1 Corinthians 1:1-9
January 18, 2026
A young man got up one morning and while looking at himself in the mirror, he saw a man who had fallen far away from God. He grew up in a Christian home, but when he went to college he began hanging out with the wrong crowd. He started drinking and participated in some wild college parties. During that time he said he did not think about God at all. When he finally moved back to his home area, realizing the error of his ways, he was divorced and unemployed. So he thought about returning to his home church. But he wasn’t sure if he would be welcomed by the members, as many people in the church had heard about his wild college days and his failed marriage, or if he would even be welcomed by God. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he did not like what he saw at all – a man who used to honor God, but was now chasing the things of this world.
Mirrors are tools for reflection. They show who we are, both the positive and the negative. That’s why we rely on mirrors not only for our looks, but for some important tasks. Mirrors are an important piece in many technological tools that we rely on for precision, including photocopiers, telescopes, and medical equipment. We use rear view mirrors for safety as we drive. We rely on mirrors because they accurately reflect the image in front of them.
In the same way, we look into a mirror to see who we are or how we look. For many of us when we look into a mirror we see only bad things instead of the good things. We might notice that our hair is sticking out or we have wrinkles around our eyes or we still have a ways to go towards our New Year’s resolution of losing weight.
Sometimes when people look into a mirror, they see the deeper faults hiding within them. As they look at their reflection they may say, “There you are, the one who can’t admit he has a drinking problem.” Or, “There you are, the one who only thinks of himself.” Or, “There you are, the one who never gets anything right.” In our success driven world, we are often all too quick to put ourselves down, instead of seeing the value that lies deep within each one of us as a child of God.
Even within the church, we sometimes focus on our shortcomings, instead of on God’s blessings in our lives. We look in the mirror and say, “Oh, there you are, the one who can’t live up to God’s expectations.” As a result, we fall into a false humility, thinking that we’re not allowed to take pride in the work that we do for the sake of God and the church. So we are hesitant to share our gifts with the church, because we don’t want to appear arrogant or because there might be someone out there who can do the task we volunteered for better than we can. Or else we wait for someone to ask us to serve, rather than taking the initiative to offer our gifts in service to our Lord. We say, “Why don’t you find someone more qualified to serve, but if you can’t find anyone else, I guess I’ll do it.” We look into the mirror and see our faults and shortcomings, instead of the gifts that God has given to us for service to Him and others.
Even when we look in the Bible, we are looking into a mirror, as the Bible tells us the truth about ourselves. The Bible, like a mirror, shows us what we are, both the good and the bad. Scripture shows us the error of our ways, and shows us the places in our lives where we fall short of God’s commands. The Bible says we are all sinners, no one is excluded. None of us can live the perfect life that Jesus lived. Scripture shows us that there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love and favor, and nothing we can do to earn our way into heaven.
But in the same way, Scripture shows us who we are and whose we are: We are God’s beloved children, who made us, forgives us, and adopts us into His family through the waters of baptism. And God uses us, He works through us so that others will come to know Him and be part of His family. In our second lesson for today Paul writes a letter to the church in Corinth that was having some difficulties and tensions. Paul had spent about a year and one-half in Corinth, during which he preached and taught about Jesus. As people became believers in Jesus a church was started that met regularly for worship. Once the church was established, Paul would move to another city to begin the process all over again. I’m sure it brought Paul great sadness when he learned that the church was having disagreements. But Paul reminded them that they were a special group of people, chosen by God to be saints. Even though they were having some disagreements with each other, they needed to continue working together in their service to God. They needed to see the bigger picture of what God was calling them to do. Therefore, Paul looks past their shortcomings and says in verses 4-5, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge.” When Paul looks at the Corinthians, he sees God’s gifts that are deep within them.
In our Gospel lesson for today, John the Baptist looks at Jesus and sees God reflected in Jesus and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John saw that Jesus was God’s Son, sent with the mission of restoring our relationship with God that had been destroyed by sin. John tells us that in Jesus, we see God’s ultimate plan for the world, a plan of deep love, not a plan of condemnation. When we look at Jesus, God’s love reflects back at us. We see in Jesus God’s deepest desire for all of humanity – to live with Him today and forever.
Therefore, since we are God’s children, the world looks at us to see the reflection of God, to see what God is like. If we are caught up only in ourselves, the world will see a church that doesn’t believe or practice their own teachings. A church that believes in God’s love for the world is to be a church that can’t wait to share that Good News of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness with others.
For 25 years, God has brought people, He has brought all of you here to this place for a reason: to be part of His family of saints and to reflect His Word and Love with others. We are saints, not because we are especially good or righteous in and of ourselves, but because of Jesus. We are sinners, who have been redeemed by Jesus’ death and resurrection. When we look into the mirror of Scripture, the reflection we should see is that of ourselves standing with Jesus next to us, loving us, strengthening us, and embracing us. That’s who we are. We are called to be the people who reflect God’s light into the darkness of this world.
In the Philippians, there is a 50-foot tall statue of Jesus called, “Christ of the Divine Mercy.” The beautiful gardens around it give the impression of paradise. Worshipers can ascend into his body by way of a staircase that radiates out from it. While it may seem more glamorous to travel to an exotic location like the Philippines to be close to Jesus, it happens in places far less glamorous every day. It happened in cities like Corinth and it has been happening here in Clayton in our church for 25 years, and it happens in places all around the world as Jesus builds His Church to be close to people. It happens in places that don’t look much like paradise. It happens among those who do some pretty unholy things. But that’s why Jesus comes to build His Church where He does: because sinners are close to His heart.
Many people would say that a recipe for disaster is to take people with different views, ideas, attitudes, backgrounds, and agenda and put them all in one place. The result would be considered chaotic at best. Sadly, we see this in many places in our world. But while we may have differences, Jesus is who we serve and who we have in common through faith. We are to reflect God’s passionate love for all people, to share Jesus with those who do not have a relationship with Him, and to invite others to become a part of God’s family in this place. As you go through this week, remember that God’s deepest desire is reflected in you, and that this hurting world so desperately needs to hear from you that God loves them and wants to share His gift of life with them.
