Recapping 1 Corinthians
Today we
get to start with the second of Paul’s letters to Corinth. If we remember from the last letter, Paul was
concerned with the amount of quarrelling happening in the church – and
especially in the case of the Corinthians, among the matriarchs. Paul was also concerned that they weren’t
worshipping with the right perspective.
And perhaps most significantly, there was a bunch of sexual immorality
being allowed to happen unchecked among the members of the Corinthians
church. Remember this list as we dive
into 2 Corinthians. It’ll help us
understand whether the Corinthians listened to Paul’s advice as their spiritual
leader or not.
No Thanksgiving
As we
begin this letter, note that there is no section of “Thanksgiving” after he
introduces himself. In almost all of
Paul’s other letters he has some section – in some cases, a long section! –
talking about how much he is thankful for the church to which he is
writing. The absence of such a section
at the beginning of this letter should tell us something about Paul’s frame of
mind as he is writing this letter to the Corinthian church.
Dealing with Hardship
Paul’s
opening section begins with God – as we should expect – and then it moves
quickly into the topic of comfort and dealing with suffering. Clearly Paul is writing this letter from a point
in his life where he is experiencing some hardship. We know that he tells the Corinthians here
that he and his associates have had a rough go of it in Asia Minor. There can be little doubt that he is also struggling
with the fact that the Corinthian church hasn’t sorted out their problems and
he needs to write them another letter.
This sets up an interesting conversation about the connection between
God, suffering, disappointment, and comfort.
If you had
to guess, what kind of person is always the least disappointed in life? Why, the answer is simple. The person who sets no expectations is always
the least disappointed. If you have no
expectations, you cannot be disappointed!
However,
when one gets a taste of God and God’s calling, one cannot help but set up high
expectations. When we see the glory of
God and His ability to change lives, we want that for all people. We want all people to sense the glory of God
and to taste His richness of character.
I don’t know about you, but I consider wanting “all” people to taste
God’s richness in mercy and love as a pretty high expectation.
You might
think that this leads me to assert that those who are strong in the Lord and
passionate about the Lord’s ways are also setting themselves up for being some of
the most disappointed people in the church.
You would be absolutely correct.
Most spiritual leaders I have ever met do struggle with depression. Personally, I think Paul is struggling with
depression as he writes this letter.
Think about his life as we read in Acts last year. How many times was this man yelled at, told
he was wrong, arrested, thrown out of town, or beaten? How many times did people who were supposed to
be spiritual show their propensity to live according to the world? Yeah, I think Paul has a good reason to feel
some depression, some strife, and some discouragement.
This is
why we hear so much about comfort as this letter opens. There is only one cure for depression and
disappointment: turning to God and trusting in Him and His promise for eternal
life. All earthly pleasure fades. All earthly joy will be strong for a while
but it will only last until the next earthly disappointment comes along. But putting our trust in God, putting our
faith in His plan, and placing our eyes on the prize of eternal life can bring
us hope and comfort that cannot ever be taken away. As Paul writes to the Corinthians, he wants
them to focus on the comfort that comes from God. Dealing with the struggles and pain in life
is tough; but with God’s help we can persevere.
Changing Paul’s Plans
I’m nearly
out of space, but I do want to talk a bit about the rest of 2 Corinthians
1. Paul talks about having to change his
plans. Originally – at the end of 1
Corinthians – Paul tells them that he hopes to winter in Corinth and spend some
time there. Here in this letter we find
out that not only did he have to scrap that plan but he also had to scrap plan
B – which was to spend time in Corinth while going to Macedonia and then while
returning from Macedonia. Paul is explaining
his actions.
But the
interesting thing is why Paul has to explain his actions. As we read Paul’s words, we understand that
there was an undercurrent in Corinth of people beginning to doubt Paul’s
motives. They think that he is acting only
out of the flesh. Perhaps they accuse
him of just visiting the churches that he likes or that are easy. Whatever the reason, they are accusing Paul
of breaking his word and not living a spiritual life of truth and honesty.
On one
level, the Corinthians do have a point.
Paul has had to change his plans.
But on another level, sometimes plans have to change. None of us can predict the future. None of us can make definite plans that are
unbreakable. We can plan and do our
absolute best to keep the plans. But none
of us can actually guarantee anything about the future. We must be understanding and forgiving should
a person come with a genuinely repentant heart and a reasonable explanation of
why things didn’t happen as planned.
Apparently the Corinthians were not forgiving of Paul while accusing him
of being deceitful and dishonest and following an easy path.
It is hard
to watch Christians fight and struggle.
It is hard to watch people who should be a people of peace tear into one
another. It burdens me, and it probably
burdens you, too. But it is a reality,
and part of reading through the letters to the Corinthians is an attempt to
understand this struggle and how to endure it – if not manage it and resolve
it!
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