Salem Lutheran
Church
Daily Reading
1
Corinthians 9:1-16
An
apostle's life
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not
my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you;
for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to
our food and drink? Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing
wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is
it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
Who at any time pays the expenses for doing military service? Who plants a
vineyard and does not eat any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not
get any of its milk?
Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law also say the same? For it is
written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is
treading out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Or does he
not speak entirely for our sake? It was indeed written for our sake, for
whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of
a share in the crop. If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much
if we reap your material benefits? If others share this rightful claim on you,
do not we still more?
Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather
than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that
those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple,
and those who serve at the altar share in what is sacrificed on the altar? In
the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get
their living by the gospel.
But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that
they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that no one
will deprive me of my ground for boasting! If I proclaim the gospel, this gives
me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I
do not proclaim the gospel!
Salem Lutheran Church
Just off 71st Street in New Augusta.
4700 West 72nd Street,
Indianapolis 46268