Sunday Message
January 23, 2005
Robert D Bohnsack
Text: Psalm 27:1, 4-9, 13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:0-18

Occasionally people will ask me if I get nervous preaching. Yes, I do get nervous preaching. You are standing before a bunch of people, and they are all looking at you. What shouldn't I be nervous about. After reading Saturday's edition of "Pearls Before Swine," one of my favorite comic strips, I don't feel quite so nervous about speaking before groups. Two of the characters, Rat and Pig, are talking.

Pig: I'm nervous. I have to give a speech in front of a lot of people.
Rat: Just remember everyone in that audience puts their pants on one leg at a time.
Pig: What? They don't jump from their bed and try to land both feet in the holes, missing over and over until they break both ankles and have to go pantless?
Rat: Who do you know that does that?
Pig: (standing before Rat with crutches and casts on both legs) I've heard stories. ¹

In 1979 I became a Dallas Cowboys' fan. I remember because my best friend, Peter Collins, was a Pittsburgh Steelers' fan. We watched Super Bowl XIII together. Peter rooted for Terry Bradshaw and the Steelers, so I rooted for Roger Staubach and the Cowboys. Even though the Cowboys lost an amazing game, 35 to 31, I was still absolutely committed to America's Team. I had a Dallas Cowboys' stocking cap, backpack, bike reflectors, and a prized shirt. The shirt had the number 33, Tony Dorsett's number, emblazoned on the chest and the shirt read, "Property of the Dallas Cowboys." I could not wait to wear that shirt. Putting on that shirt made my whole day special. It was as if Tom Landry, himself, had given it just to me. I really felt like I belonged to the Dallas Cowboys. I was part of the organization. My shirt did say, "Property of the Dallas Cowboys."

To whom do you belong? You might have shirt that says, "Property of the Ohio State Buckeyes," or "Property of the Cleveland Browns." We don't really think we belong to the Dallas Cowboys, the Buckeyes, or the Browns. You hope and pray you didn't belong to the University of Illinois football team last year, but you wouldn't mind being a part of this years Illini basketball team. Are they the #1 team in the nation?

To whom do you belong? Sometimes it feels like we belong to our jobs, our children's activities, homework, our snow shovels, our bills, the endless list of jobs around the house, or even our ambitions.

To whom do you belong? To Christ. (altogether) To whom do you belong? To Christ.

We belong to Christ not because we were baptized as infants, not because we were baptized in this sanctuary, not because we were baptized by Paul or Peter. We belong to Christ because in our baptism we are claimed and welcomed by God. We are God's.

It is does not matter if you were baptized in a gentle stream on your thirteenth birthday, or baptized in this sanctuary when you were three months old. It does not matter that you were baptized in the Baptist church, the Methodist church, or the Presbyterian church. God claimed and welcomed you. God welcomed you, a sinner. God welcomed each and every one of us knowing we needed his grace, and his loving redemptive power.

Paul tells us it is not enough to be baptized though. He is not attempting to minimize or deprecate baptism. ² For we do not wear baptism as a sign of difference or status. We wear it as a sign of our unity in Christ. We wear it as a calling. For those who are baptized are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

We can be united in many things in this life. We are united in nationality, purpose, community, homes, dreams, education, and vision. If you are a member of an athletic team you are united in winning. If you work for a for-profit business you are united in increasing profits. If you were a member of King Arthur's Knights of the Roundtable you were united in believing, "force ought to be used, if it were used at all, on behalf of justice, not on its own account." ³ "Might for Right." If you were a member of the Three Musketeers you were united in your motto, "all for one, one for all." If you were a member of Dr. Spock's family and a Vulcan you would be united in believing that "the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or even the one."

We are united in our baptism. We are united in our sinfulness. We are united in our need of grace. We are united in our proclaiming, "Jesus Christ is Lord." ⁴ Everything else has to be secondary to our unity in Christ. "Jesus Christ is Lord." For Jesus Christ is only things that is always more powerful than that which divides us. Christ chose us.

When you properly belong to Christ, or to God, then all other claimants either take on a proper secondary place or are removed from your life. ⁵

Paul writes in his letter to the church in Philipi:

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, bu to the interests of others. ⁶

Paul is not writing to the church in Corinth and instructing them to be unthinking drones. Paul is not saying that being a Christian means being identical to the person sitting next to you. Being a Christian does not mean we don't have disagreements, discussions, debates, and different opinions. Disagreements, discussions, debates, and different opinions are an important part of who we are as Presbyterians.

We, just as Paul and his fellow, evangelist, Appolos, all have special God-given gifts and talents. Paul and Appolos have different roles, gifts, and ways to contribute. As different as they are, they are still one in Christ. We have different roles, gifts, and ways to contribute. Some can sing and worship God through music. Others have a passion for the mission. Some proclaim the Lordship of Christ through their ministry with children.

Paul is warning us though. We can be different, but we cannot be divisive. We cannot be divided on the one thing that unites us. We cannot be divided on the cross. We cannot be divided on the cross that Christ willingly went to. We cannot be divided on the cross that stands for the whole story of Christ's death and resurrection. We cannot be divided over the grace and love that Christ brought through his life, death, and resurrection.

If we divide ourselves on those things then we drain, we empty, we demolish the power of the cross.

Everything we say and do must be done upon the foundation of our statement of faith, "Jesus Christ is Lord." ⁷

We, like Paul, are called to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We are called to evangelize. We are called to do that which has somehow gotten lost in our denomination. We have a whole Sunday, September 25, dedicated to that which we should be doing every day. It feels like we have surrendered the word, evangelism, to other church and groups. We would hardly describe ourselves as evangelical. That church with the rock band and powerpoint projector is evangelical. Those kids passing out pamphlets at the OSU game are evangelical.

We are evangelical and we are evangelists. We, people unified in Christ, are called to proclaim the good news. We are called to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom. That does not mean we are to abandon our Presbyterian way of doing things. Some criticize us for being too intellectual, or our liturgy is too high church. Others might try and tell us that if we had a powerpoint projector and a rock band we could evangelize. For some churches powerpoint projectors and rock bands are how they proclaim the gospel. That is O.K.

Paul proclaimed what he believed, what he loved, who he loved, and what he knew to be true. "Jesus Christ is Lord." Your sins are forgiven. The grace of Jesus Christ is offered to you. God welcomes you. Paul did not logically try to explain the gospel. Paul did not use the "eloquent wisdom" of his day to explain Jesus Christ. How do you explain the most irrational act in the history of the world? God gained nothing by claiming us.

If we, the baptized, are not unified in the proclamation of gospel in every way we know how then we are emptying the cross of its power.

We are the bearers of the Great Commission:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ⁸



1. Pastis, Stephan. "Pearls Before Swine" Saturday, January 22, 2005.
2. New Interpreter's Bible, Vol X. p807.
3. White, T.H. "The Once and Future King." Ace Books, New York. 1965. p636.
4. 1st Corinthians 12:3, NRSV.
5. New Interpreter's Bibe 1., Vol X. p809.
6. Philippians 2:1-4, NRSV.
7. 1st Corinthians 12:3, NRSV.
8. Matthew 27:19-20, NRSV.