God often chooses “unworthy” people to fulfill holy tasks.
Moses killed an Egyptian. A younger son in a minor
Hebrew clan, Gideon lacked any social status. One of only four
women mentioned in Jesus’ ancestral lineage, Rahab was a
prostitute. As a Pharisee, Paul persecuted the early Christians. It
confounds our human sense of righteousness that God deliberately
calls flawed people for sacred work!

In today’s scripture, notice how frequently some form of
the word called appears. Paul describes himself as “called to be
an apostle of Christ Jesus.” He identifies the members of the
church at Corinth as “those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints.” We may wonder what kind of people these
Corinthian saints were. Did they dress in rags or fine clothes?
Did they give a little to the church, or did they put in all they
had? Did they seek front seats to pray sanctimoniously before the
crowd, or did they stand in the back and plead for God’s mercy?

In all likelihood, the church at Corinth held a mixture of all
these kinds of people and more. Since scholars believe this letter
to have been written within thirty years of Jesus’ death, the
church there probably looked a lot like the people with whom
Jesus spent time.

So how does such a diverse and “flawed” group of people
carry out their holy task? Paul affirms that these saints “are not
lacking in any spiritual gift.” The cohesive nature of this community
of saints hinges on their being called to a vocation as
Christians. God calls the unflawed and the flawed, the saints
and the sinners into “the fellowship of . . . Jesus Christ our
Lord.” May we affirm our calling, for holy tasks await.