1 Corinthians 9:1-18 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since 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 full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
Paul’s ministry in Corinth is primarily to Greeks but there are also others such as the Jews who are reading this letter. All of them are knowledgeable that priests and their helpers in various temples receive remuneration for their services to the people. Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? Now he and Barnabas are having to work in their community for basic necessities such as food, even while they are providing the Corinthians with the Good News about God’s salvation plan through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. These Christians owe Paul a lot, for they are now NEW CREATURES in and through their faith in Jesus Christ. They are born-again in the Kingdom of God because of Paul and Barnabas' missionary work within Cornith. Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! Even though Paul was not with Christ during Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Corinthians’ conversions to Christ validate that he is a true apostle in the church of the Living God. You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. Paul knows the Corinthian church is remiss in not providing for him and Barnabas. Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? Even if they question his apostleship, they know they are new creatures because of his ministry of the Good News to them. He asked them a question, If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? Of course, the obvious answer is that it is not too much for him and Barnabas to receive remuneration for their service to the Corinthian church, but Paul is content to let this issue slip by uncontested for he does not want anything to interfere with the purity of the gospel and its presentation. I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast, which is, I have offered the Good News to the Corinthians free of charge, not demanding my rights as an apostle to be taken care of in my daily needs for survival. Paul may boast in his flesh, but in the spirit, he cannot boast, for he is just fulfilling the purposes of God to save many for God's kingdom. He is compelled by God to preach the Good News. And, unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. (Psalm 127:1) What Paul is doing is God’s work, not his.
We know Paul’s life after his conversion was a very stormy life. Few of us would wish to take on Paul’s troubled life as our own assignment. We know Paul traveled many tiring and difficult miles in his missionary journeys. Often in these various communities where he ministered, he worked as a tentmaker for survival. In Cornith he worked with Priscilla and Claudius. He was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (Acts 18:3-4) Paul’s life was in danger in and out of cities, but he was faithful in serving the will of God at all times, going from city to city preaching the gospel regardless of the dangers. He served God with the integrity and purity of an apostle. We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2 Corinthians 6:3-10). Often, I am sure Paul thought his life would end tragically. Maybe he thought himself at times as dispensable, as those who lived by faith but lost their lives in tragic circumstances. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:35-38) But Jesus was always in the boat with Paul. We are sure that there were times in Paul’s journeys where he thought it was all over, that his life would end soon, taken by violent men who were adverse to Paul’s preaching of the Good News. Even though he knew Jesus was with him, for he was following what Jesus had commanded on the road to Damascus, he probably sometimes felt the fear the apostles felt when their boat was going to capsize, killing all of them. Teacher, don’t you care if we drown? (Mark 4:38) Surely when he was stoned at Lystra, left for dead, he probably questioned God, don’t you care? Paul was designed to hunt down souls for Christ, so no adversity was too much for Paul. He was willing to die, any time and any place. It is one thing to die in bed in a warm house and another thing to die on the cold ground as people are throwing stones at you until your body stops moving. But Paul was following a God who created all things and nothing was created outside of God. This God was bigger than the adversities Paul faced; He was bigger than death; He was life itself, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. He was not going to back off, seek an easier life. No, he was fully committed to serving God with his one life given to him to live. Even though despised by many people, God had elevated him for this purpose from the beginning of Paul’s life. God chose him to be a servant to redeem men and women from their lost condition of being bound in sin. On the road to Damascus, Paul was compelled by God to spread the Good News to the Gentiles. And that is what he did, all the way to Rome where he died by violence. He was faithful to the end. Although in his mind he probably thought at times, don’t you care?
Paul as a former rabbi lived the life of Psalm 23 in his journey with Christ. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23) Don’t you care, Lord, about my life? Yes, our partners in the Lord, the Lord cares, and He knows the struggles you are enduring. Jesus cried at Lazarus' gravesite. He sorrowed over the many vicissitudes that people experience in life, death itself. God cared dearly for Paul and his life. He knew what Paul was going through every minute of Paul’s life. He knew the fear and anxiety Paul felt in and out of the cities. God was aware of the criticisms and harsh words that Paul often heard against him. God saw Paul’s enemies violent behavior; their actions to kill him, their hatred when they addressed Paul in threatening circumstances. God knew it all, and He pushed Paul on and on to different communities, to different trials, but Paul knew the Lord was his shepherd and that he lacked nothing. When you have the Holy Spirit in your life, you lack nothing. Paul lacked nothing, we lack nothing. Children of the living God lack nothing, but that does not mean our lives are always in green pastures. Sometimes the rocks in life pierce our souls. However, in every circumstance we wear the priestly robes of the children of God. We are the temple of the living God. As God has said,“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (1 Corinthians 6;16) Paul lived by faith; God taught him about faith after his conversion. He had the assurance that God was with him regardless of his experiences. Yes, he would feel the emotions of the flesh, but he would always fix his mind on God and his deliverance. Someday Paul knew that he would enter into the presence of the living and eternal God. Our friends around this breakfast table, Paul was a holy priest, and we are like the priests in the Old Testament. The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites. (Numbers 8:20) God himself is our inheritance. We strive to know God and to live in his presence forever. We are known as children of God who are IN CHRIST through Jesus’ work on the cross. We are ONE WITH GOD BECAUSE WE ARE ONE WITH CHRIST. God is our inheritance. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9) As Paul did, take on the mantle of light, regardless of your circumstances in life. He experienced good times and bad times, but in all times his faith in Christ stood the test of time. We who are IN CHRIST must recognize who we are all of the time. We are the royal priests in the household of God. Let our lives shine with the glory of God and let us be salt to the world. Paul is a good example for us to follow as we follow Christ.
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