Bible Reading Challenge Blog

There is a fine line between being in this world but not of this world.  This Scripture speaks specifically to those who are looking for a spouse and they are out in the world and wondering who God has prepared for them with whom to grow old.  There is a verse that I have heard ever since I was a teenager in my youth group.  Look at vs.14.  Now, keep in mind that I went to a few different youth groups.  One in a Presbyterian Church, where I didn’t hear this verse, and one from a youth worker named Big Al who brought me to an understanding that Jesus actually loved me.  It was Big Al who taught me this verse and taught me, and all of us in our youth group, that we are not to look for people to date who were not Christian.  Needless to say, there was a lot of dating going on within that youth group.

But there is a lasting truth in recognizing that we do not want to be unequally yoked for the rest of our lives.  One of the first decisions we have to make is when the children come along.  Do we baptize them?  And if so, where and when?  Those are questions that need to come along before the marriage and if the couple are not both Christians, then the one Christian will find themselves facing a very difficult uphill battle.  There is a statement that we don’t choose with whom we fall in love.  That is true, to a certain extent, but we do choose whom we will marry.  I am a huge believer that if we do not marry those who love Jesus, then Jesus is going to lose out in our relationship.  That is the most important thing in our life, our relationship with Jesus.  I pray every day that my girls will find someone who loves Jesus that they will also fall in love with.

Paul changes his imagery from that of clay jars to that of an earthly tent which back in the day was quite fragile in its own right.  But he switches now from focusing on how he is willing to live a life of sacrifice on behalf of the church in Corinth, to describing the resurrection as that which reconciles us to God.  The focus is no longer on the benefits that the church receives from the ministry of Paul, but rather the benefits that we receive from the presence of the Lord in our lives.  

Vs.7 is a famous verse which reminds us that we walk by faith and not by sight.  We live our lives not fully aware of what the resurrection will entail or what will come after this life, but we have faith that it will be something which will be eternal and will draw us closer to the living God.  

Starting at vs.11 he launches into a treatise on reconciliation which is crucial to our understanding of who we are in the sight of God and who God wants us to be in the sight of our neighbor.  The reconciliation that we receive from Christ arises from the fact that in Christ we are a new creation.  The past is finished and gone.  Do I need to repeat that?  We are a new creation in Christ Jesus.  Since we are a new creation then we are to be ambassadors for Christ.  I’ve had my share of experiences with Ambassadors from dozens of countries around the world.  While we were serving in Russia there could be up to 6 different Ambassadors representing their country in worship with us.  When the Ambassador to Cameroon passed away I spent every evening in their embassy mourning with them for two months.  I would preach and we would sing songs with the Cameroonians that I knew.  All of this took place in their embassy.  They had to translate my words into French so we were always there quite late.  When I performed his funeral the room was full of dignitaries and Ambassadors from near and far.  

But each of these Ambassadors were always “on”.  There was not a moment in their life when they were not representing their country in their actions and in their speech.  I knew the Nigerian Ambassador quite well and when I would go over to his house he would let his hair down a bit, but he was still “on” and guarded.  This is what Paul means when he states that we are ambassadors for Christ.  We are his spokespeople.  We always have to be “on” regardless of the situation and where we find ourselves.  We are to be the righteousness of God.  This is a hard concept to keep in the front of our minds every single day.  But how can we not when we recognize what it took to be reconciled to God.  The very sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ.  So let us be reconciled and then as a result good ambassadors for our Creator.

For some reason this song came to my mind as I was reading this chapter.  About 15 years ago on a youth retreat that I helped lead in Florida I first heard this song.  I think we did a retreat on the Rolling Stones and chose one of their songs each day as our theme and found Scripture that related to that theme.  But this song was a part of those few days as well.  Okay, back to the Scripture.

The catch phrase for this Scripture is found in vs.7 where Paul states that we have this treasure in clay jars.  For clarification we are the clay jars.  We are those very fragile structures that God chooses to  use to carry out His work.  These jars are porous and awkward and easily tipped over and don’t last for very long.  That is who we are.  But Paul says that God still chooses to use us.  It is the best He has.  He goes on to state how he was afflicted and persecuted and all of that was for the sake of the church so that they might be strengthened.  

There are two beautiful verses in 11 and 12 where Paul states that he and his workers are getting closer and closer to death but this is for the sake of the church as it gets closer and closer to life and life eternal.  What a great verse as he explains how much he loves the church as he recognizes the sacrifice that he is under without throwing it in their face.  

In vs.16 he states that he does not lose heart even though he fully realizes that his body is taking a beating and that each day brings him closer to death.  But inside, in his relationship with Jesus, he is getting closer and closer to God.  This makes it all worthwhile.  As Paul states: this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.  Again, as yesterday.  Praise be to God!

There is some heavy theology in this chapter, but a theology that is necessary for us to understand to see how we have been given a new life in Jesus through a new covenant that he established.  Paul begins this chapter by establishing himself once again as the one who knows the people of the Corinthian church and loves them and is their pastor.  He already begins in vs.3 speaking of how Christ is present in them not as the law was present in the past, but rather in Spirit.  He calls it written upon their hearts, as opposed to being written on stone tablets.  We need to remember this as we move along in this chapter.  But just keep in mind what prophet Ezekiel had stated some centuries before.  If you look at Ezekiel 11:19 and then again 36:26 you hear the prophet foretelling the day that the new covenant will be written upon the people and provide them with hearts of flesh as opposed to hearts of stone.  Keep in mind that this is the new covenant to which he is referring.  Let’s talk about that new covenant.

The premise of the new covenant that we have with Jesus is that this covenant is one of Spirit, and not of law.  We have spoken often about those who would want us to be believers in Jesus Christ so we can follow a set of rules.  We have talked about that in the past.  Paul is saying here that we are disciples of Jesus Christ not to take on more rules, not to replace the law of Moses with another written law that we have to follow, but rather we are given through Christ a covenant, or an agreement, that is of the Spirit.  There are those who follow the letter of the law and those who are called to follow the Spirit of the law.  We are called to follow the Spirit. Now, that can be a bit disconcerting because some of us need things spelled out and if we don’t have parameters then we become lost and unable to make decisions on our own.  At times we want people to tell us what we ought to think.  That is not our style and that is certainly not my calling as a pastor.  I feel much more comfortable presenting what the Scripture lays out before us and then provide that background so that you can decide where the Spirit leads you, as opposed to saying you have to believe this way or else you have no part of us.

Starting in vs.7 Paul begins to explain what is this new covenant.  So, just to lay it out plainly, a covenant is an agreement between two parties.  The covenant that God has made with us is a unconditional covenant, which means that God has set no conditions upon the agreement that he has made with us.  The agreement is one sided, He has given us a new life in Jesus, and we are to…, well, he has given us a new life in Jesus.  We are not to do anything.  How does that make sense?  It makes perfect sense.  We are not required to do anything to make that covenant applicable to us.  It’s not what we are used to.  The old covenant, the one written on stone by God and given to Moses, required us to respond and to sacrifice, and to act in a way that God wanted us to act.  Not so with the covenant that was finalized on the cross and the empty tomb.  As a result of this covenant we have a freedom that is unparalleled that has never been experienced before.  He speaks about the hardening of the minds of those who followed the old covenant, that even to this day (the 1st century but it also holds true today in the 21st century) those who worship the old covenant would read the Torah with a veil covering their head.

Vs. 16 tells us that when we turn to the Lord, when we turn to Jesus, then we have freedom.  Remember my favorite verse of John 8:32?  Look it up and you will see the freedom that we have in Jesus.  This is so important to me, that we understand the freedom that we have and that we love Jesus not out of fear or guilt, but out of a response of thanksgiving.  When you are asking what exactly the Holy Spirit is, we can respond that it is God giving us a free love where the opportunities are boundless.  Praise be to God!

We simply do not know who the “offender” is in vs.5.  Paul is addressing an individual (the person with an incestuous relationship in I Corinthians 5:1 with his mother-in-law?) who has caused pain to Paul but as a result has really harmed the entire community.  As a result of that offense the church in Corinth acted swiftly, and in the words of Paul, quite harshly.  As vs.8 states: “So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.”  He goes on to tell the church to make sure that they leave room for forgiveness.  

Church discipline is not a strong suit in our church.  We do not call out members of the church for their way of life or their decisions which might not reflect the kingdom of God.  This was much more common in Paul’s day, and is more common in other churches within our community.  Why don’t we enforce discipline in the church?  There are some who would say: who am I to judge?  If I  bring a judgment down upon someone in the church, then that same stroke of judgment should fall upon me for any number of reasons.  It isn’t a good reason, but it is the reason that we choose to use.  We would much rather be a community, a family, that supports each other and loves each other unconditionally.

I think of my own family and my grown brothers.  We don’t call each other up and criticize the life decisions that we make.  We call each other up and encourage each other as we follow our children’s progress and try to build each other up as we make our way through this treacherous life of parenting.  Personally I know that I feel much more comfortable with that approach to the family of the church than the aspect of discipline.  But, there is no denying that discipline was always meant to be a part of the church.  The reason that discipline was a part of the life of the church is because if you are a small minority community that is being persecuted, you need to make sure that people are committed and devoted to the cause or else those who are on the periphery could out you and endanger the whole community.  That isn’t a real danger in our 21st century church.  But, as we serve together a slack devotion to Jesus can lead to a church that is lukewarm that is never something that we would want.  

Let’s set up a little bit of the background to II Corinthians since we may have forgotten a bit of it 16 chapters ago.  It is thought that Paul wrote four letters to the Corinthian church, and this would have been his fourth and last.  Of course, we only have two of these letters in hand: I and II Corinthians.  You’ll notice that this letter to the church is a lot more stern and you hear a disappointed father writing to the church that he founded.  Here is a listing of Paul’s contact with the Corinthian church.  

• Paul visits Corinth for the first time, spending about 18 months there (Acts 18:11). He then leaves Corinth and spends about 3 years in Ephesus (Acts 19:8, 19:10, 20:31). (Roughly from AD 53 to 57.)
• Paul writes the “warning letter” in his first year from Ephesus (1 Corinthians 5:9).
• Paul writes 1 Corinthians from his second year at Ephesus.
• Paul visits the Corinthian church a second time, as he indicated he would in 1 Corinthians 16:6. Probably during his last year in Ephesus. 2 Corinthians 2:1 calls this a “painful visit”.
• Paul writes the “letter of tears”.
• Paul writes 2 Corinthians, indicating his desire to visit the Corinthian church a third time (2 Cor 12:14, 2 Cor 13:1). The letter doesn’t indicate where he is writing from, but it is usually dated after Paul left Ephesus for Macedonia (Acts 20), from either Philippi or Thessalonica in Macedonia.
• Paul presumably made the third visit after writing 2 Corinthians, because Acts 20:2–3 indicates he spent 3 months in Greece. In his letter to Rome, written at this time, he sent salutations from some of the principal members of the church to the Romans.

Let’s look at content.  Paul addresses the afflictions that he has faced and the persecution that the community as a whole has faced.  He states that Jesus “who rescues us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us.”  What a great statement of hope and consolation for any of us who might be facing those times when we feel as if our bodies and our souls are being persecuted.  

Paul gets into a bit of a confusing statement here in regards to people saying what they actually mean and upon which they will eventually act.  He criticizes those who say yes and no just to please any who might want either one of those answers.  In vs.20 he states very clearly, after a confusing round of nos and yesses, that we are not to be afraid of the repercussions of our words but rather speak in Christ Jesus that which is true.  “For this reason it is through him that we say the “amen” to the glory of God”.  As you may or may not know “amen” means literally: That’s the truth!  So be it!  We should never be wary or afraid of saying unpopular things simply because we think it might hurt our standing before people.  

In vs.24 Paul gives a rare compliment in this letter to the people of Corinth.  He tells them very simply: “you stand firm in your faith.”  We will see that he does not consistently compliment them on this aspect of their life in Christ.  But at least for the time being he is giving them something upon which they can rely.  Things will quickly change over the next few chapters.

Maranatha!  That is what Paul states in vs.22.  It means literally: “Our Lord come.”  That is our expectation and it shades and impacts all that we do and all that we believe.  Jesus is coming back again.  In this last chapter of his first letter to the Corinthian church Paul writes a farewell address which covers a number of topics and gives a shout out to a number of people.  He talks about the offerings for the saints, those who are working in the field, as “whatever extra you earn” to be given freely.  I have always preached on 10% which I am sure is much less than “whatever extra you earn.”  That 10% is also much less than what Jesus tells his disciples which in Matthew 19:21, if you don’t know that verse then look it up and you will see that in fact, it is much more than 10%.  

I can’t believe that yesterday I didn’t speak about I Corinthians 15:54-57, I encourage you to read that part again.  It is a Scripture that is used in just about every single funeral, or service to the witness of the resurrection, that I do.  There really isn’t much more in this chapter, just greetings of a pastor who loves his church and wishes them all well and gives them some advice on how to proceed.  Paul’s pastoral love of the Corinthian church is evident, even if the church at times makes him tear his hair out.

Do you believe in the resurrection?  Think about that for a moment before you answer.  Do you believe that once we die, once Jesus died, then we will, Jesus did, rise from the dead?  What is more, our creed tells us that we believe in a physical resurrection.  Again, think about the details and what exactly that means.  In this chapter we have the most thorough description of the resurrection of the dead that we will find in any other place in the Bible.  Not only do we find a thorough description of the physical resurrection, but also the theology that supports it.  Let’s start with that because that is where Paul starts.

The importance of belief in the resurrection cannot be overstated.  Look at vs. 14 that tell us that if we do not believe in the resurrection of the body that our faith is “in vain”.  There is no reason, Paul says, to even believe, there is no reason to count ourselves as a disciple of Jesus Christ if we do not believe in the resurrection.  Easter is real, it is not just a holiday that marks our Christian belief, but we are actually celebrating Jesus’ resurrection.  What impact does his resurrection have upon us?  Look at vs. 17 – it is in the resurrection where our sins are forgiven.  This is what it is all about.  If Christ has not been raised then we are still in our sins.  What more needs to be said about our faith?  The death of Jesus was a one time victory for Satan.  The resurrection of Jesus is an eternal victory for all of us because in that victory God eliminated the power of sin over us.  This is called a theory of atonement.  Break that word down: at one ment.  What God did for us on the cross, in the grave, in the empty grave made us at one with Him.  We are his children, we are his heirs, we are his bride.  This is what the resurrection allows for us.  

We then have details about  our own resurrection which serve as incredibly  useful verses for consolation and hope for those of us who want to understand what is it going to look like.  When Stacy’s mom was ill with cancer we prayed that she would be healed.  We were convinced that our prayers would be answered and that she would be healed and be able to enjoy a long life with us and her grandchildren.  It didn’t happen.  We were devastated that our prayers weren’t answered and as we made our way back to the West Coast for the funeral we were visibly upset.  Rachel, our oldest who was about 4 then, noticed that we were sad because God hadn’t answered our prayers and she started to ask us questions.  “Can nonna (that is the name we gave her) walk now?”, we answered “Yes, nonna can walk now, she can even run again.” Rachel asked “Can nonna eat anything she wants now?”, we answered “Yes, she can eat anything she wants to now.”  “Is she happy?” she wondered out loud, “Yes she is happier than she has ever been.”  Rachel then got a look of understanding on her face and said to two Princeton Seminary graduates “Well, it sounds like God did answer our prayers.”  She taught us more about the resurrection in that one exchange than we had ever learned in our three years in seminary.  Yes, the resurrection, the bodily resurrection, is real.  

Paul tells us that we will all receive glorified bodies, bodies that are not corruptible, bodies that will never fail.  This is the promise of the resurrection.  We will not inherit our frail, broken, disease ridden bodies, but rather he will give us new bodies.  This is why we do not hesitate to cremate.  We do not fear the destruction of our physical bodies because we know that God has something far better in store for us.

In some ways this is the Presbyterian  chapter.  If you look at vs. 40 you will find that it is a verse that is often repeated within the church.  We are people who like to do things decently and in order.  But, when we do things decently and in order, then they sometimes take more time than we want.  But it is time well spent.  I’ll never forget a member of our church who ran for judge, and was eventually elected, had a town hall meeting in our church and someone asked: As a Christian, how can you put up with things taking so long at the judicial level.  He answered using this verse reminding us that we are a people who like things done decently and in order.  When things are done too quickly, especially in the field of law, then people can be easily overlooked.  If mistakes are made, they could be made in a way that might sacrifice the future of an individual.  This is not acceptable.  That is why we do things decently and in order, but slowly.

This is a very long chapter, I recognize that, and Paul covers a whole bunch of different topics here.  For some reason he says some unkind words for those who speak in tongues.  It seems to me that there was a problem in the church where people would stand up and speak in tongues and there would be confusion.  He gives very specific instructions on how people were to speak in tongues.  They were to stand and speak one at a time only if there was someone there to interpret.  If there was not someone there to interpret then they were not to speak in tongues.  If there was not an interpreter then they were to stay silent and in the quiet of their house they could speak in tongues.  Okay, wait, what?  What do you mean speak in tongues?  Some are given a gift to speak in tongues which allows them to freely and without restrictions speak to God in a personal way.  Even Presbyterians are given this gift.  The key is that it is in a personal way and it does not serve to build up the community, but rather the individual.  I do not have the gift of speaking in tongues.  I have never seen someone speak in tongues in a church the way it is supposed to be done.  I have seen an individual speak in tongues in their own, in the quiet of their privacy, the way it is supposed to be.  But that was only one time.  We should never quench the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19), but we should not take advantage of the Spirit to put forward our own desires and wishing to puff ourselves up.  

Paul here as a foil uses prophecy as the ideal to show the differences between the two.  Prophecy, Paul states, builds up the community, tongues instead, builds up the individual.  Okay, now you are getting really weird.  What do you mean prophecy?  Have you forgotten that we are in a Presbyterian church?  We don’t speak in tongues and we certainly don’t pretend to prophesy.  What is prophesy?  Prophesy is not a prediction of what the future will hold, but rather a word of caution or advice in regards to how the Lord is going to act.  The book of Revelation does not predict the future, but rather allows us to understand that Jesus is coming, and when he does we have to be ready and the best way to be ready is to not compromise.  The prophesy in Revelation is not predictive, but rather prescriptive.  We are given everything we need to prepare ourselves for when the ends times come.  It is written to prepare us.  So Paul here states that the words that people speak within the church that prepare us for the future are words that need to be heard.

When we had our gathering of young families we heard words not of desire, not of preferences, but really words of prophecy that told us: we must allow the children to come unto us and not necessarily on our terms, but on theirs.  I love that prophetic word that was spoken as the parents were trying to bring their children to Jesus and the disciples tried to prevent it.  I never, ever, want to be in the place of the disciples who were preventing the children from getting to Jesus.  I also love the way in which Paul attributes words of prophecy, or words of warning or preparation to the church, to the mind.  Jesus came to take our sins away, not our minds.  That is a very Presbyterian statement.  We value highly the intellect, sometimes at the cost of the heart.  But at least it seems that Paul takes our side on this issue.

First let me begin by apologizing for having the wrong date on yesterday’s post.  Not sure what happened, but I corrected it so going forward we should be fine.

I Corinthians 13 is the love chapter.  I’m not sure much else has to be stated, but I will, of course, say much more.  The first three verses contain hypotheticals which lift up some exaggerated charitable acts that would be hollow, if love was not a part of the equation.  We can be well spoken even about God, but if we don’t have love, then that is useless.  We can have the type of faith that can move mountains, but if we don’t have love, then it is for no purpose.  I can be the most generous person on this earth, but if I don’t have love, then that generosity is empty.  These direct contradictions reveal to us the importance that love plays in our lives.  Loves is the gas that drives the engine.  

We know the three different types of love that exist in ancient Greek writings.  There are three types of love: Philae, eros, and agape.  Philae is in the Bible and it is a type of love that brothers and sisters and friends have for each other.  It is more than acquaintance, but it is not the type of love that is the most profound.  Eros is not in the Bible and it is directed normally to the more sexual manifestations of love between people.  The last is agape, and that is the love that is spoken of here in these verses.  Agape is the deepest of love and it is that which we have with God.  When Peter and Jesus are speaking together in John 21:15 the Savior asks Peter: “Do you love me?”  The word that he uses is Agape.  Do you love me as you love God himself?  Peter answers: “Lord, you know that I love you.” The word used in that instance is philae.   Peter responds with a lesser type of love which Jesus requires.  It takes Peter three times to be rehabilitated until he is able to say, I agape you.  

When we use the word love we should never cheapen it.  The love that we have can never be the deepest it possibly can be if we do not know Jesus as Savior.  I mean this not as an exclusion.  Not all who love Jesus have a kind of sacrificial and intensely deep love that we ought to have for Jesus and for each other.  I wish it were the case that once we have a relationship with our Savior then that love comes pouring in.  But the only way one can have that love, is with a relationship with Jesus.  This is a chapter that needs to be read many times over.  The ending gives me pause.

Faith, hope, and love, abide these three, but the greatest of these is love.  Love is greater than faith?  Love is greater than hope?  Paul says this almost as if it is a contest or that one is to the exclusion of the other.  That last statement is categorically false.  Love is not the only attribute we could have.  We really ought to strive for all three.  But we cannot have a true faith or a true hope without the love that comes from above.  This is a strong evangelical statement, but it makes sense to me.