Although this chapter contains a pretty stern warning about severe reprimands to come if those sinners don't change their ways, we found the underlying message of Chapter 13 to be one of continual hope. Seriously! Paul restates his authority and reminds the consistently divided Corinthian church that authority comes from how his (and our) lives reflect the Good News and the Word. (I have to confess that I am getting tired of hearing that part.)
So what about the hope? Well, Paul points out again the concept of strength in weakness, and that's when it hit us. In humility and obedience Christ embraced the limitations of his full humanity and resisted the temptation to save himself. His "crucifixion in weakness" released the power of death to be used for God's purposes. And that is the hope - we don't have to be perfect! We can embrace our limitations, use them to draw power from God, use them to remind us that it is not our power/glory/agenda that matters, but God's.
And there is hope for the church as a whole. Paul never gave up on the Corinthians despite their continued bad behavior. He urges them to realize that they can incarnate God for one another and to stop wasting energy on division and dissent. by becoming unified and living in harmony they have great power, as we do. Of course, the opposite is true as well. We have power to do great damage to one another. So, in love and by accepting our limitations and faults as reminders that we NEED god, we can work together to move toward perfection, to make new disciples, to reveal the face of God for one another.
Join us in person next week as we "test drive" a series on the parables of Jesus!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Because I Said So!
If you are a parent you have probably said those words, and as a child I am certain you heard them. What exasperated parent hasn't said that, at least once? It seemed to us that this is exactly what Paul wanted to say to the Corinthians. Paul is very personally invested in the church and loves them more than they know, but despairs that they are falling under the influence of the "Super Apostles." In the same way parents are grieved when their children follow a path that can only lead to heartache and trouble, Paul is grieved for the church at Corinth.
It really tickles my funny bone that he seems to be pretty sarcastic with them in this section. It made Paul seem more human and more like me. He begins by speaking of his own conversion experience in the third person and continues the track of "I don't want to boast but allow me to say..." That was a real sticking point for some of us, this false modesty. But others of us saw this as the natural outcome of his frustration with the Corinthians. He has already visited them twice, they are not paying anything toward his support as some other churches evidently are, he has written the "letter of tears" to jolt them back on course, and yet, here he is, writing them again! Good Grief! How many times do I have to tell you?! And to top it all off they are really paying attention to and beginning to follow his opponents who advocate strict adherence to the law as the way to salvation.
Paul concludes with a discussion of how our own weakness, and our recognition and acknowledgment of that weakness, leads us to find strength in God. As usual Paul's focus is God and Christ, not himself and his own accomplishments. In fact, when he does boast in the earlier passages it is not his accomplishments, travels, souls he has won that he presents but the humbling experiences, the beating and imprisonments. The things that point out his weakness and need for Christ. And the because-I-said-so from God can be found in verse 9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (The Message) I guess I had better start listening...
It really tickles my funny bone that he seems to be pretty sarcastic with them in this section. It made Paul seem more human and more like me. He begins by speaking of his own conversion experience in the third person and continues the track of "I don't want to boast but allow me to say..." That was a real sticking point for some of us, this false modesty. But others of us saw this as the natural outcome of his frustration with the Corinthians. He has already visited them twice, they are not paying anything toward his support as some other churches evidently are, he has written the "letter of tears" to jolt them back on course, and yet, here he is, writing them again! Good Grief! How many times do I have to tell you?! And to top it all off they are really paying attention to and beginning to follow his opponents who advocate strict adherence to the law as the way to salvation.
Paul concludes with a discussion of how our own weakness, and our recognition and acknowledgment of that weakness, leads us to find strength in God. As usual Paul's focus is God and Christ, not himself and his own accomplishments. In fact, when he does boast in the earlier passages it is not his accomplishments, travels, souls he has won that he presents but the humbling experiences, the beating and imprisonments. The things that point out his weakness and need for Christ. And the because-I-said-so from God can be found in verse 9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (The Message) I guess I had better start listening...
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Divine Jealousy
You know, it is amazing to me that we could spend over an hour talking about 15 verses. We are back on track today, reading and talking about 2 Corinthians 11:1-15. It would seem that Paul has finally lost patience with the Corinthian church and his opponents because not only does he continue defending himself, he gets very sarcastic in this section.
Paul adopts the manner and method of his opponents in this section, boasting and explaining that he is boasting. We are sure that in the cultural context within which it was written the reference was clearly understood. He even calls his opponents "super apostles." Then Paul goes on to draw several comparisons - comparing the Corinthian church to a bride, to Eve, the "super apostles" to snakes and the Satan. But the term that really caught us was "divine jealousy." After much discussion we settled on the understanding that human jealousy is selfish, inwardly focused, concerned with self and what I get. Divine jealousy is outward focused, concerned with the other person, being in relationship with them and wanting the best for them. This is what God wants, means when He says in Exodus, "I am a jealous god."
That led to discussion of the current "feel-good" trend in churches and we were able to give voice to our concerns about the messages that sends about God. For those who don't see immediate financial reward the message is that God is exclusionary, punitive, and only with us in the good times. Do you really believe that? Seriously? Bad things do happen to good people, but I don't believe that every instance is because God is punitive, do you? And if Satan can appear as one of God's angels, as Paul contends, then how in the world are we supposed to know the difference?
It seems that we always have more questions than we have answers and that was what we settled on today. From this section we deduced that we need to be actively involved in inviting and welcoming people into relationship with God, learning together how to raise and live with our questions instead of trying to find an answer to each of them, and loving each other with a divine jealousy.
Paul adopts the manner and method of his opponents in this section, boasting and explaining that he is boasting. We are sure that in the cultural context within which it was written the reference was clearly understood. He even calls his opponents "super apostles." Then Paul goes on to draw several comparisons - comparing the Corinthian church to a bride, to Eve, the "super apostles" to snakes and the Satan. But the term that really caught us was "divine jealousy." After much discussion we settled on the understanding that human jealousy is selfish, inwardly focused, concerned with self and what I get. Divine jealousy is outward focused, concerned with the other person, being in relationship with them and wanting the best for them. This is what God wants, means when He says in Exodus, "I am a jealous god."
That led to discussion of the current "feel-good" trend in churches and we were able to give voice to our concerns about the messages that sends about God. For those who don't see immediate financial reward the message is that God is exclusionary, punitive, and only with us in the good times. Do you really believe that? Seriously? Bad things do happen to good people, but I don't believe that every instance is because God is punitive, do you? And if Satan can appear as one of God's angels, as Paul contends, then how in the world are we supposed to know the difference?
It seems that we always have more questions than we have answers and that was what we settled on today. From this section we deduced that we need to be actively involved in inviting and welcoming people into relationship with God, learning together how to raise and live with our questions instead of trying to find an answer to each of them, and loving each other with a divine jealousy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)