Sermon Tone Analysis
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Today we are finishing 1 Corinthians 7. Paul has been answering questions that the Corinthian believers had about marriage.
As we worked through the passage, we saw that there is application for the principles that Paul taught them for all of us.
Where Paul told couples to live in consideration of one another, and not for themselves, we saw that the same principle applies in all relationships.
When Paul told those who were unmarried to that they are able to focus on living a righteous life in full devotion to the Lord, we saw that the same principle truly applies to all of us.
Last week, when Paul told married couples that they should not seek divorce, but rather they should seek to follow the Lord’s commands, we talked of how this applies in all situations.
We also saw how remaining faithful in marriage is to reflect the Lord’s faithfulness, in spite of His people leaving Him for others.
And, oh how thankful we can be that the Lord is so faithful!
Well, we were unable to finish last week, so today we are completing our study of the passage, focusing specifically on 1 Corinthians 7:17-24.
In this portion of 1 Corinthians 7, Paul specifically speaks of how the principle of remaining in the situation you are in, and following the Lord’s commands is applicable in all of life, and not just in marriage.
Let’s look at the passage together.
Prayer
Each should Walk
I like the way the Lord describes our life, and how we get through the situations in which we find ourselves.
He uses the word ‘walk’.
I think this is appropriate.
Walking is just taking one step after another.
I remember one trip I took in Papua New Guinea.
I had gone into another tribe where some missionaries were beginning the work of learning the language and culture in preparation to share the good news of Christ with them.
I was going in to check their progress and encourage them.
After the check, we had to make the journey back out.
Now to get to this location, we had to take a little over an hour flight to a remote airstrip.
There, we were able to catch a ride with a PMV - public motor vehicle.
After riding with the PMV, we had a short hike to the river, and from there, a few hour ride in a motor canoe.
So, to get back out, we had to reverse this process.
So, we confirmed the arrangements with our pilot the evening before, and then we had to get up around 4 in the morning to begin the trek.
When we got up, it was raining.
So, we took along some tarps to cover ourselves in the canoe.
Well, the tarp didn’t work very well.
It was windy and raining, and the motor canoe was moving along pretty well, so the tarp was blowing around.
We were wet, and cold.
Remember, this is the tropics, about 3 degrees off of the equator, so all we had were shorts and t-shirts.
It was cold, and the rain stung as it hit our skin.
So, we road in the dark, cold, wet, stinging, shivering for a couple hours until light.
Then, we road in the light, cold, wet, stinging and shivering.
Thankfully, for the 45 minutes of the canoe ride, the rain stopped.
Now our skin stopped stinging from the pelting rain, and we were just cold, wet and shivering.
Thankfully, my parents had found and shipped me a vinyl dry bag so all of my clothing and my computer were staying nice and dry!
We arrived at the end of the the canoe ride.
By now the sun was shining bright, and the short hike was welcome because it would warm us up.
So, we slung our backpacks on with our clothing and computers, and started the trek to the road.
It was up hill from the river to where we would meet the PMV at the road.
Of course, the trail was a little muddy and slippery after the rain, and the sun was cooking all of the water from the rain so the humidity was pretty high.
Soon, we went from being cold and wet, to hot and dripping with sweat.
The undergrowth betwen the river and the road held the humidity, so it felt thick and stifling.
So, slipping along, for a half-hour or so, we sweated our way up to the road.
When we arrived at the road, the PMV we thought would be waiting for us was no where in sight.
So, we sat under the hot shade of a tree, and drank our water.
After about 20 minutes, we realized that the PMV was likely not coming.
Not unusual for this to happen.
However, if we wanted to catch the plane, if the plane was coming, we would have to start walking.
Yes, we had no way to contact the pilot to find out if the weather was good where he was, or between us to know for sure if he was coming.
And, if he arrived at the airstrip and we were not there, he had no way to know if we had a breakdown.
So, he may not be able to wait long.
There were no cell phone towers.
Our only means of communication was via hf radios.
So, we put on our backpacks and started walking.
Now this was western Papua New Guinea.
After leaving the river behind.
We were now in more open grasslands.
So, no more shade from the blazing, tropical sun.
We walked along the rough, rocky road with the sun beating on our skin.
What should have been a short ride, was going to be a couple hours of walking.
Would we make it in time for the plane?
Would he wait for us?
How long would he wait for us?
Was he even able to fly that morning because of the weather between us and him?
We wondered, and we walked, in the hot, hotter, and hotter sun, as we approached noon with the scorching sun overhead.
Now, my vinyl dry bag was keeping my laptop dry from my sweat, as the hot vinyl absorbed the heat from the sun, and pasted itself to my back.
What else could we do?
We couldn’t wait for the PMV which may never show if we were to have a chance of catching the plane.
Because if we missed the plane, we had no means of reaching out to him to arrange another time for a pick up.
We couldn’t go back, because the motor canoe left after dropping us off.
We had no means of reaching anyone.
So, we walked.
It was tiring, and the sun sapped the strength.
But, what could we do?
One more step.
One more step.
Oh, now all of the sweat is carrying the electrolytes from the body, the muscles cramp.
One more step.
One more step.
Walking!
What a metaphor for life.
Life can throw all kinds of curves our way.
We go through the rains of life.
We go through the chilling times.
We go through the scorching times.
We have disappointments.
Things do not go the way we plan.
What is going to happen?
How will this turn out?
Is this worth it?
This is not how I pictured life going.
Maybe I should be doing something different?
Maybe I should be living somewhere else?
Life has trials.
How do we handle them?
Do we give up and move on when life gets hard?
Again, in the context of marriage, this is what happens to most everyone.
Things do not turn out the way we imagined they would.
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