Mortal bodies, heavenly cities: the Christian vocation in a transitory world
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
“... let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as they they were not mourning …”
Yes, more than a few eyebrows were raised this morning during our epistle reading.
If we are confused, bewildered, or perplexed by this morning’s reading from Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, good.
When a passage of scripture confuses, bewilders, or perplexes us, it calls us to dwell upon it; to ponder it; to consider what it might possibly be saying to us.
A significant part of our perplexity about Saint Paul’s words comes from the fact that it seems to contradict what we read elsewhere in the New Testament - including elsewhere in Paul’s letters.
‘Let those who have wives be as though they had none’ - but earlier in this very letter, Saint Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians of the Lord’s teaching on marriage, recalling Jesus’ words “what God has joined together, let no one separate” [1].
‘Let those who mourn be as though they were not mourning’ - but again in this very letter, Paul writes lovingly about those “who have fallen asleep in Christ”, giving comfort to those who mourn [2].
‘Let those who rejoice be as though they were not rejoicing’ - but in another of his letters, to the Philippians, Saint Paul writes “rejoice in the Lord always” [3].
‘Let those who buy be as though they had no possessions’ - but elsewhere Paul reminds Christians of their responsibilities to work and to provide for the poor, which requires possessions [4].
‘Let those who deal with the world be as though they had no dealings with it’ - but we know from Saint Paul’s other letters that Christians were to pray for those who govern them; to pay taxes; to respect those in authority [5].
Confused, bewildered, perplexed by this morning’s reading? Considering what we read elsewhere in the New Testament, indeed we should be.
What, then, are we to make of Saint Paul’s words in our reading?
They are words to shake us; they are words to make us reflect; they are words to encourage us to examine ourselves.
The key phrase in this passage comes at the very end: “For the present form of this world is passing away”.
This world does not endure. It is transitory. It is not the stuff of which we can rest our hopes and our identity.
Yes, marriage is a good gift of God in creation: but it is for this world, not for - in a phrase from the Creed - the life of the world to come.
We know very well that times of mourning are painful, sobering evidence of our mortality.
Our experiences of joy in this life are inevitably transitory; they pass, they change, they do not endure.
Possessions: in words often used at the beginning of the burial service, “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” [6].
As for our dealings with this world - ambitions, status, achievements, political convictions: they all pass.
Some of these things we receive with thanksgiving; some are painful times to be endured; some are opportunities to do good; others bring temptation.
But they all have one thing in common - “the present form of this world is passing away”.
These cannot be the stuff of our primary identity; we cannot place our eternal hopes in them.
Later in this First Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul puts it this way: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” [7].
And this, I think, is the context for us to understand our reading this morning.
It is not - as we have seen from elsewhere in the New Testament - a call to abandon marriage, mourning, joy, possessions, and earthly duties.
It is, however, a call to recognise that our primary identity and our eternal hope is not to be found there, for “the present form of this world is passing away”.
This recognition turns us, then, towards that which endures; that which is eternal; that which holds us in this mortal life, and beyond this mortal life.
Our reading from Saint Paul this morning was, in other words, preparing us for our Gospel reading, in which we hear the first words spoken by Jesus in Mark’s Gospel: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near” [8].
The kingdom of God is revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ - in God’s grace and mercy, life and light everlasting bestowed upon us in Him.
It is this kingdom of God which endures; which is eternal; in which we are held in this mortal life, and beyond this mortal life.
Into this kingdom we are received by Baptism: in the words of the liturgy of Baptism, there we are made ‘inheritors of the kingdom of God’ [9].
At the Eucharist, we receive the spiritual food which renews and sustains us as heirs of that everlasting kingdom [10].
In the Lord’s Prayer, day we day, we pray ‘thy kingdom come’, that we may be those who live as citizens of the kingdom of God, in faith, hope, and love.
Here is our primary identity, our lasting hope, even as “the present form of this world is passing away”.
Here is why Christian faith matters. And here is why scripture matters, why prayer matters, why sacraments matter: for these root us in the kingdom of God in our daily lives.
Saint Paul’s words in our reading are indeed initially confusing, bewildering, and perplexing: but when we dwell upon them, we see how they open to us the glorious, hope-filled vision of the kingdom of God, where our primary identity as Christians is to be found, where our lasting hopes are to be placed.
A century or so after Saint Paul wrote his First Letter to the Corinthians, an unnamed Christian wrote another letter [11], perhaps to a Roman official, seeking to explain this new Christian faith which was appearing across the Roman world. In doing so, the author shows us how the words of Saint Paul, which we have heard this morning, are to be understood.
He begins by noting those ways in which Christians were not different from others: “Christians are indistinguishable from others, either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life ... With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in”.
He continues: “And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives … They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven”.
This remains our calling as Christians today, as “the present form of this world is passing away”; to authentically, meaningfully live out in this transitory world our primary identity, our eternal hope as citizens of the kingdom of God.
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[1] 1 Corinthians 7:10, Mark 10:9.
[2] 1 Corinthians 15:18: NRSV footnote indicates that the literal translation is 'fallen asleep'.
[3] Philippians 4:4.
[4] 2 Thessalonians 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 16:2.
[5] Romans 13:1-7.
[6] BCP 2004 Funeral Services One, p.466.
[7] 1 Corinthians 15:50.
[8] Mark 1:15. The Gospel of the day is Mark 1:14-20.
[9] BCP 2004 Holy Baptism Two, p.366. Also in the Catechism: "in my Baptism; wherein I was made ... an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven", p.766.
[10] BCP 2004 Holy Communion One, post-communion Prayer of Thanksgiving, p.190.
[11] Quoting from the Epistle to Diognetus, 5.
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