11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you. 14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
II Corinthians 13:11-14 offers a final exhortation and greeting. Paul ends this letter on the note urging the congregation to put their affairs in order, be of one mind, and live in peace with each other. With eloquent and simple language, Paul sets before the believers at Corinth a compelling portrait of the Christian life. There are shadows here of the notoriously stormy relationship Paul had with the Corinthian church. Paul's tone abruptly changes. Rather than end the letter on a protracted harsh note, he extends grace and peace. Consequently, his remarks in the letter's pithy closing reflect a more welcoming, uplifting and affable disposition. In short, Paul has already begun to build up the Corinthians. Thus, embedded in these short verses, after saying farewell, but before invoking the love and peace of God upon the Corinthians, Paul makes one last reference to his difficulties with them. Let us look closer at the words Paul uses here.
To summarize, from the account given in this letter, and from the larger context of the Corinthian visits and letters, we can see that there was much for the Corinthians to “put in order” in Paul’s opinion, before he decided to come back there and set them straight. They had to “listen to his appeal” and return to his teaching by rejecting the teaching of the “super-apostles.” Finally, they had to cease their almost constant wrangling and heal the divisions of class and sophistication level that had plagued them from the very beginning of Paul’s ministry there (1 Corinthians 1:10-31). Only then could they find the love and peace of God that Paul wishes for them.
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, continuing to address readers as family rather than as adversaries, farewell (χαίρετε, rejoice or be glad may be better since it is in the imperative, the first of a series of five imperatives in this verse). Paul will offer some final exhortations to nourish and tend to the quality of their relationships within the community. First, if we go with a different translation than farewell, they are to decide to rejoice. Second, they are to decide to put things in order (καταρτίζεσθε, complete thoroughly, repair, adjust, perfect), the nature of these “things” which they must put in order, the appeal which Paul has made, the agreement that must be forged from disagreement, and the signs that peace is lacking among them can be found within the earlier chapters of II Corinthians. Such instruction resonates with several Paul's earlier instructions. For example, he says in 2:9: "I wrote for this reason: to test you and to know whether you are obedient in everything." Paul says in 5:20, "we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." He says in 7:1, "Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God." Finally, in 13:5, he says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith." Third, he then urges them to decide to listen to my appeal, (παρακαλεῖσθε). This request is due in part to Paul's firmly held conviction that "God is making his appeal through us" (5:20a). It is also because Paul has no desire to act boldly "by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards." (10:2). Instead, because he and his colleagues had opened their "heart wide" to them, Paul wanted the Corinthians to "open wide" their hearts as well (6:11-13; 7:2-4), they are, fourth, to decide to agree with one another (τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖτε or 'have the same mind' (Philippians 2:5; 3:15). We find the exhortation to agree with each other, or to be of one mind, in Romans 12:16, 15:5, Philippians 2:2, 4:2. Corinth was a community ravaged by divisions, and Paul's second letter reflects his ongoing concern for this persistent feature of that particular local church. Fifth, they are to decide to live in peace, Paul encouraging them to do so because God, "the Father of mercies," had made peace with them (1:3). Not only that, God is one who God - a reality that makes it possible to console others and live peaceably with all people, especially members of God's household (1:4-5).] Immediately following this string of five imperative verbs, Paul offers a remarkable promise: and the God of love, occurring only here, so John is not the only one who thinks of God as love (I John 4:8, 16). The point is that God has declared the divine nature as love in the sending of Jesus, in his message and history. God has declared this love in this way.[1]And the God of love and peace, Paul also referred to in Romans 15:33, 16:20, Philippians 4:9, I Thessalonians 5:23, will be with you. This language resonates with and echoes Paul's opening salutation: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (1:2).
12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. The kiss was a sign of peace and harmony. He offers this instruction that he also gives in three other places in his letters — once again in Corinth (I Corinthians 16:20), once in Rome (Romans 16:16), and once in Thessalonica (I Thessalonians 5:26). Herbert Thurston discusses the various references to this practice in the early church fathers and notes that although the traditional “passing of the peace” as found in the liturgy was probably related to this early Christian form of greeting, it appears that this greeting was not confined to the worship service. According to Thurston, Tertullian relates a conversation with a non-Christian who expressed concern over his wife being kissed by strangers at Christian gatherings. Nonetheless, formalized kissing appears to have been a part of many early Christian ceremonies including the baptism service, ordination service and marriage ceremonies. More than simply a style of greeting, this holy kiss that Paul urges upon the Corinthians demonstrates his hope that they would learn to put aside the social stratification and factional infighting that persisted in their community. Paul’s dream for these people is centered in the hope that they will put love for one another above ostentatious displays of piety (I Corinthians 13), that they will resist being swayed by missionaries who opposed him. Paul urges them to greet one another with respect and affection out of a hope, perhaps, that enacting this gesture will shape within them the love he wants them to have. It seems, also, that his wishes for a renewed relationship with the Corinthians were eventually realized and the rift between them healed (II Corinthians 6:8-11). It is likely, however, that it was Paul’s scorching letter of II Corinthians 10-13 that caused this reversal in attitude rather than any upsurge in communal affection caused by the practice of greeting one another with a kiss. We cannot know this for certain, however. 13 All the saints greet you.
Reach out and touch someone, said the AT&T commercial. Social media has been a way to stay in touch when physical distance limits personal contact. Yet, there is something about a physical embrace between friends that can be deeply satisfying. We are not alone. Even the Lord noted that it was not good for the male to be alone, so the Lord created woman (Genesis 2:18). The Lord did not make us for a solitary life. It does not suit the purpose of the Lord in creating us that we live our lives in isolation from others.
Paul urges his readers to tend and maintain their fellowship. It will not happen without the decision to do so. We need to confess our sin at this point. In our homes we have been careless and inconsiderate, moody, irritable, and difficult people for others to live with, and treated those we love with a discourtesy we would not give to strangers. Forgive us, O God, for isolating ourselves from others and creating a spirit of aloneness.
“Be good, keep your feet dry, your eyes open, your heart at peace, and your soul in the joy of Christ.”[2]Paul urges his readers to tend to their fellowship of their community. What would this type of love look like? It would have hands to help others. It would have feet that would move quickly toward those in need. It would have eyes to see those in need. It would have the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of others. Love would look something like that.[3]
Paul is urging his readers to recognize that they are part of a whole. They are finite and temporal creatures that often focus on their thoughts and feelings that separate them from everyone and everything else. Such affirmation of the uniqueness and identity of the individual is understandable and good, if the individual also recognizes that it can become a prison for us, restricting our desire and affection only to matters close to hand. We need to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of thinking and feeling outward toward others, the community, the culture, the world, and even the universe.[4]
Aloneness may well be the deepest anxiety of the human condition. The feeling of isolation, cut off from human contact and warmth, is loneliness. Some people battle all their lives against this agonizing emotion. Human beings are separate from each other, and will remain so all their lives, sealed within a thin veneer of skin. Our struggle against it, if successful, allows us to transcend our physical limits and become our true or authentic self precisely because we recognize how deeply bound we are to others.[5]
We need relationships, both the wonderfulness of them and the burdens from them, to help us become the people God wants us to be. We need our relationships and friendships and community of faith not only for what they give us daily but also for how they shape our character. God does not call us to go through life centered only on ourselves, so tending relationships with other human beings who are as imperfect as we are helps us to move away from self-centeredness. There is a greater good than merely our own happiness. Even our tended relationships will not always deliver. When we see them as more than just something to benefit us, however, we can be less judgmental about them. When we accept that relationships are not just for what we can get out of them but also for what we can give and what we can learn, we become more accepting and appreciative of what people do give. It is perhaps difficult to get our minds around the reality that the spiritual life, in addition to some outwardly religious and inwardly devotional acts, also includes such mundane activities as sending thank-you notes for gifts received, returning phone calls, greeting fellow worshipers, surprising our spouse with a spontaneous act of appreciation, helping out at funeral dinners, seeking common ground during disagreements, listening to our children, working at not being a grouch, visiting friends and relatives, and even offering real hugs. All those things are instruments of the connection. The spiritual aspect is the intentionality behind them.
14The grace (χάρις) of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love (ἀγάπη) of God, and the communion (κοινωνία) of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. The close of II Corinthians seems rather routine at first glance. Although some scholars[6] have rightly observed the letter closing is typically Pauline it is worth noting that this is the only instance in all of Paul's letters - whether disputed or not - when we find a reference to Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit together in the final greeting. This verse is a magisterial declaration about Christ, the minister of grace; about God, the author of love; and about the Holy Spirit, the one through and by whom we commune with Jesus, God and all believers. It is one of the passages the shows how early the development of triadic formulas occurred in the early church. Hauck points out that participating in the Holy Spirit is a mark of the Christian. Yet, he cautions that this fellowship in the Holy Spirit is not parallel to the first two. Paul is not distinguishing the Holy Spirit in the clear-cut fashion as he does with God and Christ. In the Spirit, Christ comes to believers. The phrase does not quite seem to suggest person and gift as do the first two.[7] Furnish cautions that one not read too much of later Trinitarian theology into this benediction, for it does not refer to either the Son or the Father. The theological tradition thought it had found a solid biblical basis for the Trinity in this statement. Yet, all it does is put God, Christ, and Spirit in proximity. It does express a relationship between them, but it says nothing of their deity.[8] As Furnish also puts it, the benediction is a brief statement of the history of salvation, as Paul understands it. In and through Christ, the love of God is present and active as a gracious redeeming, reconciling, and renewing gift. As believers accept the rule of the love of Christ, they are turned from self to Christ, and thus to each other, quickened by the life-giving Spirit in a community of faith devoted to the service of God and the people of God.
[2] – Thomas Merton
[3] What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like. —Saint Augustine.
[4] “A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” – Albert Einstein
[5] Inspired by The Conquest of Loneliness, Eric P. Mosse
[6] (see Wayne A. Meeks, ed., The HarperCollins Study Bible New Revised Standard Version [New York: Harper Collins, 1993], n. 13.11-13, 2180),
liked this. If the church is the now of the kingdom that we need to act like it. A huge challenge that must be met.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed. I find myself challenged by that. I am struck by my failure.
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