Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Richard Davenport February 12, 2023 - 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 6th Sunday after Epiphany I remember back when Paul was a newborn, we as new parents had to learn a lot about what it takes to feed a baby. I knew basically nothing about this, other than there are the general options: breastmilk and formula. I discovered that even with just those two options there are a number of variations. You can vary how often you feed your baby and what prompts you to do so, whether you feed on a strict schedule or wait for the baby to look for it. With breastmilk you can also vary whether the baby nurses directly or whether you use a bottle. You can also choose how long to go before introducing solid foods. After that, you can get even more variations. Some parents will stick to a set schedule as to when to introduce solid foods. Others will look for certain cues from the child. You probably do your introductions so pretty slowly, trying a food or two at a time. If that goes well, then you can start adding more and more of the basic baby foods, thick, pasty cups of squash, carrots, or apples, and all of the rest. Somewhere around the 1 year mark you'll probably have them weaned completely and won't need to breastfeed or use formula anymore. Your baby will be skilled at eating, more or less, and is able to get all of the nutrition they need from normal food. Soon enough your baby will start using utensils on their own and will be exploring the wonders of bananas, spaghetti, macaroni, and all sorts of other things. Obviously, no system works perfectly. Some allowances always have to be made because every baby is different. Some have sensitive digestive systems that require you to go a lot more slowly. Sometimes a baby may have a lot of food allergies that make introducing new foods a lot more difficult. Other babies start looking for solid food earlier. They may not get weaned earlier, but they're exploring other foods before the average baby might. It may not be completely surprising, but the standard plan most people tend to follow isn't the only school of thought out there. There are some mothers out there, not very many, but a few, who decide to breastfeed their child much long, sometimes much, much longer. It could be that they think of the health benefits to the child as being worth it. It could be that the mother/child bond that comes from nursing is too valuable to let go. Whatever the reasoning is, some children end up breastfeeding for years, some even go five or six years and maybe longer. These mothers are often proud of what they are doing for their child and aren't ashamed at all to admit their child still breastfeeds well past what would normally be expected. What is best for the child? That's the question at the heart of all of this figuring. What program will end up with the healthiest, most well-adjusted child? Some options might be limited based on how the child acts or if other health concerns arise that are outside of your control. Within the options available to you, you are free to plot out a course you believe will be best for your child. St. Paul ends up doing this quite a bit with the church as well. Paul is a bit of a father figure as he travels about to different locations trying to spread the gospel and establish the church in new places. As an apostle, he is charged with raising newborn Christians, men and women who have been born again through water and the Spirit. The Gospel is a new and foreign idea. That God might become a man to die for the sins of the world isn't something anyone would come up with on their own, much less believe in. The Spirit works through the word that Paul preaches and brings faith to these new believers. Now Paul, also by the guidance of the Spirit, has to determine how best to help them grow in that faith. Each church is made up of different people in different circumstances. One church may suffer terrible oppression and need reassurance that God is truly with them. Another might be very prosperous and need direction in how to use their wealth in a God-pleasing way. What is true of each church is also true of each Christian. Each has different needs and different problems and Paul has to attend to them all as best he can. There's some guidance for us there as we deal with other congregations and other Christians. Each is in a different place in life. Most of us here are lifelong Christians. Most of us were baptized as infants and have been a part of the church ever since. Not all Christians are like that. Though the Gospel is transformative and gives a person a new identity as they are claimed by their Father as one of his own children, that doesn't mean the new child of God completely understands what that means. It's quite a learning process to go from unbelieving sinner to Christian. Believing that God forgives your sins on account of Christ's sacrifice is just the start. There's a whole new life to live that sets aside sin and seeks after God's righteousness. As we all know, that isn't a quick or easy process. When Luther talks about daily drowning our old sinful natures, the old Adam, in baptism it is because it's something that we are constantly having to do. The only day we will have that is completely free from sin is the first one we have in God's future kingdom. Until then, sin is a daily battle, even more so for those who are just learning to set it aside. That means we have a part to play in helping other Christians to learn what it means to live as a disciple of Christ. Helping others is just part of being a Christian in general. Helping other Christians to be better Christians is especially appropriate. Teaching Christians about living righteous lives and encouraging them to do so is a direct way to build up God's kingdom here on earth. That's a helpful attitude to have, but it wasn't really what was on St. Paul's mind as he penned this letter to the church in Corinth. He wasn't telling them how to treat other, less mature, Christians. He was talking about them directly. They were the ones who were immature and weren't ready for more substantial meals. They were choosing to subsist on baby food and were happy with where they were at in their faith. That was why their church was full of petty squabbles and bickering. They have divided up into factions, each claiming to follow a different apostle or evangelist, as if that somehow makes them holier than others. No, it was past time for them to move on and set their childishness behind them. They needed to grow in their faith and St. Paul chastises them for their pettiness and their resistance to growing up. It's easy to be a child. You don't have to think as hard. You don't have to work as hard. You don't have as many responsibilities. You can just continue from day to day doing what you've always been doing. You don't have to learn more. You don't have to do more. You don't have to be any better tomorrow than you are today. Whether you're a physical child, new to the world and trying to make sense of what's going on around you, or whether you're a spiritual child, new to the faith and newly baptized, the intention is for you to grow up, to become an adult. Baby food is good and healthy. It builds a foundation that will serve you for the rest of your life. But it is only the beginning. It isn't healthy to stay on baby food forever. You have to grow up. For Christians, the baby food is the basics of salvation. That we are all sinners and need God's forgiveness and are forgiven through Christ's death and resurrection is about the most basic thing there is. That's what defines our lives and the source of comfort we return to every day. I sin every day, but every day I can come to God for forgiveness. Without this, the rest of our faith is meaningless. We can be assured of God's mercy and love and because of his promise to us, whatever sins we may have in our past are forgiven when we bring them to Christ. This is what every newborn Christian believes and the vital foundation our new lives are built on. But staying there, never learning or considering anything more, is the same as eating baby food for the rest of your life. It isn't healthy. It won't help you grow the way you are supposed to. It will end up being harmful and may be the reason why you eventually fall away from the faith altogether. From health to sickness, life to death. Just like a baby that never learns to eat solid food and function like an adult, it is stunted and sickly. The food it is used to stops sustaining it and it withers and dies. The Lord has so much to show you and teach you. There are so many things about your life and this world that he wants you to know and appreciate. He has created a life of righteousness for you, a life that leads to joy everlasting. He has given you an entire book that details the intricacies of his love for you. He wants to show you how to put your faith into action and to help you fit into the world he has made. He wants you to grow up and be an adult who can live as he intended and who can help others to grow and mature in their own faith as well. He can show you your purpose in life as you walk about in the world he has made. He can direct you in your vocation, whether in the family or on the job. He can structure your relationships so they build up instead of tear down. He can show you all of the many, many ways he loves you, provides for you, protects you, and guides you in this life and into the next. All of this starts with salvation. Christ's love gives us the foundation we need to live. But the Spirit's wisdom continues it, through baptism, communion, regular worship and Bible study, devotions, and prayer. All are there to take that salvation, that new birth you have been given and make it a part of every aspect of your life, to truly live out what God has given you, so that you will grow healthy and strong in your faith and ready to greet Christ when he returns.