Paul typically started his letters with a combination of the traditional Hebrew and Greek greetings with a Christian twist. Grace was the Greek greeting, used by Paul as a recognition of the undeserved rich blessing that we have in Christ Jesus. Peace was the Hebrew greeting, perhaps reflecting Aaron’s blessing from Numbers 6:24–26, and drawing on ideas of wholeness, completeness – shalom. Paul’s greeting points his readers to the source of these blessings – ‘grace and peace ... from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’ (v 3).

The Corinthians thought that they were super-special, ultra-spiritual Christians. Paul acknowledges this as he thanks God for them. He says, ‘you have been enriched in every way … you do not lack any spiritual gift’, but he points them to the source of the gifts and the greatness of the Giver. Notice how many times Paul refers to God and Jesus in these nine verses. The Corinthians are only special because of who God is and what he has done!

I love the song ‘I’m special’ with its reminder that my special-ness is not because of anything great about me, but because God has loved me and given his Son.*

*Graham Kendrick © 1986 Thankyou Music

Open our hearts and minds, O God, not merely to gain information, but to learn how to live in this difficult and troubled world, in Jesus’ name.

I write in isolation. The coronavirus terrifies the 2020 world. We feel our mortality. Will we live in a changed world when these notes are read in 2021? God is not responsible for Covid-19. It is a product of a fallen creation, a dysfunctional environment.¹ Christians are not immune from this but we are called to be the people of God in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.² These timeless opening verses of Paul’s letter are as relevant today as they were to the Christians in Corinth. We are all called. Paul declares his own calling as an apostle, aware that he must assert his authority, but he quickly softens any sternness. We are all called, the people of the Corinthian church then and all of us today who ‘call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (v 2). We are called to be holy ‘in Christ Jesus’ (v 2), to be set apart as God’s special people by faith in his Son.

We are called. We are to live in constant awareness of that reality. We belong to Christ and continue to belong only through the grace of God (v 4). That grace makes possible the beginning of faith and sustains us who belong throughout the whole of our lives: ‘the indispensable ground of the life of faith from its beginning to its end’.³

As we shall see, the Christians in Corinth were not allowing that grace to permeate all aspects of their lives. They did not lack the spiritual gifts which were vital to the life of their Christian community (v 7). No group of Christians does. The gifts of the Spirit have always been given, but we must not let them lie dormant. We already have the gifts to be the church, even in these troubled and challenging times – and we must use them.

O Lord, we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Thank you for the grace you give us to tread that path, no matter where it leads.

¹ Rom 8:18–21  ² Hab 3:17,18; Phil 4:10,11  ³ J Paul Sampley, ‘1 Corinthians’, The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol X, Abingdon Press, 2002, p798