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February 9, 2003
5th Sunday after the Epiphany
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Pastor Ben Berger

You've Got Rights!

You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney. You have the right to abort an unborn child. You have the right to worship the god of your choice. You have the right to worship God according to your preferences. Where does it stop? Living in America affords you many rights. In fact, having rights is one of the premier reasons to live in America and don't you dare try to infringe upon my rights. Today the apostle Paul tells us that in addition to the rights your government provides, your God also furnishes you with some rights. You've God Rights 1) to boast and/or 2) to serve as a slave.

Of course, when Paul first wrote these words, he was writing to the congregation in Corinth. Let me tell you a little about that congregation. Maybe you'll be able to relate. First of all, the Greek culture loved philosophy. It encouraged people to think on their own and come up with their own ideas about God and who he is. Sex dominated society and even infiltrated many of the religions. The Corinthian congregation itself had many problems. Cliques - all kinds of them. Scandal - a man was sleeping with his mother and no one was saying anything. Boasting - the strong ignored the weak and demanded others to "do it their way;" every one wanted to worship the way he liked. They all thought that they had rights and they were ready to use them to their advantage. They boasted about their rights. (Sound familiar?)

Then Paul stepped in. He said, "You want to talk about rights. I have rights too. Remember, I brought the gospel to you. I gave up my life to bring the gospel to you. I have the right to earn a living from you. If you want to talk about your rights and what you think you have coming to you, let me tell you what you owe me." Then Paul stopped, took a deep breath and said, "But I have not used any of these rights," (1 Co 9:15). This was Paul's right to boast.

The Corinthians boasted about what they had; Paul boasted about what he had to offer. The Corinthians boasted about their rights, Paul boasted about not using his rights. "Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward: Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it," (vv16-18).

Like the Corinthians, Paul had the gospel, but he didn't boast about that. He even preached the gospel, but he couldn't boast about that. He couldn't boast about preaching the gospel because he didn't sign up to become a missionary; God told him that's what he would be. If he had volunteered, that would have been a different story. Now, when he preached the gospel, he was just doing what he was told. But, along with preaching came the right to get paid. Paul did not accept this reward and that was his boast.

Do you understand the point Paul was trying to make to these people? "I can boast about what I have (as you do), or I can boast about giving what I have to others. Now he is making that point to you.

You have something to boast about. You have that gospel. Like the Corinthians, you have something that most of the world around you doesn't have. You are a very small percentage of people in the world who know Jesus Christ. You are a very small group that has and actually uses God's word. That's something to boast about. Along with that right to boast come many other rights. You have the right to worship God according to your preferences. You have the right to educate your children in your own school. You have the right to establish programs that build up each other. You have the right to plan events that foster friendship and fun among yourselves. But…do you realize that you have another right as well? Another reason to boast?

Rather than boasting about what you have, you can boast about what you offer to others. Now I'm not saying that you would give up everything you have. You don't have to stop worshipping God or educating your children or building up each other or having fun and friends among yourselves. I'm simply suggesting that you widen the audience. Maybe you could offer worship to a group with different preferences. Maybe you could offer to educate someone else's children; plan programs with the needs of the community in mind; plan events for the neighborhood. In other words, you could boast about offering the gospel to those who are not yet part of your group.

Why would you do that? Well, you could offer what you have because you have it. You can preach the gospel because you know the gospel. And you could preach the gospel because you know the value of having it. You know that once you were without a Savior, without Jesus Christ. Even if you don't remember it, you feel the threat of hell knocking at your door every time you sin. You can't imagine life without Christ anymore. You treasure the forgiveness of sins he has given you through his death on the cross. You would never give up the place in heaven he has reserved for you. You know that what you possess in Christ is priceless. You could boast about your prized possession. Or you could share it and let that be your satisfaction.

You've got the right to boast. If you give up that right, then you've got the right to serve as a slave.

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone," (v 19a). Paul declared his freedom. Along with him every Christian can do the same. Every Christian, the Corinthians, Paul, you and I can all declare freedom. We are first and most importantly free from sin, death and the devil. Jesus' perfect life and innocent death have freed us. He has removed our sin along with its curse of eternal hellfire. The devil no longer has the power to accuse us; when he tempts us, we can resist him. And death? What death? We will all awake from death to live forever in heaven.

Secondly, we are all free from each other. You've got rights. The Jews in Corinth had the rights to keep their Old Testament laws. The Gentiles in Corinth had a right to eat whatever meat they wanted. Paul had the right to get paid for his work. He had the right to earn a living from his work. You have all kinds of rights to.

You have rights in worship: Every week you can sing songs from this book. Every week you can sing to the organ. Every week you can hear three readings and chant a psalm. Every week you can listen to a man speak from up there. Every week you can do what is familiar to you.

You have rights in education. You can open a school set up for your children. You can offer Bible classes appealing to your thoughts and ideas. You can teach and learn in ways familiar to you.

You have rights in service, fellowship and recreation. You can serve each other, make friends with each other and have fun with each other - all in ways familiar to you.

The rest of our text tells us that the apostle Paul gave up his rights; he gave up his freedom. He made use of his right to serve as a slave. What Paul did was adapt himself to his audience. To the Jews, he became as a Jew. To those under the law, as one under the law. To those without the law (the Gentiles or non-Jews), as one without the law. To the weak, as one who is weak. Now I could go through each one of those and explain how Paul might possibly have become all those different things to all those different people, but I'll let Paul summarize for himself. "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some," (v. 22). Let's just realize that Paul gave up his rights.

You can do the same. I know that some of you prefer that I preach from up there, and I won't be surprised to hear it later on. I know that most of you enjoy the organ and traditional hymns. I know that most of you appreciate the familiar way we worship. But, what if at another time we offered worship of a different sort. Preacher out of the pulpit, piano or guitar or drums, songs from a praisebook. You don't have to come; you can still come to what you prefer; you have that right. But would it be OK for someone else to prefer something different. What if we offered Bible classes to meet the needs of the community, which is full of non-Christians or weak Christians? What if we aggressively marketed and opened our school to the unchurched? What if we planned service projects and fun friend-making events for the neighborhood? You would have to learn about these different groups of people and come up with ideas to serve them, but first let me ask. Would it be OK to do something other than what you prefer? Would you be willing to give up your freedom and to serve as a slave?

Before you answer, I think you should know why Paul was willing to do such things. Two reasons. First - "I make myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible…I have become all things to all me so that by all possible means I might save some," (vv. 19,22). Paul never ever ever changed the message of the gospel. He only changed its presentation so that as many as possible might hear and believe. Isn't that a good reason to serve as a slave? Second - "I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings, (v23). Paul did not want to distort or depreciate the gospel. He only wanted to share in its blessings and then share those blessings with others. Isn't that also a good reason to serve as a slave?

You've got rights. You can boast. What you boast about is up to you. You could boast about your freedom or you could boast about serving as a slave. I pray that the Holy Spirit would give us all servant hearts ready to proclaim the gospel in its truth and purity in whatever form best communicates to those around us.