1st Corinthians 9.16-23
“I have become all things to all people,” St Paul says in today’s second reading. “I have become all things to all people.” Lots of people know this expression even if they don’t know it’s from the Bible. Paull, today, claims that he is “all things to all people.” We, in contrast, tend to think of this something we either can’t be or shouldn’t be, a bad idea.
A month ago, a headline about a computer chip manufacturer said the company was trying to be “all things to all people;” it wasn’t a compliment. When we accuse politicians of trying to be “all things to all people,” we mean they’re constantly shifting positions based on who is listening. In our own life, we think of it as trying to keep others happy at all costs but losing a sense of personal limits and boundaries; when you pour yourself out constantly for others merely to please them, you are the one who ends up empty.
The phrase, “all things to all people,” taken out of context has come to mean all sorts of things to all sorts of people. Yet we misunderstand that phrase if we take it to mean that we must do what others demand no matter what, go in whatever direction we’re pulled, compromise, and lose our own sense of identity, value, purpose. But when we trust that our identity, values, and purpose—our words, deeds, and very life—are all centered in Jesus for all the things he has done and still does for us, and we live from that divine center for our lives, we get closer to understanding what today’s second reading means.
In today’s reading from 1st Corinthians, Paul says has an ‘obligation’ to proclaim the gospel. Take ‘obligation’ here in two senses of the word: as a sense of duty—Paul says he is carrying out the duty entrusted to him; and, maybe most important, as a sense of thankfulness—of being ‘much obliged.’ Paul’s life and ministry grow out of sheer gratitude for the love of Jesus. In response, he finds that he is compelled to serve. And as he serves, he doesn’t want to get anything out of it for himself. He could. He has every right. In the verses before today’s reading begins, he says that people called to the ministry of the gospel have a right to be paid for their work. “The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” This is a biblical precept that I’m glad for every day! But for Paul, the reward is the preaching itself. He gives and serves freely so that nothing gets in the way of the free gift of God’s grace.
Eugene Peterson’s Bible paraphrase, “The Message” has Paul saying, ‘I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all to reach a wide range of people: religious and nonreligious, meticulous moralists and loose-living immoralists, the defeated and the demoralized. Anyone! I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my purpose and identity in Christ. But I entered their world and became all things to all people so they could receive the free welcome of life in God.’ Whatever advances the message of Jesus governs Paul’s life.
To put a picture on what Paul is saying about giving freely and out of consideration to others, a former neighbor of mine is Exhibit A. He came to mind here at coffee hour a week or two ago. The topic was snow removal and how easy we’ve had it this year. We were talking about other years, how we’ve dealt with snow in the past, and whether it would work to have everyone up and down the street share ownership in a snowblower and take turns. That’s when my old neighbor entered the conversation. He lived a couple houses up the street but has since moved. When it snowed, he would get out his snowblower and clear the sidewalk for his house, then the house next door, then my place, then next door to me and on to the corner. I haven’t thought about him this winter, but I sure missed him last winter. And on rare occasions when he didn’t have time to remove snow from all the sidewalks and driveways on the block and across the street, he would leave his snowblower out in the front yard, tank full of gas, ready for anyone to come by and borrow. He never wanted to be paid; he had the right but never claimed it. It’s as though the time it took, the gas used, and wind-chill endured were irrelevant. This is how he used his gift, fulfilled his purpose. Whatever advanced snow removal governed his life.
This is what Paul describes: both the sense of gratitude and of being compelled to serve. My neighbor might paraphrase today’s second reading to say, ‘For those with long driveways, I work as one with a long driveway; for those with corner lots, I double my effort to finish the work; to those with short sidewalks I’m done in no time at all. And if there’s only a light dusting of flurries, I make sure everything is clear. My snow removal is all things for all people in all circumstances.
Paul uses the example of life and service freely given in duty and joy and applies it to all of us out of consideration for others. ‘Love’ the word Paul uses for this consideration. Setting aside our rights for the sake of others, caring for others in Jesus’ name without counting the cost—this is what Christians are meant to be. Building up others in the love of Christ is the theme throughout 1st Corinthians. When Paul talks about being ‘all things to all people,’ he is not being indecisive or acting like something he’s not to try and please others. Rather, his life is laser-focused on Jesus. Elsewhere in this letter he says, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ.” This is the joy of serving others freely, just like my snow-removing neighbor. After all, that’s how God’s grace comes to us in Jesus: freely, without counting the cos. On the cross Jesus let go of his rights and privileges so that we, and all people, can have a share in life with God. Jesus doesn’t consider equality with God a power to seize or be exploited, Paul says in Philippians, but empties himself to become a servant for our sake, the gift of his life freely given. In his body, Jesus takes on fullness of our human life so that the fullness of God’s life can fill us. Yet he never loses his direction or purpose. Whatever advances the love of God governs his life.
In Jesus Christ, we are given power by the Holy Spirit to serve and care for others so that they can know the life and grace of Jesus, too. In God’s call for us to be “all things to all people” in whatever ways advance the love of Christ, we weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice, and share our strength with people in need. From Old Testament prophets, to Jesus’ own words, to the letters from Paul on, this is God’s call through the scriptures: to be people of peace, to pray for our enemies and welcome strangers, to love our neighbors in word and deed, to build up others in the love of God not out of self-interest but the interest of others.
We could make our own paraphrase of today’s reading. ‘For people going through long, dark stretches, I walk with them so they don’t feel alone. For friends whose lives have taken unexpected corners, I double my effort to show them God’s love. For those who aren’t sure they would find a welcome in the church, I let them know I’ve had doubts, too, but have come to trust that all my life, good and bad, is held in God’s hand. I’ve kept my purpose and identity in Christ. But I’ve entered their world and became all things to all people so that they can know the grace of life in God because that same life and love now governs my life.
This is what it means to live as Christians. All our life, word and deed, is laser-focused on the love of God in Jesus Christ. An early preacher by the name of Cyril of Jerusalem says about Jesus, “Everywhere [in the gospels] the Savior becomes ‘all things to all people.’ To the hungry, he is bread; to the thirsty, water; to the sick, a physician; to sinners; forgiveness; to the dead, life.” Today, with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection at the center of our lives, with the Spirit breathing fresh life in us each day, we need never lose our purpose or direction or value. We are filled with all the good things of God so that, whatever advances the mess of Jesus governs our life, and all people will know God’s grace freely given.
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