Live Like One Called to Belong to Jesus Christ

It would be very dangerous if I got up here without any sense of time at all.

I forgot my watch. Now I have it, so you don't have to worry too much.

I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, and it would be a little bit of an academic exercise anyway today, probably.

But how many men here would willingly be circumcised if it helped them to share the gospel with some friends?

Probably not many of us.

I mean, that would really take an awful lot of conviction by the Holy Spirit for a man to be circumcised just so they could share the gospel with people and they could be better evangelists.

But that's actually something which is recorded as having happened in the book of Acts.

I'm not going to read it now, but if you want to look at it later, it's Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

And one of the things which is so curious about the story is that Paul has just spent, had a huge fight over the issue of whether or not men had to be circumcised.

And in fact, if you read Acts 15, it sort of brings to, at least on an official level, a culmination of several years of argument that Paul had been involved in,

precisely arguing that to be a Christian, you did not have to be circumcised.

And then as soon as he's won that battle, almost, I mean, within about a paragraph of him having won that battle in Acts chapter 15,

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Paul feels called to go out once again on another missionary journey.

And the first thing he does is he takes Timothy and has him circumcised.

And he has him circumcised precisely because Paul is concerned that as he goes into certain areas to evangelize,

Timothy's not being circumcised will be a barrier to people hearing the gospel.

And so he has Timothy circumcised.

Now, is Paul being just really inconsistent?

Is he one of those guys, you know, one day he says this, the next day he says that, you know,

he'd be the world's worst air traffic controller, move the plane over there.

No, no, no, no, I changed my mind back there.

You can land. No, no, I changed my mind.

You know, like you can just imagine all of the tragedy that would ensue.

Is Paul like that?

Is he just like a guy who can't make up his mind?

What motivates Paul is something that we're going to look at in a moment.

It's just the part of scripture before the first Corinthians text, which we read.

And one of the things is that we have to understand that the scripture is inviting us to understand that it doesn't matter at all,

that there's countless things in this life that have been relativized by the person of Jesus Christ

and by his death upon the cross and the triumph of his resurrection.

We Christians should be the leading relativists in Canadian society.

The problem is that much of Canadian society are moral relativists,

and that's the area that we're not to be relativists.

We are to be the relativists who say, you know, it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman.

It doesn't matter if you're old or young.

It doesn't matter if you're homosexually inclined or heterosexually inclined.

It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, well-educated or not well-educated.

You just keep on going.

None of these things, all of these things that we think are very, very important and might be central to our identity

are completely and utterly irrelevant because of the mighty act that God has done in the human race,

in human history by sending his son to die upon the cross,

bearing your sins and rebellion in mind and bearing your punishment in mind,

tasting all there is to taste of death and triumphing on the third day, on Easter Sunday,

triumphing over sin, everything that separates us from God,

triumphing over death, hostile spiritual powers, hell itself.

Christ has triumphed.

And all of these other things are part of a world that is passing away,

and they are all pretty relative compared to this fundamental victorious act of God

that you and I, mere mortals, are invited to share in.

Let's turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 7.

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

If you're using your pew Bibles, it's page 991.

But for all of us, it's 1 Corinthians 7, verse 17.

1 Corinthians 7:17

And this is a passage that was read last week,

and just as I was working through the text,

I just wasn't able to fit it in last week,

and I thought I'd put it in today as it leads into,

in fact, it actually leads in better to the part that was read by Jason a few minutes earlier.

And this text, as we start to read it, it's really saying,

wherever you are, live like one called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Wherever you are, live like one called to belong to Jesus Christ.

In fact, now belonging to Jesus Christ.

Let's listen to what it says.

Just pause here before we go any farther.

Sometimes Christians use the language of call to describe vocation.

I could tell you, in my particular case,

I'm maybe not, you know, normal in this sense,

but there's lots of ways I'm not normal.

But I actually have a very, very particular incident,

a very, very particular moment where I realized that God was calling me to the ordained ministry.

Like, you know, if I'd been keeping a journal,

I would have been able to say on August, you know, whatever, 1981,

I realized that I had been running from God,

and that God had for quite a while been saying,

George, I want you to be an ordained minister.

And it was as if God spoke to me,

and I realized that I had been running from that for several years.

And so sometimes Christians use the language of call to describe vocation,

and that's completely appropriate.

Paul here is not using call in the sense of vocation.

He's using call in the sense that every Christian has a call.

He's using it as a way to understand conversion.

See, a way for us to understand conversion is that Jesus called to me

to turn from my preoccupations and look to him and then say yes to him and follow him.

And for those of us who have been raised in a Christian home,

there might be, there's not going to be any particular moment that that's happened,

because in a sense, well, you know, what did I just pray for the kids?

Like in a sense, we all, Christian parents have different ways of praying it,

but in different words, but that's what we all pray.

We pray that for our children, those of us who have children,

we pray as they hear the stories of the Bible,

and in a sense as they're brought to Christian gatherings like this,

may they grow into confident, joyful disciples of Jesus Christ.

That's a Christian parent's prayer.

And so for those of us raised in Christian homes,

there might not be any particular moment where we're sensitive of a call.

We're just always sensitive of the claim of Christ upon our lives.

And sometimes we maybe ignore that.

Sometimes we stray from that.

Sometimes we really get excited about it and live in it.

But in a sense, you grow up always conscious that there is such a call.

But some of us have either really strayed from our Christian home

or didn't have that type of background.

And as teenagers or as adults,

there comes a point in time when you realize that Christ has called you to be his.

For some of you, you might have literally a moment like I did around my ordination,

and you might be able to say on August 20th,

you know, if I say 1981, that half of you weren't born then,

so you have to sort of move it to the appropriate age.

But some of you might be able to say a particular moment,

then you realize that Christ was calling you,

and you realize you had to respond.

And others of us might say that we became conscious of the claims of Christ,

and at such and such a time, we were definitely not responding to it.

And at some point in time, one day, it was as if the Holy Spirit spoke to us and said,

you know what, Sinclair, sometime over the last couple of months,

you actually did respond to the call of Christ,

and now you are living as a Christian.

And whatever way it happens, it doesn't matter,

but everyone who comes to Christ comes because Christ has first called you.

And so in all of this text which follows,

Paul is using...

Paul... I'm getting too worked up.

Paul is using called in that sense.

Jack in the box preaching.

And so let's just listen along.

Verse 18.

We'll start at verse 17 again.

But as God has distributed to each one,

as the Lord has called each one,

so let him walk,

and so I ordain in all the churches.

Was anyone called while circumcised?

Let him not become uncircumcised.

Was anyone called while uncircumcised?

Let him not be circumcised.

Circumcision is nothing,

and uncircumcision is nothing,

but keeping the commandments of God is what matters.

In other words, responding to the call of Christ,

and then learning to live as a follower of Jesus.

Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called.

Were you called while a slave?

Do not be concerned about it,

but if you can be made free,

use it.

For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freed man.

Likewise, he who is called while free is Christ's slave.

Here's the key verse.

You were bought at a price.

Do not become slaves of men.

Brothers and sisters,

let each one remain with God in that calling in which he was called.

Just sort of pause here before we go on.

Now, if, what Paul is saying is this,

that the way it works is not,

that God sort of looks down from heaven at Sinclair and says,

can't call Sinclair in this situation,

can't call Sinclair in this situation,

can't call Sinclair in this situation.

Gosh, I wish George would have gone to that graduate school,

or done this, or, you know, done that,

and then finally I could call,

doesn't work like that at all.

Most of you have never had the honor of meeting Hugh Reynolds.

He died about five or six years ago.

He was one of the very first people that I met when I came to this church.

The first Sunday I came to do services,

Hugh Reynolds sat at the very back pew,

close to the door,

and if you had asked me after the service to describe Hugh's background,

I would have bet you $100 that he was a retired sergeant major

where chief warrant officer from the army.

He had the haircut, he had the bearing,

and it was only after I had been in the church for several months

that I discovered that he had spent 50 years as a street person.

And it was while he was a street person, an alcoholic,

that he heard the call of Christ to his life and turned around.

And boy, when he turned around,

I mean, he still had some aspects.

He had a temper.

But when he turned around, he turned around.

And if over coffee later on today,

or if we were to have a potluck meal

and we were to share with each other,

you would say, you know,

some of us heard the call of Christ

when we were living in Rockcliffe

and we were older in age.

And some of us heard the call of Christ

when we were, you know,

maybe experimenting with different religions.

Maybe some of us heard the call of Christ

in the midst of a real commitment to drugs and alcohol

and all of the things that would go along with that.

And some of us heard the call of Christ

while we were suburban moms or dads.

Some of us heard it in this situation.

Some of us heard it in that situation.

And what Paul is saying is,

you know what?

God doesn't care about that situation.

In the midst of whatever situation you are in,

God has been, I mean, in a sense,

in a sense, when we get to heaven,

we will understand that from the moment

we were conceived in our mother's womb,

that God was saying,

George, I want you to be mine.

George, I want you to be mine.

And just finally,

we get to that sitting affairs

where we can actually hear

and we can respond with a yes.

Sometimes a reluctant yes.

Sometimes a frightened yes.

And sometimes with a just yes type of excitement.

And that's when the great adventure,

that's when the great quest really begins

when we say to Christ,

you say yes to Christ.

And so Paul is saying this.

You know what?

Your situation doesn't particularly matter.

It's relatively relative.

What matters is hearing the call of Christ

and then learning to live as one who is bought.

You see, here's this great transaction

that happens when I say yes to Jesus Christ.

And when you have said yes to Jesus Christ,

you now belong to him.

I don't belong to myself.

The government doesn't own me.

I don't own me.

The banks don't own me.

Christ owns me.

And so the message throughout all of this is,

you know what, George?

Whether you are a priest in St. Albans

or whether you were a priest in the Arctic Circle

or whether you were a missionary somewhere else,

live every day.

Wake up every day and say,

I belong to Jesus.

Father, help me to live like one who belongs to Jesus.

Stephen Harper claims to be a Christian.

In a sense, every day Stephen Harper

should not wake up first and say,

I am the Prime Minister of Canada.

He should wake up every day

and the first thing he should say is,

I belong to Jesus.

Father, help me to live like I belong to Jesus.

If you are called in the midst of alcoholism,

as an alcoholic,

you are called to wake up

and every day start to learn to say,

Jesus, help me to live today like I belong to you.

If you're retired,

if you're a student,

if you're in the fast track in your job,

if you're about to be downsized,

no matter what our situation is,

Christ is saying to us,

remember that you have been called by me

and you said yes,

you belong to me.

And that's what we'll be invited to understand

and to live our lives,

not as atheists,

live as if nothing has happened,

but learning to try to live every day,

understanding that we now belong to Jesus Christ.

Christ.

Let's just turn briefly,

keeping all of this in mind,

to the text which follows,

beginning at verse 25.

Those of you who are guests this morning,

one of the things that we do at St. Albans now

is we preach through the Bible.

It means I look at texts,

I can tell you this,

if it was left up to my flesh,

if it was just left up to me

using my worldly best wisdom,

I would never preach on 1 Corinthians 7.

Like I'd probably give you a nice,

comforting religious thought from Philippians

virtually every Sunday,

if it was completely up to me.

But we are called to understand

God's word written

and we are called to search the scriptures

and so we preach through texts.

So let's continue reading at verse 25.

Now concerning virgins,

I have no commandment from the Lord,

yet I give judgment as one

whom the Lord in his mercy

has made trustworthy.

Now,

and we're going to read one more verse,

26,

I suppose,

therefore,

that this is good

because of the present distress

that it is good for a man

to remain as he is.

And there it could also be good

for a man or for a woman

to remain as they are.

Now just want to pause here

before we go any farther.

The text as a whole

is inviting us to live

like we know the punchline

or to live like we know

the final word

about the story of our lives.

Now,

the first thing is

we're going through this.

This is a very unusual

passage of scripture.

I'm not sure if it's the only

passage of scripture

like it in the whole Bible,

but if it's not the only,

it's one of very few.

And it's because the text

is so odd

that it's caused much mischief

amongst Christians.

At the 8 o'clock service

and the 11 o'clock service today,

we said the Ten Commandments.

And hopefully,

if I get organized enough

throughout the rest of Lent,

every Sunday

at this 915 service,

we will say the Ten Commandments.

I'm just not organized enough

to have done it today.

But the Ten Commandments

are exactly that.

They are commandments.

It is not ten words of advice,

ten suggestions.

You know,

it's saying,

when it says,

you know,

George,

you shall not covet,

the text is saying,

George,

coveting is wrong.

Look at your life.

Are you coveting things?

Stop it.

You can't stop.

Like,

apologize to God.

Call out to Him for help.

Ask for the Holy Spirit

that you might amend your life

according to His Holy Word,

but you shouldn't covet.

You don't commit adultery.

You don't take innocent life.

You know,

and on and on and on.

There are Ten Commandments.

What we get now

from 1 Corinthians 7.25

to the end,

it's one of the few places

in the Bible

that what we get

is advice.

Not a commandment.

It's a very unusual passage

of Scripture.

We get advice.

Paul is dealing

with super spiritual guys.

They are going to try

to launch a sort of

super spiritual,

ascetic,

celibacy campaign.

They happen to know

that Paul,

who is maybe widowed early

or whatever,

he's been living

a single,

celibate life

for quite a few years.

They're trying to get Paul

to join in

with their campaign,

and Paul is resisting them.

And he's also dealing

with people

who are in the midst

of a distress.

And Bible scholars

and archaeologists,

we don't know what it is,

but there was some crisis

going on

in Corinth

at the time

when Paul is writing

this letter

and he knows about it.

We just don't know

what it is now.

And Paul is just

giving advice.

And the heart

of his advice

is this.

consider godly singleness.

Just consider godly singleness.

Don't consider

ungodly singleness,

which, you know,

don't consider singleness

that, you know,

you're going to, you know,

ignore marriage

because you want

to pursue your career

or you're going to

ignore marriage

because you'd rather

just date, you know,

I'll speak to guys,

a whole succession

of women,

embed a whole succession

of women,

and, you know,

maybe you've reached 40

or, you know,

life is sort of over,

then you get married

and have some kids

and move on.

Like, you know,

don't consider

ungodly singleness.

Consider godly singleness.

Just some advice.

Just think about it

for a second.

You know,

if, you know,

my wife tragically

was to die,

I mean,

in a sense,

this text is to say

to me,

George,

consider whether,

just spend some time

in fasting and prayer

and consider whether

you are being called

to godly singleness.

Just consider it.

Advice.

You know,

a moment from God,

not a command,

just something

to prayerfully consider.

And that's what

this text is.

It's some advice,

and that's why

Paul carries around

with saying,

you know,

my advice in verse 25,

yet I give advice

as one whom

the Lord in his mercy

has made trustworthy.

It's a language

of just,

just,

you know,

we're pell-mell,

you know,

we're pell-mell

or we're distracted,

and in the midst

of being pell-mell

or in the midst

of being distracted

or in the midst

of just allowing

ourselves to be carried

along by the pressures

of our culture,

it's in a sense

a call out to you

and to me

just to prayerfully

consider something.

Just prayerfully

consider it.

So let's continue.

Verse 27,

are you bound

to a wife?

Do not seek

to be loosed.

Are you loosed

from a wife?

Do not seek a wife.

But even if you do marry,

you have not sinned.

If a virgin marry,

she has not sinned.

Nevertheless,

such will have trouble

in the flesh.

That means,

flesh here means

the frail nature

of our mortal existence.

But I would spare you.

But I say,

brothers and sisters,

this I say,

the time is short

so that from now on

even those

who have wives

should be as though

they had none.

Those who weep

as though

they did not weep.

Those who rejoice

as though

they did not rejoice.

Those who buy

as though

they did not possess.

And those

who this world

and those

who use this world

as not misusing it

for the form

of this world

is passing away.

I just want to pause.

There's two really

big ideas

in this text

which are motivating

all of his advice.

And it's advice

to all of us

at every time

and situation

in our lives.

Paul is urging us

to live

like we know

the end of the story.

Or the punchline.

Now I'm not,

this isn't being arrogant.

This is far from it.

I know

the final word

about my life.

And those of you

who are in Christ,

you know the final word

about your life as well.

See,

this isn't being arrogant,

folks.

You know,

if I,

you know,

if it wasn't for the,

just the,

I mean,

I could give you

endless lists

of my failings

and my sins.

And I am making

no comment

whatsoever

about the fact

that after this sermon

is over,

my failings will end

and my sins will end.

If there's one thing

I know about me

into the future,

it is that I will

continue to have failings

and I will continue

to sin.

I'm not saying this

out of any sense

of arrogance

whatsoever.

I am saying,

for God so loved

the world

that he gave

his only begotten

son to the end

that those who

believe in him

will not perish

but have everlasting

life.

Come to me,

all who labor

and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you

and learn from me

for I am gentle

and lowly of heart

and you will find

rest for your souls

for my yoke is easy

and my burden is light.

Part of what it means

to become a Christian

is this,

that when we hear

the call of Christ,

when we respond

with yes to the call

of Christ,

when Jesus,

as a result of us

saying yes to that,

he, in a sense,

he reveals to us

that by saying yes,

he has purchased us,

purchased us,

and we now belong

to him,

that in him,

and we might not

even recognize

or realize this

when we turn to Christ

at first,

that on him,

as he lay dying,

as he hung dying

upon the cross,

that he and his,

he and his body

and he and his person

bare bore every single

failing and sin

and shame

that has ever been

part of my life

and will be ever

part of my life,

and all of these things

lay upon him

as he hung upon the cross,

and all of the appropriate

punishment

which those things deserve,

they were all on him,

and he trades

his sinless relationship

with the Father

for my sins

and my failings,

and he buys me,

and so,

nothing can separate me

from the love of God,

and I know

that when I die

and I open my eyes,

my loved ones

will see me die,

and they will then

just see the body

with the soul

having been gone,

but I will wake,

and I will look

at my heavenly Father,

and he will say,

welcome.

I'm so glad

you're here.

That is the final word

about my life,

and it's the final word

of the life

of everyone

who responds

to the call of Christ

and says yes.

Not weighing our merits,

but pardoning our offenses.

not because of works,

but by grace alone,

through Christ alone,

through faith alone,

that is the only reason

that I can know

the final word

about my life,

and Paul is saying,

George,

live as one

who knows

the final word

about your life.

Become who you are.

Every day,

live as one

who knows

the end of the story.

Shape your life

in terms of the fact

that you know

the end of the story.

The end of the story,

you know,

the end of my story

might be

that I am too poor

and too all of those things

that I won't get

an obituary

in the National Post.

I won't get an obituary

in the Globe and Mail.

There won't be

something about me

on global television

or CTV,

and the flags

won't fly at half-mask,

and maybe there are

all sorts of people

that what really

motivates them

that they will have

a fantastic obituary

and we are to live

our lives

not concerning

what the world

will say about us

in our obituary.

We are to live

our lives

as one

who will wake

upon death

and see our

heavenly Father

say,

I am so glad

you are here.

I am so glad

that you said yes

to Christ

and you are here.

Live like one

like that.

Listen again

to what

what Paul

has just said

in verse

verse 29.

I say this,

brethren,

the time is short.

That's what he means.

He's painting

a picture

of the fact

that you know

the end

of the story.

It's an image

here of knowing

the end

of the story

so that from now

on,

even those

who have wives

should be as

though they had

none.

And here's the

second thing

which Paul

is trying to

communicate,

that not only

are we to live

our lives

as if we know

the end

of the story,

but that we

are to live

and love.

We are to love

at the same time

as we are detached.

It's a very

odd idea,

but let me

try to give

you one example

to try to get

what Paul

is getting at.

I don't know

if you've ever

met anybody

who's gotten

the bad word

about cancer

or some other

serious illness

and they know

they maybe have

a month to live

or three months

to live

or six months

to live.

They know

that there's

nothing that

can happen.

Barring an

unbelievable miracle

of God,

they are going

to die.

And I don't

know if you've

ever met

anybody who knows

that they're going

to die and has

come to peace

about it.

And they

have come

to peace

about it

and so in a

sense,

they can just

sort of look

at the beauty

of a grandchild

and just love

that grandchild

but at the same

time know

that it's going

to end.

And they can

look at a sunset,

they can drink

coffee,

they can do

all of these

things.

And on one

level,

there is a

profound love

and enjoyment

of each instant

but at the

same time

they know

that the

story is

about to

come to

an end

for them.

That the

time is

over.

And in a

sense then

what they

do is they

have this

ability,

this grace

that allows

them to

love and

to be

detached.

To love

their wife

but know

that they're

not going

to have

their wife

for much

longer.

To love

their possessions

knowing that

they will

not have

their possessions

much longer.

In fact,

many people

in that

situation,

what they

do is they

love their

possessions

and give

them away

because they'd

like to

witness the

smile on the

other person's

face when they

give it to

them or when

they tell

them this

is yours,

this is

yours,

this is

yours,

this is

yours.

They give

it away not

because they

hate it but

because they

love it.

And it is

this that

Paul is

calling us

to.

To live

our lives

every day

understanding

that we

were bought

with the

price,

we belong

to Christ,

to live

every day

as if we

understand the

final word

about us

and that

does not

lead us

to presumption

or to

arrogance

but to

humility

and thankfulness

and gratefulness

and an ability

that when we

fail and when

we fall

to turn to

our heavenly

father and

say,

father I am

sorry,

please pour

your holy

spirit upon

me again

and help me

to live my

life as you

would have

me live

and we

are open

to understanding

how we can

love and love

and love and

love and

love without

possessing or

thinking that we

have to clutch

it to ourselves.

Shall we bow

our heads in

prayer?

Amen.

Amen.

Father, we

ask that you

would pour

out your

holy spirit

upon us.

Father, we

acknowledge before

you it is so

easy for us to

get distracted.

Father, we

even seek

distraction and

it is so easy

for us,

just to be

pushed around

by the

word, the

world and

our circumstances

and forget

about your

word, forget

about Christ,

forget about

your promises.

Father, we

confess before

you that often

we spend a

day as if we

were atheists

and not as

ones who

understand that

we have, that

your son has

taken us for

himself, that

he will unerringly

and powerfully

bring us to

you and he

will present us

to you and

you will smile

at him and

at us and

say welcome.

Father, help

us to live as

ones who are

bought and

now belong to

you.

Help us to

live as ones

who understand

that final word

and desire to

become what we

are.

Help us,

Father, to

live and to

love without

desiring to

possess and

clutch and

grasp.

All this we

ask in the

name of Jesus,

your son and

our savior.

Amen.