A Meditation for Trinity 13
Collect
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Matthew 28: 16-20 – The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 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.”
Reflection
I remember an excellent sermon on the passages from 1 Corinthians and Matthew’s Gospel above.
The essence of the message was that our responsibility in the Christian life is to prepare people for receiving the Gospel – remembering that they are able to meet Christ themselves directly in prayer and scripture. We cannot meet Him on their behalf, and in His walk alongside them they will grow as His body on earth. We must always be there to help – but ultimately, it is only God who offers forgiveness, healing and growth.
The sermon illustration used was preparing dinner – we are there to peel the spuds, but it is God who cooks the finished meal. Nice example – but actually doesn’t go far enough. God isn’t asking that people come to Him flawless, with all the skin peeled away resulting in uniformly pure white chips. Certainly, the process of helping people become disciples and walk with Him begins with washing away the earth, with its worldly pollution and layers of pesticides. But it is much healthier to then leave the potato unpeeled, for it is in the skin where most of the goodness is found. In our words, but more significantly in the example of our actions, we invite people to be baptised and turn away from the clinging dirt of the world; but God takes over from there, building a church rich in diversity, of all shapes and sizes – creating the balanced diet necessary for health.
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