“Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until they speak.” Steven Wright
“Life’s good, you should get one.”
“No, you don’t have to repeat yourself. I was ignoring you the first time.”
“Sarcasm is the secret language that everyone uses when they want to say something mean to your face.”
Just a few sarcastic gems I found online that I thought would set the tone for Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians today. Personally, I have never been a fan of sarcasm. I am more a fan of the direct approach when pointing out another person’s inferior traits. Wait…was that a sarcastic comment? Maybe I really do have a talent for this stuff! We tend to associate sarcasm with more secular interactions but the Bible actually is burgeoning with examples of the more saintly among us giving a raft of backhanded compliments. Here are just a couple that I found:
“And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
This beauty from 1 Kings has Elijah mocking the prophets of Ba’al after they fail to bring their god’s fire down on the altar built to see whose God is more powerful. Elijah successfully calls down the goods from God but not before poking a little fun his rivals.
“I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!”
We all know the story of how the Apostles made the decision that Gentile converts to Christianity did not have to undergo circumcision first in order to become Christian. A definite boon to the early movement of the Church. But apparently some insisted that “tipping” was still necessary. Paul set them straight by suggesting that if a little was good, perhaps extending the procedure would go a bit further in their spiritual life. Maybe I AM getting the hang of this sarcasm stuff.
“They said to Moses, ‘Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?
I can hear Edward G Robinson, the famous tough-guy actor, uttering this line from “The Ten Commandments“. He also said, “Some people have youth, some have beauty–I have menace.”
So sarcasm can be an effective tool, especially when used to put people in their place. To inspire humility. And that is exactly the situation we have in today’s first reading from 1 Corinthians. Corinth was a seaport city and, as such, attracted many unsavory types of people. It was a rough place. Paul initially tried to convert his fellow Jews but they eventually turned against him. He had better luck with the Gentiles and had helped to create a vibrant Christian community there. But, as they say, when the cat is away, the mice will play. With Paul in Ephesus, the new Christians had developed into a fractionated group. Some following Paul, others Apollos and still others latching on to other early Christian leaders in the city.
Worse yet, they began to see themselves as something special. That held the belief that they had this inside information about Christ and this made them, in a way, superior to others who may not be at the same place in their spiritual journey. And, in a sense, they began to look down upon Paul. He of the “I am weak, and therefore am strong” fame. They did not see themselves as weak and began to distance themselves from the very person who brought them to the Gospel. They were embarrassed by him. And it was into this community that he wrote his first letter to the new Church. An attempt to slap them back to reality. And he does so, partially, with this little smack down:
You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich;
you have become kings without us!
Indeed, I wish that you had become kings,
so that we also might become kings with you.
He is saying something like, “I am sooo lucky to be hanging with you. Maybe someday I can be as great as a king as you are.” Paul is trying to show them that following Christ is not a show. Not a competition. Not a popularity contest or power trip. It reminds me a bit of James and John, Sons of Thunder, wanting to be put at Jesus’ right and left hands in the coming Kingdom. To be ranked ahead of the other Apostles.
And I also think to the “Good” thief crucified alongside Jesus. He has led a life worthy of crucifixion. Right up to the end. By any standards he would have not been a leading figure in the Corinthian community. But on that day, he entered paradise with Jesus. Why? Obviously not because of his social status. Jesus made it clear to the ruling religious classes that their status among the people was not the factor that would save them. No, on that fateful Good Friday, it was the thief’s humility that ushered him to the Promised Land. A willingness to see himself as he was. A sinner. And more importantly, a repentant sinner. Not better than anyone else. Just a sinner. The first line of introduction by Pope Francis to the masses in St. Peter Square was, “I am a sinner”. Like with an alcoholic, we cannot move away from our condition without first admitting that we have a problem. Something that was apparently lost on the Christian community in Corinth.
