Homily

There is trouble in the parish of Corinth, as we heard St. Paul writing about it today. Apparently some of the parishioners, who had education and money, thought that they were superior to the rest of the parish, and perhaps even more important than their pastor, St. Apollos, or their evangelist, St. Paul. In Chapter 4, V. 8, one line before today's epistle begins, St. Paul writes: "Already you are satisfied. Already you are enriched. Independently of us you have acted as kings. And would that you were kings so that we might reign with you!" Obviously some of these people truly provoked Paul's anger if he depicts them as acting like kings, for clearly the fullness of the kingdom of God has not yet come but they act as though ruling. To contrast with that image, Paul talks about himself and the other apostles: "For as I see it, God has exhibited us apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and human beings alike." So if some of the parishioners are acting like kings, Paul speaks of the state of the apostles as though they are walking in a parade after a battle has been won. You have probably seen these types of Roman victory parades in the movies. The winning officer has a great place in the parade, usually near the beginning, and the prisoners of war came last in line, as Paul says the apostles do, dragged in chains and soon to be part of the spectacle at the local arena, doomed to die at the end of the day's program, often at the hands of gladiators. And of course the wealthy or powerful had the best seats at the show.

Paul continues to use sarcasm to try and shame these wealthy and self-important parishioners back into a proper Christian mode of behavior. "We are fools on Christ's account but you are wise." Paul says he only boasts in Christ, not in himself, and the wisdom of God is Christ Crucified, which to those without faith is foolishness. Most of the Corinthian Christians were poor, uneducated and probably many were slaves. How ironic that those with money and education in the parish—the most socially privileged, are now placing themselves in danger of being lost through pride.

Paul continues: "We are weak, but you are strong, you are held in honor but we are without honor." Obviously, when Paul continues on speaking about going hungry, thirsty, naked, beaten and homeless, he's reminding the parishioners of Corinth that his strength in his work for the church is quite the opposite of being a weak man, and if they want to talk about their own great deeds, they should do so after thinking about what Paul endures for the sake of the Gospel.

But I want to stop on this part: "You are held in honor, but we are without honor." In the ancient Greek-Roman world honor was one of the greatest qualities a person could have. Honor, in the sense of high regard, or great respect, especially with good reputation. It could also refer to glory or fame for those who achieved it in athletic contests, or military victory, or great accomplishments in the arts or politics. But most often it was about good reputation.

You don't hear much talk about honor today, do you? In the culture St. Paul lived in, to lose your honor was one of the worst things that could happen to a person, because it was the result of acting in a way that brought shame and disrespect upon yourself. If you lost your honor you might as well move to another town because your name would be held in disrepute, your word would mean nothing and you would constantly be looked upon as person of low moral character.

Even speaking just of Western civilizations, there has been a constant tradition of the importance of honor throughout the last 2,000 years. Many of the great epic stories of our history and culture contain the descriptions of the honor that great men and women lived for and often sacrificed to hold onto. Although it can hardly be considered to fall under Christian morality, men even challenged one another to duels because they felt their honor had been damaged by another party. Certainly dueling was wrong, but it revealed the value people placed on their good name and reputation.

Who even uses the word "honor" today? Who talks about whether or not a person is honorable? Who is afraid of losing their honor? I think there are two reasons for this. First, the modern idea that you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks about you. You should just live and act the way you want to live and act. In this case, honor would be unimportant to you since it involves the high regard or respect of other people for you. If you don't care what others think, honor is an empty word. Now it is true in one sense that we should not act simply on the expectations of others, but, if we live as though we are superior and apart from, or more special than our neighbors, we risk being in the position of the rich and educated trouble-makers in the Corinthian Church.

The second reason people don't care so much about honor today is because so many people cannot agree on what is honorable behavior, and what kind of behavior should bring shame on a person. If we cannot agree, in so many areas, what is right and what is wrong, then we cannot talk much about people acting honorably or shamefully.

St. Paul thinks honor is very important, but it is not the kind of honor that the well-to-do, educated parishioners in Corinth were looking for. Instead it is the honor that is found in living a life in Christ. Christ alone is the man of true and perfect honor, and all those who live in Him, all those who walk in His path, all those who live by His law, all those who seek to love as He loves, these are the people of honor, whether rich or poor, free or slave, male or female, young or old all those who seek to live in Christ share in His honor even if, to the world, they may seem to, as Paul says, be "the scum of all," they are in fact most esteemed in the Kingdom of God. Just as the cross is foolishness and the resurrection an absurd notion to some people, those who live in the honor of Christ will not always be welcomed or praised. In fact, they may be condemned, even to death as St. Paul was. But our dignity in Christ stands both in life and in death, for there is no place, no time, no circumstance that can cut us off from Him, unless we ourselves choose to do so.

So during the Liturgy when we pray, "for to You is due all glory, honor and worship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit," let us remember that the greatest honor we can ever bear in this life, or in the life to come is the unsurpassable honor that belongs to those who live as the children of God.