1 Corinthians 11

To understand Paul's discussion of hair and clothing at worship, we need to understand its context. The statue of Caesar above shows how Caesar would have led worship, wearing this robe and hood with his office.

When it came to prayer and worship, superstition abounded among the Gentiles. Paul's later discussion of noisy gongs and clanging cymbols reminded his contemporaries of the insistence of noise, so that nothing interrupted their prayers.

Paul appeals to making our worship counter-cultural. The pagan males cover their heads; Corinthian men should not. The women do not cover their heads; Corinthian women could set themselves apart with shawls.

As Christians, we struggle with what to accept from our culture, what to reject, and what to subvert. Fashions change; the Lord does not change.

A larger issue for worship Paul discusses is the Lord's Supper. The practice of the Lord's Supper divided Corinth. The Supper signifies Christ. The practice of the Supper often distracts and points to something else. For the Christian community, the Lord's Supper offers the reality of Christ through the Holy Spirit. For Corinth, the Supper meant bring your own food and wine. The Corinthians eat on their own, together, not sharing. The taste, smell, and texture of the cup and the bread remind us of Jesus only when we eat together, not seeking to eat alone.

1 Corinthians 10 - Old Testament references

1 Corinthians 10.2 - Exodus 13 - 14
1 Corinthians 10.3 - Exodus 16
1 Corinthians 10.4 - Exodus 17
1 Corinthians 10.7 - Exodus 32
1 Corinthians 10.8 - Numbers 25
1 Corinthians 10.9 - Numbers 21
1 Corinthians 10.10 - Numbers 14

1 Corinthians 10

Since Easter, we have dwelt in Paul's discussion of the resurrection. Paul spends time discussing doctrines that the church has dropped. Belief in the resurrection, both Jesus' resurrection in the first century and the general resurrection in the future, is crucial to Christian faith now.

This Sunday, we jump back to 1 Corinthians 10, where we will lead up to Pentecost and the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14. Paul addresses a community with two theologies competing with the Christian faith. Many of the Jewish Christian members of the community struggle with their old identity in the face of pagan converts; the former pagans struggle with the exclusive claims of the Christian faith. On top of this, in Jesus Christ, a new identity is forged in freedom and grace.

Context determines how we exercise our freedom in Christ.

For Corinth, freedom in Christ meant eating or not eating idol meat. For Christians today, there are many forms of idol meat - alcohol, vegetarianism, etc. There are actions that hurt our testimony to this freedom in Christ in the eyes of some unbelievers; these same actions are fine outside their presence.

Conscience is our guide, not legalism. Yet the conscience we follow is not always our own.

We Presbyterians say that "God alone is Lord of the conscience", as Paul reaffirms here. Yet sometimes our own conscience is not primary. The conscience of the unbeliever, out attempts to win everyone for Christ, should determine our behavior.