II Corinthians 6: 1-13
1 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. 11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart
is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections,
but only in yours. 13 In return-- I speak as to children-- open wide
your hearts also.
In II
Corinthians 6: 1-2, the apostles are serving God by extending the appeal God is
making in Christ. Today, I am wondering about the risks of following Jesus. 1 As we work together with, cooperate (SunergounteV), God in being
ambassadors for Christ,[1] we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. His concern
is that 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 God 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.
If you want to progress in
life, you will need to take risks. In baseball, you cannot steal second base
with your foot firmly planted on first base.[2] We often here the advice
offered to graduates that they follow their passion, chart their course, march
to the beat of their own drummer, find their dream, and find themselves. The
American culture of expressive individualism is in harmony with such advice.
Yet, most successful people do not look inside and plan a life. Rather, they
look outside and find a problem. The problem summons their life calling. We do
not form a self and then lead a life. We experience the call of a question or
problem, and we construct our life in light of that calling. We keep refining
the question or problem that calls us. We keep discovering the nature of the
opposition to fulfilling our sense of calling. We keep discovering the
obstacles we will need to surmount. Yet, in the nature of the decision and
action, we are willing to confront them.[3]
Life is hard. Life
is tiring. We make it more difficult and tiring if we make a priority of loving
God and making a career. We want to be good Christians and have success. We
want to be saints and enjoy the sensations of the sinner. We want to be close
to Christ and popular with people. If we adopt such an approach to life, yes,
life becomes even more difficult and tiring.[4]
Paul is
encouraging his readers to make a decision and to act. We must not become too
timid and squeamish about our actions. Life is an experiment. The more
experiments we make the better. Our decisions and actions may have some
coarseness to them. We may become a little soiled and battered. We may fail. We
may fall down. We need to get up again, never be afraid to fall again.[5]
In II Corinthians 6: 3-10,
Paul supports the appeal. Paul offers his credentials. Among the most
persuasive elements in an attempt to persuade is the witness of what one has
experienced. Here, Paul is encouraging his readers to keep on keeping on. He
points to the difficulties he faces. We might experience some temptation to
omit this part of discipleship. Yet, we should not assume that people want some
version of Christianity lite. Those disputing with Paul subvert the gospel. 3 We are putting no obstacle in
anyone's way, so that no one may find fault
with our ministry. Rather, Paul describes his team 4 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. Thus, 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 in
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. The characteristics are 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. Some treat us as impostors, and yet we 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.
Many things can
destroy a human life. Yet, the difficulties and challenges Paul mentions here
do not have the power to destroy his life. Allow me to mention a few things
that can destroy your life: Politics without principle, pleasure without
conscience, wealth without work, knowledge without character, business without
morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. They can all
destroy a human life.[6]
We must not be
afraid to act. If we do not like something, we can act to change it. If we cannot
change it, we can change our attitude toward it. Too many people simply
complain, as if they are victims of the situation.[8]
Complaining rarely gets us very far. We can complain that thorns are on roses.
We can also express gratitude that thorns have roses.[9]
We receive a great deal more than we give. We become rich in our approach to
life only with gratitude.[10]
Although Paul does not express gratitude here, the passage expresses such an
attitude. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into
enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to
clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into
a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and
creates a vision for tomorrow.[11]
You have probably
heard the words of Prime Minister Winston Churchill -- Britain's WWII leader --
to "never give in." He evidently said those words to young people
when he visited Harrow School in 1941 after they had endured a particularly
rough series of Blitzkrieg attacks:
"Never give in.
Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large
or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never
yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the
enemy."
Here, Paul's "bent, but not
broken" message is pertinent to the key of endurance and survival.
II Corinthians 6: 11-13
offer a gentle conclusion, urging the improvement of relations between them. Paul
was not feeling the love, we might say. He desires that they make room for Paul in their hearts. 11 We have spoken (opened the
mouth) frankly to you Corinthians; our
heart is wide open to you. 12
There is no restriction in our affections, (inner parts or guts) but only in yours. 13 In return—I speak as to
children—open wide your hearts also. Paul longs for proper reciprocity in
this relationship.
Leading a
Christian life is not easy. In harmony with human life, Christian life is hard.
Christian life is difficult. Those in the trenches of ministry, so to speak,
need to know that we pray for them and support them. Now that I think about it
a moment, each of us are in the trenches (I hope), trying to figure out how to
live a faithful Christian life in the setting in which we find ourselves. We
need to help each other by opening our hearts to each other, remembering each
other in agape love as we work toward the radical, revolutionary cause to which
God has called us.
Leslie Newbigin,
after 38 years as a missionary in India, found that ministry in England was now
“much harder than anything I met in India. The cold contempt for the gospel is
harder to face than opposition.”[12]
In the recent
past, one could argue that it was easy to identify with Christ and with his
Church. Such days are gone. It has become a risk.
II Corinthians
2-7 is an account of how difficult it was for Paul. He offers several accounts
of the dangers he faced. He had “jumped the shark,” in the minds of many
people. The phrase comes from “Happy Days,” the episode in which Fonzie
literally got on water skies and “jumped the shark.” It was one of my favorite
shows – until that moment. They had gone too far for me. Paul was willing to go
that far, discredited in the minds of many, including his fellow Jews, in order
to identify with Christ.
Some people who
are part of Hollywood identify themselves openly as followers of Christ. It can
end a career. This time is not for people who want “Christianity lite.”
What I find a
bit disturbing, however, is that one of the challenges Paul faced was with the
good people of the churches meeting in Corinth. They restricted their affection
for Paul and for his team. He urges them to open wide their hearts. Paul
has opened his heart to them. That was his risk with them. They have not
returned the favor. The letter indicates that many of them, in fact, have
closed their hearts to him. Sadly, churches have been all too good at shooting
their own wounded workers. Yes, one can entail a risk in uniting with a
community of faith.
[1] Barth, Church
Dogmatics IV.3 [71.4] 600.
[2]
Progress
always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.
—Frederick Wilcox.
[3] David
Brooks, writing in The New York Times ("It's Not About You")
discusses this as it relates to young people.
"If you sample some of the commencement addresses
being broadcast on C-Span these days, you see that many graduates are told to:
Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own
drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself. This is the litany of expressive
individualism, which is still the dominant note in American culture.
"But, of course, this mantra misleads on nearly
every front. ... Most successful young people don't look inside and then plan
life. They look outside and find a problem, which summons their life. A
relative suffers from Alzheimer's and a young woman feels called to help cure
that disease. A young man works under a miserable boss and must develop
management skills so his department can function. Another young woman finds
herself confronted by an opportunity she never thought of in a job category she
never imagined. This wasn't in her plans, but this is where she can make her
contribution.
"Most people don't form a self and then lead a
life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by
their calling."
The
people, called by a problem, as Brooks puts it, may not know what the problems
will be, the nature of the opposition, the obstacles to surmount, but they have
decided they are willing to take them on.
[4]
I
want to love God, but also to make a career. I want to be a good Christian, but
also have my successes as a teacher, preacher or speaker. I want to be a saint,
but also enjoy the sensations of the sinner. I want to be close to Christ, but
also popular and liked by people. No wonder that living becomes a tiring
enterprise. —Henri Nouwen.
[5]
Do
not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.
The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and
you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly
rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a
tumble. —Ralph Waldo Emerson.
[6]
Mohandas
K. Gandhi, on things that will destroy us: politics without principle, pleasure
without conscience, wealth without work, knowledge without character, business
without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice.
[7]
When
I hear somebody sigh, “Life is hard,” I am always tempted to ask, “Compared to
what?” — Sydney J. Harris.
[8]
If
you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your
attitude. Don’t complain. —Maya Angelou.
[9]
Some
people complain that God put thorns on roses, while others praise God for
putting roses on thorns. —Anonymous.
[10]
In
ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give,
and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. —Dietrich
Bonhoeffer.
[12] Dan Kimball, The Emerging Church,
(68).
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