The Scum Of The Earth (sermon only) - 1 Corinthians 4:1-13 - Aligned - Pastor Jason Fritz

great job so if I seem a little bit groggy this morning I have a good reason I have a good excuse my son got married last night so note to self have someone else preach the day after your son gets married oh it was a party it was so great so this morning we're in first Corinthians chapter 4 picking up where we left off last week gonna cover the first 16 verses and I want to set it up by saying this the Apostle Paul has a pastor's heart he cares deeply for these first century believers so what's happened is he has heard that there are problems in the church and the source of their problems is pride and pride is such a killer pride will keep you from becoming all that God wants you to be pride as is that thing that can creep into the church and rob the Church of her power and that's exactly what was happening in the city of Corinth these first century century believers additionally proud people tend to be judgmental and Paul is experiencing this personally the Tricia's in Corinth were to believe it they were ranking their pastors I like Paul I like Peter I like Apollo's and they were drawing lines in the sand choosing sides becoming very divisive and so if you're here this morning and you've ever been judged this message is for you this is what Paul is confronting now this is what this is what happens today Christians rank pastors how so how big is your church how fast is your church growing how many buildings do you have how much cash do you have and I'm becoming more and more convinced that much of this is actually very offensive to God because the thing that God values is faithfulness so when you've been offended when you've been judged it takes a lot of maturity to rise above that and to step into that space where yeah you're able to overcome it and minister to the people who are offending you and this is the maturity that we see from Paul his job is not easy here but his ultimate goal is to give correction so that the church can become healthy so as we enter into this text I just want you to notice something I want you to I want you to notice how Paul sees himself and where he finds his identity because he hits it in the opening line verse 1 he says this is how one should regard us and the US refers to the Apostle so right away he's addressing this issue hey you're ranking your pastors and you're advancing one over the other and you're you are choosing sides becoming divisive so let me just set it straight when you think about us apostles here's how you should think about us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God so there are several Greek words that Paul could have chosen to describe himself as a steward but here he uses the word high parrot top and this is where it gets really interesting this word was used to describe men who were seated in the galley of a ship hands on the or rowing and rowing and they would do that to the duty they would row to the cadence of a drop little yeah so this is this is the image guys at the bottom of the ship very monotonous it's not glamorous at all and Paul says you want to think about us apostles here's your picture and by the way if you hear this morning in your Christian this is you too Paul says my hands are on the oar and I'm rowing the ship that is God's church in the direction that God wants and it's not glamorous and there is labor involved and you see I'm just a steward of the mysteries of God that's what he says what does that mean the mysteries of God well in Colossians chapter 2 Paul tells us that the ultimate mystery of God is Jesus Christ what does that mean it means this in the Old Testament you had these guys called prophets and God would speak to them and he would say hey let me give you a clue there is a forthcoming Messiah and here's how you'll know who he is where he would be born Micah chapter 5 verse 2 in Bethlehem how he would suffer Isaiah 53 he would suffer death by crucifixion prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus came let me tell you what his ministry on earth would be like the psalmist writes about it so all of these if you will these little pieces of the puzzle are on the table but they didn't have the picture on the box so in that sense it was kind of mysterious Peter saw that they were they were looking through all these little details all these revelations from God and they were trying to discern the times and the ages and when would the Messiah come now for us living on this side of the cross we have the picture on the box and the faces Jesus so the mystery has been solved and so Paul says I'm a steward of the mysteries of God in other words my entire ministry is about shining the light on Jesus and bringing the gospel of Jesus into people's lives so that they too can be transformed and and this is what we do here at illuminate this is our mission - it's like anybody that steps up on this stage you're not allowed to be up here I've actually had people approach me the congregation say hey what does it take to preach well first off you have to be asked secondly anybody who steps up must open up and deliver up the Word of God rightly here's why because when the sheep look up they need to be fed and when the sheep are fed well the church grows and it becomes healthy and all that God wants it to be there is one essential attribute to this and it has nothing to do with one's charisma or personality or ability to persuade it is faithfulness verse 2 moreover it is required of stewards that they be found faithful which is another way of saying trustworthy so this word for Stewart describes the person who was in charge of the Masters possession which is really compelling because what this tells you is that God has given you the honor and the dignity of stewarding what belongs to him steward doesn't own it it belongs to the master we owe nothing we are stewards of everything so it was the stewards job to make sure the bills were paid it was a steward job to settle any disputes it was the stewards job to make sure that there was always food in the house everything that was necessary to running the household that's what the steward did now there was only one person's opinion that matters for the steward only one and that was the opinion of the master that's why Paul's does Paul says what he says next verse 3 he says but with me it was a very small thing that I should be judged by you what's Paul experiencing a lot of judgment and he says hey it's a small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court in fact I do not even judge myself then he adds this see I'm not aware of anything against myself he says if I were to judge myself III don't I'm not aware of anything that would condemn myself but here's the thing I'm not thereby acquitted so in other words it really doesn't even matter what I think about myself it is the Lord who judges me now listen carefully if you understand and embrace what Paul is saying here it will absolutely change your life because here's what Paul is doing he's giving you your true identity an identity is really powerful because identity will get you to do things you would otherwise never do and every single one of us is on a quest to find out who am I Who am I the way in which you answer that question will determine the course of your life and how you live it Who am I what is my identity and then you will get you to do things you would otherwise never do so a couple of weeks ago I shared the fact that you know I and I've said this before but growing up I had a speech impediment I had a list and every once in a while it still comes out you might hear a little bit of it today because I'm a little tired but when I was a kid in elementary school it was it was absolutely debilitating in fact it was it kept me from let me put it to you this way in elementary school very often I was a loner [Music] and the reason why was the loners because I was afraid to open up my mouth and and speak because it was obvious that I had this impediment and so it shaped Who I was but as I got older I was surrounded by Christians I was always accepted in my home but socially it was very different so when I got older I met some really kind Christian friends and they began to help me understand who I was in Christ and that I was acceptable exactly as I was and they modeled that and lived it out and that began to shape my identity not based on what other people thought of me but based on what God thinks of me and so your identity will get you to do things you would otherwise never doing so what I began to discover is that I had gifts talents and abilities that could be used to bless other people the ironic thing is that those gifts skills and abilities would require me to speak and I've told you guys before one of my personal heroes in the scriptures is this guy named Moses because God said to Moses you're gonna be my mouthpiece and remember Moses is response me me hey guy says yeah you you're the perfect guy because through your weakness clearly people are gonna see more of me it sound like they're gonna look at Moses to say what a great orator look at how gifted he is they're gonna look at Moses and say wow clearly God is behind him this is why pride is such a killer because when you are full of yourself it's very hard for God to fill you and use you and so your identity is so import because it will get you to do things you would otherwise never do now this is this identity issue I believe is the reason why Paul was an absolute savage for the gospel and for the kingdom because he allowed Jesus to form his identity it's not that he didn't care what other people think is that he cared most about what God thought why because he said I'm Stuart and there is a master and so that's why you can say to me it's really a small thing that you would judge me I don't even judge myself do you know how Frank that is is a human that's actually the way God created you to be free from that and to answer only to the master so you realize that Paul could lay down some serious street cred if he wanted to I was thinking about this he could say to the these Corinthians hey did the resurrected Jesus appear to you did he personally give you your mission in life no he did that for me so maybe you want to listen to what I have to say he doesn't do that he doesn't say how many churches have you planted he doesn't say you want to see the scars on my back how many times have you been whipped listen to me he doesn't do that why because to do that would be that to enter into the same arrogant space that the Corinthian believers were in so he's choosing his words carefully and he's simply saying that in comparison to what God thinks of me your opinion is very small therefore the pressures off so being God's servant I answer only to him now here are the implications verse 5 therefore stop literally into command and stop it stop your judgmental attitude stop pronouncing judgment before the time before what time before the Lord comes who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart then each one will receive his commendation from God so this is a throwback a nod to what he mentioned in chapter 3 where he said that every believer will stand before God and give an account for the way in which he or she has stewarded what God has entrusted to him or her why because God loves to honor the Honorable and God loves to reward those that have been faithful that's what that that entire section in chapter 3 is about and but alternatively we will regret not using what God has given us for his purposes specifically as Paul says it refers to a loss of rewards so let God be the judge we're not very good at it anyway we judge based on what we see and here's what we lack God's omniscient that is all-knowing perspective so let's let God be the judge quick story to illustrate how inadequate we are at this there's a young couple that moved into a new neighborhood the very next morning they're eating breakfast and the wife the young wife looks out the window and she sees a neighbor lady hanging clothes out to dry and she says to her husband look at how dirty those clothes are somebody really needs to teach her how to clean a couple days later they're eating breakfast again the young wife is looking out the window and the same thing happens the woman's out there and she's hanging her clothes and young woman says hi she needs to change the kind of soap she's usin her something she needs some help meanwhile her husband was absolutely silent and this went on for a couple of months until finally day they're eating breakfast and the wife looks out the window and she sees that the clothes are absolutely clean and she says wow either she changed soap or someone finally taught that woman how to clean clothes and her husband replies I woke up early this morning and cleaned our window we all have dirty windows we all have dirty windows you know the scripture says it like this you got to take that log out of your eye if you're gonna examine someone else's junk you got to clean up your own junk and work on it first you got to know how to judge rightly because when you see your own junk that tempers a lot it's not that we don't step into each other's lives and help each other learn and grow and admonish one another it's the way in which we do it realizing my window is dirty I better get my window cleaned up before I start looking through your window so we're not very good at it so Paul says stop stop judging so now they think this through there's some really profound and practical implications for you and me when is the last time you said this to yourself I deserve that promotion I deserve that recognition I deserve that house I deserve that car Paul says I don't even think that way I don't need that recognition because I know that the day is coming when my recognition is gonna come from God and man's recognition in comparison at best its misguided but it's so small so verse six I have applied all these things to myself and Apollo's for your benefit brothers this is how we see ourselves so that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written so that none of you may be puffed up there's the pride in favor of one against another Paul says don't go beyond what is written what's he saying here's what he's saying he's saying can we keep it biblical don't go beyond this right let's just keep it biblical because if we keep it biblical that's gonna be the cure for our pride for the dividing of ourselves the drawing of lines choosing sides and by the way you do understand that everybody can see your arrogance we're usually the last to see it pride is especially insidious because we're really good at spotting it in others and really bad and spotting it in ourselves I've told this story before but I love it story about a preacher who was really struggling with the pride in his life and so he thought what can I do to uproot it what can I do I need to humble myself so he says I know what I'm gonna do I'm gonna wear a sign and the sign is gonna say I am arrogant I am proud and I'm gonna wear it around and walk around the busiest intersection in the city and so that's where he does he makes a sign he puts on and he starts walking around the busiest intersection of his City and people are honking their horns and they're screaming at and then they're yelling at him it so it's credibly humbling experience and so after doing that for a full day he comes home he takes the sign off and he says wow that was so good for me that was so humbling and then his next thought is this you know I'll bet there's not another man alive who would do what I just did that's how insidious pride is and so Paul Paul really keeps things in such a great perspective hey who sees anything different in you can we just be real everybody sees your pride so a couple of questions what do you have that you did not receive if then you received it why do you boast as if you did not receive it in other words everything you have is given to you by God there's no room for boasting you didn't earn your salvation it's not like God looked down and said I really like Jason he's just a little bit better than that guy so I'm gonna choose him to be on my team there's none of that with these words you can sense at this point Paul is brilliant he's really beginning to sharpen the pencil because what he does next is this he's gonna reach down and make an attempt to rip out their pride by the root and in order to do that you got to stick the Spade underneath the soil and dig deep and rip it out and that's what he's about to do and the method he uses is very interesting couple weeks ago I said before warrant as we work our way through this letter at times Paul is very tender and at other times he's very tough sometimes he's he's a lamb sometimes he's a lion he's about to become very forceful in fact the method he uses to help them is through sarcasm now I've said before if you're under 40 years old don't try sarcasm don't try using it you'll mess it up but sarcasm can actually be a very effective tool in helping people see the absurdity and the ridiculousness of their actions behaviors and attitudes so he's about to give a very sarcastic review he's not he's not trying to belittle them or be condescending but he's trying to shake them out of their pride verse 8 so already you have all that you want already you have become rich you become Kings Howard would that you did range so that we we apostles might share the rule with you pulses you're right you're need us apostles you have everything that you need you're rich you are royalty oh and I wish you were Kings because it would be so great for us apostles to know Kings he goes on verse 9 for I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all like men sentenced to death because we have become a spectacle to the world to angels and to men so this is a really powerful work picture and we know this because the Greek word for spectacle this is the Actos which means we get our English word theater so here's what would happen back in the day conquering Kings would ride through the streets of their city and behind them in Chains would be prisoners of war their freedom was stripped their dignity was stripped and they would be paraded through the streets of the city as spectacles ultimately led to the theocracy or the theater where they would be made sport either fed to the wild beasts or they would be killed by gladiators Paul says you guys are Kings but we apostles we're like those guys have changed people make fun of us they laugh at us they lead us to our place of execution where they make sport of us and then we die so we are fools for Christ's sake but you you are wise in Christ your spiritual self assessment is favorable we're weak but you're the strong ones you are held in honor but we in disrepute to the present hour we hunger and thirst we are poorly dressed look at our clothes we're buffeted hey we don't even have homes we're homeless and we labor I mean listen it's hands to the or working with our own hands when reviled we bless when persecuted we endure when slandered we entreat that sounds an awful lot like the Sermon on the Mount we have become and we still are like the scum of the world the refuse of all things some ancient Greeks during times of plague and disease would take infective men and women out to sea and because the Greeks were extremely super superstitious they would take these infected men and women set them on the edge of the boat and they would cry out to their gods and they would say be our scum and then they would push these men and women overboard then they would drown in other words they were saying let these human sacrifices be on our behalf let them be our scum whatever animosity you have towards us may have fallen down our scum and they would cast him into the sea Paul says Christian that is how the world views us so the Corinthians would never dream of living such a life hungry thirsty poorly dressed buffeted without homes labouring reviled persecuted slandered scum of the earth these early Christians wanted to avoid those things at all cost so this week I'm studying this passage and I'm sitting at home typing on my computer surrounded by books surrounded by luxury straight-up by the world standards every person in this room lives a luxurious lifestyle it's not debatable most of the world's population lives on less than $2 a day we're not homeless we're wearing pretty nice clothes and so I began to to do I kind of began to think you know this is embarrassing and I think I too much want the affirmation and the respect of the world how about you know y'all need to work on your vulnerability I just jumped into that pit nobody jumped in there with me that's okay I even think at times even a little of the world confirmations too much for me because what it does is it causes a middle road and in that middle road there's a sense of respect and honor a little popularity a little reputation but we still want to remain close to God you know what that is that's actually an identity crisis so there's a lot here there's a lot for me personally and though the more I identify myself with Jesus Christ the more I see what God has for me and the more freedom I feel to be what God created me to be and the more I'm able to function as a steward with joy and the more I'm able to release the pressure and take off the mask because here's the thing I care very little what you think even my thoughts about myself don't matter that much it's what the master thinks and one day I'm gonna stand before the master and what I want to hear and what I want for you and by the way that's why I'm bringing this text you in the style that it was written I want for you you hear the same words I want to hear for myself and that is well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master because here's the thing there will be a great reversal and what was considered the scum of the earth will become God's absolute treasure and so we Christians we live in light of that day knowing our true identity father may it be so as we leave this place today god help us to remember who we are in you and that that would be such security and confidence we would step into that space unashamedly and advance your kingdom on all sides and as a part of this church this body strip us of our pride help us to realize that all we have comes from you you were the mastery of the students God thank you for the honor the dignity of being entrusted may we be found faithful and trustworthy all for your glory for your name and for your renowned we ask it in the name of your son Jesus Christ and God's people said amen

Channel: Illuminate Community

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Length: 31min 10sec (1870 seconds)

Published: Tue May 21 2019