I Corinthians 5

“Brotherly Love: Part 1”

Sermon by

Mark A. Horne

As I said last week, we begin a transition today from what we have been studying in this letter by Paul. He wrote the Corinthians a lengthy discussion on Wisdom and Divisions in the Church that covered chapter 1 verse 10 through chapter 4 verse 21. Where we pick up in chapter 5 is where Paul addresses some serious issues for the Corinthians. Here is where we begin looking at certain issues or questions that Paul seems to have already addressed to them one time before or needs to be addressed now, in this letter.

Let’s read together!

Listen to a few paragraphs of some recent news articles:

In July 1991, in Louisiana, a so-called “Christian” teenager who wanted the thrill of killing a black person murdered a black youth at Saint John Baptist Church.

On November 8, 1994, Dr. Garson Romalis was shot in his Vancouver home. On November 10, 1995 Dr. Hugh Short was shot in his Hamilton, Ont. home. While both Abortion clinic doctors survived, pro-choice supporters fear the attacks were linked. Their concerns are heightened by the calculated terrorist attacks advocated in the “Army of God,” the so-called underground bible of the extremist anti-abortion movement.

Article from 3/28/02: In a message that seems more intent in giving absolution to their church than cooperation to police, two high-ranking Catholic officials have promised a change in the way they deal with priests accused of child molestation.

Guilty aren’t they. You can hear it in the secular news reports themselves, “these ‘so-called’ Christians did wrong. They are guilty of breaking the law.” And as Christians, we know that they are not only guilty of breaking criminal law; but they are also guilty of breaking God’s law. What does the church do with such people? How should we handle situations that are obviously wrong, not only in the sight of mankind, but more so in the light of God’s Word? Paul deals with these questions with the Corinthians. However he not only makes it clear about what should happen to the guilty party, he also sheds through the light of Christ the guilt we have as onlookers to such perverted ways of life.

We will see Paul’s intent by looking at our passage in four points:

1.     We need to mourn over a Christian brother’s sin that brings dishonor to the name of Jesus and his church.

2.     We need to provide a true act of love for our brother, that of discipline.

3.     We need to purge ourselves of our own impurities in our hearts and lives.

4.     We need to part company with the one who calls himself a brother in Christ and does not live like a Christian should.

I

We need to mourn over a Christian brother’s sin that brings dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ and his church. In verses 1-2 we see that Paul, right from the beginning, brings out the Corinthian’s part that they played in this humiliating scandal going on within the church.

Notice in verse 1 that this is not just any common adulterous affair. This is one that even the Gentiles regard as heinous and very bad. Even the Greek and Roman pagans consider it a crime. This would be like the headlines I just read to you. Not only are we shocked because the name of Christ has been attached these people who have done such terrible crimes in our eyes, but even those in the secular world are in disgust that such a crime has even been committed. What was going on in the Corinthian church was shocking to every person. And not only that it was so detestable to them that it was being circulated all over the region and became very well known. It would be like our newspapers and television. It wasn’t a matter that we would see in the tabloids. It was a well-known fact. So well known that Paul learns about it in Ephesus. Some people may think that the church is safe from scandal, but we know from history and especially this verse that isn’t so. Even the best churches are in a state of imperfection and are liable to corruption.

What does the Corinthian church do in verse 2? They glory. They are proud of what this man did! Paul is telling them, “Look! Look at yourselves! Are you not ashamed for what this person did with the name of Jesus attached to his? You are not accused because one in your number has sinned. You are accused because you encouraged a man who is committing a crime of severest punishment.” As Christians, we have no right to glory in anything because we have nothing of our own. It is only by the grace of God that we have any excellence. And then to glory in a sin: this is even more disgraceful. As Christians we should mourn over our brothers and sisters who are in sin. We should feel hurt because of one who is apart of our communion has fallen. We should feel hurt because the Church of Jesus Christ has been polluted. Calvin says the Church has “contracted a stain of disgrace… and that it is the duty of every Christian to mourn over the faults of individual members.”

II

Because the Corinthians did not mourn over their brother, because they gloried in him instead, they did not provide a true act of love that they should have: that of discipline.  In verses 3-5 Paul gives to them direction how they should have proceeded with the brother in sin. Notice the difference in this passage and what we learned about last week in disciplining and being disciplined. Last week we learned as Christians to help each other and hold each other accountable for the ways we act and the things we say. In our passage today, Paul admonishes the whole Corinthian church for their misuse of authority over such wicked sinner. Paul has moved from teaching them about basic accountability, to the power the church has in holding its members accountable. Paul has moved from an individual one-on-one discipline, to group discipline.

We sometimes forget that whatever the fault there is within the church, it can correct or remove that fault by strictness of discipline. Paul tells his church that they are allowing too much to go on before taking action in protection. They had long needed to cast out the sinner who is putting such disgrace on Christ’s name. He says in verse 3 that he is not even there and the evidence is clear that a judgment should have been made. A disease that was present with them before their eyes, everyday, has affected them and yet they still did nothing.

But I want you to notice something important that Paul does in verse 4. Even though the evidence is clear that this sinner needs to be disciplined, and Paul himself has made a decision, his decision is not the final one. Though Paul has taken the lead to show the Corinthian church their infallibility, he still consults with them. He has consulted with them and the matter is to be handled now by common authority. The authority does not belong to one individual alone. As Presbyterians, we take this passage serious. We have a body that handles such matters whom we appoint ourselves called Elders. And it is imperative that these men exercise this authority with care. Because in a situation like Paul talks about here, and if the situation arises like the Catholic church has been dealing with recently; our elders have the responsibility to protect first and foremost the name of Christ from disgrace, and second the name of His church, and third the salvation of the sinner.

You see in verse 5, the discipline of the sinner hopefully will lead to his eternal salvation. You may be asking, “well how can turning him or her over to Satan lead to eternal salvation?” My answer: I don’t know? What I can say is this. When we are received into the communion of the Church, and remain in it under the condition that we are under the protection and guardianship of Jesus – if we are cast out as Paul explains here; then we are an alien again. We have been delivered into the power of Satan. And God somehow uses Satan to destroy that fleshly desire. He uses him to soften the heart. The person is not totally ruined and given up by God for eternal destruction.  The person is not cast out of the kingdom, no board of elders had the right to do that, but by the power God has given them – they can be used with Satan to preserve that life for eternity. And we know that God uses Satan, even for the purpose of causing righteous men to grow. Remember Job?

III

On a flip side of a coin, when a true act of love is being given to such an individual, something else needs to occur. We need to purge ourselves of our own impurities in our hearts and lives. In verse 6-8 Paul exhorts the Corinthians to purity. They thought everything they had and did was golden, but Paul is quick to show them that there was much wickedness and disgrace among them.

He shows them in verse 6 how destructive this can be. Not only can one individual be affected by any corruption, but the whole congregation, even the whole multitude of believers can be affected. For the love of our brother we need to purge ourselves from all impurity of heart and life. Wicked leaven sours the mind to a great degree.

Verses 7 and 8 show us the reason Paul wants this to be clear. Christ is our Passover. We have been made new in Him, as Romans 6:6 illustrates. Holiness is what Christ has accomplished in us. He made a great sacrifice so we could be invited for the sacred feast. As the sprinkling of blood was the means by which Israel had to be reconciled to God; our reconciliation occurs with Christ continually and forever.

This continual purging is in our asking forgiveness for our sins. How can we make a judgment on another if we ourselves are not pure? How can we be sincere to love our brother with discipline if we do not look at our own hearts and the sin within it? This can be illustrated with the story of The Wooden Bowl.

The Wooden Bowl

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table, but the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating very difficult for him. Peas rolled off his fork onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in law soon became very irritated with the mess. “We must do something about grandfather,” said the son. “I’ve already had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and all that food on the floor!”

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed the dinner. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served with a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?”

Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am making a little wooden bowl for you and Mama to eat your food when I grow up and you grow old.” The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

          Yes disciplining another’s sin can be tricky business when one’s own sin has not been admonished.

IV

          Finally, as verse 9-13 clearly illustrate, we as Christians need to part company with those who call themselves Christians but blatantly live a life of sin. We need to avoid all familiarity with them, for they might bring shame upon the name of Jesus. Paul is warning them here. There are people, as this one whom Paul thinks should be cast out of their church, who claim the name of Jesus Christ yet are not Christian brothers and sisters. This man may have been apart of the group who was causing divisions among them. Who knows? But what Paul tells them is not new. Jesus himself warns his disciples of such con artist in Matthew 7:21-23. People like this are only fit for companions of sin and hardship.

          However, notice in verses 10-11 that Paul is not calling the Corinthians to total exclusion from the world nor should we seek total exclusion. The call is not to be out of the secular world. We are not to avoid functioning only among other Christians. We are to be in the world. That is where we are called to go: in our streets, neighborhoods, grocery stores, and jails. We are not to avoid people in these places. These are whom we witness to. These are not the people Paul is saying to avoid. Don’t misinterpret the passage. The passage is saying avoid those who say they are your brother but are misrepresenting Jesus Christ. The church father Chrysostom says this, “for we must live among thorns so long as we sojourn on earth. This only do I require, that you do not keep company with fornicators, who wish to be regarded as bretheren, lest you should seem by your sufferance to approve of their wickedness.”

          We, as Christians are to uphold the discipline the church administers to those who calls themselves Christians but do not live in such a way. But we can’t go overboard and say we will not associate with any sinner, for that is not possible. We are all sinners and we are to witness to sinners. We are not to tolerate blatant wickedness under the name of Christ. Yet, we are to be examples of Christ to the world in which we live. For as verses 12 and 13 state, we are only concerned with what happens inside the church. Christ will be the judge of all, both inside and outside the church.

          Discipline is a hard endurance but it is apart of our sanctification and perseverance. It is produces freedom like we can’t even imagine:

Oh Lord! The darkness is so deep!

My God, the mountains look so steep!

“Oh my child, focus on your goal,

It is the healing of your soul.”

Oh Lord, I bruise so easily,

Whenever suffering touches me!

“Look to me, I’ll make you whole,

I shall restore your crumbling soul.”

Oh Lord! I’m so afraid to say

My sin looks bigger everyday!

“Just trust Me child, & you’ll be whole,

It’s just the softening of your soul.”

Anoint me Lord, with oil from thee!

Reveal my flesh so I’ll be free.

“Ah. My child, you’ve seen the goal,

Now I will heal your soul.”

Thank you, Lord, for suffering

Thank you always, You’re my King.

I’ll sing from valley, rock and knoll,

Thank you for Freedom in my Soul!

Let Us Pray: Our Heavenly Father, thank you for your word that you give us to show us how wretched we really are. Thank you for your love for us and the love you produce in each one of your children so that we will be sure to take care of one another. Help us Lord with our endeavors to be examples in this world. Help those whom you have called as leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ make right decisions and judge fairly only in the light of Jesus. Help all of us, O Lord, not to get ourselves caught in the midst of such wrongdoing that your name will be tarnished and that of your church as well. Most of all, O Lord, keep us folded in your arms of love all the days of our life. In Jesus’ most precious name, Amen.