Well, this Paul guy is really deep. Just six verses of II Corinthians, 2:5-11, fueled our discussion for over an hour today. Forgiveness. We know we are supposed to give it if we want to get it. Matthew 18 proscribes a method for addressing grievances as well as telling us how many times we are to forgive someone. Forgive and forget. Seventy times seven. Mostly easier said than done.
This section addresses an individual offense, but Paul calls the Corinthians to use this as an opportunity to mature their church. He even tells them that he wrote the letter to test their obedience. We decided that the test was not a pass-fail type test, but rather a gauge of their willingness and faith, a tool for placing them somewhere on the continuum form no faith to total faith. And yet, Paul is also deeply concerned for the welfare of the offender, urging the church to pour on the love since sanctions have already been imposed. Paul's goal is the restoration of the offender to the fellowship, and ultimately improving the health of the church. We are so accustomed to a punitive judicial and social system, bent more on vengeance than justice, that it is difficult to envision what this would look like. Until we put ourselves in the place of the offender...
But how do we forgive someone who doesn't want to be forgiven, who doesn't recognize or admit that they have done harm, who knowingly does something hurtful but is unrepentant? That is just what Paul says we should do. The underlying assumption is that we care enough about one another and care enough about our relationship with each other and with God to name misdeeds and do the hard work - address conflict and offense for the good of the community, for the unity of the church. Forgiveness is a process and while the parties involved start out at different points in the process that is not an excuse for not beginning the journey.
Forgiveness is not simply saying I'm sorry, or I forgive you as my children did when they were little and commanded to apologize even though they didn't feel it. We have to feel it, mean it, understand it. Paul identified himself as one who suffers writing to those who suffer at the beginning of this letter. In the sasme way he points out that because God forgives us we are called to forgive others. Mostly easier said than done...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
God's Yes and Our Yes
Today we read and discussed 1:12-2:4.
It is a little remarkable, how very intense Paul's reaction is. Of course, the closer and deeper the relationship the more intense our reactions. it is clear that Paul felt very deeply and strongly about the church at Corinth, whatever the reason.
In this section Paul is defending his authority, his integrity, and the word of God. yes, the word of God and probably grace as the basis of salvation since his message was pretty radical. A change in Paul's travel plans gave at lease a vocal minority in the church grounds for attacking Paul. We considered and agreed that the messenger does impact the message. If the Corinthians couldn't trust Paul to tell the truth about his travel plans, then how could they trust his teachings and message? Paul says repeatedly that his motives are pure, he is seeking to protect the church at Corinth. He also tells them over and over again that his writing the plain truth, nothing more and nothing less. I wonder if he was addressing this letter to the whole church or the agitators?
Paul is firm and confident in the word and work of God. He has hope in Christ and calls the Corinthians to the same. He tells them he is not waffling, there is no yes-no in his works or words. And yet, we still wondered if in some way Paul wasn't relieved to have an out, a reason to change his plans. Being human we often (or always have mixed and multiple motives for the things we do. When we struggle between knowing what should do and doing what we want t o do, isn't it nice to have something, some reason that allows us to rationalize doing what we want?
I was having a crabby day yesterday and that made me wonder if Paul was having a crabby day when he wrote this letter. Here he is, working his tail off and then his "favorite" church begins to attack him, mistrust him, and take offense because of a perceived slight in the change of travel plans. Paul sees himself as having a single purpose - to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Is he thinking to himself, 'How many times do i have to tell and show you this stuff? Come on, people!"
We closed with the strong feeling that this was about community, about remaining united in the promise of God and hope through Jesus, and we found that message most clearly in Chapter 1 v 20-22 (The Message):
"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge - a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete."
It is a little remarkable, how very intense Paul's reaction is. Of course, the closer and deeper the relationship the more intense our reactions. it is clear that Paul felt very deeply and strongly about the church at Corinth, whatever the reason.
In this section Paul is defending his authority, his integrity, and the word of God. yes, the word of God and probably grace as the basis of salvation since his message was pretty radical. A change in Paul's travel plans gave at lease a vocal minority in the church grounds for attacking Paul. We considered and agreed that the messenger does impact the message. If the Corinthians couldn't trust Paul to tell the truth about his travel plans, then how could they trust his teachings and message? Paul says repeatedly that his motives are pure, he is seeking to protect the church at Corinth. He also tells them over and over again that his writing the plain truth, nothing more and nothing less. I wonder if he was addressing this letter to the whole church or the agitators?
Paul is firm and confident in the word and work of God. He has hope in Christ and calls the Corinthians to the same. He tells them he is not waffling, there is no yes-no in his works or words. And yet, we still wondered if in some way Paul wasn't relieved to have an out, a reason to change his plans. Being human we often (or always have mixed and multiple motives for the things we do. When we struggle between knowing what should do and doing what we want t o do, isn't it nice to have something, some reason that allows us to rationalize doing what we want?
I was having a crabby day yesterday and that made me wonder if Paul was having a crabby day when he wrote this letter. Here he is, working his tail off and then his "favorite" church begins to attack him, mistrust him, and take offense because of a perceived slight in the change of travel plans. Paul sees himself as having a single purpose - to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Is he thinking to himself, 'How many times do i have to tell and show you this stuff? Come on, people!"
We closed with the strong feeling that this was about community, about remaining united in the promise of God and hope through Jesus, and we found that message most clearly in Chapter 1 v 20-22 (The Message):
"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge - a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete."
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Suffering, Endurance, Comfort
We were a small group again today, but the conversation was great! The first 11 verses of 2 Corinthians is all the farther we got! Powerful stuff, and the discussions were so thoughtful. This blog will be very inadequate for conveying the substance, but I will do my best (read: come join us in person!).
Following a traditional and typical opening Paul inserts a greeting that is actually a summing up, sending out, an ending in traditional Jewish liturgy. I have to wonder if that is because he consistently and regularly ties the message of Jesus to Jewish traditions, or if it is a signal of the ending of the Jewish way of belief with the beginning of Christianity? Or are there other reasons?
The theme of this passage is suffering, endurance and comfort. Paul writes to those who are suffering as one who suffers, to encourage them. Remember, the Corinthians were a diverse and pagan people. It is difficult for us to imagine the type of pressure they would feel from their families, culture, Romans... In fact, the Greek word used to refer to the pressure they felt is actually a word that means a physical pressure. But Paul encourages them by pointing out that God knows our suffering, and that when we suffer it is so we can endure and then comfort others who are suffering.
The word used for endure indicates triumph, not simply acceptance. When he talks about endurance, Paul says that he has endured because of Jesus, so that he can comfort others. Isn't that what gives us our strength? Our ability to cope with situations and life comes out of our experiences, and think a little Nietzsche here, because we have endured. We haven't merely accepted, we have triumphed over our suffering.
And that brings us to comfort. The word is used 9 times in these few verses (depending on your translation) and the form that is used literally means "to bring along side." I love that information. It means I don't have to have all the answers, I just need to be there. Whew! But the bigger message is that God is THE comforter. You know, in order to comfort someone you need to have a pretty intimate relationship. God wants that kind of relationship with each of us, but I find that a pretty scary proposition. Me?! You want me to what?!
So what does all this mean today. I am sure we will readily agree that people still suffer, greatly, for whatever reason. I am also sure we have all been in an awkward position with a friend or acquaintance who we know is suffering. It could be they have been through an ugly divorce, have a serious or terminal illness, suffered the loss of their job, lost a loved one... whatever the reason. The question for me this week is how do I relate to them. Do I avoid them? Or the averted eyes, focusing on something else trick works sometimes. How about blaming them for their situation? Paul tells us that our own suffering and triumph over that suffering through the suffering of God in Christ calls us to comfort others. This week I am going to try to reach out to one person who I know is suffering and for whom I have no answer or idea of what to say. I believe that God will give me the words and guidance if only I shut up and listen. I invite you to try this with me and comment on your experience.
Following a traditional and typical opening Paul inserts a greeting that is actually a summing up, sending out, an ending in traditional Jewish liturgy. I have to wonder if that is because he consistently and regularly ties the message of Jesus to Jewish traditions, or if it is a signal of the ending of the Jewish way of belief with the beginning of Christianity? Or are there other reasons?
The theme of this passage is suffering, endurance and comfort. Paul writes to those who are suffering as one who suffers, to encourage them. Remember, the Corinthians were a diverse and pagan people. It is difficult for us to imagine the type of pressure they would feel from their families, culture, Romans... In fact, the Greek word used to refer to the pressure they felt is actually a word that means a physical pressure. But Paul encourages them by pointing out that God knows our suffering, and that when we suffer it is so we can endure and then comfort others who are suffering.
The word used for endure indicates triumph, not simply acceptance. When he talks about endurance, Paul says that he has endured because of Jesus, so that he can comfort others. Isn't that what gives us our strength? Our ability to cope with situations and life comes out of our experiences, and think a little Nietzsche here, because we have endured. We haven't merely accepted, we have triumphed over our suffering.
And that brings us to comfort. The word is used 9 times in these few verses (depending on your translation) and the form that is used literally means "to bring along side." I love that information. It means I don't have to have all the answers, I just need to be there. Whew! But the bigger message is that God is THE comforter. You know, in order to comfort someone you need to have a pretty intimate relationship. God wants that kind of relationship with each of us, but I find that a pretty scary proposition. Me?! You want me to what?!
So what does all this mean today. I am sure we will readily agree that people still suffer, greatly, for whatever reason. I am also sure we have all been in an awkward position with a friend or acquaintance who we know is suffering. It could be they have been through an ugly divorce, have a serious or terminal illness, suffered the loss of their job, lost a loved one... whatever the reason. The question for me this week is how do I relate to them. Do I avoid them? Or the averted eyes, focusing on something else trick works sometimes. How about blaming them for their situation? Paul tells us that our own suffering and triumph over that suffering through the suffering of God in Christ calls us to comfort others. This week I am going to try to reach out to one person who I know is suffering and for whom I have no answer or idea of what to say. I believe that God will give me the words and guidance if only I shut up and listen. I invite you to try this with me and comment on your experience.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Beginnings
Today was our first meeting and the group was a little small, but you know what He said - "...when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there." (Matthew 18:20 The Message) Any way, our new pastor joined us and expressed an interest in leading the group. Many thanks to Bob who has been bringing us the background and questions and scholarly leadership for the last year or so!
Since we were so small we just talked about background and setting for 2 Corinthians. Here are some things I didn't know before today, but maybe you did:
The books of the Bible are not entered in the Bible in chronological order. Paul's letters are generally entered in the Bible with the longest/most important first, and 2 Corinthians is the most emotional of Paul's letters.
It seems that Paul was very personally invested in the church in Corinth and its success, he cares deeply about it, in spite of the fact that Corinth had a reputation, even amongst the fun-loving Greeks, as a promiscuous place. At this time it was a sea port on a busy canal linking the Aegean and Ionian seas and had a very diverse population numbering approximately 250,000 free persons and 400.000 slaves. 650,000 people - that is more than the City of St. Louis!
Paul has been facing challenges to his authority to teach from all sides. A former Jew, he has alienated the Pharisees and other Jews with his conversion. The Christians question his authority because he didn't actually "walk with Jesus" as the Apostles did. He addresses strife within the church because... why? Is it because his success in Corinth would solidify and prove his authority? Is it because he reaches all kinds of people - sailors, sinners, foreigners - all the people Jesus came to reach? And they are the people that the church in Jerusalem doesn't seem to be reaching? This letter is commonly held to have come from Paul's most theologically productive time.Hopefully we will better understand the shaping of Paul's beliefs, discover the answer to these questions and generate many more in the coming weeks. Won't you join us?
Since we were so small we just talked about background and setting for 2 Corinthians. Here are some things I didn't know before today, but maybe you did:
The books of the Bible are not entered in the Bible in chronological order. Paul's letters are generally entered in the Bible with the longest/most important first, and 2 Corinthians is the most emotional of Paul's letters.
It seems that Paul was very personally invested in the church in Corinth and its success, he cares deeply about it, in spite of the fact that Corinth had a reputation, even amongst the fun-loving Greeks, as a promiscuous place. At this time it was a sea port on a busy canal linking the Aegean and Ionian seas and had a very diverse population numbering approximately 250,000 free persons and 400.000 slaves. 650,000 people - that is more than the City of St. Louis!
Paul has been facing challenges to his authority to teach from all sides. A former Jew, he has alienated the Pharisees and other Jews with his conversion. The Christians question his authority because he didn't actually "walk with Jesus" as the Apostles did. He addresses strife within the church because... why? Is it because his success in Corinth would solidify and prove his authority? Is it because he reaches all kinds of people - sailors, sinners, foreigners - all the people Jesus came to reach? And they are the people that the church in Jerusalem doesn't seem to be reaching? This letter is commonly held to have come from Paul's most theologically productive time.Hopefully we will better understand the shaping of Paul's beliefs, discover the answer to these questions and generate many more in the coming weeks. Won't you join us?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
A New Season
We will resume meeting tomorrow morning, September 9 at Salem in Ballwin UMC and the plan is to start with 2 Corinthians. A new season, a new book for us as we couldn't find it on our list no matter how many times we read it over.
This is also the start of a new season for our dear friend's parents. It is so difficult to watch the transition from strength, independence and that total-power-I-can-do-anything mystique that our parents have when we are young to the frail, fragile and often ill person who some days is just unrecognizable - except to our hearts. Please pray for Mickey, Ann and their family on their journey.
And now, a new season for a friend. I just found out that my friend's sister - also an acquaintance of mine - will likely be starting a new season with God tonight. She survived an operation for cancer, the subsequent chemotherapy, and appeared to be on the mend. Complications after a recent surgery may have changed her prognosis for this life, but I am taking (OK, trying to take) comfort in the belief that she will soon be starting on the next leg of her journey. In some ways I envy her as I imagine she will get to know why she was here, see clearly what she did and how she changed this life for others. (Think "The Five People You Meet in Heaven") If you are so moved, add Chris and her family to your prayers as they make this difficult transition.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (The Message)
There's a Right Time for Everything
1 There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on earth:
2-8 A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
The tricky part is in knowing what time it is. Dear Lord, point out to me - in no uncertain terms - the season and what I need to do. Amen.
This is also the start of a new season for our dear friend's parents. It is so difficult to watch the transition from strength, independence and that total-power-I-can-do-anything mystique that our parents have when we are young to the frail, fragile and often ill person who some days is just unrecognizable - except to our hearts. Please pray for Mickey, Ann and their family on their journey.
And now, a new season for a friend. I just found out that my friend's sister - also an acquaintance of mine - will likely be starting a new season with God tonight. She survived an operation for cancer, the subsequent chemotherapy, and appeared to be on the mend. Complications after a recent surgery may have changed her prognosis for this life, but I am taking (OK, trying to take) comfort in the belief that she will soon be starting on the next leg of her journey. In some ways I envy her as I imagine she will get to know why she was here, see clearly what she did and how she changed this life for others. (Think "The Five People You Meet in Heaven") If you are so moved, add Chris and her family to your prayers as they make this difficult transition.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (The Message)
There's a Right Time for Everything
1 There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on earth:
2-8 A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
The tricky part is in knowing what time it is. Dear Lord, point out to me - in no uncertain terms - the season and what I need to do. Amen.
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