A Note from Pastor

Call to Moses

”For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).

With these words Paul reminds the saints in Corinth, those who participate in Christ and have been given His Spirit, that his ministry did not rest on human strength or wisdom, but on Christ’s death for us. With these words, we continue our exploration of the opening chapters of 1 Corinthians (2:1-16) and our Epiphany Calling as God’s people.

Before the age of Twitter, memes, ten-second soundbites or commercial jingles, the role of the rhetorician and the importance of sophisticated arguments and logical thinking were the order of the day. Paul does not throw out the art of thinking in his singular focus on Jesus Christ and Him crucified, but he does recognize the limits of our natural ability to know the mind of God, His plans, and how and why He does what He does. This knowledge is beyond our human ability to grasp or understand. Yet, this is the very message that the Cross reveals. This is the very argument and logic that defeats our endless divisions. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the antidote in
solving the virus of our divisions, because His death is the end of the most damning division ever crossed – our separation from God on account of our Sin. Even though Jesus fulfilled the will of the Father, Jesus suffered hell for us. While His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit is indivisible, still He was ripped out of that perfect unity that our divisions would be healed.

Do we see division in the world, in the church or in our own lives today? Do we experience the pain and influence that these divisions have over us? These are only signs that we are still in the flesh and in need of our Savior’s work in our lives. Yes, we need Jesus and His forgiveness won for us on the Cross to bring an end to our divisions. As the Epiphany of Jesus Christ and Him crucified brings to our lives the forgiveness we need, may God make our Epiphany calling, our Epiphany living an invitation to others to know His forgiveness.