September 10 and 11, 2024 – suggested reading: 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

“But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie. In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.” 2 Cor. 11:21-33

Paul does not really want to boast, but his Corinthian adversaries, the “super-apostles” have forced him to this point. Boasting does not come naturally to him. But seeing the necessity to do so, to show the folly of those who continually practice boasting, Paul engages in boasting by comparing himself and his colleagues with the false apostles.

In the political season we are in, we encounter boasting from the candidates. For some it comes easy. Maybe you have someone in your family for whom boasting comes easy. Not for Paul. But because of the circumstances, Paul now finds himself boasting, and he admits that he does not like it. And when he makes such a comparison, the false apostles come out looking very bad.

Two things I think we need to point out:

First, we must recognize that all of the items Paul lists here are examples of his personal sacrifices and sufferings in the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. No one would list these in their resume or in their press clippings. In fact, these are some of the very things the false apostles might point out as good reason to look down upon the apostles. The things Paul’s adversaries consider shameful and discrediting are the very things for which Paul boasts. Here is where Paul really makes his point. His opponents are into the “good life.” They are self-indulgent, and they offer the same lifestyle to those who would follow them. Paul and his colleagues are selfless, paying a very high price for the privilege of proclaiming Christ.

Second, the afflictions Paul enumerates are those he could rather easily avoid if he had chosen to do so. We have seen that Paul’s sufferings and trials are those he receives for preaching the gospel. If Paul had chosen to just back off and play it safe, he would not have suffered as he did. Paul lives the kind of life and engages in the kind of ministry which he knows will bring him adversity.

We should not seek to bring suffering upon ourselves for the sake of suffering — but we can endure such suffering through the power of the Holy Spirit if we endure for the sake of Christ.

Pastor Dave

September 11, 2024 – suggested reading: 2 Corinthians 13:1-10

“This is the third time I am coming to you. “Any charge must be sustained by the evidence of two or three witnesses.” I warned those who sinned previously and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again, I will not be lenient— since you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful in you. For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed. But we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. This is what we pray for, that you may become perfect. So I write these things while I am away from you, so that when I come, I may not have to be severe in using the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.” 2 Cor. 13:1-10

I will not be lenient— since you desire proof that Christ is speaking in me. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!

Paul says that the church in Corinth was seeking for “proof” that Paul was truly speaking for Christ as an apostle. He says “You desire proof that Christ is speaking in me.” Paul replied that his audience should apply the same test to themselves — before they judge him, they should judge themselves. Before they criticize him for not following Christ properly or not speaking for Christ accurately, they should examine themselves to see if they know and live the truth properly.

Paul issued this challenge having already defended himself against numerous accusations. Paul had patiently explained his teaching and motives against false accusations, so now he turns the tables on the church and asks them to examine their own behaviors and motives. Are they living in such a manner that they are keeping with Christ’s commands? Wouldn’t it be refreshing if people on social media would do such self-reflection before they simply lash out at others? I am not so sure it is within the power of some people to do such self-reflection. Why? Because it is too painful to levy judgment upon ourselves — because that requires such self-examination that would force the person to stop, listen, and discern. And that is scary.

Paul’s test refers to the question of whether a Christian is operating in the faith, in Christ’s will and according to His word. All of us need to do such discernment: are we always operating within G-d’s will and G-d’s calling?

Pastor Dave

September 8, 2024 – 2 Corinthians 10:1-11

“I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards. Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.

Look at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we. Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” Let such people understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present.” 2 Cor. 10:1-11

It would seem that the Corinthians had actually sunk to taunting Paul about his personal appearance — they jeered that he was weak, and they scoffed that he was a lousy speaker. It is possible that they were right. A description of Paul’s personal appearance has come down to us from a very early book called “The Acts of Paul and Thecla”, which dates to about A.D. 200. It is so unflattering of Paul’s appearance describing him as “a man of little stature, thin-haired upon the head, crooked in the legs, of good state of body, with eyebrows meeting, and with nose somewhat hooked, full of grace, for sometimes he appeared like a man and sometimes he had the face of an angel.” So let’s review — Paul was a little, balding, bandy-legged man, with a hooked nose and shaggy eyebrows—no, this is not a very impressive picture, and it may well be that the Corinthians made fun of him, but we know that while the outside appearance may seem slight, frail, or even “ugly”, what is inside is what really matters.

William Wilberforce was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement in the United Kingdom to abolish the slave trade. A native of Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming an independent Member of Parliament. One description of him went like this: He was so small and so frail that it seemed that even a strong wind might knock him down. But once people heard him speak in public and afterwards they said, “I saw what seemed to me a shrimp mount upon the table, but, as I listened, he grew and grew until the shrimp became a whale.”

Paul may have looked like an ugly shrimp, but dare I say he was a whale of an Apostle.

Pastor Dave

September 9, 2024 – suggested reading: 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

“…if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. I may be untrained in speech, but not in knowledge; certainly in every way and in all things we have made this evident to you. Did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I proclaimed God’s good news to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for my needs were supplied by the friends who came from Macedonia. So I refrained and will continue to refrain from burdening you in any way. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boast of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!” 2 Cor 11:4-11

“Super-Apostles” — “The very chiefest Apostles”. The word used by St. Paul for “very chiefest” is one which, in its strangeness, marks the vehemence of his emotion. So he invokes an indignant response and sense that he had been most disparagingly compared with other apostles, as though he were hardly a genuine apostle at all. As such he must state or reckon himself to have done as much as the “extra-super,” or “super-apostolic,” apostles.

Paul is not comparing himself to the twelve Apostles; he merely means that, even if any with whom he was unfavorably compared were “apostles ten times over,” he can claim to be the chiefest of them all. He is not showing some sense of superiority — as if he is pretentious. There is no self-inflation here. Indeed, against whatever evil has been done against him by his detractors, St. Paul, with an utter sense of distaste, is forced to say the simple truth — his life, his teachings, his work is for his apostleship — as an Apostle for Jesus. This is how he believes he should be judged in his life.

Pastor Dave