Freedom through discipleship - 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

(Click on the above title to hear the sermon)

In Warner Sallman’s painting, “Christ at the door,” Jesus is depicted as standing at a door with no doorknob, knocking. This painting has captured the imaginations of thousands who have seen it. People are drawn to a Jesus who came from heaven to invite us to be a part of a new way of life in the kingdom of God.

In Mark 1:15 we read where Jesus began his ministry by issuing a call to repentance and faith – to a life of discipleship. This call to discipleship is not simply a message of hell-avoidance. Jesus believes that his preaching is “good news” for people, and that living the life of discipleship will make a difference in peoples’ lives right now. That difference is freedom (Romans 8:2 – “set free from the law of sin and death”; Gal. 5:1 – “For freedom Christ has set us free”).

Obviously, Mark has condensed his story for our benefit. He describes the disciples’ response to Jesus’ call as immediate and life-altering – Peter, Andrew, James, and John all immediately left everything – careers and family – to follow Jesus.

But in what sense did they leave everything to follow Jesus? If we look down at Mark 1:29, we are told that after leaving the synagogue, Jesus and the disciples went to Simon and Andrew’s house, where Jesus cured Simon’s mother-in-law. Obviously they did not become complete ascetics and completely divorce themselves from their families and previous lives. So in what sense did they leave everything to follow Jesus?

I think we get a glimpse of an answer in the epistolary reading from 1 Corinthians 7:29-31. These verses are basically an apostolic aside inserted into a discussion regarding sex and marriage, but they have serious implications regarding Christian ethics and the Christian way of life.

Paul begins by saying that “time has grown short,” which is to provide the motivation for the discussion which is going to follow. There is no universal agreement about what Paul means by saying time has grown short. However, I believe that Paul is referring to the end of the ages that was inaugurated by the resurrection of Christ. This event signified that a new world order had begun, and that Christians now live as a part of the kingdom of God, while at the same time waiting for a greater manifestation of the kingdom when Jesus returned. In this sense, it is an eschatological, or end-time, hope that colors how one lives, even if Jesus’ return is not as immanent as was once thought.

So, in view of the time in which we now live, let those who are married live as if they were not; let those who are joyful live as if they are not; let those who mourn live as if they are not; let those who buy and sell possessions live as if they are not; and let those who deal with the world live as if they had no dealings with the world, because the present form of this world is passing away. (JJ’s paraphrase)

I think the last phrase of the passage – “For the present form of this world is passing away” – is the key to understanding the passage. It is not only our conviction of faith, but our own observations and experiences about this life that sees the truth in Paul’s claim about the impermanence of this world. The forms, structures, institutions, forces, powers, etc. of this world were not built to last. Our own experience of the end of 2008 reminds us of the impermanence and fragility of the forms of this world. To live as a Christian, in view of our eschatological hope for Christ’s return and a fuller experience of the kingdom of God, means we recognize that this world is temporal, temporary, and is fading away as we speak. Therefore, discipleship means that we experience a radical reorientation of our perspective.

As Christians, we should no longer regard what happens in this world and in this life as what is ultimately important, because it is going to pass away. It is not that we don’t engage this world – we marry, we experience joy and sorrow, we buy and sell possessions, we accumulate wealth – but we do it recognizing that these things are not of ultimate importance. Rather, they are less important than our relationship with God in Christ.

However, Paul is not just calling for a change in our perspective. He is calling for a change in our lifestyle because of our changed perspective. It is not enough to simply say that the forms of this world are not of ultimate value and importance and to keep living as if they are. Discipleship means that we adjust our lifestyle to reflect this confession of faith. All of the lectionary passages from this week reflect this same focus. Paul calls this lifestyle a change in our relationship with the forms of this world. Mark 1 describes this radical lifestyle adjustment as “leaving nets” and leaving career and father. Jonah 3 says that Ninevah made this lifestyle adjustment by declaring a city-wide fast and a city-wide dress code of sackcloth (adjustments that were so wide-spread that they were to include the livestock as well).

Changing our relationship with the forms of this world will look different for everyone – we all have the responsibility for making the life of discipleship concrete in our lives. For example: many Christians, despite the conviction to follow Jesus alone, still live as if the accumulation of wealth is what is ultimately important. How can we find ways to view money, wealth, and possessions, as tools in our hands to carry out our service to God and not as ends in themselves? How can we participate in the structures of this world, for example, the stock market, or the housing market, without placing our ultimate trust for our well being in them? How can we live in America without succumbing to the rampant wave of civic religion that has been sweeping across the country, believing that America holds the solution to the world’s problems? How can we work in our careers and yet not place our personal identity in what we do for a living? Or does our anxiety and stress about our jobs suggest that we have been looking to them as a source of satisfaction that can only leave us wanting something deeper and more fulfilling?
Jesus lived and died so that we might be free. Why then do so many of us still seem to be in slavery? Why do we still seem bogged down with the weight and care of this world? Why do so many of us still live as if the things of this world have ultimate meaning?

I often use words like obedience, holiness, and discipleship to describe the Christian life. These words can sometimes invoke negative images in our heads because they remind many of us of the church that we came from – a church that sought to earn salvation through a legalistic approach to faith and that used these words to beat us up and only increased our feelings of guilt and unworthiness. Therefore, after much theological discussion, it is our conviction as a church that salvation comes by God’s grace and mercy and that there is nothing that we can do to merit God’s favor or earn our salvation, a position that I whole-heartedly agree with and fully support and believe in.

So many might wonder why I still use these words. I use them because it is also my conviction that the freedom that Christ offers comes to us in a very counter-intuitive way. We experience God’s freedom through our practice of repentance, faith, and discipleship. Isn’t that what Jesus calls us to in Mark 1? “Repent, believe in the good news, and come follow me.” Isn’t that the message of Paul in 1 Corinthians 7? “…let those who deal with the world live as if they had no dealings with the world …”, as if God is the source of ultimate value and the source of our life and well-being.

Jesus is there, standing at the door knocking. And it is only through a full-bodied embrace of the life of discipleship to which we are called that we can find the true freedom that he offers, and live out the good news of the gospel that he came to proclaim.