Acceptance

In our reading from First Corinthians Paul starts a new theme. Albeit we have skipped chapter fourteen. As you may have noted, Paul’s theme switched from talking about gifts and the greatest of them – love – to recounting the early appearances of Jesus after his resurrection. What an odd change. In the next two weeks we will read from the rest of chapter fifteen and hear Paul discuss the resurrection of the faithful.  For today, we can discern three things. 

We first note the list of the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection. The list is incomplete since Paul does not mention Jesus’ appearance to Mary at the tomb. Did he not know about it? We can only speculate why he left her out. He also does not mention the appearance on the road to Emmaus. Although that might be included in his reference to the disciples grouping several appearances into one. He also is the only one who mentions the appearance to more than 500 (“Although some have died” which is probably the point of this list as we will see in the coming Sundays). Lastly, Paul tells us, Jesus appeared to one untimely born (the Greek word here actually means still-born or aborted); himself. Using himself as the example that Jesus’ salvation is open to all – even to one who persecuted Christians.

In compiling this list in the way he does he is emphasizing his theme from the earlier part of this letter. That theme is that no one is greater or more important than anyone else in the Church. Even Paul himself. It was Paul who first brought the Good News to the people of Corinth. That does not place him in any special category nor does it give him special privileges. That was his earlier life. He was a well respected and educated Jew. He lived a comfortable and privileged life (as comfortable and privileged as a Jew could live in the Roman world). He gave that up to travel the world around to share the Good News. He went from being comfortable to a life of struggle. His call to follow Jesus was a call to a life of imprisonment and flogging, shipwrecks and adversity. But it also brought great joy and many new friends who joined him on the journey with Jesus.

This brings us to the final point. Paul accepted what God had given him no matter what it meant. While we often grumble and get angry at what God has given us (usually expecting more) or what fate has laid upon us (complaining that God should have changed it), Paul accepted his gifts, his call, and his fate because he was called by Jesus. We note two other incidents when people are called to do God’s task. The first is Isaiah. He is first made clean by having a burning coal touched to his lips. So hot that the Seraph used tongues to pick it up. Once touched he asked God to send him. I wonder if he would have accepted if he knew the task before hand. His task was to go to the people of Israel and tell them that their cities and towns will be destroyed and they would be carried off to a foreign land. It was not a message they wanted to hear and so mistreated and ignored him. Our other example of a call is Simon, James, and John. They, too, accepted the call not knowing what they were in for. Only that they would no longer be fishermen. They, like Paul, would struggle because of their call and, like Paul, die because of it. 

Paul, Isaiah, and the disciples all accepted their call and what it entailed. You also have been called to be part of this new thing that our early ancestors called the Way. You have been given gifts of the Spirit and filled with God’s love. It is your turn to accept your task. Fortunately, you do not do it alone. We, together, proclaim the Good News of Jesus by what we say and do. So, with Isaiah and all the saints before say, “Her I am, send me.” I cannot guarantee a comfortable journey or easy task. What I can guarantee is that Jesus will be with you along the way as your guide.