II Corinthians 5:20b-6:2 (3-10)
20b we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we work together with him, we
urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,
“At an acceptable time I have
listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have
helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time;
see, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in
anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but
as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great
endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings,
imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity,
knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful
speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right
hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and
good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as
unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished,
and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor,
yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Message "The Yes of God"
Pastor George
Year ABC
Ash Wednesday
March 1, 2017
Cross~Wind Ministries
Title: The Yes of God
Over everything we do and enjoy hover sighs
of suffering and self-satisfied laughter of selfish indifference and oppression
Going deeper
Introducing the passage
Many scholars think of II Corinthians 2:14-7:4 as a
rhetorical unit, Paul’s defense of his ministry, of which 5:11-6:10 is a key
part as he explains his ministry of reconciliation. In verses 5:20-6:2 Paul
offers an appeal for reconciliation with God. Paul writes of a relationship God
has initiated and to which human beings must respond by accepting the offer.
Here is the Yes of God to humanity. Reflect with me for a moment on the
crucifixion of Jesus. Human beings sat in judgment of the innocent one, Jesus.
He bore their judgment silently. In doing this, he accepted the burden of their
sinful judgment. It reminds us of the suffering servant in Isaiah, where the
suffering servant had a grave with the wicked. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that he
experienced the tests of a human life without succumbing to sin. I Peter 1:9
says he was a lamb without blemish. In 3:18, Peter says the righteous died for
the unrighteous in order to bring humanity to God. In Christ, God remains
faithful to the covenant, not just with Israel, but the covenant with humanity.
As Christ bore our sin, God takes part in our history. Perhaps Theodoret of
Cyrus, a fifth-century bishop, best captured the spirit of this paradox when he
wrote, “Christ was called what we are in order to call us to be what he is.” We
know this because of the fundamental significance of the death of Christ
for the way Paul thought of the reconciling of the world by God. God takes the
sinful situation of our world into the heart of God. Our sin is no longer an
obstacle with God. The door is open to friendship with God. God needed to deal
with sin because it was in the way of what God wants for humanity and for
creation, which is, fellowship in eternity. The cross opens the way for pardon
today, so that we no longer needed to bear the weight of our sin. In fact, our
sin is no longer our own. Christ has taken our sin. In the cross, God has said
Yes to us. Yet, the event of the cross needs to become our event today. In our
response of faith, we take that moment of the past and make it our moment of
reconciliation with God. We have friendship with God.
II Corinthians 5:11-6:13 has the theme of the ministry of
reconciliation. Paul was in Corinth from winter of 50 AD to summer of 51 AD, so
Acts 18:1-17. He wrote this part of II Corinthians in the fall of 55 AD. Timothy is with Paul. Titus and two others bring the letter. Titus has just arrived with good news. Many
scholars construe 2:14-7:4 as a rhetorical unit, Paul’s defense of his
ministry, of which 5:11-6:10 is a key part as he explains his ministry of
reconciliation.
[In verses 5:20-6:2 Paul offers an appeal for reconciliation with God.
Verses 20-21 reveal the resulting ministry that this reconciliation demands.] 20b we [providing the agency by which
others know Christ, with the priority given to the action of God to which faith
is the response.] entreat you on behalf
of Christ, be reconciled to God. [Paul
writes of a relationship God has initiated and to which human beings must
respond by accepting the offer.] 21 [In
what some scholars think of a Jewish-Christian formula] For our sake he made him to be (to bear the burden of) sin who knew no sin, (Isaiah 53:9, which
says that his oppressors made his grave with the wicked, may be the basis of
this thought. Hebrews 4:15 says he experienced the tests of life, just as we
do, but did so without succumbing to sin. In Hebrews 5:7-9, the Son learned
obedience through what he suffered, becoming the source of eternal salvation. I
Peter 1:19 refers to the lamb without blemish. I Peter 3:18 refers to Christ
suffering once, but for humanity, a case of the righteous dying on behalf of
the unrighteous, in order to bring people to God.) so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [Barth
will stress that we have in verses 18-21 the notion that atonement is the work
of God. Reconciling here means the conversion of the world to God that took
place in the form of an exchange or substitution that God has proposed between
the world and God present and active in the person of Jesus Christ. It means
that in being present and active in the world in Christ, God takes part in its
history. God does not affirm or participate in its culpable nature, of course.
However, God does take up the situation of the world into the divine nature. In
order for God to make humanity the righteousness of God, humanity becomes
covenant-partners with God. The
conversion of the world to God has taken place in this exchange. In Christ, the
weakness and godlessness of the world become a lie. God removes them as an
obstacle. In Christ, we see the peace of the world with God, the turning of
humanity toward God, and the friendship of humanity with God. This becomes the
truth of the new human situation.[1] Barth has a colorful way
of putting this in saying that the great and inconceivable thing is that Christ
acts as judge in our place by accepting responsibility for that we do in this
place. It ceases to be our sin.[2] As Pannenberg sees it, the
participation in the obedient suffering and death of Christ in 5:17 is the
means whereby believers have reconciliation to God through Christ in verse 18.
This train of thought helps us to understand the concluding statement in verse
21. Taken alone, this verse suggests a simple exchange of places. In the
context of the preceding argument, however, the thought is integrated into that
of the inclusive significance and effect of the death of Jesus Christ.[3] Pannenberg thinks such a
statement makes little sense apart from a reference to the situation of the
condemnation and execution of Jesus, in which political authorities made Jesus
the sinner and he actually came under the curse of the law. For God, by means
of the human judges, not only made Jesus to be sin but also had him bear in our
place, and not merely in that of his Jewish judges or the Jewish people, the
penalty that is the proper penalty of sin. The reason for this is that the
proper penalty of sin follows from its inner nature, death as the consequence
of separation from God.[4] God has gone to great
lengths to reconcile humanity with God. Clearly, an exchange has taken place.
God made Christ sin in exchange for God making humanity righteous. To
paraphrase, God put the sinless Christ in the place of sinners, so that Christ
had to bear the judgment of sin instead of them, expressing the theological
thought of representation.[5] He suffered for all and
triumphed for all.[6]
Perhaps Theodoret of Cyrus, a fifth-century
bishop, best captured the spirit of this paradox when he wrote, “Christ was
called what we are in order to call us to be what he is.” The Protestant
theology of the Enlightenment did not take into sufficient account the
fundamental significance of the death of Christ for the Pauline thought of the
reconciling of the world by God.[7] Pannenberg
takes Paul to mean that the covenant righteousness of God is at issue. Here,
Paul finds in those who are reconciled to God through the death of Christ a
proof of the righteousness of God. The issue is no longer merely the relation
of God to Israel, or the divine covenant righteousness to the chosen people.
Paul extends to the Gentiles the thought of the covenant righteousness that the
saving action of God demonstrates. Involved in divine righteousness is the
relation of God to the whole creation. He thinks that the vocabulary of
covenant righteousness in Paul moves forward materially along the lines of the
approach of Jesus in terms of the goodness of God as Creator that in the coming
of the reign of God shows itself to be a pardoning turning toward humanity.[8]
Pannenberg says that in this situation of condemnation and execution, Jesus,
whom through the resurrection God showed to be innocent, bore death as the
consequence of our sin, thereby effecting representation in the concrete form
of a change of place between the innocent and the guilty. The innocent suffered
the penalty of death, which, as the harmful result of sin, is the fate of those
in whose place Christ died. The vicarious penal suffering that is vicarious
suffering of the wrath of God at sin rests on the fellowship that the Son
accepted with all of us as sinners and with our fate as such. This link is the
basis on which the death of Jesus can count as expiation for us. Without this
vicarious penal suffering, the expiatory function of the death of Jesus is
unintelligible, unless we try to understand his death as an equivalent offered
to God along the lines of the satisfaction theory of Anselm, which has no basis
in the biblical data.[9]]
[In verses 1-2, the apostles are serving God by extending
the appeal God is making in Christ.] 1 As we work together with (cooperate) (SunergounteV) him, [with God in being ambassadors for Christ,[10]] we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. (The point refers to his efforts in
speaking and their efforts in listening would be in vain) [Their failure to
stand with Paul is a failure to experience reconciliation with God.]2 For he says, [Isaiah 49:8-9]
"At an acceptable time I have listened
to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped
you."
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is
the day of salvation! [The text applies to this moment in history,
as if the servant songs in Isaiah find their fulfillment at this moment.]
[In verses 3-10, Paul supports the appeal. Paul offers his credentials.
Those disputing with Paul subvert the gospel.] 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be
found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God [Isaiah said the servant
of the Lord would encounter trouble, so Paul now reiterates his hardship. He
offers this list as a way of defending his ministry and offering an example to
others. The passive tense here says he does not seek suffering. Rather,
suffering comes upon him. Reading this list in the light of church history and
of the suffering church throughout the world today, many faithful servants have
had these experiences.] we have commended
ourselves in every way: through great endurance, [first in the general
suffering] in afflictions, hardships,
calamities, 5 [second suffering
endured at the hands of people] beatings,
imprisonments, riots, [third the suffering of self-discipline] labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 [They commend themselves with good
characteristics and tools they seek to cultivate and display in the course of
their ministry] by purity, knowledge,
patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with
the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and
good repute. [They commend themselves in the paradoxical nature of
suffering for God, the judgment of people overturned by God.] We are treated as impostors, and yet are
true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well
known; as dying, (or others spread rumors of his death) and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet
not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always
rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing
everything.
Meditation
Buying stuff on credit, enjoying it now and paying
for it later, seems to be the American way. The average American carries four
different credit cards in his or her wallet on which we owe a median of $2,200.
In fact, the average American consumer has 13 current credit obligations listed
on his or her official credit report, owing money on everything from cars to
furniture to whatever. Even if you do not have a credit card (and roughly 25
percent of Americans do not), it is still possible to have instant
gratification with delayed remuneration. A new concept called “Bill Me Later”
has been popping up on e-commerce sites. It allows consumers to purchase items
and then receive an old-fashioned bill in the mail a few weeks later.
The problem with a “bill-me-later” mentality is that
it puts the consumer in a serious bind. As credit bills mount, consumers find
themselves locked deeper and deeper in the crushing grip of debt.[11]
Fortunately, many people are waking up to the fact
that debt is something we need to avoid.[12]
Release from debt opens up new opportunities and a new way of life.
Release from financial debt is something we all
desire, but release from spiritual debt is even more liberating. We incur
spiritual debt by sin, by self-indulgent living, by conforming to the
hyper-consumptive lifestyle of the world. It is the kind of debt that is even
more insidious than a credit card bill because we do not often realize we are
racking it up until we come to a crisis point — a serious illness, a
significant loss, a change in life circumstances.[13]
Paul seems to address this dilemma in our passage. The
truth is that we are all in debt to God because of our sinfulness. It is a debt
so deep that we cannot possibly pay it off through our good deeds or righteous
living. Realizing this is not the time to give up. When you do not believe you
are worth anything, that you have nothing and are nothing, why bother to
change?
Sin puts us in a tough spot but Paul, acting like an
enthusiastic first-century debt counselor, offers some good news to spiritual
debtors. Imagine, if you will, that someone paid off all your financial debts
in full — that your credit report went from 500 to 850 in an instant. That is
essentially what Paul says has happened to our spiritual debts. With the coming
of Christ and through his death on the cross on our behalf, there is a “new
creation” (II Corinthians 5:17). The old life of sin and death has “passed
away” and the debt paid off through Christ. In Jesus, God was reconciling us to
himself, erasing the ledger of sin against us and instead offering us a clean
slate.
The debt-relieving work that God had done in Christ,
though, was work that people needed to experience. That is where Paul and his
companions come in. God sent them, not to be judgmental bill collectors, but to
be “ambassadors” who spread the good news (v. 18-20a). God had entrusted Paul
and his friends with the “ministry of reconciliation” (v. 18). Something new
had happened in Christ, thus something new must happen in response.[14]
God’s reconciling act in Christ requires a response.
God offers us a gift, a release from our spiritual debts, a new life. God made
Jesus “to be sin who knew no sin, so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God” (v. 21). We must accept a
gift, however. God has reconciled us to himself, now we must “be reconciled to God” (v. 20b).
Accepting that gift is not just an exercise in belief or an excuse to start
running up more debt. That would mean the gift was “in vain” (6:1). Rather, Paul urges the Corinthians and us to pay
off our end of the deal now, not waiting until sometime later. “Now is the acceptable time; see, now is the
day of salvation!” (6:2). The sooner we accept the gift of grace that God
is offering, the sooner we can begin to live the life of the “new creation.”
Paul and his companions had carried this message of
debt-free living to the world at great cost to themselves (6:4-9), yet the
change that their message wrought on a debt-laden world was dramatic.[15]
We need to choose.
This much is certain: The greatest thing each person
can do is to give himself to God utterly and unconditionally -- weakness, fears
and all. For God loves obedience more than good intentions or second-best
offerings, which are all too often made under the guise of weakness.[16]
The operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti tells a story
about how his father helped him discover the direction of his life's work. As a
young man studying to become a teacher, Pavarotti received an invitation to
study with Arrigo Pola, a famous tenor in his hometown of Modena, Italy. When
it came time for him to graduate from college, he approached his father for
advice: "Shall I be a teacher or a singer?" His father replied: "Luciano, if you try
to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one
chair." Pavarotti chose the singing chair. Although it would be another
seven years before he would reach New York's Metropolitan Opera, Pavarotti
credited this decision to choose one path, and one path only, as the key to his
success.
Perhaps Ash Wednesday is an appropriate time to
listen to the voice of the Spirit, and to choose one chair.
On Ash Wednesday we recognize that when it comes to
the world’s standards we, too, really have nothing. The ashes on our foreheads
remind us that “we are dust, and to dust we shall return.” All of the stuff
that we have collected in our lives will eventually go to someone else. We come
into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing. The ashes also remind us
of the debt of sin that we owe and that at death the bill comes due. While that
can be a depressing load (perhaps why Ash Wednesday does not generally
translate into a packed house), facing the reality of sin and mortality can
bring us to a decision point, a creative crisis. The more we recognize the
depth of our spiritual indebtedness, the more we begin to realize the
incredible gift God has given us in Christ, who releases us from it through his
sacrifice on our behalf. Our debt has been stamped “Paid in Full” in his own
blood. When we sign off on that with our own signature of acceptance, we can
begin to see the “new creation” breaking in all around us.
You have slips of paper at the table. Some of us may
prayerfully need to deal with a sin for which we need to repent and receive
forgiveness. The beauty of it is that if you wrote that on this slip of paper,
you already know the answer from God. If sin is a debt, you can write “Paid in
Full” by the death of Christ.
I like the suggestion that Julie Upton gave at
Triple S. This world needs more of the love of God in this world. What would
happen if this Lent, we committed ourselves to offer gifts of love? She was
rather ambitious, I thought, when she suggested that each day of Lent we offer
a gift of love. You might want to use that slip of paper to write down at least
one gift of love you want to give. That may get you started down the path.
In either case, I invite you to take the slip of
paper and put it in a safe place as a reminder of the commitment you make
tonight. I will give you a moment of silence.
[1]
Church Dogmatics IV.1 [57.3] 73-78.
[2]
Church Dogmatics IV.1 [59.2] 236.
[3]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 420.
[4]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 425-6.
[5]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 420.
[6]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 427.
[7]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 407.
[8]
Systematic Theology Volume I, 434-5.
[9]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 427.
[10]
Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.3 [71.4]
600.
[11] The
actual cost of that $8 movie you went to and charged with plastic six months
ago, for example, can now cost exponentially more than that amount as interest
rates ratchet up the financial pressure. Faced with mounting debts and no
ability to pay them, many folks get into the position where they file for
bankruptcy. It is no wonder that Ambrose Bierce once defined debt as “an
ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slave driver.” As long as
you are in debt, somebody else owns your assets. Rack up enough debt and you
can reach a point where it hardly seems worth it to try and dig yourself out.
[12]
Consumers who have taken the radical step of performing “plastic surgery” by
cutting up their credit cards and living below their means are finding a new
sense of freedom. Sometimes it takes a time of crisis to force us to act
responsibly and view our needs and wants differently than before.
[13] When we
choose to live outside of regular obedience to God, seeing everything we are
and everything we have as belonging to God, we can suddenly and tragically
realize that we have sold ourselves into slavery to sin. Given that reality,
“bill me later” is not good financial strategy, nor is it good spiritual
practice. You never know when God is going to collect!
[14] In much
of the ancient world, fear of angering the gods drove many people. Here came
Paul with quite a different message: that the one true Creator God is renewing
his good creation and wants to be in relationship with humans. The Incarnation
of Christ bridged the separation between God and humanity. God had come among
us to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, seeking reconciliation
before judgment.
[15] Paul’s
missionary team may have been “poor” themselves in terms of coinage, but their
message was designed to make many “rich” in God’s grace, proving that it was
possible to have “nothing” according to the world’s standards, yet “possessing
everything” in a relationship with a generous and self-sacrificing God (6:10).
[16] --Søren
Kierkegaard, Spiritual Writings: A New Translation and Selection (Harper
Collins, 2010).
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