I Corinthians 1:10-18:
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Matthew 4:12-23:
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and
made his home in Capernaum by the lake,
in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
  “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
     on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, 
     Galilee of the Gentiles—
  the people who sat in darkness
     have seen a great light,
  and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
     light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

From this most valuable of all Paul’s letters we learn something about the writer as well as get a vivid picture of the life and difficulties of a particular local church at the middle of the 1st century
And we can see as much as things have changed since then, there are plenty of things that have stayed the same.
This passage addresses the “divisions [σχισματα]” or “quarrels [εριδες]” that had erupted in the church in Corinth
Division? In the church? Quarrels? Disagreements? Oh my…surely you jest!

Paul points to a problem that frequently arises in a community that has, at one point, rallied behind a common goal or agenda or a leader
It happens in every great quest — even our own fight for independence as a country
BF said “Unless we hang together, we most assuredly will hang separately”

These days, it often seems more important to be a Democrat, Republican, supporter of Trump or Not My President, a progressive or conservative, Tea Partier, Irish, Italian, Native, African, Polish. .
Or a Packers or Falcon fan or a Patriots or Stellers fan…. than to be an American

It would seem that we’re of “Apollos” or “Cephas” and have forgotten that it’s more important to labor together toward common goals like feeding the hungry, providing education, access to affordable healthcare, addressing unemployment and providing a living wage to all workers.
While in the church we can get lost in the remembering with longing for the good old days of Rev. So and So and lose site of our present mission in this time with our given lay and pastoral leadership.

Surprisingly, often our political preferences have colored or even stained the fabric of our community as Christians.
I will admit that I am a progressive liberal on social issues but I will always try to listen and defend your right to your views…strive for mutual respect.
Have we fallen into this same dogmatic intolerance as Christians?
Have we forgotten the gospel?

To what calling has Christ called us?
What do we agree on?
We are going to need to focus on what we agree on to move through the coming days…as a church and as a country

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

A few years ago at this time of the year
I was traveling in a rented mini van with a group of University of Albany students who had gone to New Orleans on a mission trip, giving up part of their winter break… time they could have spent hanging with family and friends, staying up and sleeping late
Instead we were there trying to continue to help the city and people of NOLA rebuild from the devastation of hurricane Katrina
Up at 6, breakfast at 7 off to work by 8…. Exhausted by 9 or 10
We worked on a church, some homes and much more

So… we were riding along
For a number of reasons we were unhappy with how things had been handled at the camp we were staying at
Comment cards had been handed out and a couple of the girls were saying to me, “I can’t write anything because I am too mad…I have only negative things to say.”
Trying to be both pastoral and maternal I suggested that it was a good life exercise to state something you feel negatively about in a positive way… to say what you do like, what you are for, to not just complain or state what you are against…
Because despite our disagreement with some of the ways the camp was run,
we could agree that we were called by God to be in ministry together to help rebuild New Orleans

Sometimes it is easier to criticize, to find or focus on the things we disagree on, than it is to focus on what we agree on— I am guilty of that at times
But I believe that when we do find it necessary to share criticism we can make it easier for someone to hear if we pair negatives with positives— a sandwich
We can strive to be constructive in our criticism
To offer helpful alternatives and suggestions and not just give voice to our disapproval

Paul repeatedly called church folk in Corinth his brothers and sisters
He had earned the right to offer them his advice and criticism, by loving them

We are challenged by Paul’s words to the Corinthian church to be united by the same mind and same purpose found in the gospel of Christ
The gospel calls us to love one another, to look after widows and orphans, those in need, those on the margins of life and society struggling to survive—
like the single mother working 2 PT minimum wage jobs (not a living wage) barely making it paycheck to paycheck… who depends on PP for her healthcare especially now that she may lose her health insurance for herself and her children

The gospel calls us to cure disease and sickness as Jesus did
Jesus shows people a new reality of conduct, a new way of being with each other

In our gospel lesson today there is mention of light, the breaking in of a new day;
you can’t stop “dawn”; Dawn explodes into the Darkness;
those sitting in darkness, have seen a great light;
The passages tell us about the calling of the 1st disciples, who experienced transformation – as members of an alternative community, called into existence by the power of God’s word,

With the calling of Andrew and Simon – things are turned upside-down;
Jesus goes out and seeks disciples;
in Judaism, the rabbi waits for disciples to seek him out, the majority of public opinion would have disagreed with his recruiting method

Church we have to admit that Paul was being pretty idealistic suggesting we might have no divisions

I believe
We may often disagree on the hows, how we do worship, how we make the lives of others better, how we grow the church, how we include children in the life of the church and so forth

But we can agree on the why,
why we come to church, why we give our time and money to the church, why we love each other, why we include children in the life of the church and strive to welcome all God’s children to the table
We are the church of Christ, we seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ
Why? Because of God’s love for us shown to us in Christ Jesus
Because we have experienced the love God through the community of faith
Because God calls us
Because of God’s grace
Do you agree? Amen