First Mennonite Church
February 16, 2025
There Is No Plan “B”
Text: 1Corinthians 1:1-3
Paul’s greetings to the Corinthian church actually extend to us today. So, here I am passing to you his greetings.
Based on the words of Paul’s greetings to the church in Corinth, one can think that he was addressing the most wonderful group of people on earth. Paul describes them as those “who are sanctified in Christ Jesus.” He refers to them as those God has “called to be saints.” And then he wishes them God’s full benevolence and thorough well-being. However, Paul was fully aware of the disgraceful situation of the church in Corinth. To begin with, there was jealousy among its leaders. Each one claiming to either be the most spiritual, or the most eloquent preacher or having direct ties with the original Jesus movement. And each leader had his group of followers within the congregation. Also, there was someone who had seduced his stepmother and was living with her. The worst thing was that some in the church were proud of and affirming of it. There was utter confusion about the evidence of the Holy Spirit. Some were emphasizing on miracle-working, speaking in tongues, or seeing visions, or prophecy. The potluck meals and communion service had gone outrageously wild, which in today’s standard would have required church members to have “appointed drivers” or the church to have Uber drivers at hand after the service each Sunday. And Paul takes the time and ink to address each of these problems in his extensive letters to the Corinthians.
So we wonder, was Paul only being polite when he addressed them in such lofty manner? Was he kidding himself about who they were by calling them “sanctified by God” and “saints?” Or was he actually speaking within the grand scheme of God’s reconciliation project enacted through Jesus Christ for a world of sinners? From the evidence of Paul’s extensive writings, the last seems to be the case. Paul was speaking and describing this group of messed up people, called the Church in Corinth, from the perspective of God’s grand saving project, not only for the messed up Corinthians but for the entire world.
And, as we know firsthand, the church is simply a group of sinners who have been set apart by God, not only for the good of themselves but for something greater than themselves. In that lies the heart of our purpose of being called.
James Krabill tells the story of when he was invited by the local congregation in northern Indiana to preach a weekend series on “The Full Gospel to a Broken World.” Before he started the weekend preaching, he handed out a piece of paper to the church members to write down what was it they believed was evidence of brokenness in their community. Divorce had the highest score among the list of problems. There was also: intergenerational conflict, drug abuse, infidelity, and a dozen more social problems. Krabill then asked the church members to write down on the other side of the page what they see in their personal lives and in the church as signs of brokenness. When the list was read to the church members they were surprised to know that the very same list of things they wrote down about the brokenness in the larger society was there about the church people. This prompted the members to wonder out loud:
So, what’s the point of being church if we are no better than the people living around us?
Isn’t it embarrassing to invite people to the church while we are dealing with all these problems ourselves?
And who would deny the fact that we the church are a people who simply have been forgiven? We are a people who have been called by God, not because of who we are or are perfect, but to whom God has extended his lavish grace. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast,” Paul reminds the Ephesians. This pretty much describes who we are. We are a people who have accepted God’s generous offer through his Son. We do not have anything to boast about ourselves as to why God has chosen to show us mercy or to invite us to carry out the plan he designed from the beginning of eternity. However, God in his great mercy not only called us but also invited us to share in his eternal plan. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This is our calling and goal: To do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
First, this indicates that who we are and the purpose we have are not accidental. God planned these things in advance. He redeemed a people that will become the model and messenger of God’s heart for the world.
Through its joyful worship, the church gives witness to its gratitude to God for his faithful mercies
Through its fervent prayer, the church witnesses its complete and abandoned trust in the Lord.
Through the cordial and loving treatment amongst its members and to outsiders, the church announces the love of its Savior who loves the world.
Through its reverent and holy living the church witnesses the holiness and majesty of God.
But also through its message the church announces God’s redemptive purposes and desire for the well-being of those who receive his offer.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, we have no choice. We, the church, have been given a great charge to be models and the message of God’s goodness through Jesus Christ. There is no plan B.
In his book, Genuine Christianity, Ron Sider envisions a conversation between Jesus and the angel Gabriel after Jesus returned to the Father.
Gabriel asks Jesus, “How did it go; did you complete the mission to save the world?” Jesus answers, “Well, yes and no!” And he continues, “I modeled a godly life for about thirty years. I preached to a few thousand Jews in one corner of the Roman Empire. I died for the sins of the world and promised that those who believed in me would live forever. I burst from the tomb on the third day to show my circle of 120 frightened followers that my life and story are God’s way to save the world. Then I gave the Holy Spirit to those 120 and left them to finish the job.” “You mean,” Gabriel asks in amazement, “your whole plan to save the world depends on that ragtag bunch of fishermen, ex-prostitutes, and tax collectors?” “That’s right,” Jesus replied. “But what if they fail?” Gabriel persisted with growing alarm. “What’s your back-up plan?” “There is no back-up plan,” Jesus simply responds. (Sider, 1996: 11)
In Ephesians Paul writes, His (God’s) intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (3:10-11).
And, in 2Corinthians, he writes: So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us . . . (2Corinthians 5:17-20).
My beloved brothers and sisters, through Jesus God began his grand project of reconciling the world to himself. Jesus was the model and messenger of the good news that God desired to make peace with the sinful world. Jesus did the hard work of living and speaking the will of God in a way that we humans could understand. In the end and in the faithful pursuit of doing the will of God, Jesus died on the cross. But by raising him from the dead, God attested his full pleasure and approval about everything Jesus said and did. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he promised to empower his fearful followers with the Holy Spirit so that they might continue being models and the living message of what God started through Jesus. That charge falls on us. For as much as we search in the Holy Scriptures, there is no plan B. The world’s only chance to see and hear what God started through his Son, is through us. So, let us with fear and trembling ask the Holy Spirit to breathe upon us the grace and wisdom to fulfill our mission. Let us with gratitude and confidence embrace our calling. Amen!
Pastor Romero