Feb. 5, 2012
1
CORINTHIANS 9:16-23 NRSV
16If
I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation
is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! 17For if I do this of my
own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a
commission. 18What
then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel
free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.
19For
though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so
that I might win more of them. 20To
the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I
became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I
might win those under the law. 21To
those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free
from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the
law. 22To the weak I
became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all
people, that I might by all means save some. 23I
do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
***
Having
lived most recently in Colorado
Springs, home to over 400 Christian Organizations, I
have seen my fair share of hell, fire, and brimstone street preaching. The
favorite pulpit was standing on a bench in the downtown Acacia Park, and I get
why. Though only one small city block, Acacia Park is in itself a turf war of
ideology.
To
the North a small police station sits like a quiet but present fortress. To the
South, an open-air theatre provides a more official pulpit for events like the
PRIDE Parade, and various music festivals. Most often through, the theatre
features youth skateboarding off the stages steps. Between the theatre and the
police station a grassy area provides a colorful Monday Farmer’s Market. On the
other days drug addicts, and their dealers seem to hide in plain sight mingling
and smoking in the grass. Neither the police, nor the drug dealers, nor the
skateboarders, nor the farmers have the prime spot though.
The corner to the Southwest
is everyone’s coveted land. It’s where the street-preaching bench sits, the
homeless sleep, and the children play. This past winter Occupy Colorado Springs
set up their tents in this coveted corner. It was not chosen at random, I’m
sure. At the edge of a busy intersection the corner sits between in fancy
shops, and homelessness. In the summer, at that same intersection, a huge
colorful statue looking like the world on pedestal opens up like a music
box. It brings fourth songs and sprays
water to the delight of children, some prepared in bathing suits, others
joyously unprepared and sopping wet in their clothes. Acacia park is this kind
of place, a place for all. A review from yelp reads, “I guess it's important to note that I tend to be a fan of the
convergence of swanky shops, kids running through public fountains and the
homeless all together - that's just how I roll.” I think that’s how Paul rolled
too.
Paul says
he became a Jew, in order to win the Jews. He didn’t stand on a bench and
preach to people that they were going to hell. Paul was a street preacher, who
preached the Good News by sitting down. With the Jews he sat down and had a
conversation with those of another religion. He asked them what they believed.
He listened. If Paul had been in Acacia Park, he maybe even learned to
skateboard in the open-air theatre with them. Paul flying off the steps. He
understood them deeply. They had bond where they could listen and respect one
another no matter their convictions. In thankfulness to God, Paul told them his
story, and it was a story of Good News.
Even
through Paul saw himself under Christ’s law, Paul became as those under the
law. I imagine Paul walking through Acacia Park with the police officer on his
beat. I imagine Paul understanding the officer’s predicament about the close
proximity of the playground and the protesters. I imagine Paul and the officer
really commiserating about how simple the laws seem, yet how hard it is for
people to follow them. I imagine Paul understood the officer deeply. They had
bond where they could listen and respect one another no matter their
convictions. In thankfulness to God, Paul told the officer Paul’s story, and it
was a story of justice and Good News.
Paul also
became as one outside the law. He went over and sat with the druggies in the
middle of the park. He allowed them to feel comfortable enough to tell their
stories, and to tell them completely. Paul recognized his own addictive
insanity and the recklessness in which he too was living. Paul understood the
druggies deeply. They had a bond where they could listen and respect one
another no matter their addictions. In thankfulness to God, Paul told the
junkies his story, and it was an addictive story of Good News.
To the
weak, Paul became weak. He gave away all he had, and he left all he had. He
became a slave to proclaiming the gospel, and slave to the welfare provided by
others. In proclaiming the gospel, Paul joined the homeless, and curled up on
the preaching benches. They slept out in the weather of the night and gazed
across the street at the twinkle of lights in the trees above the swanky shops.
Lights like constellations for the urban homeless. In their glare and shadow,
they told stories of their lives, of histories of hurt, and mental illness,
social injustice and constant hunger. Paul understood the homeless deeply. They
had bond where they could listen and respect each other no matter what brought
them to the park at night. In thankfulness to God, Paul looked at the lights
and told them his story, of a light over a manger, and it was a story of Good
News.
The same
reviewer on yelp, who in the daytime likes to roll with people from different
walks of life, described the nighttime scene at Acacia Park by saying, “ I
wouldn't hang out here after dark unless you belong to one of these groups or
are hoping to kick it with people from one of these groups.” I have feeling
Paul hung out with all the groups even at night. For he says, “I
have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do
it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.”
In the
darkness of night, and the cold of winter, I imagine Paul reminding the nighttime
dwellers of Acacia Park that the globe-like statue opens up into a musical
fountain where kids of every color and background come to play together. Paul
tells them how similar is the Good News of Christ. The Good News holds the same
freedom, of people who would otherwise oppose each other coming together in one
place to be understood, and to witness to hoped for joy in community. The Good
News is like the fountain, and the music, it holds the same freedom, of people
who oppose each other coming together in one place to be understood, and to
witness to hoped for joy in community.
So, there are other corners in Acacia park, but I think the Southwest
corner is paramount, not because it sits at a busy intersection, or because it
intersects homelessness and swanky shops, or even because it has great benches
to preach from, but because it is the corner with the fountain, it the corner
where the people have come to hear and see the GOOD NEWS.
