Great Habit to build into 2002: Thanksgiving. Paul’s opening prayer reflects a disciplined, prayer-centered Christian. Apparently, he begins with a predictable ritual:

I always give thanks to my God for you
Because of the grace of God given you in Christ Jesus.

• Genre: epistolary letterform. Chances are that many of your listeners will not have had the opportunity to investigate this genre and might enjoy what you’ve studied about this ancient literary form. A brief comparison of letter introductions between the ancient Eastern Mediterranean form of letter writing and our post-modern email vis-à-vis snail mail might be useful.

• Notice the characteristically Pauline beginning: an introduction which includes Paul’s office / authority; the recipients-this time expanded to include Christians beyond the Corinthian congregation-and his typical charis and irene.

• What’s your daily spiritual exercise ritual? This passage could well invite us to explore how we begin our own lives each day. What kind of words to we first offer to God in our day . . . throughout the day . . . in the course of the day?

• Who Starts the Call and Response? The kind of praying that begins Paul’s letter and that reflects his daily lifestyle and regiment seems to be more response than call. In Paul’s mind, God is the great Initiator; God-in-Christ cannot be preempted, but rather acts first to provide, give, empower, forgive, enrich, gift, deliver, fill, inspire, and save. Nothing left but to respond with gratitude. So Paul doesn’t wake up and hand God a long list of personal needs and wants. Paul responds. Paul is not the giver, but the receiver. And so are we.

• Paul remembers God working firstofall in this congregation and he begins to enumerate God’s presence among them:

- For raising their quality of life through Christ
- They have been given special powers of speech and insight to understand their relationship to Jesus Christ
- The more they have proclaimed the gospel through these gifts, the more they have been deepened in their faith.

 

Paul connects this enrichment with spiritual gifts.  Could be that speech and knowledge are allusions to two of the nine spiritual gifts later enumerated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12.

• So this congregation is Christ-gifts-empowered while they await the eschaton.

• Paul holds out a promise of endurance for them: "Christ will empower you to the very end, so that you’ll not be lacking in anything come judgment day."

• God is Faithful. Great three words by which to measure our lives: God is faithful. God once again is the initiator. This is a great thought with which to begin a new year. Among other attributes, God is faithful. The phrase reflects a sustaining, keeping quality of God toward those who call upon God’s name.

• Fellowship. Paul closes out his prayer with another word: fellowship. What does that word mean to you? After church refreshments? Labored conversation with someone on a crop walk? Polite conversation within a small group in the church?

• Whatever the word is, it figures prominently in New Testament theology: Acts 2:42: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship." After church refreshment hour?

• Fellowship-used in our lesson-refers more to a common sharing, or "a sharing in the common life." Other shades of meaning that might shed light on what it means to be "called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ" are listed below:

- Participation
- Partnership
- Fellowship
- Communion

 

The text might raise the question, "how do we approach God in prayer?" Which end of the call and response do we find ourselves on?

• You might want to suggest the various ways that humans approach God in prayer; I’ve offered a few, but there are thousands of others!

- O Lord, you know how busy I must be this day; if I forget you, do not forget me: for Christ’s sake.

Sir Jacob Astley (1579-1652)

- From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

- Dear God, Do you have a few minutes? I have a few things to say. First, thank you for the bike for Christmas. Second, thanks for the snow. Third, how about more holidays? Angela, age 9