Thursday, October 5, 2023  

---

Today’s Scripture Reading 
1 Corinthians 9:1–15

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to our food and drink? Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who at any time pays the expenses for doing military service? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not get any of its milk? Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law also say the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Or does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was indeed written for our sake, for whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of a share in the crop. If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we still more? 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. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is sacrificed on the altar? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that—no one will deprive me of my ground for boasting! (NRSV)

---

Reflection
Paul’s letters to the Corinthians are a collection of advice to the church. Paul had received a report of some division in the church at Corinth and had received some questions from that church as well. Hence, he wrote these letters to them to advise them how to live together as members of Christ’s church in the world.

Paul spends the first half of this chapter talking about the reliance of those who preach the gospel on members of the church for their physical support. (In the second half he talks about his calling to preach the word.) We understand this in the context of the apostles. Jesus, when he sent the apostles to spread the word, told them to bring nothing with them but to rely on God to provide for them. We see that Jesus lived this way, accepting the hospitality of people in the towns he visited. Even when he entered Jerusalem during the final week of his life, he did so on a borrowed donkey.

But what message is here for us, in the third decade of the twenty-first century? We don’t have traveling preachers who rely on our hospitality like the apostles, or even like early twentieth-century evangelists. But we do have talented and thoughtful pastors who are dedicated to serving God and, in particular, our congregation.

In the same way that the early church supported the apostles, we can respond to the ministry of our pastors with our support for the church and thus for them. Certainly financial support is important, but so is nonfinancial support. By keeping our pastors in our prayers, by volunteering to support their ministry, by dropping the occasional note or email to thank them, we can give back to those who give so much to us.

---

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for our dedicated pastors. Please be with them as they minister to our community. Lead us to support them in their work, and remind us not to take their commitment to your work in the world for granted. Amen.

---

Written by Juli Crabtree, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

Devotion index by date | I’d like to receive daily devotions by email