new

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

This is one of the high points of Paul’s letters. With memorable phrases, Paul’s words sing to us about who we are in Christ, and what we are called to do. The passage seems to flow around three ideas, which is handy for the preacher!

1. New outlook – verses 15-16

2. New creation – verses 17-19

3. New mission- verses 20-21

First, a new outlook. Based on the death of Jesus (verse 15), we no longer evaluate people and situations in the same way as before. Jesus died for everyone, which levels the playing field. We no longer judge a book by its cover. We no longer value people based on their affluence, ethnicity, power, appearance, or by any other standard that comes from the world around us.

Instead, we look at everything and everyone through the lens of the great sacrifice God made for us in Christ. Who we are and what we have are gifts from God, not personal achievements. All this comes out of our new relationship with God, based on who Jesus is and on what he did for us.

Second, a new creation. Being in Christ means being newly created as part of the coming new heavens and new earth. The first creation is amazing, but it has been spoiled by sin. You and I are made in the image of God, but we have been spoiled by sin. Christ’s coming, death, and resurrection began the renewal of creation.

Individual people are renewed spiritually, and when Christ comes again, we shall be renewed physically in resurrection bodies. God often brings spiritual and physical healing in this life as a foretaste of the new creation. You and I work to bring people to Christ, to alleviate suffering and to bring justice to the oppressed as ways of anticipating and applying God’s new creation.

Finally, a new mission. We have a ministry of reconciliation. We are ambassadors of Christ. Put the two together and you get a picture of ambassadors of reconciliation on a mission from God.

We represent the King of kings in a foreign land, speaking on behalf of the King so that through Christ people can be forgiven, or reconciled. We are reconciled with God so that the sin-problem is no longer an obstacle to God’s new creation happening to us.

Other faiths have many fine aspects, including sound moral teaching and so much more. But no religion deals effectively with the problem of sin the way Christ did by taking our sin on his shoulders at the cross.

We who are ambassadors of reconciliation carry out Christ’s mission of introducing people to God through Christ. We also lead Christians who are looking at things from a worldly point of view back to a dynamic faith in Christ. All this for the glory of the One Who makes all things new!

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love

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

2 Corinthians 5:11-15

This passage is about two kinds of motivation in Paul’s life and ministry. The first kind of motivation relates to what Paul wrote back in verse 10, continuing into verse 11:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…

…we know what it is to fear the Lord

Paul is motivated by the nearness of Christ’s judgment. He is aware that Christ is coming soon to sift out the ones he knows  from the rest, and afterwards, to sort out the works of his followers.  Christ will take his sheep and their good works into the new creation, leaving the rest behind.

God’s coming judgment motivates Paul to share God’s gospel.  If people accept the gospel message and believe in Christ, they will pass through judgment unscathed, with their good works following them.  Paul is compelled to share God’s message, so that people have the opportunity to enter God’s new creation.

Paul’s comments on plainness, persuasion and pride tie into what he was being accused of – deception in his ministry.  By the time 2nd Corinthians had been written, actual false apostles had entered the church and were discrediting Paul.  Among their charges against Paul was that he was deceptively persuading people to become his followers, in order to gain influence and perhaps also money.  Paul says no, that just as he will stand before God in the future for judgment, he is now plainly standing before God, the city and the church declaring God’s message.  Paul is gathering, by gospel persuasion, followers for God, preparing people to meet God face to face.

Paul encourages people to take a hard look at him and at his ministry, and at all the good fruit of the gospel in their own lives, to judge for themselves whether he is working for God or for himself.  Paul is sure that if people truly look beyond what is seen, they will be able to take pride in what is in the heart.
Paul responds in both 1 and 2 Corinthians to a false spirituality which had claimed many Corinthian hearts.  It was typical of many believers to value ecstatic spiritual experience over less “showy” expressions of Christianity, such as living and proclaiming the gospel.

Paul affirms in verse 13 that he has indeed had the kinds of spiritual experiences they value, but that these experiences are not worth boasting about; they are between he and God.  This is probably what he meant by writing: If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God.  Paul goes on to say if we are in our right mind, it is for you.  By this he means that his purpose is not to have increasingly more vibrant experiences of ecstasy, but rather to engage Corinthian hearts and minds to consider the claims of Christ on their lives.

For Christ’s love compels us… “Love” and “compels” aren’t normally used in the same sentence. Christ’s love is driving Paul and his compadres in a certain way, towards a certain end; to proclaim the gospel which opens the door for people to enter God’s new creation.

…because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  Christ’s love compels Paul to share the message, for Christ’s love is the message.    The love for people which drove Christ to sacrifice his life drives Paul to pour himself out in ministry.  Paul first experienced Christ’s love when the risen Jesus met him on the Damascus road.  At that moment Paul realized for the first time that Christ loved him and all people in this particular way: he died for all.

The reason Christ died for all was so that people would no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
The church has softened the effect of Christ’s love by neglecting the urgency in mission which love creates.  The church is, or should be, a community where people come and find God’s love lived out by Christian people.  We are comfortable with this welcoming, accepting aspect of love in the church.

Yet love plays a different, compelling role in Paul’s life, and he feels that it should play such a role in the life of the church.  The fact that Christ loved us enough to come on a mission to die for us is what compels Paul on his mission to proclaim Christ’s death and resurrection.

Could we possibly recast love in a new starring role in our church?  Could love not only play the accepting, welcoming part, but also the motivating sending part?

Love helps us feel comfortable in our pews; love should also compel us to get out of our pews and into the uncomfortable places in the world, all for the sake of the gospel, Jesus Christ, and those whom He loves.

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viva los Boston Red Sox!

pleasure

Sorry that my post is late this week. I have been watching the Red Sox beat up on Cleveland Thursday and Saturday. Looks like game seven is on for Sunday night!

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10

 

from the book Goal Setting 101 by Gary Blair:

• A goal is an end towards which you direct specific effort
• The amount and intensity of effort provided is always dependent on the individual and how important the goal is to that person
  

The three key elements of a goal are:

1. An accomplishment to be achieved
2. A measurable outcome
3. A specific date and time to accomplish the goal

The apostle Paul would not have been familiar with modern concept of goal setting. Yet it is clear that he understood what it means to work towards a goal, to aspire towards something definitive.

In today’s text Paul says that our goal is to please God. Think about that for a moment: God, being God, does not have needs like us. We seek pleasure for various reasons, often to meet our emotional needs. But God is totally self-sufficient. God has expresses emotions, but has no emotional or other needs. Yet God takes pleasure in His relationship with us. Relationship is what God enjoys.

Consider the Trinity. God is three persons, and so, all by Himself, God is in relationship. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate to one another. So even apart from us, God is in relationship, no doubt enjoying relationship in Himself. This self-relationship life of God is not introversion, or alone time, but rather genuine fellowship.

We are to make pleasing God our goal, since God receives satisfaction, or pleasure, in relating with us. God enjoys us.

The Greek word translated “to please” is a bit different from our English word pleasure. The word Paul used means to bring satisfaction to another. This is not a word that means to seek out pleasure for oneself.

The pursuit of happiness is regarded as a God-given right in our country. But how do we become truly happy? How do we get from pursuit, to happiness itself?

The paradox taught by Jesus and Paul is that we can only become truly happy when we stop pursuing happiness for ourselves. Jesus taught that we find our life by losing it in the pursuit of God. Paul teaches in our text that our goal is not to please ourselves but to please God.

Paul teaches that pleasing God is the mark of a life lived to the fullest. A truly satisfied life belongs to the one who lives to bring pleasure to God. For Paul this goal of pleasing God is not something we do to gain entrance into the next life. The goal of pleasing God reflects the relationship that God invites us into, which then continues on into the next life, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. (v.9)

To be sure, there is an accounting at the end of life: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (v.10)

The one who has been saved by God will go on to the resurrection that is ours in Christ. Yet before the fat lady sings, there is a time of review before the divine court. A good friend of mine thinks that this is when the movie of our life, featuring all the hidden moments, will be played for all to see. Yikes! I don’t find any basis for this kind of review in the Bible; just like I am not in favor of instant replay in baseball I would be against it in heaven!

But don’t you find these words of accountability helpful in reminding us that although our sins have been paid for, we are still responsible for what we do? We have assurance that those who abuse their status as forgiven people will have to account for what they do.

Let’s go back to look at verses 6-8:

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Back in verses 1-5 Paul emphasized that God has made us for eternity, and that the Holy Spirit present in our lives is God’s way of securing us for the life that lies ahead.

Based on God purposefully leading us towards eternity, Paul writes in verses 6 and 8, that we can be confident wherever we are, whether here in our temporary earthy bodies, or there (as Paul prefers) with God, in our permanent resurrection bodies.

Verse seven recalls Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Paul says that in this life, we live by what we believe, not by what we see. And so, he thinks, ought the Corinthians to live. Instead of judging him on how he looks or sounds, they ought to regard him and all fellow believers based on their common goal, to please God now, and to walk on towards pleasing God in eternity.

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purpose

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5

Why has God made us? What is our purpose? How can we know?

The words in verse 5 translated purpose speak of decisive actions taken by God with a clear end result in mind. God creates us and then works in our lives to prepare us for serving His great purposes.

The Reformed tradition in Christianity has a great answer to the purpose question, from the Westminster catechism written in the 1640’s:

Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

The Westminster stream of theology traces its thinking on purpose back through church history to the Apostle Paul. Paul’s thinking on purpose is tied to God’s glory, especially to the future glory of all things being made new at the future resurrection. It is a future in which we will enjoy being God’s people in God’s presence forever.

Paul teaches that we are on the road to a future life which far surpasses what we are now experiencing. This great future life influences our present life, giving our life and ministry in the present age extraordinary significance.

The interplay between past, present and future is an important aspect to in New Testament theology. Past, present and future are intimately connected, and not just in chronological order as one might think. Both past AND future inform and affect the present. In Jesus, God’s future kingdom has broken into the present age. The blessings of the future have begun to come true in the present.

In 2 Cor. 5:1-5, Paul uses housing and clothing imagery to paint this picture of life in the present, informed by and moving towards the future.

Here is a codebook for understanding Paul’s imagery

• earthly tent = present life on earth in a temporary body
• building/house in heaven = future post-resurrection life in a permanent body
• heavenly dwelling = post-resurrection body
• naked/unclothed = temporary post-death / pre-resurrection state when our spirits are with God but we have not yet received our resurrection bodies
• groaning / burdened life in the tent = the difficulties of this present life and ministry
• clothed with our heavenly dwelling = post-resurrection bodies
• God’s purpose = to live this tent-life
• Spirit as a deposit = the Spirit is the assurance/guarantee from God that the future/resurrection life will indeed happen, even though we can’t see it

To summarize, God has made us for this purpose:

• to eagerly anticipate the next life; new creation, immortal bodies, eternal life
• to realize that with this present life will be characterized by struggles and burdens
• to fully give ourselves to God in this life; to share the Gospel in word and deed as a way of anticipating God’s new creation future
• to depend on the Spirit’s presence now as an assurance of our future with God, glorifying and enjoying Him forever!

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heart

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

The word we are focusing on is heart. This is not the heart we often find in the Bible, which in Greek is kardia, the source of the English cardiology. In verse 16 Paul is using another word which carries a sense of courage/ motivation/ enthusiasm.

The reason Paul gives in 4:13-15 for not losing heart is that Christ is risen, moving us towards the future resurrection. Christ’s resurrection is the impetus for God creating new heavens, new earth, and everything in between.

God is working in and through us to apply the benefits of resurrection, through God’s grace that is reaching more and more people (causing) thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. (4:15)

With everything being made new, how can Paul be anything but enthusiastic? Yet the Corinthians have trouble seeing any outward reason for confidence. They have rejected Paul’s ministry based on outward appearances. For as grace is worked out in Paul’s life and ministry, its full effects are hidden in weakness. One can’t help but recall how true this was for Jesus, full of God’s Spirit, yet seen as a man of sorrows.

Look at how Paul contrasts outward, temporary appearances with the inward, eternal effects of God’s grace:

• Outwardly wasting away, yet inwardly being renewed 16
• Light and momentary troubles, yet eternal glory 17
• What is seen is temporary; what is unseen is eternal 18

The word translated wasting away is used elsewhere in the NT to describe metal being eaten away by rust, food spoiling, and clothing being consumed by moths.

Renewed is from a Greek word that is unusual in that it was used only in Christian literature; it does not appear in secular or other religious documents. The word has to do with spiritual rebirth, the change that happens inwardly from the work of the Spirit applying the gospel message.

So outwardly we are being used up, while inwardly we are being reborn. The resurrection/new creation at work.

Paul writes that weakness works to achieve glory:

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Eternal glory is the “forever-renown” of God’s name, which the gospel ministry achieves.

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faith

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 4.13-15

Following on last week’s text, “treasure in jars of clay”:

In his the messiness of his life, Paul holds the treasure of the gospel. Paul’s faith is strengthened in the brokenness/glory tension.

It seems that verses 13-15 function to explore this paradox even further, how Paul has such great faith even though his life situation often appears to be in tatters.

In v.13, Paul quotes from Psalm 116, where the Psalmist is crushed, ready to die, and then is rescued by a faithful God. Paul is quoting briefly from the Psalm knowing that his readers will likely know the Psalm and if they do not, will go and read it.

So now, take a break from this blog, and go read Psalm 116….

Paul, by quoting the Psalm and then proclaiming his own faith, communicates that we can have faith because we live by the Spirit of the God who has shown himself faithful.

Then in verse 14 Paul amplifies the point by saying that because God was faithful to raise Jesus, he will be faithful to raise us also.

The result of God’s faithfulness and our faith is God’s grace reaching more people, who in turn will thank God, resulting in more glory for God. I love how Eugene Petersen translates 4:15: Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

This is the eschatological language of future resurrection leading to new creation in the present. Let’s take a few moments to unpack that heavy statement:

1. Paul is making an eschatological (last things in history) proclamation – that God’s raising of Jesus guarantees our bodily resurrection at the last Day. Paul here is echoing 1 Cor 15, where his point is that you and I as Christians will be raised because Christ was raised. We belong to the risen Christ, a fact that ensures our long-term future as risen people.
2. Paul is saying that the new creation result of resurrection starts now, with more grace, people and praise coming to God as a result of the resurrection. So the resurrection of Christ not only guarantees our everlasting life, it also ensures our participation in the new creation in this age.

Hear an engaging talk on this topic by Tom Wright: Jesus’ Resurrection and God’s New Creation

Resurrection needs to be much more at the center of our theology and missional thinking. Protestants and Catholics alike have rightly done a lot of thinking about the meaning of the death of Jesus at the cross, but comparatively little thinking about the implications of the resurrection on our life and mission as Christians.

Most Christians know that Jesus’ past resurrection guarantees our future resurrection, but don’t think a lot about the relevance of resurrection to life in the present age. To put it another way, for most Christians, Jesus’ resurrection is history which points to our future resurrection, a mystery, and that’s the end of the discussion about resurrection.

For Paul, the resurrection of Jesus and our future resurrection are beginning and ending markers of the reclamation/salvation/new creation process which forms the mission of God, which becomes the mission of the church.

Paul teaches that the resurrection of Jesus set a process in motion which culminates in the re-creation of heavens and earth and the resurrection of the elect of humanity to inhabit the new creation.

You and I are squarely in the midst of God’s re-creative process. We are part of the larger picture of more and more people saved by more and more grace, returning more and more praise to God.

The faith we need to live and to implement Christ’s resurrection comes to us from the Spirit, as we trust the God who has saved in the past. Our faith comes to us as a gift, by means of the Spirit prompting us to have confidence in the God who by his action has earned our trust.

So Paul’s life is in tatters – so what?, he might say. God is not in shambles, though the world may be so.  Jesus is alive, which means that we are all headed to resurrection.  Therefore this life matters in a huge way.

For Paul, his mission is not to get his life together, or to be seen by others in a good light.  For Paul it’s all about working with God in reclaiming more and more people with more and more grace.  Lives are re-created, re-shaping the whole world, resulting in more and more praise and glory to God’s name.

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treasure

Ten Words to Live By: Treasure 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

In 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, Paul shows the strangeness of Christian life and ministry by means of a series of paradoxes – seeming contradictions – the first of which is:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay… 4:7

What is the treasure to which Paul is referring?

Remember, dear reader, when questioned about the text always look first for the answer in the text.

The treasure which is contained in jars of clay is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

In other words, the treasure is the light of knowing revealed truth, specifically, the truth of knowing Christ through the message of the gospel and the Holy Spirit.

Paul and his friends had been running all over the Roman Empire carrying a great treasure – the gospel message – which was this:

• God had come in the person of Jesus
• God makes us right with God through the Messiah’s death and resurrection
• Our response is to repent and believe
• God gives his Spirit and adopts us as Sons/heirs
• Now belonging to God in Christ, we join the church in God’s mission to reclaim humanity and all creation for God’s glory.

The problem (for some Corinthians it seems) was that Paul and his gang had been carrying this precious treasure around in a brown paper wrapper.

Kind of like wrapping a Rolex in newspaper – and in those days the most disposable items were common everyday clay pots and cups – go to any archaeological site and you could spend all day bending over to pick up pottery shards.

So the first paradox was the Corinthian’s concern – that the great treasure of God’s message was being carried by “plain men” like Paul.

Paul and his friends did not seem to be the sort of people that God would entrust with his crown jewels.

And I, along with many of my fellow pastors, fall into the same boat. Not the sort of people you would pick out of a crowd to be up in your pulpit week after week.

The Corinthians had demonstrated that they were very picky about their leaders. Back in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul had to deal with various factions in the Corinthian church, where some would only listen to him, others only to Apollos, or Peter – and others not to any earthly man but only to Christ Himself.

Imagine That.

Paul’s status among the Corinthians had deteriorated significantly since the writing of 1 Corinthians. Now, besides the inside rabble-rousers, there were outsiders coming in, influencing the church and denouncing Paul, stirring up opposition to Paul, and so they were refusing his apostolic authority based on his supposed defects.

Paul’s response was to say “yes I am defective, but aren’t we all, and it is to such as us that God has entrusted his message.”

And why is it that the message comes in the hands of weak, vulnerable people like Paul?:

…to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 4:7

The power that is above every power – even above that supposed power which the false teachers at Corinth had – was the power of the good news of Christ to change lives.

God deliberately entrusted the gospel to weak & fragile humans so that it might be abundantly clear that it is the power of God’s treasure/gospel at work and not the power of any powerful person.

For if a weak, sloppy old pastor delivers the message, isn’t it clear that any benefit is coming from God and not from the pastor?

And if you can share your faith with a friend when clearly you are not perfect, it will be crystal clear that it is God who changed her life and not you.

Power through weakness is a great theme in 1 & 2 Corinthians, counteracting the great danger to the human soul which was so prominent at Corinth – pride in the power of men and women – specifically pride in the supposed human ability to be spiritual through devotion and effort.

Paul goes on in verse 8 and 9 to further describe how the all-surpassing power of the gospel is carried by such fragile human messengers.

To get the message across, Paul employs four paradoxes, no doubt taken from his own life experience:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Paradox 1:hard pressed on every side, but not crushed

in other words: under pressure yet not imploding

Paul in his weakness is under constant pressure, yet the gospel message (the light/treasure in the jar) and the Spirit prevent him from being crushed

Paradox 2: perplexed, but not in despair

in other words:

at a loss, yet not totally lost
stressed yet not distressed
Cracked pots yet not crackpots

The pressure Paul is under created mental stress – Paul confesses to being often confused – at a loss – not knowing which way to turn or what to do
Yet despite being confused he does not despair – despite being at a loss he never feels totally lost
Returning to the image of fragile pottery – Paul is a cracked pot but not a crack-pot
Only the glorious good news and the Holy Spirit keep him mentally sound

Paradox 3: persecuted, but not abandoned

in other words: exiled yet not alone

A huge part of the pressure Paul is under comes from his opponents. Despite bringing people good news, he is often rejected and chased out of town.
Paul grew up in two great cities – Tarsus and Jerusalem. But now he has no home. His calling from God is to go from city to city, not knowing whether he will be welcomed, arrested or banished. Yet wherever he lays his head at night, he knows is under the care of a sovereign and powerful God.

Paradox 4: struck down, but not destroyed

in other words: knocked down yet not out

Some of the wording in these verses seems to come from battle – either military or gladiatorial. When a fighter is knocked down he either has the strength to get up off the mat or he doesn’t.
Paul however had a secret weapon when facing setbacks. He was often knocked down but never knocked out because he knew that while he could never get up under his own power, he had living within the great power of the risen Jesus in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Paradox summary:
under pressure yet not imploding
cracked pots yet not crackpots
exiled yet not alone
knocked down yet not out

What is Paul saying ?
That our Christian lifestyle is the most dangerous and yet the most rewarding lifestyle of all.

That there is power in fragility
Strength in weakness
Peace during stress
Companionship in exile

In summary, fulfilling God’s mission means to be always full of death and full of life at the same time, since we follow and carry within us a Lord who is both crucified and risen.

What Jesus offers is two invitations at once – “come and die” – and also “come and live”

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,

so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake,

so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

2 Corinthians 4:10-11

What Paul is saying is that he is:

always dying yet never lifeless!

Here Paul sums up the four paradoxes with the greatest one of all. Paul connects the fragility of his ministry not only with the fragility of Jesus’ life, but with his death. Paul views all the sorrowful, dangerous, abandoned experiences of his life as signs that his life is moving in the same direction as Jesus’ did – towards death.

But because Paul is united with Jesus by grace and faith, Paul knows that he is united with Jesus not only in death, but also in life. So at every fragile, dangerous, nearly shattered moment of his life, Paul sees in that the death and life of Christ at work.

So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 2 Corinthians 4:12

Death is at work, in that Paul is a temporary vessel, a clay pot about to be smashed.

Death is at work, in that Paul’s in his fragility and ultimate death is in union with Christ and his own scorn and crucifixion.

But life is at work as the treasure carried in the clay pots is shared and received, as people pass from death to life by believing in God’s One and Only.

Life is at work in us as we carry out God’s mission to reclaim humanity and all creation, placing everything at the feet of our glorious, exalted Lord.

Is death at work in you? Is life?

…we have this treasure in jars of clay…

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the great John Stott

This week as I prepare to preach on 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, I want to hear how a great preacher handled this text. What a preacher – what a voice – what a pleasure it is to hear the great John Stott.

Here is the link to John Stott’s sermon

brand it

truth

Truth is the word which I chose for a sermon title on 2 Corinthians 4:1-6. On this past Sunday, Jered did a great job preaching a short sermon on this text. I was away last week, and now I am playing catch-up with this post.

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

As Jered explained, it is possible that the “god of this age” is either spiritual evil in the form of Satan, or evil in the form of reliance on idols – materialism / religion / nationalism.

The Apostle Paul and Jesus both took the view that any reliance on things other than God – religion, material things, national politics or even religion is misguided. It is as if people are blinded by the seeming brightness – attractiveness – of such things when in fact they are all temporary and will in the end rust and rot.

God offers to all people – whether they are born Muslim, Jewish or anything else – salvation as a free gift through sharing by faith in the crucified & risen Christ. This is why we preach the gospel in places where other religions are practiced.

We share by faith in the benefits of Christ’s death. Our sin is forgiven and we, though sinners, are declared righteous because the righteous son of God died as a substitute for us.

We share by faith in the benefits of Christ’s resurrection. By God’s Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, we become spiritually alive, a foretaste of our future resurrection. Together with God, we work for the redemption of creation and the salvation of people leading up to the coming resurrected.

What I have taught for many years is that God does not condemn anyone, but that all people have the opportunity to respond to God’s kind offer of salvation.

To me it is not harsh or unfair of God to make one pathway to salvation – his one and only Son.

What happens though is that religions, often including our own religion, along with the desire for power and money, blind people to the simple clear offer of salvation in Christ. Pastors and others have clouded the issue by teaching or implying that there are things we can do to assure our own salvation. But in reality, God did it all for us in Christ. Our job is to say yes, then go on with the Spirit from there.

God did not create one true religion, and we should not act as if this is what God was trying to do – create a religion which would include some people and keep others out. But rather, the eternal God decided to reach out to save people from every race and belief system. To do this he came to earth in person, as Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.

Paul writes that salvation along with our ministry is not our own invention, nor do we deserve anything from God. Our salvation and ministry come through God’s mercy. (4:1) Paul is helping people find God’s mercy by offering Christ; he’s not trying to create a religion we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord (4:5)

Salvation is an inner creative work of God’s Spirit.  Just as God created light  by his Word and Spirit, so also by Word and Spirit God creates light in our hearts.  God’s light in our hearts enables us to perceive the truth – that Christ is the unique image of the invisible God.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (4:6)

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ten words to live by

Introducing the Sermon Series: Ten Words to Live By
First Corinthians has long been my favorite letter of Paul’s. I love the way Paul faced the many issues, addressed them all with courage, specificity, a clear presentation of the gospel, and pastoral concern. Throughout the letter, Paul kept pointing the church back to the center, the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for us.

In second Corinthians, Paul continued lifting up Christ and the gospel, while shepherding a still belligerent Corinthian church. 2 Corinthians is a goldmine, especially the heart of the letter, the subject of the next sermon/study series.

It seemed relatively easy to break 2 Corinthians 3:12 – 6:3 down into ten sections. I’ll be highlighting each part of the study/sermon series by using one “theme-word” taken from each section. (see previous post). Thus the series title: Ten Words to Live By.

To “live by the Word” is a foreign theme in our culture, but it was native to Paul as a Jew. The Corinthian Christians had come to Christ in the midst of a free-flowing society similar to ours. Paul found it particularly difficult to convince these “post-pagans” to live by the Word. Christian leaders today face a similar challenge convincing post-moderns to live by the scriptures rather than by the winds of culture.

The Corinthian Letters 2 Corinthians is probably the fourth letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. How could this be? From the book of Acts and from the two letters themselves, we can gather enough information to reconstruct Paul’s interactions with this church. What follows is an interesting window into early Christian community and leadership, warts and all.

First Visit Paul first visited the city and founded the church, writing 1 & 2 Thessalonians from Corinth. This is the visit referred to in Acts 18, on Paul’s 2nd missionary tour. He stayed 18 months, from July in the year 50 to September 51. The dating comes from Roman records of Galio’s proconsulship. Apollos continued on in Corinth with some success. (Acts 18:27-28 and 1 Cor. 3:5)

In Ephesus: The real first (lost) letter to the Corinthians
Three months later while Paul was in Ephesus on his 3rd journey, he heard about moral looseness among Christians at Corinth. He wrote a letter in response. This letter is lost. In 1 Cor 5 Paul refers to the lost first letter. He tries to correct in 1 Cor 5:9-11 a misunderstanding about what it meant not to associate with the immoral – he meant (in his first lost letter) not to associate with an immoral brother as if all were well; apparently the Corinthians took it to mean to withdraw into a Christian enclave away from the world.

Paul’s Guests While Paul was still in Ephesus, he was visited by “Chloe’s people” (mentioned in 1 Cor. 1:11) from the church at Corinth. This was probably an unofficial delegation of people who met at the home of Chloe. The urban churches of the Roman cities met in various houses in each city.

Chloe’s people filled Paul’s ears full of news from the Corinthian church. Examples of what they told Paul may be found in the first part of 1 Corinthians where Paul writes of what he heard:

• My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 1:11
• It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you… 5:1

Paul also receives an official delegation from Corinth around this same time: I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. (they’ve made up for your absence) 1 Cor 16:17

This group probably brought him a letter. In the second part of 1 Corinthians, Paul seems to be quoting from what the Corinthians wrote. What kind of letter was it? Probably not a humble letter asking Paul to rule as apostle. Rather, it seems as if it was a letter from a smug church contending with Paul – “Why can’t we do this, or that? “ – revisiting Paul’s leadership, wanting to “do their own thing.”

Paul writes his second letter, known to us as First Corinthians
In response to the reports from Chloe’s people, and the visit of the official delegation and the letter they brought, Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians. This is the one we call First Corinthians, which responds point by point to the stories told by Chloe’s people and to the official letter brought by the delegation.

Knowing this helps us to understand 1 Corinthians. As we read the letter, looking over Paul’s shoulder, we can imagine him wrestling and praying over what to say into such a crazy situation. The letter seems to run all over the place, because Paul was not so much writing on a single theme as he was responding to various issues.

Church Invaders Soon after 1 Corinthians was written, a outside group entered the church. They were Jewish Christians, as mentioned in 2 Corinthians: Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. 2 Cor 11:22.

Elsewhere in 2 Corinthians (especially in chapters 10, 11, 12) we hear Paul responding to these opponents. It seems that they came into the church and called themselves apostles, disturbing the church and distorting the message of Christ.

Paul’s Painful Visit and the Third Letter
These “apostles” had already assumed some authority when Paul made a second, painful visit to Church. On this visit he experienced a painful encounter with a certain man: So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. 2 Cor.2:1

Instead of rallying to Paul on this visit, they failed to show him support. He went back to Ephesus, determined not to return to Corinth as he had originally planned.

From Ephesus Paul wrote them his third letter, a rebuke written out of anguish and many tears. Another lost letter, referred to in 2 Corinthians: For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you. 2 Cor. 2:4.

Paul, back in Ephesus experiences a trial where Paul expected to die, but God spared him, and Paul left to find Titus – in Macedonia. Titus brings Paul news about Corinth. The painful letter has hurt the Corinthians, and they repented. (2 Cor 7:8-13)
In their repentance they over-punished the man with whom Paul had the painful encounter. Paul is about to come for a third visit, then he writes a fourth letter, Second Corinthians.

Summary: Paul’s four letters to Corinth:
The first letter: lost
Second letter: 1 Corinthians
Third letter: lost
Fourth letter: 2 Corinthians

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new series

Debbie Oberlander will be leading a Monday night study based on the upcoming series on 2 Corinthians.

Here are the details:

• meets Mondays 7 – 8:30 PM beginning September 10th in the comfortable youth lounge
• studying the scripture preached on the previous day by Pastor Ted
• advance reading – Pastor Ted’s blog notes
• optional book “Paul for Everyone: 2 Corinthians” by Tom Wright
• study series ends November 12th

“Ten Words to Live By”

a sermon series beginning September 9th

psalm 30: when life is good!

The message for Sunday September 2 is called “When Life is Good.”

The Scripture is Psalm 30.

Psalm 30

A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.

The title of the Psalm tells us that this was a song perhaps used at the temple dedication in King Solomon’s time. Solomon, instead of composing something himself, chooses a piece written by his father David to express his gratitude to God.
Last week we saw David trapped in an isolated, confined space, lamenting his desperate situation to God. This week in Psalm 30 we find David on the other side of misery, having been delivered and now thanking God for sparing him. Psalm 30 could have been written by David following his deliverance from Saul, or at another key moment in his life.
The Thanksgiving Psalm was not unique to Israel. A prayer very much like Psalm 30, written by a draftsman thanking his god for healing his son, was found inscribed on a stone stele (monumental slab) from the 19th Egyptian dynasty (c.1250 BC).

Doug Stuart teaches the memory device “IMART” to help us recognize and understand Thanksgiving Psalms.
Attention IMART shoppers; you know you are praising like David when:

• I Introduction or Intention – you intend to praise God
• M Misery – you recall when things were bad
• A Appeal – you recount your appeal to God and reliance on Him
• R Rescue – you retell of when God intervened and rescued you
• T Testimonial – you witness with testimony to God’s salvation

Typically these thank-you (todah in Hebrew) Psalms come in three main sections, and ours follows the pattern:

Intention/Introduction Psalm 30:1-5
Misery/Appeal/Rescue Psalm 30:6-11
Testimony to God’s salvation Psalm 30:12

Section-by-section:
Intention/Introduction Psalm 30:1-5

1 I will exalt you, O LORD,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 O LORD my God,
I called to you for help and you healed me.
3 O LORD, you brought me up from the grave;
you spared me from going down into the pit.
4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

notes:

• The opening statement is a declaration, perhaps better expressed by saying “I proclaim that you are exalted”
• The “lifted me out” phrase is how one might describe water drawn from a well. What powerful praise: “God, you raise me up like water drawn from a well.”
• David’s rescue curtails the gloating of his enemies (Saul’s house?). They wanted him dead, but God saved him from the pit, which in verse 3 is symbolic of death. Death is among the enemies which now has no cause for boasting, recalling resurrection’s slamming shut the boasting mouth of death in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57.

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

• We can tell that “pit” means “death,” because line 2 of verse 3 “you spared me from going down into the pit ” is a restatement of line 1 of verse 3: “you brought me up from the grave” This is called synonymous parallelism , where the second line means the same thing as the first, restated for poetic beauty. We may use one line to interpret the other, and interpreted together they say one thing, not two separate ideas.
• Verse 4 instructs the covenant orchestra and chorus to belt out praise to God. Instruments used in those days included the lyre, ten-stringed harp and timbrel.
• Verse 5 characterizes God’s theme as lasting grace, punctuated by momentary anger at sin, then returning again to favor, just as the despair of night (lack of light) always gives way to the bright rejoicing at the new day.

Misery/Appeal/Rescue Psalm 30:6-11
6 When I felt secure,
I said, “I will never be shaken.”
7 O LORD, when you favored me,
you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

8 To you, O LORD, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 “What gain is there in my destruction,
in my going down into the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me;
O LORD, be my help.”
11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

notes:

• In verses 6 and 7a David compares life under God’s favor with standing high atop an unshakable mountain – I am thinking of the “king of the world” scene in Titanic. When life is good it seems like it will stay that way forever, and perhaps with David we get a bit too confident, like David saying to ourselves (and maybe to others) “I will never be shaken”
• This proud testimony to his own position stands in contrast to his later humble testimony to God’s faithfulness in verse 12 “I will give you thanks forever.”.
• Perhaps David forgets – and then remembers – the lesson of Deuteronomy 8:17-18

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

• Midway through verse 7 comes the misery, where David gets shaken and is toppled from his mountain, ending up confined and isolated in a place where God is hidden from him (see previous post below on David’s lament).
• In verses 8 & 9 David remembers that in misery he cried out to God for mercy. David recounts how he appealed to God’s name and glory – that if God saved him from death, David would praise God, whereas if he died and turned to dust, there would be no praise to God’s name coming from the dust. Were he to be saved, David was promising God that he would be a living testimony to God’s faithfulness.
• Verse 10 recounts David’s prayer request, “be merciful to me,” a prayer found six other places in the Psalms (4, 6, 26, 27, 31, 56).
• The rescue David recalls in verse 11 “wailing into dancing” “sackcloth into joy” seems to be the outworking of God’s gracious governance expressed in verse 5: “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
• Nahum Sarna writes in his book On the Book of Psalms (page 23):

The transformation of mourning into dancing is more than mere rhetoric. …the stem of the Hebrew term used here (for dance) means “to writhe, whirl.” …the dance is not only the expression of exuberant joy but is itself also a mode of worship, a means of extolling God, as Psalms 149 and 150 affirm:

Let them praise his name in dance
Praise Him with timbrel and dance

Testimony to God’s salvation Psalm 30:12
12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

notes:

• There are two aspects to this final word in Psalm 30
• Personal relationship with God: David prays using the phrase “O Lord my God” in Psalm 30 only at the beginning and end of the Psalm. The bookend positioning of the personal address emphasizes David’s personal relationship with God.
• Testimony of a thankful heart: David cannot keep silent – his heart overflows. He can no longer pretend that it is his own position that makes him secure. He cannot help but singing from his heart that it is God and God alone who has set him right.

Using the Psalm
A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.

Let’s return to the beginning of the Psalm, where the editor of the Psalter (the whole collection of Psalms) tells us that Solomon used this todah Psalm at the dedication of the great Jerusalem temple. The story starting in 1 Kings 8 makes for great reading. The language is so vivid that one can’t help but be drawn into the sights, sounds and smells.

The temple marked a new beginning for Israel; it was a reason to celebrate grandly. No more would the Yahweh religion be a laughingstock among the nations, who must have snickered at the Israelite god encamped in a tent. The magnificent new temple put their religion on par with the other great empires of the near east.

But Solomon’s prayers in 1 Kings don’t focus on the greatness of the Temple or the improved reputation of Israel. He prays instead with humble gratitude for God’s past deliverance, as his father had first done in Psalm 30. One could imagine David’s song being sung by the crowds just after Solomon’s prayer. Solomon is making a new beginning for his nation and looking forward to be sure. Yet the prayers and the song both look backwards with thanksgiving and awe.

When making a new beginning let’s take time to think on how God has brought us to this point in our lives. Are you like me – do you often simply say “what’s next” without considering how gracious God has been to enable us to be here to say “what’s next” ?

The big picture is that God has brought us through our yesterdays and in the same way will lead us through our tomorrows. So when our life takes a new and interesting turn, when our congregation is poised to move forward to a new thing, let’s follow David and Solomon’s lead and declare to God and to everyone how grateful we are to God for working in our lives.

Meditate on God’s goodness to you – see if your heart doesn’t overflow like David’s. When you sing let it not be simply words off a page or a screen, but the testimony of a grateful heart

Life is not a series of random events. God has been working among us all along, and is faithful to continue. David and Solomon led Israel forward by first looking backwards into God’s doings with appreciation. What a wonderful and healthy way to live. Life is good, because God is good!

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Vacation Bible School

Psalm 142

I’ll preach Psalm 142 on Sunday August 26th.

The following Sunday, Sept 2nd, will be Psalm 30.

Bono writes telling how the Psalms have impacted his life and art.

The original setting of Psalm 142

David was the young successful warrior/future-king. His father-in-law King Saul had not responded well to the pressures of the monarchy. He was paranoid and evil in his approach to David, whom Saul viewed as a threat to his own popularity and power.

David’s military success was acclaimed by the public as they sang “Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands.” Praise and taunting in the same song. Ancient hip-hop?

Do you think that the song’s equation…

David = Saul x 10

…perhaps stoked the soul of the troubled and insecure ruler?

When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days. 1 Samuel 18:28-29

...men have hidden a snare for me. Psalm 142:3

What happens when family, politics, and paranoia combine? Saul tried to use the love between his daughter and David as a trap. He calculated that Michal would be loyal to him and control her husband, preventing David from surpassing her father on the national scene.

But Michal’s love for David was true. Their united stand confounded Saul and stoked the king’s anger against David.

…rescue me from those who pursue me… Psalm 142:6

Saul, having set the failed trap, now pursued alternative hunting strategy, sending weaponed men to stalk his prey.

David had popular support, but at the same time had the tyrant’s forces after him. David had not tried to overthrow Saul, but Saul was behaving like a ruthless dictator pursuing an opposition leader.

Set me free from my prison… Psalm 142:7

David wrote Psalm 142 while confined in a cave, with his life in danger. The misery David lamented in Psalm 142 was dual:

1. He was righteous, but pursued by a powerful enemy.
2. He had God’s favor and Spirit to lead with broad vision, but was confined to the narrow canyons and caves at En-Gedi.

Here is the area where David hid from Saul and composed Psalm 142.

How the Psalm is structured

Scholars understand many units of scripture to have been arranged by their authors in a concentric circle pattern traveling from the outermost circle inward towards the central thought, then back out the other side, hitting each circle along the way.

The main point of the Psalm is found at the center. X marks the spot! The Psalm is composed as if the main idea is a pebble dropped in a puddle. The Psalmist sets his ideas in parallel ripples around the center.

Ancient readers had an eye for this kind of arrangement. They would have instinctively looked to the center for the main theme.

The remaining ripples of the Psalm surround the center, bracketed by the beginning and ending of the Psalmist’s prayer experience. This pattern is called chiasm, after the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X” See how this layout moves left-to-right down the arm of the X, then right-to-left down the leg.

Chiasm is a kind of is parallelism, which happens in a variety of ways in Hebrew poetry. When you are reading the Psalms, try and notice when ideas are repeated or restated in different kinds of parallel arrangements. Knowing this helps us to understand the poetic sections of the Bible better.

The title I chose for preaching on this Lament Psalm is When I Feel Trapped. David composed the Psalm around the central theme of being trapped in isolation; abandoned. David was extremely popular and beloved by the masses. Yet suddenly he is on the run and all alone. Where are his friends? Where is God?

I wonder how this theme of abandonment intersects with life in this world of ours?

We just finished a wonderful week of Vacation Bible School. We had four evenings together, with a strong push to reach out into the neighborhood. I met several families for the first time as we ate and studied together.

I came away from the week feeling good about the outreach, and also more aware of the prevalent disconnectedness from true community, which is a fact of postmodern life.

I’ve used those two words “true community” intentionally. The people I met this week seemed hungry for relationships that would lead them to truth.

David is alone in the cave. He deeply misses his comrades, his family, his people. Foes surround him, not friends. There is no way out. It is as if even God has left him, yet there is a part of David that has faith to see beyond the cave.

You know my way. Ps 142:3

You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Ps 142:5

Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me. Ps 142:7

This Psalm reaches into the experience of isolation felt by so many in today’s world. God meets us in the cave as we bemoan our condition without Him, without true community.

God invites us to see beyond the cave, to a time when God’s mercy leads us out into the open, experiencing truth and community in God’s presence once again.

Basking in God’s presence, fed by God’s Word, embraced by God’s people.

Pretty soon we’ll have the VBS video up on YouTube.

I need to go see if my dog will accept the switch from small bites to chunky dog food. She’s a big girl now.

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