The Rev’d Jim Lam

Sermon on 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 15 February, 2026. Year A

Readings: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 119:1-8, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Matthew 5:21-37

Did you have your cup of coffee this morning? Or a cup of tea, perhaps?

It’s nice to have a drop of milk in our tea and coffee. Certainly, milk is something we often enjoy. But just think—if someday someone told you that you could only drink milk because you were not fit for solid food… unless that someone was your doctor, the first word that would likely cross your mind would be “preposterous”!

And yet, this is exactly what Paul told the Christians in the Corinthian church! Paul actually called them “infants in Christ.”
To grow and mature spiritually is the mission of every single believer. However, it is also important to understand this as a command to be obeyed collectively. Through mutual encouragement and support, the spiritual growth of individuals in a faith community is interrelated. Indeed, we can say that the spiritual growth of each individual contributes to the whole community’s maturity in the Spirit.

From his letters to the Corinthians, we know that Paul loved them. He addressed them as “brothers and sisters” (3:1). He described them as people who called on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:2) and noted that they were not lacking in any spiritual gift as they waited for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:7).

Paul spent 18 months in Corinth evangelising and building a church among the new converts. He wrote a total of four letters to this church. Many of these believers might have expected him to praise them, since they had been fruitful and had grown in number. After all, they lived in the biggest and richest city of their time, and Paul wrote that in every way they had been enriched in Christ, in speech and in every kind of knowledge (1:5).

So when Paul wrote, “I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ” (3:1), you can imagine how shocked they must have been! —not grown up, not mature! Paul did not see them as spiritual people. They were endowed with the Spirit, but they did not live out a Spirit-filled life.

Do we dare to ask ourselves whether we live a spiritual life? Are we, as a faith community, a spiritual people?

Being spiritual is a very important New Testament concept. It means living and acting according to the Spirit’s guidance. Rather than being merely immaterial or mystical, the primary meaning of being spiritual is being animated by the Spirit of God. It signifies a life empowered by the Holy Spirit to do God’s will, in contrast to a “natural” or “fleshly” life. Simply put, being spiritual means understanding God’s will for us, knowing what God wants us to do, and—through the power of the Holy Spirit—living a life as if Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20).

Paul did not regard the Corinthian Christians as spiritual, but as “fleshly.” He didn’t single out any one person; rather, he spoke of the whole church as “a people of the flesh.”

Firstly, he noted that he could speak to them only as infants in Christ, and therefore could feed them only with milk, not solid food. By “milk,” he meant foundational teachings, while the digestion of “solid food” requires a mind trained in righteousness and wisdom. It is not that solid food is better than milk, but that it represents progression in one’s spiritual life—just as milk feeds infants, but older children need solid food to survive.

With this in mind, we understand that being fit for solid food means maturing in Christ and living a Spirit-filled life. Why were the Christians in the Corinthian church called infants, not yet ready for solid food? It was because they failed to progress and grow spiritually, remaining at their initiation stage. They continued living their old lives without change in their mindset or core values. Since they had not matured spiritually, they could only be regarded as infants in Christ.

Secondly, Paul pointed out that they were still of the flesh because there was jealousy and quarrelling among them. They still behaved according to human inclinations. The Corinthian Christians might have thought they were mature in the Spirit. However, they still saw and did things according to worldly wisdom and secular standards, living no differently from non-believers. How then could they claim spiritual maturity?

What should we look for in a spiritually mature church? The number of congregants? The affluence of the church treasury? Aren’t a large membership and a healthy purse often seen as signs of success? Well, if these are our only criteria, then we have much to ponder about the spiritual future of our church here in Howick.

So, are we ready to take a look at how a church grows spiritually?

The very first verse of today’s passage gives us a clear hint. The letter was addressed to all members of the church. Why is this significant? Because the growth of a church is directly related to all believers in the faith community. Yes, the call for growth is for every individual believer, but the spiritual maturity of a church—including all groups, cell groups, and every ministry—involves every one of us.

How does that work? Paul gave two pointers. He wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered” (v.6). The first pointer, therefore, is the principle of division of labour. He continued, “For we are God’s servants, working together” (v.9). The second pointer is co-working with one another. These concerted efforts enable a faith community to grow, because—as Paul stressed—the church is God’s field, God’s building, and it is God who gives the growth.

As individuals, we are responsible for our own spiritual growth. As members of a faith community, our purpose is to build up God’s church. Through active participation and contributing according to our gifts, we work together toward this calling. And God will bless us with growth, because we are God’s field, God’s building.

The Lenten season will begin in three days’ time. During this 40-day period of repentance, reflection, and spiritual renewal, let us open our hearts and minds to a Spirit-led faith journey as we deepen our relationship with God and with one another.
The spiritual growth of a church is not determined by the number of congregants, nor is it measured by the financial hurdles a faith community faces. When we understand the will of God and—with the Spirit’s empowerment—work together to live out God’s purpose, our church will shine like a light in the darkness and bear witness to our God.

Amen.