1 CORINTHIANS 16
This chapter consists of Paul’s final comments. We can sometimes overlook these end pieces to Paul’s letters because they don’t seem to be important but they do help us to understand the early church and to understand Paul’s missionary focus.
Although Paul’s letter has been directed to a specific local church, he makes it clear that the Corinthian church is part of a much wider and international community. In this short passage he mentions churches in Galatia (v1), Judea (v3), Macedonia (v5), Achaia (v15) and Asia (v16). Not only was the wider church international. It was also interdependent, sharing resources including money, ministry and prayer. These ideals of churches helping one another are what we should continue to do in our time. Money is a scarce resource and churches with more resources are called to help support those with fewer; and not only those churches in poorer parts of the world, but also within our own country. Churches should also be prepared to share those gifted in preaching and evangelism and with other gifts, with the wider church. And, of course, we should pray for the church locally, nationally and internationally.
Paul notes in his closing comments that while there are great opportunities for him, there are also many who oppose him (v9). This is equally relevant to today’s church. There are so many people who do not know God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ and that mission field is growing bigger and bigger. As Jesus himself said, using the agricultural images he was so fond of, “Open your eyes and look at the fields; they are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). While there are opportunities, there are also challenges and in today’s society many oppose Christianity; not just other religions such as Islam and Buddhism, but also the general secular humanist society so prevalent in the West, which sees Christianity as, not just irrelevant, but also impeding progress in the modern world.
At the end of the chapter Paul says, “I, Paul, write this in my own hand” (v21). Up to now he has probably been dictating this letter to a secretary, but he wanted to make his final greeting a bit more personal by writing it himself. His greeting is generally warm including sending sentiments of goodwill from fellow Christian workers such as Aquila and Priscilla, but he can’t help himself in giving a final word of warning to those who have given him so much trouble in the church at Corinth, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be cursed” (v22).
However, Paul cannot end on a negative note, and he finishes with a message of grace and love to all of the church, including the wrongdoers. In doing this Paul tops and tails his letter to the Corinthians with positive words. He began with “grace and peace to all those who call on the name of the Lord” in Corinth (1:2) and ends in the same vein.