Given By Rev Madison Shockley on June 3 2018
Today’s reading talks about going against the norms of society. To understand this reading, we must understand what was going on in Corinth during this time. Paul had established a Christian community in this bustling trade city. His vision was that this movement was for everyone, not just those who were already Jews. There is also a struggle over what Jesus coming into this world meant versus the Roman view of the world. The Roman view was very hierarchical. They believed that maintaining this hierarchy was essential to maintaining society as well as the empire itself. Paul preached that everyone was equal. There was no hierarchy. Many followers of early Christianity were people of power. They believed they would still maintain that power in this new movement. Some were trying to establish a hierarchy within the early church. This hierarchy has the pope as head, followed by the cardinals, bishops, priests, and then the people. Those that go against conventions of society were like pirates. Pirates have no allegiance to a government. They follow their own belief system. Paul was the founder of pirate Christianity. Members of Pilgrim are following these traditions of pirate Christianity. Translators of the Bible often replaced the word servant with slave. We do not serve God to be compensated. Servants get paid and can go off duty. Being a Christian, we are never off duty. During Paul’s time, the slave owners had to sit across the table from their slaves and treat them as equals. Our house of faith continues to try to make it one of inclusion. Our house of faith should be a model for how society should be. We must continue the fight to gain equality throughout society. We will win these battles because we have a hidden treasure, our faith. Just like Paul, we write letters calling for change. We will never stop fighting.
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