I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it

Psalm [120], 121, 122, 123 • Psalm 124, 125, 126, [127]
Zech. 11:4-17 • 1 Cor. 3:10-23 • Luke 18:31-43

I am writing this reflection on November 2, the day before the elections. I don’t need to start this early, but I’m looking for anything to do that will keep my mind off of worrisome things. So here goes.

It’s quite possible that in the young church at Corinth, strife within the larger society contributed to the internal conflicts that Paul warns church members about. (Corinth was a hodgepodge of cultures and beliefs.) The Corinthians’ arguments probably weren’t just about church leaders named Paul, Apollos, and Cephas. They may also have stood for conflicting values and ways of seeing the world. Using metaphors from agriculture and building construction, Paul writes to remind the Corinthians that he, who had established their church, “laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it.”

Like the Corinthian Christians, we at St. Paul’s have experienced a transition in leadership, with Evan following Lowell, and both following in a long line of rectors who worked with foundations they did not build. Like all good Episcopalians, we may disagree with one another about exactly how worship and business are to be conducted (insert your favorite Episcopalian joke here) and perhaps even claim the authority of either Lowell or Evan in our defense. But these matters don’t really divide us.

Well, there was that business with the Moses-length beard, but that passed quickly. 😊

Today, American society is divided in ways that haven’t been seen since the late-nineteenth century, when national politics threatened to become lethal for the second time in a decade. Mercifully, we at St. Paul’s are not that divided, but we cannot escape completely the tensions and disagreements all around us, even (especially?) when those we disagree with are also Christians.

In First Corinthians Paul has a helpful last word for us: “So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”

Written by Bob McMath

I find hope as well as challenge in remembering that in the Eucharist we are instructed to offer prayers of intercession for “the Nation and all in authority.”