I don’t remember if it was me or Luke who added these verses to our list of texts for this sermon series on being “more than church on Sunday.” But when I sat down to write about them, I noticed that they didn’t feel very familiar to me. So I was like “huh,” that’s weird. I like these verses. “When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” It’s very poetic, very up my alley. But they aren’t in the lectionary, which is the rotation of texts that we normally read on Sundays. So, without much more thought than that, I turned to my normal sources for scriptural commentary, and I found that, again, there seemed to be a gap around this 14^thchapter of 1 Corinthians. And I was like “huh” wonder why no-one has anything to say about this chapter. So, I went back and took a look at the whole chapter, and that’s when it all started to make sense.

First of all, this whole chapter is about the gifts of prophecy and tongues in Christian worship. Now, some of you hear that and you’re thinking, “cool, yeah, prophecy and speaking in tongues, that’s fine” and others of you are already thinking “no thanks, not interested,” but don’t tune out yet. Speaking in tongues, is a religious experience where the person is so full of the Holy Spirit that they either start speaking in a different language, or they start saying things that seem random, or “speaking mysteries” as Paul says. This is the thing that is reported to have happened at Pentecost among the disciples when they suddenly spoke different languages, and it seems to have been a part of worship for the early church in Corinth. Paul seems to value it, because he tells the Corinthians that he experiences it often.

The problem Corinth seems to be having, is with the translation of the tongues. If no one can understand the person talking, and no one is able to interpret, what’s the point? He compares it to a flute or harp, if the notes are not distinct and orderly, how will anyone know what song is being played? Now I am not up here to invalidate anyone’s experience of the divine, nor was Paul. If speaking in tongues has been important to your spirituality, I want you to know that I do not discount that experience, and I’m glad you had it.  But some people have used this idea of God speaking through them to inflict harm and judgement on others, without taking accountability for their words. Because they didn’t say it, God said it, just through them.

So, Paul challenges them to go beyond speaking in tongues, to interpret and prophesy with their minds. “I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also” he says. “I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also… If you say a blessing with the spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving?… For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not built up.” Let all things be done for building up. What we say to each other matters. That’s where Paul’s going with this, the Corinthians are worshipping, sure, but they’re not building each other up, because they can’t understand each other, and because they don’t take turns talking… and then we arrive at verse 34. “Women should be silent in churches. For they are not permitted to speak but should be subordinate, as the law also says. If there is something they want to learn, let them ask their husbands at home.” Gag. That’s probably why no one wants to touch this chapter with a 10-foot pole.

But instead of despairing or skipping this verse, I did some research and found some fascinating insights from Christians for Biblical Equality International.[1]

Their article on this text starts out by saying that these words do indeed seem to be ancient. They appear in some of our oldest copies of this manuscript and in most of the copies of this letter that we have, so we can’t really make the argument that someone added these verses into Paul’s letter later, which does sometimes happen with the Bible. But they do point out, that it doesn’t make much sense for Paul to say this.

First of all, Paul is not a law guy. He has a ton to say about how we are free from the law, and we can assume that this extended to laws about gender, because Paul recognizes female leaders of the early church in his letters by name, and in his letter to the Galatians he says that in Christ there is no longer male or female. They also point out that this doesn’t even make sense within the context of 1 Corinthians. Three chapters before this one, Paul was talking about women who prophesy and wearing veils. So, are we talking in church or not? These verses seem to contradict everything Paul’s saying. They’re like a sharp left turn in the organization of his thoughts. So, what gives?

What the Christians for Biblical Equality suggest is that we are misreading Paul’s use of this logic within the letter. As modern readers we tend to read his letters straight through, as if every word that Paul writes is a word that he agrees with, an unfiltered statement of his beliefs. But what we actually see in several of his letters, is that Paul is quite talented at crafting rhetorical arguments. Which means that he will first state something that he disagrees with, and then afterwards dissect it and explain why he disagrees with it. If you listen to our podcast this fall, especially the one about the book of Romans, Luke and I will talk all about this concept.

If we read this chapter that way, then Paul actually makes a lot more sense. Because what Paul says next is, “Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?” which doesn’t seem to follow from his last statement at all. But if women aren’t the audience of this plural “you” in the Greek, and instead we translate it as “Or did the word of God originate with you (men of Corinth), or to you (men of Corinth) only has it come?” well, that hits different. Paul has a knack for uses a person’s own words against them, and we know that this is a response letter to something the Corinthian church first sent to him. So, what might be happening here is that Paul is quoting something the Corinthians have said, in order to tell them why they are wrong, as he has been doing for pretty much the whole entire letter.

Long story short, this may be my new favorite chapter from Paul. It sounds like what he’s dealing with is a group of men who like to pontificate and perform in the name of the Spirit, taking up all the speaking time in church, while not letting other people talk (especially women), and not taking any accountability for doing so because they claim to be following the Spirit and the law of God. I think Paul knows that’s BS, and I think that this chapter is actually Paul making an argument for the equality of everyone’s voices in Christian worship. He’s saying to them that everyone needs to be heard, literally he’s telling them to speak one at a time, and to use their minds when they speak to ensure that they build each other up with the words they sing and say.

These are egalitarian instructions for worship. When you come together, everybody brings something of value. If you can’t understand each other, you need to find an interpreter because communicating with each other matters.

Speak your piece and then sit down and let someone else reflect on what you said. Let the community weigh the wisdom of what has been said together. “Prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.” If we take over every conversation and only ever hear ourselves talking, we cannot learn, even though it feels risky to some of us to let other people take the lead and sit down. And if we are not allowed or able to share what we really think with others, we will not be encouraged, even though being seen and heard by people who might not like what we have to say, in places we historically haven’t been welcomed also feels risky.

Maybe everything about learning is a little bit risky, because learning involves admitting we don’t know everything. It makes us feel vulnerable in a way we may not have experienced since our own first days at school, but I think that is what the church is for. It is a gathering place for people from all walks of life to cultivate learning and encouragement together. A place where the words we say, the songs we sing, and the stories we tell are revelations, which simply means that God is revealed to us through them, so that we can continue to grow. Even if you never come close to speaking in tongues, you can still prophesy to others by simply being your truest self in this space where we can learn from each other becausewe are encouraged to recognize each other as valuable, beloved, children of God.

Here in this place our words matter. They carry weight for the future that we are building together as the church. The future of the Body of Christ won’t be determined by the people who stand and speak on God’s behalf, but by the communities who thrive because they intentionally build each person up. That’s what it takes to be more than church on Sunday. Luke and I are not the only ones with important things to say to you. You are all the church. Teach each other and learn from everyone else here. Encourage each other and ask for support in return. And don’t you ever let someone tell you that your voice doesn’t belong here, because it does. Because the word of God did not originate with you, and you are not the only one that it has reached. God is everywhere, in everyone, and we will build this community up by spending as much time listening as we do speaking, and by speaking up as often as we have listened.

So, if all you ever do in church is listen, I invite you to take the risk of speaking up. Trust me, I get it. Believe it or not, I don’t like being the center of attention. But others will grow from hearing the insights that only you have and can teach them, because only you have lived and learned them. And on the other hand, if all you ever do in church is talk, be the person who invites someone else to stand up and prophesy, and then practice listening deeply. You may be surprised by who will speak up when you sit down, and what you can learn from the last person you expected, when you give them the opportunity to teach you.

No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, here at Medina UCC, bring us your hymns, your revelations, your interpretations, and let’s hear them together. Let’s use our minds as Paul urges us, to stop excluding and start encouraging, because we are called to be a community of learners, until this becomes a place where all may learn, all may be encouraged. Amen.

[1] https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/1-corinthians-1433b-38-pauline-quotation-refutation-device/