Bible Reading Challenge Blog

Are we talking about money again?  Yes, but not exclusively.  Vs.6 is a classic verse which has been used on stewardship Sundays for millennia.  Paul reminds us that those who sow sparingly, will also reap sparingly.  Again, he is speaking in relationship to those who are giving for the ministry of the early 1st century church.  He speaks in the verse earlier that he wants the giving from the brothers and sisters to be seen as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion.  That’s a pretty harsh word.  How could giving to the church be seen as an extortion?  Oh, I don’t know, if maybe promises are made.  

It is time to speak about the prosperity Gospel which is a fairly pernicious message that many churches espouse.  The teaching goes along this line: the more that you give to the church (it is often said that you are giving to God), then the more you will be given by God.  God’s desire is that all who follow him would be rich.  The only word for this kind of teaching is, frankly, heresy.  God’s ultimate desire for us is not that we be as materially endowed as possible.  There are some pastors who use guilt in order to puff up their lifestyle by saying something along the lines: God wants his primary servant to be comfortable as he is suffering for the Gospel.  Where do you read that?  Paul says quite the opposite.  God’s servants need to be comfortable in suffering and doing without.  

Let’s not forget about vs.7 which states that God loves a cheerful giver.  This cheerfulness in giving can only come about if we understand that what we have is not actually ours to begin with.  Yes, we have worked hard, yes, we have sacrificed, yes, no one has given us anything.  But all that we have could be taken from us.  Let’s not forget about Job.  Or, conversely, we could receive material gifts which we have never expected or deserved.  Giving is a reflection of a recognition that what we have is God’s possession which allows us to use it for His purposes.  

The promise that we do have from God is not that we will be prosperous, but rather, as vs.8 states, that we will always have enough of everything.  We will never be assured of more than what we need, but we will always have enough.  That is a promise that God gives us, not quid pro quo, as in if we give 10% then God will bless us with what we need, but rather a recognition that obedience does lead to eternal promises.  That is something we can rely upon.

So, let’s talk about money.  That’s Paul’s basic premise here in this chapter.  He commends the church in Macedonia for its generous giving.  The churches that were located in Macedonia were in Philippi and Thessaloniki, which were two communities to whom Paul wrote and that make up part of our New Testament.  He says that they were willing to give even more than what their means allows.  Let’s talk a little bit about money and financial giving.

I have consistently preached on the tithe as the way in which we can be obedient to God as we are stewards of that which God has placed in our lives.  I fully recognize that it is a “flat tax” and that 10% is more to someone making $20,000 than to someone making $200,000.  I get that, and still I am convinced and have experienced God’s generosity to allow all of us to make ends meet, if we are faithful to His call of tithing.  I hope that doesn’t sound either hokey or self-serving.  I’ve mentioned several times in my sermons the way God has provided miraculously on the financial front to our family in times in need as well as to the churches where I have served in times of need.  God provides.  Paul commends the churches for allowing themselves to be used as God’s instrument of provision.

I’ll never forget a number of different bankers with whom I worked on my sessions who would say: “God doesn’t provide the money, people do.”  I couldn’t agree more.  I don’t believe it is contradictory to say that God will provide.  In all things in churches without people the church is an empty shell.  God works through people in order to provide.  This is true not only in terms of finances but also in terms of time, material, showing up, being present, usage of gifts and skills.  God uses us in a way that reflects our value just as we should love to be of use to God because of his amazing grace.  So, if you are wondering what is our calling in regards to finances, 10% is our calling regardless of who we are.  It is a matter of recognizing that what we have is actually given by the grace of God.

Now on to a topic where I am not very orthodox.  At my daughter’s graduation this year one of the speakers was adamant that Jesus wants us all to be rich.  To be honest, I was insulted and shocked that at a Mennonite School this would be a value upheld, much less one that was trumpeted at graduation.  Jesus doesn’t want us all to be rich, he wants us all to care more about our neighbor than ourselves.  There was one statement that was made – “Go out there and make as much money as you can, and if you can help people along the way that would be good too.”  Ouch.  Now to the controversial part that I was talking about.  Look at vs.9.  Keep in mind what is the topic at hand.  Paul is not speaking metaphorically about being rich in spirit or being poor in spirit.  He is speaking about material richness.  There is some interplay in this verse between metaphor and literal rendition.

I wrote a paper once in seminary about Jesus who was rich and chose to sell all that he had to give to the poor.  We know that his disciples were not poor.  Peter had slaves and a fleet of boats.  Matthew was a tax collector who could hold feasts and pay back oodles of money to those whom he had cheated.  We know that there was a building boom taking place in that day as the Roman Empire expanded.  There are first century writing which point to the fact that if you were a carpenter of a certain stature, that you did okay.  Granted there was not much of a middle class, you were either poor or rich, but carpenters were at least closer to the middle than they were to the lower.  

Who would you respect more?  A person who never had money telling folks to sell all that they have and give to the poor, or a rich person who had actually sold all that he had and given to the poor?  When Paul mentions that Jesus was rich, I think part of that statement was very literal.  The difference is that in the end Jesus does become materially poor, but by his own choosing.  He did not spend his life as a rich man (foxes have holes and birds have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head).  But unlike the speaker at the graduation, we know for sure that Jesus commands us to prioritize not the making of money, but rather the making of disciples, the making of people who are lovers of God.  If along the way we make some money, that’s okay, that’s a plus, but our focus needs to be on people.  

We are definitely missing something here.  From this chapter it is fairly obvious that there is a letter that was written which chastised the Corinthians, but it is obviously not the first letter to the church in Corinth which we have.  Paul tells the church in vs.8 that he was sorry if his letter caused sorrow within the church, but only to the extent that it caused sorrow, not because he was wrong to write the letter.  In fact, it was good that he wrote the letter, he states, because it lit a fire under them to do something to get themselves out of whatever the situation was.  He alludes to the situation in vs.12 where he states that there was someone who committed a wrong and someone who was wronged.  At least this we know, but nothing more.

Titus is mentioned here in this chapter.  If you want to know more about Titus feel free to read the miniscule letter, only 3 short chapters, where you can read more about this person of faith.  He is said to have brought about great peace to the community of Corinth after delivering a letter that condemned some of the actions of the Corinthian church.  This is what is mentioned in vs.8.  As a result of Titus, II Corinthians is thought to have been written.  So Titus is not an insignificant person.  He is beloved by Paul who brought him to the Jerusalem Assembly in Acts 15 and then argues that while some should be circumcised in order to represent the Gospel, such as Timothy, Titus did not need to succumb to that procedure.  

It is an interesting chapter because it reminds us that there is a lot of history involved in the life of Paul which we don’t know just from reading the Bible.  In fact, much of it may be lost.

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.