Wingham United Church

January 25, 2026

United by Christ

Isaiah 9:1-4

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Matthew 4:12-23

Today is the final day of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth is a perfect choice for that occasion. It’s perfect for this week because it demonstrates that, despite Jesus’ prayer for his disciples in John 17 that they may be one as Christ and God are one, there has been disunity in the church from the very beginning. Paul mentions at least 4 different factions within the church of Corinth. Those who aligned themselves with Paul, others with Apollos, others with Peter, and some with Christ alone, which is probably the best response.

          Paul’s mission really focused on sharing the gospel with the Gentiles, so it would stand to reason that Gentiles and Jews who agreed with Paul’s mission to them would be part of the group that associated with him. We know that Peter later changed his mind on that topic, following a vision from God, but at this point in the early days of the church, he still believed strongly that Christ came only to save the Jews. It follows, therefore, that those who agreed would say that they belonged to his camp. Apollos was known to be a very well educated and eloquent speaker of Greek heritage, so those who said they belonged to him may have been the sort of people who appreciated those gifts. The Greeks of the day were well known for their knowledge and philosophical debates.

          But Paul wants to know how Jesus got divided up into these various houses, perhaps we could even call them denominations. He clarifies that anyone who follows him follows Christ. He is suddenly glad that he hadn’t baptized very many people, fearing that this could be another reason for division. No one was baptized in Paul’s name. Those he baptized were baptized in Christ’s name. Paul was not crucified to save the people from their sins. Christ was. Paul is simply an apostle, a messenger sent to share the good news of Christ’s love, grace, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Not with great eloquence so that he would not be the star of the show. The star is always Christ.

          He then writes something that has taken me a long time to understand.

“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the very power of God.”

          What I believe he is saying is that the message of the cross looks like foolishness to those who will not or cannot accept it on faith. Those who strive to qualify it through historical or scientific study will always find it lacking the sort of validation they seek. We humans have a tendency to want to understand how things work. We want to take things apart so we can examine the inner workings. I saw a t-shirt once that proudly proclaimed that the wearer was “curious enough to take it apart, skilled enough to put it back together, and clever enough to hide the extra pieces.”

          In a way, that is what we have done with scripture. We have taken the message, dismantled it and put it back together with only the parts we like, and discarded the rest. And since we human beings are so diverse, many of us hang on to different parts.  

          I did a quick check the other day and by my count, there are 10 churches of 10 different denominations in Wingham. As most of you know, the ministerial that used to represent 7 of those churches broke up a couple of years ago when a difference over one specific aspect of our theologies caused two of those churches to drop out. Since then, only 3 have met on a regular basis, and we haven’t met at all since the Rev. JoAnn Todd retired last October. A recent event, however, and a conversation I had just a week ago has given me renewed hope that we might be able to try again to develop a strong ministerial.

          One of the great things that came out of that ministerial association, however, has continued on. The Wednesday Free-Lunch program continues to offer a meal and social time for an average of about 70 people each week. Despite the theological differences between our churches, we all still respond to Christ’s call to care for others.

          That, I believe, is the key to Christian Unity. It doesn’t mean we all need to enjoy the same hymns or pray the same prayers. Some baptize babies, others wait until adulthood. Some marry partners of the same gender, others refuse. The ideals and concepts that separate us are nearly always found in the details, the small, minor parts of the greater mechanism. The parts that the machine can still function quite satisfactorily without.

          When I completed my Master of Divinity studies in 2015, I was encouraged, based on my grades. to continue my studies toward a doctorate. They didn’t seem to understand why I wasn’t interested. I had gone back to school to get my master’s degree only because that was required for me to become an ordained minister. During my time at seminary, I found that that some of the textbooks we were required to read, some of the professors that taught us, and even some of my fellow classmates, enjoyed using complicated, technical jargon that most people, including me, were unfamiliar with. I could see no value in writing and delivering a sermon that many of the people who heard were unable to understand, and I remain convinced that most of the people who used those words only did it to show off.

          To be honest, I have since come to believe that the real message of scripture is really rather simple. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came among us to save us from our sins and bring us eternal life. Everything else is secondary. As I mentioned last week, every Sunday during this season of Epiphany brings us another affirmation of that truth. This week, Matthew points out that what Jesus was doing among them was exactly what Isaiah had prophesied centuries earlier; yet more proof that Jesus is the One, the Light that shines in people’s darkest moments. Another epiphany! And proof that you don’t need a high education or long, incomprehensible words to express that truth.

          The message of the cross seems like foolishness to those who tend to overthink it. It’s a message about selflessness, serving others, and humility. Exactly the opposite of what the world tells us we should pursue. “Worldly wisdom” says it is all fantasy and myth, and in the effort to understand what is beyond such understanding, keep making it more and more complicated and confusing. In a former pastorate, I had a congregant that would scold me whenever I spoke of things that Jesus said. “We don’t know what he said!” he would remind me. “All of our scriptures were written years, even decades after Jesus’ death. People’s memories are not that accurate.” He was right, of course. We don’t know if Jesus said the exact words that my Bible prints in red. But does it really matter?

          Does it matter if we know word-for-word what Jesus said, or is it enough to understand the message they convey? Truth for those who believe is accessed not through eloquent speech or advanced knowledge. It comes from the Spirit. We know it in our hearts, not our brains. When Jesus walked along the lake shore and called out to Simon and Andrew, “Come, follow me!” they didn’t ask a university professor what they should do. They didn’t consult a three-inch-thick theological textbook. They heard his call, and they felt it within them, and they left their nets and followed, and because they did, we know that we, too, are called to do the same.

          When we accept the one simple truth that Jesus is the Messiah, and respond to that knowledge in faith and integrity, everything else we understand from scripture will be interpreted through that lens, and there will be no reason for divisions within the Body of Christ. His Spirit will unite us, the church we be as one, and the world will begin to heal.

Rev. Colin Snyder, MDiv