Thy Strong Word from KFUO Radio

Rev. Stewart Crown, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Palo Alto, California, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 9.“Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.” God gives us rights that we may give them up for others, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9. Although he had more rights than most as an apostle, he did not consider these rights his due “compensation” for the work of the gospel: “For necessity is laid upon me.” Rather it was his own duty, as an individual Christian, to give these up for the sake of the Greek world. As Christ gave up His rights as priest and king before illegitimate usurpers, so we as Christians give up our rights, even for those who are mistaken or “superstitious,” solely for the sake of love.

Rev. Nathan Meador, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Psalm 50."If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine." God doesn't need our help—but even if He did—He wouldn't ask us. Psalm 50 humbles us as it calls on both God’s own “people” as well as the “God-forgetters” to repent. There is no getting away with sin, as David himself found out. He confessed his sin with Bathsheba in Psalm 51 which immediately follows, because there’s no covering up sin with pious recitations. Similarly in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul criticizes the arrogance that acts as if we do God favors with our scruples. It’s our neighbor that needs our help, not God. Christ humbly offered Himself, not to feed God, but to feed us in His sacrament for our forgiveness.

Rev. Lane Burgland, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Churubusco, Indiana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 8.A lot of churches are talking about their rights these days. “If food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat,” Paul says in chapter 8. Paul shows the Corinthians that love comes before freedom. While our fellow Christians may be “weak,” immature, or even incorrect on certain issues, it’s more important to preserve their souls than to enjoy our rights—regardless of how we see them, God values them at the price and worth of the blood of Jesus Christ. It’s more than worth it to abstain from exercising our rights, regardless of how reasonable or justifiable they may be, for our brother’s sake.

Rev. Thomas Eckstein, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Jamestown, North Dakota, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 7.“Those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short.” Is Paul for or against marriage? In chapter 7 the Apostle charts a middle course, not for the sake of compromise, but with a view to both the present circumstances as well as the unchanging fundamentals. Marriage, sex, and family are good gifts from God, central to His created order. Yet in the midst of famine, political turmoil, and impending war & disaster, it was not a good time to start a family. Paul offers pastoral counsel that focuses on how God has called us, not our own desires or individualistic preferences. By God’s own faithfulness in Christ, we know grace in this major part of our lives.

Rev. John Shank, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Edwardsville, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 6.“To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong?” What we have in the body of Christ is more important than our own rights, wealth, or property—what a different perspective Paul gives in chapter 6! But it’s the consequence of seeing our fellow Christians as extensions of our own body. How can the body be made whole if it comes at the expense of one of its own members? Similarly sexual immorality is not a “private” matter, because in Christ all our bodies are interconnected, each participating and affected together. This law stings at times, but thanks be to God that we also share in Christ’s body, now raised and ascended.

Rev. John Lukomski, retired LCMS pastor and co-host of Wrestling with the Basics on KFUO Radio, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 5.“Deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” The sexually immoral should be kicked out, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6. But how is that loving? Like us, the Corinthians were proud of themselves for being so tolerant and open-minded. Church discipline however is not done with a holier-than-thou scoff: it’s carried out in public mourning that the community has sinned and must now repent together. Like the “Prodigal Son,” the prayer is that the selfish and self-destructive ways of the world would bring the brother back in repentance. We follow the lead of Christ, who was kind, loving, and even self-sacrificial towards those outside the faith.

Rev. Doug Nicely, pastor of Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Collinsville, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 4.“Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?” Paul’s sarcastic and almost threatening language in chapter 4 may seem un-apostle-like, but Paul speaks to the Corinthians with the familiarity and intimacy of a father to his children. And a good parent calls out their child’s shameful behavior—not so that they would perpetually feel “ashamed, but to admonish” them and save them from “countless” false guides. But parenthood isn’t glamorous, at times even full of “refuse.” That’s how the humble yet authoritative “bottom-up” leadership of the church operates. How do we evaluate the leadership of our pastors? “Do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes.”

Rev. Ryan Fehrman, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 3.“I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.” We sometimes talk about being “spiritually fed” as if we were the ones managing our spiritual diet. But Paul in 1 Corinthians 3 says that we’re like children, plants, or buildings—someone else manages the diet or project. As Christians we are called to a spiritual perspective, not to a natural (“fleshy”) one which judges leaders by how charismatic or entertaining they are. Entrusting ourselves to the pastors God has put into our lives, they can give us what they see we need, just as Christ graciously cultivates the cultus of His temple: His body, the whole church on earth.

Rev. Andrew Jagow, pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Virginia, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 2.“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, [...] but we have the mind of Christ.” People use a lot of the same words that Christians use: love, faith, spirit, heaven—but do they use them with the same meaning? In 1 Corinthians 2 Paul builds on his argument against conventional wisdom and power, re-defining these words in a Christian sense. But he’s not being countercultural to win a culture war. There’s a pastoral concern here: the Corinthians have a blind spot for the love of prestige & authority, infecting their theology like an invisible virus. As Christ’s cross shows, God’s power doesn’t need to impress in order to love its enemies. Christian wisdom doesn’t need to come from renowned experts to save lives.

Rev. Rolf Preus, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sidney & St. John Lutheran Church in Fairview, Montana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study 1 Corinthians 1.“Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” Paul shows pastoral care and brilliant rhetoric from the very first words of 1 Corinthians. He names the overarching problem of disunity among the Christians in Corinth, but Paul slyly signals some sub-themes like gifts, wisdom, and power. The antidote for division is humility, and true humility is the gift of Christ’s cross. The cross reveals God’s infinite mercy and demolishes the power & wisdom that we rally behind as partisans. Hebrews want their signs and Greeks want their prestige, but we hold to a king held in contempt.