than later and he encouraged believers to live like that as well.  I have more confidence in the second half of that statement than I do the first.  I do not 100% for sure know what Paul believed when it comes to the second coming of Christ but I do know that he encourages us to live like that day will be here sooner rather than later.  

When Griffin gets mad, his answers to questions are all over the board.  For example, when he playing with a friend and it is time to go, he will say that he does not want to go.  But when asked if he wants to stay where he is and mom and dad leave he does not want to do that either.  I feel like Paul is kind of like that when he teaches us how to be “in the world” but not “of the world.”  Paul wants us to disengage, or step back from the world but at the same time he wants us to do our part in it.  It’s no less confusing than Griffin when he is mad.  Our scripture this morning encourages us to do things in this world but do those actions as though they don’t really matter.  I am sure Paul is using figurative language when he encourages the men of Corinth who have wives to live as they do not because time is short because that phrase makes little sense if we take it literally.  What I think Paul is encouraging us to do is to disengage from the world just enough that we can see it with a different perspective.  But not so much that we lose touch with it either.  For example, if we are going to be good marriage partners we have to disengage ourselves a little bit.  What I mean by this is that we have to take time to step out of the world as we know it and engage the world from the eyes of our spouse.  We cannot be so focused on seeing the world from only our perspective that we fail to see it from other points of view.  That is what I think Paul is trying to convey to us in our scripture this morning.  

We cannot be so caught up in our own world that we fail to see the injustices done to others.  Griffin cannot understand the impact of his words and actions when he says that he does not want to go home.  As a parent, that hurts but he does not know that.  He doesn’t know the impact because he does not yet have the ability to see the world from a perspective different than his own.  If we are narrow minded and exclusive in our understanding of God’s love and grace then we too are failing to see the world from different perspectives.  If we are only engaged with our individual faith then we again fail to see the world through the eyes of others.  If we distance ourselves a little bit from our self then we are set free to gain insights into the lives of others.  Sure, I cannot fully understand what some people go through but I can do my best to try to understand by being humble enough to drop my preconceived notions.  If we are going to get along in any relationship in our lives then we have to be willing to live as Christ did and see people like Christ did.  

In our scripture this morning, Paul says the “present form of this world is passing away.”  Some biblical scholars believe that Paul said this because he thought that Christ would be returning quickly while other scholars believe that Paul is referring to the changes in the world that Christ ushered in.  I believe it is the latter.  If we see others as Christ saw others then the current self-centeredness of the world we live in today would start to fade away.  If we love as Christ loved then some of the injustices of today’s world would begin to pass away.  The world is much different than it was from the time Paul was writing to the Corinthians but is it any better?  As Christians, have we taken the words and teachings of Christ and made the world a better place?  Possibly? Maybe?  It really shouldn’t be a question if we have taken the time to do as Paul has instructed us to do and live out the new life that we have in Christ.

I read a quote this week that I think relates to our topic this morning.  It said, “A lot of Christians today prefer the resurrection to the crucifixion.”  For many of us, our faith is based on the crucifixion but for some it is too gruesome and for others it is too difficult to comprehend why God would do that to his son.  For others of us, we don’t know exactly where we totally fit in when it comes to the two.  It is easy for us to get too caught up in the resurrection because that event is the glory of God’s power on full display.  The joy and sheer power of eternity is something to celebrate as we should but we cannot, cannot forget how we got to the resurrection.  And that was through the cross.  So many people in today’s world want the resurrection to overshadow the cross but the truth is that we need them both.  The cross is where we learn sacrifice, and most importantly where we learn true love and true grace.  This is why we must have the ability to disengage from time to time so that we can see different perspectives.  I used to be so focused on the cross that I could not see the stone rolled away.  The forgiveness of my sins overshadowed what eternity meant to me.  We cannot have one without the other.  The resurrection and the crucifixion are equally important and essential to the message of Christ.  

Here is the main point: be in the world but not of the world.  Live as though the world in it’s current form is passing away.  If we can manage to love another and see the world from a perspective different than our own then we will undoubtedly see the world, in its present form, begin to pass away.  What I really enjoy about Paul is his sense of urgency and his ability to see upward as well as outward.  Paul gets it.  He knows that Jesus changes who we are.  We cannot get close to the glory of God and not be changed by it.  We must have a sense of urgency because we never know when it will be gone but that urgency must be focused outward as well as upward.  What I mean by that is that we cannot look at outward at the crucifixion without looking upward at the resurrection.  Amen.