Sermon Title: The Common Good
Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth. The church in First Corinthians has broken up into factions, and they are fighting with each other. In Chapter 11, Paul expressed his anger upon hearing that the Lord’s Supper has become a point of contention.
See, the Lord’s Supper at the time was a full meal—it wasn’t just the meal of bread and wine that we have, but it was a full meal. The Lord’s Supper was being used to shame those in need, perhaps intentionally and perhaps in some way not. Part of this was that the “haves,” those with plenty, were able to get to the place where they were worshiping—usually a house—before those who did not have much, the “have-nots,” could arrive.
If we read the text closely, it perhaps indicates that those who were less well-off had to go and work, while those who were more well-off had already been able to be there in time. By the time the “have-nots” arrived, the “haves” had consumed so much of the food that there was not enough left for the “have-nots” to eat. This broke the very purpose of the common community that was supposed to be built up in the church in Corinth.
In the passage we read today, Paul stresses the importance of the common good. We see here that the church in Corinth is not practicing that. Paul is even more precise in Chapter 12 about what he means regarding the common good: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”
We began our worship this morning with Dr. King’s quote. It was the one that invited us here into this place. He says, “In a real sense, all life is interrelated. All humanity is caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.”
Dr. King often said this quote, not in verbatim but often this sentiment, throughout his sermons and writings, such as in Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which I highly recommend reading. I try to read it, if not once a year, every other year. It’s a quote I have next to my desk at my home office.
While Paul was writing to a church at a particular place and time, the church has also seen his writing apply to how we live outside of the church. To live in the ideal of the common good, we don’t place our needs above another; we place our needs with each other.
Think about this: where economic conditions are not good, where people are suffering and just trying to survive, crime tends to be higher. Across the racial spectrum, where economic conditions are good, crimes go down. When communities improve economically, it spills over into other places. If you want safe streets, we must have safe communities, and having safe communities means investing in economic development in those places.
Of course, some will say, “Well, that’s hogwash, pie in the sky.” Well, I always say it’s part of the solution. Will there still be crime in such places? Yes, sure. But this is a much more effective, long-term way to address these issues.
Now, we also feel the impact when a large or small business commits wage theft. Just in Chicago, $400 million was found to have been withheld by a business or corporation from their employees. Money out of the pockets of workers means less money for them to spend at other local businesses, to donate to a church, or to donate to other nonprofits, thereby leaving the whole community disadvantaged. What affects one affects us all indirectly.
When companies underpay their workers, we pick up the tab through Medicaid and SNAP programs. This isn’t to argue against those programs—thankfully, we have them—but it is another reminder that what affects one affects all of us directly.
With natural disasters, too, communities pull together. Are there people who take advantage of natural disasters? Yes—from looters to price gougers. These things have a profound impact on the community.
“A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together.”
We are called to work toward the common good, but something is lacking that is hindering us.
Derek Thompson, a writer for The Atlantic, in a recent article titled The Antisocial Century, makes considerable points that I think draw connections to the lack of us working towards the common good. He argues, in conversation with Mark Dunkelman, a social theorist and author, that there are three areas of social cohesion that create connection. These are three rings of social interaction: the inner circle is family and friends, the middle ring is the village, and the outer ring is the tribe.
Two of these are strengthening. The first is family and friends. People spend more time with their children today than they did several decades ago, and many couples and families maintain an unbroken flow of communication. The second bond is social connections based on shared interests or tribes.
The third bond, however, The Village, is losing strength. This is the bond that includes neighbors, those in our town, PTA meetings, church members, or casual interactions at restaurants, coffee shops, or grocery lines. Dunkelman notes that families teach us love, tribes teach us loyalty, and villages teach us tolerance.
Tolerance here means seeing another person’s humanity—the dignity and worth they deserve.
Thompson, the person who wrote the article, writes: “The village is our best arena for practicing productive disagreements and compromise—in other words, democracy. So it’s no surprise that the erosion of the village has coincided with the emergence of a grotesque style of politics in which every act feels like an existential quest to vanquish a mortal enemy from within.”
So we see here that searching for the common good is made more difficult—more difficult by politics that view people with different political views than our own as mortal enemies, rather than asking why a person believes what they believe, asking where we can have disagreements, and where we can then meet each other together. And asking where we might need to persuade them to our view.
Of course, all of this is a bit of an overly simplistic explanation and only partly explains the present difficulties. It’s only just a glimpse of a solution. It’s also not to say that there aren’t perspectives in this world that shouldn’t be opposed with great force—because, as we look at history, that is the case. Racism, homophobia—sometimes you have to oppose particular things with great force. But you oppose the idea, not necessarily the person.
Here, too, is where Dr. King gives us some sage wisdom: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” He also says, “The nonviolence approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them a new self-respect. It calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know that they had. Finally, it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality.”
Then he also says: “Another fact that characterizes nonviolence is that it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent but to win his friendship and understanding.”
“A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” We must see each other as if we were all in the same boat, rather than as separate little boats.
Another piece of our failure to strive toward the common good is our failure to recognize who we follow and what it means to be in a relationship with God. We ignore the message—we ignore the Gospel message of abundance. And we see here in our Gospel reading that the first miracle, which is here in John, is Jesus turning water into wine.
As we see—as we saw—did you notice Jesus does not want to do this miracle? He says it’s not His time, but His mother proverbially nudges Him. She tells the servants, “Do whatever He tells you to do.” They filled six stone water jars, with 20 to 30 gallons each, and the water was turned into wine.
Did you do the math? If we multiply six by 30 gallons—we’re going to go on the higher end of the gallons here to be generous—that’s 180 gallons of wine. In today’s bottles, that translates into 900 bottles of wine.
Now, you can go online today (because I did this) and figure out how many bottles you might need for your wedding. Now, my sister is having a wedding at the end of March, and they’ve invited 150 people to the wedding. So let’s say all of the people at the wedding are wine drinkers, and let’s be a little generous and say that they all drink about half a glass.
Is that realistic? No, but we’re being generous here—a little restrained. If you calculated for three hours that you served, that would be 90 bottles of wine.
In the story, the head waiter tastes the wine and is surprised. Did you notice that he was surprised? Because everyone serves the good wine first—they bring out the second-rate wine only when the guests are freely drinking. But you kept the good wine until now!
Weddings in the ancient world lasted a full week. Caroline Lewis writes: “Running out of wine would be unheard of in the ancient world. As the steward notes, the wedding host would offer the good wine first when the guests were sober. But by day three or four, the cheap stuff is served, when guests are drunk and no one can tell the difference.”
We see in this miracle that God is a God of abundance. It is a demonstration of the transformative hospitality we are called to.
And to put even finer points on it, Luke 12:48 makes it clear: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much will be asked.”
We use what we have to glorify God. For those to whom much has been given, much is expected. So those who have much—more is expected of them than of the have-nots.
“A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” To glorify God, we must keep the common good—the suffering of others and the hope for their joy—at the center of our lives and motivations. And that they too will see our suffering as theirs, and our joys as theirs.
To glorify God, we must have people willing to put others before themselves, to also see that we are interconnected with one another. To glorify God is when we think about how our actions affect others.
To glorify God is to do so with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength—to be courageous in our lives, to take steps that we know will affect other people directly and indirectly. Glorify God with all the courage that you can.