Richard Davenport

February 4, 2024 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

1 Corinthians 9:16-27

                The life of a Christian isn’t an easy one. There are many out there who will tell you following God is the way to endless earthly bliss, fabulous riches, and much, much more.  There are some Christians who have justifiably found fame, whether they wanted it or not.  There are some who have done well for themselves financially as God has blessed them. Others have found peace and joy in following Christ.  All of these things can happen here in this world, but, unlike what many televangelists and other quacks will tell you, God never promises any of these things to his people in this sinful world.  You aren’t likely to do better than God himself and when God came to earth, he died. He died a very painful death and a very lonely death. 

                Still, in the midst of the grief and the suffering, God takes care of his people.  He knows their needs.  He knows we have a tough job ahead of us.  He knows it doesn’t always go well.  Life in this sinful world is hard.  True, it’s our own fault that things have ended up that way, but still, this is where we are now.  We have to survive here and we wouldn’t be able to do that without God’s help.

                We know that we are greatly indebted to God because of all of our sins.  Like a gambling addict, we are living on credit we don’t actually have.  At any moment, God could call our debt due and we’d have nothing to offer except empty pockets.  We are in debt and every sin simply digs us further in the hole.

                Now, were we in debt to some kind of business and if our debts were manageable enough, maybe we could work things out. If you have dinner at a restaurant and can’t pay, maybe they put you to work washing dishes or something.  If you can’t pay some other bill, the government has ways of sorting it out.  They aren’t necessarily good ways, and you might get some people mad at you or have to tighten your belt quite a bit to survive, but it can be done.

                Not so here, you can’t even offer anything to God and you’re still digging your hole deeper every time you look with envy on someone doing better than you, every time you despise someone in your heart, every theft – no matter how small, every time you show disrespect to those in authority over you, all of it digging deeper in the hole.

                For all of that, it’s a wonder God does not call our debt due.  Any other person, any other organization that saw someone turning into a big money pit would pull the plug.  If you continuously can’t pay your mortgage, eventually the bank will determine you’re a losing proposition and take it back to try and recoup their losses.  God, in his mercy, withholds that determination. Every day we’re finding new and inventive sins, as well as dusting off the tried and true ones we always fall back on, and God chooses not to just end us right then and there.

                That doesn’t mean we’re entirely off the hook, however.  God still puts us to work.  Our job here is the share the Gospel.  We are all apostles, like St. Paul.  Granted, he does it as a full time job, but we are all given that responsibility to share the message of Christ, even if it’s just with people here in our own community.

                Now, it might sound like this should get us some credit and help pay for our debts.  But, it doesn’t.  It wasn’t a job we took on for pay.  It was what we were always made to do.  You go to buy a car because you need something to get you around town quickly and safely.  If a car doesn’t do that job, the car is broken and needs to be either repaired or replaced.  It doesn’t earn anything for doing that job, because driving around is what the car was always intended to do.

                St. Paul recognizes this too.  Not only is he in debt to God for his many sins, he would put himself even further in debt if he failed to do his job.  He isn’t upset by this, however.  He understands the value of what he’s been directed to do. But, it also means he knows he is doing important work.  He doesn’t get paid for his work though.  He isn’t an employee, doing work in exchange for payment.  He is doing it because he is under orders. 

                That God is in charge isn’t something we in the church dispute, at least not openly.  We certainly act at times as if we are in charge and we regularly disregard his commands.  Still, when we’re thinking about it, we recognize that he’s the Creator and we are his creatures.  That doesn’t really stop us from thinking we deserve something for our efforts.  I remember back in high school when I’d be with my dad for the weekend over the summer I’d have to mow the lawn.  I’d get paid for doing it, which was nice, but there were also consequences for not doing it.  That made the whole thing rather unusual.  It wasn’t a job, where I could opt not to do it.  The payment was a bonus, one that he didn’t have to give.

                We say we’re here to do God’s will and we are his children, thus obligated to do as he says.  Yet, we still try and split the difference.  We have to do the job, but we should be paid for doing the job.  We should see some kind of tangible benefit for doing what he told us to do.  That’s works righteousness, that’s the spiritual payoff.  That’s me getting the recognition, the grace, the whatever physical or spiritual benefit I think I should be given because of the work I’ve done. That’s where the Catholic church and so many other of our brothers and sisters in Christ here in this community go. They may define it differently from one church to another, but it all boils down to the idea that I should get something from God because I did what he told me to do.  It may have been flawed and imperfect, but I tried and God needs to credit it to my account.

                St. Paul takes a very different view on the subject.  He starts everything he does based not on what he has or should receive, but on what he hasn’t received.  He hasn’t received the punishment his sins deserve.  He hasn’t been cast out of God’s presence as he deserves.  He hasn’t been condemned to an eternity alone with his guilt as he deserves.  This is what his debts have incurred.  This is what he should be getting.  If he’s serious about getting what he deserves then he needs to start here.  Even if God did give something for your efforts, it wouldn’t come anywhere near to paying your debts.  You wouldn’t even see your payment on the scales next to what you owe.

                This is St. Paul’s starting point.  When he considers what he should be getting from God and how God has held it back instead, held back his wrath, his judgment, his punishment, his condemnation, Paul sees himself in a very different situation.  He can’t be a man working for a paycheck or some other compensation.  He is already someone whose debts have been paid.  What he should have been given has instead been withheld.  Where he should have received wrath, he instead received love.  Where he should have received judgment, he instead received mercy.  Where he should have received punishment, he instead received forgiveness.  Where he should have received condemnation and eternal isolation, he has instead received blessings and an eternity in the presence of the God of grace. 

                Paul does his work not as someone expecting payment, but as someone who has already received more than he deserved, more than he had any right to.  Will he do the job perfectly?  No. Will he preach the Gospel at every time and place that he should?  No. Will he be perfectly content with what God has given him at all times?  No.  Will he do everything God has told him to do without fail?  No.  Will he incur more debts?  Yes. What happens to those debts?  They are covered as well.

                St. Paul understands what he should have gotten. He also understands how it is that he didn’t get it.  The debt still had to be paid and Jesus loved him so much that he took that debt on himself. Did Jesus have to do it?  No.  Jesus didn’t have any debts.  Jesus was perfect.  The only reason he would do such a thing was because he chose too and he did choose to out of love for you.

                St. Paul understands the cost.  He knows what Jesus gave to save him.  God has given him a job to do, but Paul doesn’t begrudge him this.  God has already given him more than could ever hope to earn, far more than he would ever deserve.  He does his job as one whose debts have already been paid.  He does the job as one who rejoices to know God has had mercy on him and he wants to give that mercy to all.  He knows he won’t always do the job well.  Sometimes he’ll grumble.  Sometimes he’ll hide and avoid conflict.  Sometimes he’ll think he has more important things to do.  But, when he comes back around and acknowledges how his actions have incurred debts, that those debts will be covered too.  Such is the love God has for him.

                Paul goes where he is sent.  He preaches where he is sent.  He rejoices with those who hear and believe and is pleased to call them brothers and sisters in Christ.  He is not different from us in this regard.  How he is sent may not be the same and who he is sent to is certainly nothing like where we are sent, but we are still sent.  We have received the same Gospel, the message of love and mercy that has come from the same God who gave his own Son as payment for our debts. The debts we owe are just a terrible as St. Paul’s, the condemnation just as great and just as deserved.  Yet our Lord still had mercy on us and redeemed us. We, too, have this job wherever we are and wherever we go.  We will not always do it well or do it joyfully, but even when we don’t, those debts are paid as well.

                God loves you.  You don’t have to earn that love.  It is already given to you.  He forgives you.  He has mercy on you.  He has given you all of that, so that he doesn’t have to give you what you deserve. Go and tell others what you have received from the hand of your loving God.  Go, knowing your debts are paid and will continue to be because God loved you enough to pay them himself.