Monday,
July 27 –
Welcome
to a new week and also to a new book. We are beginning Paul’s second letter to
the Corinthians this morning by reading 2 Corinthians 1:1 – 22. After you’ve
read the Scripture, come back, and I’ll share some background to the letter,
and we’ll take a look at what we’ve read. One more thing, we are now well over
halfway through the New Testament. Sincerely, “well done”, and thanks for
coming along with me as we seek to read the New Testament in a year.
It’s safe to say that no other church challenged Paul as a Missionary and
Church Planter as the Corinthian Church. We just finished the letter of First
Corinthians, and as you recall, much of it was rocky. The Corinthians were
divided by personality cliques and doctrinal confusion. Paul had told them that
he planned on visiting them but was delayed by responsibilities in Ephesus, and
the need to visit the other churches in Macedonia (1 Cor. 16:5-8). Paul had
sent Timothy on ahead, and it was after he left Ephesus and traveled north to
Macedonia that he received more troubling news.
From
Macedonia, Paul sat down to write this letter we are now beginning to read.
Within a few months, he would arrive at Corinth (and stay with them for about
three months). This letter – 2nd Corinthians – was written to answer some of
the criticisms that had been leveled against him (there were many), and, as
well, clarify what they were supposed to be doing, and how the Gospel message
was central to the church’s mission. It was written about a year after he had
written what we call 1st Corinthians – around 56 – 57 a.d.
A vocal
minority of people in the Corinthian church, frankly, didn’t like the Apostle
Paul. Some of it had to do with cultural clashes. They were mostly Greek/Roman
converts, and Paul was a Jew. Paul’s disciplinary actions concerning incestuous
sexual relations, the pagan temples, and Temple prostitution, as well as the
issues of meat in the marketplace that had been offered as sacrifices to pagan
gods, made many of them think Paul was too “law-oriented”...too “zealous”...and
too “overbearing.” This group didn’t like Paul’s directness – “just who do you
think you are?” The second group came from the Jewish believers who didn’t
think Paul honored the law of God enough. Some new so-called Apostles had come
to Corinth and they ardently taught the Old Testament. They told the church
that Paul was being too lenient on these new converts. Paul spends a large part
of 2nd Corinthians addressing these so-called Apostles and their “different
Gospel,” as well as their assault on his character. He was stuck in between two
opposing forces, and he had to address both of them.
The
letter opens with a typical greeting, but also with a quick assertion of Paul’s
Apostleship – “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”(1:1a).
While some in Corinth were unconvinced of who Paul was, Paul was not. He was an
Apostle called to proclaim Jesus as Messiah, Savior, and Lord. It was not his
choice to enter into this ministry – it was God’s will that called him to do
this Apostolic work. As we will see, Paul was going to have to address some
“so-called” Apostles (2 Cor. 11:13) who had sought to undermine his position
and authority. Paul doesn’t waste any time making clear his credentials.
As to
the church, Paul wants them to know how he views them – “Paul, an apostle of
Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God
that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1-2).
Among the many things that had given Paul cause to wonder what they were doing,
he reminds them that they are “the church...in Corinth...with all the
Saints...by Grace and peace from God.” We might find it hard to think of the
Corinthian church as “saints,” but Paul does not. He knows that those who God
called to himself are “Saints,” for that is what a Saint is – one called by God
to salvation in Jesus Christ. He also knows that God’s call is by Grace through
faith, and leads to Peace with God, as well as gains the Peace of God (Romans
5:1). He reminds them that to be in the
church is because of God, and it is God who keeps the saints through continued
mercy and grace because of Jesus Christ.
The
heart of Paul is his compassion for this church and the tough things they had
already faced. After all, Paul knew what it was like to go through challenging
times just because of his faith. The Corinthian church had experienced its own
share of painful things. The divisions based on personality cliques (1 Cor. 1),
and the sexual and moral issues (1 Cor. Chapters, 5-10) had brought division to
the church. Paul addressed this after his opening greeting – “Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all
comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to
comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God” (1:3-4). The painful issues they had to
deal with had hurt them deeply, but Paul reminds them that God is not absent
from their pain and suffering. It’s insightful theology as he reminds them, and
us, that suffering is not punishment, but a mysterious sharing in Christ’s
sufferings – “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through
Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (1:5). In verses that follow (1:6-7),
Paul reminds them that he is well aware of the troubles they have gone through
and has no intention of leaving them alone to figure it out on their own.
What is
the benefit of suffering, if any? Suffering keeps us from trusting in our own
abilities and strength. Suffering makes it clear that we are not in control,
and we need God – “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the
affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our
strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received
the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God
who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will
deliver us. On him, we have set our hope that he will deliver us again”
(1:8-10). No one likes suffering. Yet suffering is the fire of God burning
away the dross of our own independent self-control. We learn in suffering that
we have no control of outcomes, but God never loses control. Therefore, it is
always “on Him we set our hope.”
The
long section that follows in 1st Corinthians 1:13-22, and in the verses that
follow these that we will take up tomorrow, Paul begins to deal with those who
criticize his leadership role in the church. The false teachers, the so-called
false apostles, attacked Paul in order to alienate him from the church. Our
first glimpse into their accusations has to do with his lack of intellect and
the Greek wisdom of the culture he encountered when he came to establish the
church in Corinth – “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience,
that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by
earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you” (1:12).
Paul had nothing to hide from them (1:13-14). He came to them not trying to
impress them with his “earthly wisdom,” but instead to proclaim to them the
“grace of God.” There you have it...simple, sincere, not trying to impress, but
declaring Grace...Paul’s modus operandi.
The
false apostles accused Paul – behind his back – that he didn’t really care
about the Corinthians, because he refused to come back to them, but instead
sent them letters. They accused him of being indecisive, vacillating, and
criticized him to tear down his credibility. Paul’s words to answer them are
essential to understand – “I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and
to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was
I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the
flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? As surely as God
is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes
and No, but in him, it is always Yes” (1:16-19). Paul is no politician
promising something to gain favor only to compromise it away after they have
arrived. He says, “My Yes is always a Yes, and My No is always a No.” He got
that principle from Jesus (note Matthew 5:33 – 37). He stressed his choices
were always a response to God’s faithfulness, God’s direction, and this follows
the pattern of Jesus’ teaching.
He ends
this first response with theological truth – “For all the promises of God
find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to
God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has
anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our
hearts as a guarantee” (1:20-22). Rather than defend himself, he falls back
on the decisions he had made and always makes. His response to God has always
been “yes.” For Paul, God’s will was always an “Amen – so be it,” and then He
proceeded to do what God had called him to do for the singular purpose of the
“Glory of God.” How?, through the one who is working through Him, and us too –
the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is God’s seal – the Greek word is “sphragizo,”
and was a part of everyday life in Roman/Greek culture. When we want a document,
like a will, certified to be genuine and accurate, we prepare and sign it in
the company of a “public notary.” The notary stamps it, dates it, signs it, and
it stands in a court of law as a lawful document. The seal in Paul’s time was a
waxed stamp that sealed up the document and made clear the intent of the owner.
Paul says God “sealed” us – put his stamp upon us and declared that we belong
to Him and guarantees the “yes” of the will of God to be done.
False
accusations – they are never pretty. We often bite our tongues rather than
dignify that which is false. Sometimes we get angry and “give them a piece of
our mind.” One of my mentors advised me some thirty years ago after emails had
become a way to write to people, that it’s ok to write a defense back to
someone – just don’t push the send button. What then do we do? Paul speaks
directly to the truth of who God is...not the man Paul is. It is God who called
him. It was God who appointed him to be an Apostle. It was God who ordered his
movements and mission. What we have at the beginning of this letter is Paul’s
response to false accusations – “you have a problem with what I am doing? Take
it up with the Lord!”
Sometimes
the best answer is our silence, but if it needs to be dealt with, do it in
person, face to face, and do it to fulfill God’s will instead of appeasing our
own hurt feelings. Is it easy? No, it sometimes sits in complete confusion, as
the writer of the Proverbs reminded us – “Answer not a fool according to his
folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:4-5). It’s somewhat clearer
to remind ourselves that each time stands on its own.
The end
of this is the question – “Who am I most concerned about – myself, or God’s
glory?” Stay with God, watch the motives, be careful to not go down the road of
slander, or gossip, and pray. God knows what he is doing – our need is to trust
him to sort it all out.
Peace
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