Wednesday 20 April 2016

The Sun Sets On Our Pilgrimage

Our last view of Athens coming back after our day on the sea yesterday. It has been a wonderful pilgrimage and I hope this blog had helped others on the journey. 

At our together time last time people spoke of how their admiration for Paul as God's servant had increased. For myself I was thankful afresh for his faithfulness, courage and confidence in the gospel he proclaimed. 

May we walk in his steps following the way of Christ. 

Tuesday 19 April 2016

All At Sea

This is Linda taking Morning Prayer for us this morning on the boat that has been our home today. 

It has of course been very enjoyable visiting three of the Agean islands but it has also given us the chance to reflect on the sea journey Paul took at the end of his time in Corinth, together with all the other sea journeys he undertook. They were often everything ours was not: uncomfortable, dangerous and uncertain. But Paul undertook them for the sake of the gospel; as we thought at the beginning of this pilgrimage, Christ's love compelled him. 

A postscript: any rumours that your blogger deliberately put his hand on a sea urchin so as to write about Paul's 'thorn in the flesh' are entirely unfounded...

Living in Greece Today

We have spent much of this pilgrimage focussing on the apostle Paul's journeys two thousand years ago but we have always been conscious of the realities of life in Greece today and last night was our chance to find out more.

Malcolm Bradshaw, Anglican chaplain for Greece and Rebecca from mission agency US, came to speak to us about the two humanitarian crises facing Greece: the austerity crisis and the refugee crisis.

Malcolm spoke to us about the former issue. He outlined the impact the austerity cuts have had on pensions and the health service and highlighted the shortcomings of the political leadership within Greece. It was their failure to deal with an inflated civil service that had contributed to an unemployment rate among under 25s of 64%.

Rebecca spoke about the refugee crisis and the way in which there are 50,000 refugees in Greece but only facilities for 40,000. After a period of inactivity the government is seeking to deal with the challenge but it is still playing catch up.

Both Malcolm and Rebecca spoke about how the church is serving in the light of these crises. The Anglican church together with other churches serves 300 meals a day from a soup kitchen in Athens and it also provides one hot meal a week for every refugee in one of the detainment camps in Athens.

It was a sobering evening which reminded us of the broken world in which we live but were also humbled by the example of local Christians getting so stuck into a problem that will not go away.

Monday 18 April 2016

After Paul Left Corinth

It was under this tree this afternoon that we had a very special communion service, reflecting on Paul's words about the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:17-26.

That passage is actually the first written record we have of the Last Supper because Paul wrote his letter in the mid 50s AD, some five years or so before the first gospel (probably Mark) was set down on paper.

Yet it was not a happy context in which Paul mentioned the Last Supper and as we explored why we came across what had gone wrong with the Corinthian church since Paul left Corinth.

It seems from Paul's letter that the sizeable and diverse Corinthian church was meeting in one of the larger villas in Corinth, yet when they shared the Lord's Supper they did so in a divisive way, with the rich eating and drinking more in one room and the poor going away hungry from another. Although they were one family, they were living out all the old social and economic hierarchies.

Paul is horrified. For him it is another example of what has gone wrong since he left Corinth, namely that the believers in that city have conformed to the pattern of the city in which they live rather than the gospel they believe. They were 'walking in a worldly way' (1 Cor 3:3). They were more Corinthian than they were Christian. All the problems Paul sought to address in the two Corinthian letters that we have (immorality, law suits, leader-worship, disorderly ship) stem from this root problem; since Paul left the church had sought to follow Jesus but using a Corinthian value-system of competition, self-reliance, image and success.

Paul's value-system could not be more different; his world was shaped not by success or image but by the cross of Christ. The Corinthians wanted him to boast in his successes which would reflect well on them; Paul boasted in the things that showed him to be weak because that reflected the gospel of the crucified Jesus.

And so this afternoon, mindful that we too run the risk of being shaped more by the values of our prevailing culture rather than gospel values, there was the opportunity for all of us to share that meal Paul talked to the Corinthians about almost two thousand years ago. A 'cross meal' for it helps us remember Jesus' death for us; a 'together meal' for we do it together, as brothers and sisters in Christ, as sinners forgiven through the blood of Jesus, as children of God adopted by grace. And it was a service I will never forget.

The Corinthians loved to boast, but in our service we sang of a very different kind of boasting altogether, one which the apostle Paul modelled all those years ago

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my God.
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrifice them to his blood.

Christ and Him Crucified

This stone structure in the centre of ancient Corinth is called the bema and it was the place where trials were held and public speeches arranged. Public speaking was a growth industry in Corinth in the first century AD. Speaking well so as to gain the respect and applause of others was seen as very important. It was less what you said that mattered, and more how you said it.

Paul may well have spoken from this platform but his approach was very different. Reflecting a few years later on his visit he wrote,

'When I came to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom but on God's power.' (1 Cor 2:1-5)

Paul could have wowed the Corinthians with the apologetic technique that he used in Athens. But in a culture of clever speaking and self-important people he knew he needed to focus on the gospel of the cross of Christ, that great leveller in which all people are confronted with their own sin and need for a Saviour. And he knew he needed to preach this message not with impressive rhetoric but in simple terms with a clear reliance on the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of his hearers.

And, wonderfully, that gospel bore fruit. Luke tells us in Acts 18:8 that many people come to faith from all sorts of backgrounds. Paul enjoyed a fruitful ministry in Corinth for eighteen months, serving together with Silas and Timothy, who had joined him from Berea, and Priscilla and Aquila who were tent makers like Paul and had come to faith through his ministry.

It seems that by the time Paul left Corinth the church was really flourishing. The question was: what would happen next?

A CV in Stone

This is one of my favourites sights in Corinth and we all enjoyed spotting it today on our visit.

It is an inscription that comes from a monument that originally would have been situated in the market place, the most public place in the city. The monument itself was a circle of Corinthian columns set on a stone pedestal. The full version reads 'Gnaeus Babbius Philinus, aedile and pontifex, had this monument erected at his own expense, and he approved it in his official capacity of duovir'.

The back-story seems to be this: Babbius, a freedman like Erastus, judging by his name, had done well for himself, both financially socially, and reached a number of positions, including the one of duovir, the senior executive officer in the city council. The monument is therefore his CV written in stone.

If you take this monument together with the Erastus pavement (see below), we can see they suggest three interesting things about Corinth.

First, they point to considerable social fluidity. This was a city with a considerable number of former slaves among their number, and these freedmen were able to rise up the social to positions of influence and importance. To use language rather from today's culture, Corinth displayed a culture of 'aspiration'. If you worked hard, traded hard, you too could better yourself.

Second, these inscriptions point to significant status anxiety on the part of those who had risen up the social ladder. It is a phenomenon far from unknown today: the further you have climbed, the more conscious you are of your position, and the more fearful you are of slipping down again. By mentioning their various roles so clearly, Erastus, and especially Babbius, are demonstrating what one scholar calls 'self-made-person-escapes-humble-origins syndrome'.

Third, these inscriptions suggest a culture of self-promotion in the city of Corinth. Given the social mobility, given the resulting status anxiety, the response on the part of the nouveau-riche was to make opportunities to display their own achievements. The Babbius monument is nothing other than an attempt by its subject to show off his achievements, status and wealth. You couldn't post a photo on Facebook of your new car, office or holiday but you could build a monument. That it was allowed to stand in the market place suggests it was nothing unusual. In Corinth self-promotion was what you did.

Would it be what Paul did? Time would tell.

Under Our Feet

This is the most exciting piece of pavement I've ever seen.

We found it just to the side of the theatre in ancient Corinth. Made with limestone from Acrocorinth and once filled with bronze, it reads 'Erastus in return for his aedileship laid [the pavement] at his own expense'. An aedile was an elected public official responsible for the management of the public streets, market places and buildings. It would seem that Erastus had made paying for the pavement part of his election pledge; the inscription is his public proclamation that he has kept his promise.

But there are two other interesting things about Erastus. First it seems from his name that Erastus was a freedman, that is, a former slave. This is not surprising in a city which was founded with many freedmen among its number but it is an important hint as to the social fluidity of Corinth, where a former slave could reach significant public office.

Second it is at least possible - some say probable - that the Erastus here is the same as one mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:23 (there is he described as the 'city's director of public works'). Perhaps Erastus became a Christian under Paul's ministry. He wouldn't have been the only prominent person to have done so.

A fascinating possibility; one day we'll know for sure.