2 Corinthians 13:11-14
In
Paul’s closing statement to the churches at Corinth, he instructs them to
rejoice. It may help us to understand the culture of that time before
going forward. These new believers lived in a culture much like our culture Corinth
was a place of wealth. Because of its location between the Mediterranean
Sea and the Aegean Sea, Corinth became an important transit point for trade
between Europe and Asia. Its culture said that the wise men should rule,
for they knew what was best for others, sounds like Washington D.C. in our day.
The sexual license was the norm in fact, the Greeks view of sexual intercourse
was as natural and necessary as eating and drinking, much like the culture of
today. And divorce was as much a problem at the time of Paul as it is
today. The Corinthians had established law, which gave the wife the right
to divorce her husband and marry whomever she chose. And like the church
of today, the Church of Corinth had brought this culture into the new church.
So
why should they rejoice, or better what should they rejoice in, with all the
evil inside and outside of the church? Why do I rejoice in an upside down
world where good is called evil, and the law is different for the very wealthy
and the powerful? Where the media tells me, they know what I want and if
I do not agree I’m a racist, a homophobe, and a religious right-winger.
I
have so much to be rejoicing in, for I have something better than a total
do-over. I was lost, and I mean full of self, full of greed, desiring to
be the leader of the pack, the king of my life, and I was a religious person,
but my religion was to get my needs met at all cost. And God who I
believe in and hope would forgive me when I was old and used up, you know
sometime later. Yes, forgive me, because that is what I hoped He would
do, but not while I was young, later much later. That God had a Barber
named Bob who had cut my hair since I was thirteen, ask me to go to a Bible
study, and I went because I could not understand why my cool Barber would want
to attend a Bible Study. I rejoice in those five men who loved me,
rejoice in the people who placed a Gideon Bible in a hotel room so that I would
read Romans 10:8-10. But most of all I
rejoice in a Father who sent His Son, His only Son to become human and live a
perfect life depending on His Father. I rejoice that in Jesus Christ I
did not get a do over, but I became a new creation in Christ who is living in
me, and I in Him.
I rejoice in
this; that I often blow it, and I mean do not perform well, and my Father loves
me; in fact, He is very fond of me. I rejoice that in the Scriptures I
find how to be more than a conqueror, by acknowledging my weakness and finding
strength in Jesus Christ. In 1
Thessalonians 5:11-22, I rejoice that my Father put these thoughts on how to
live as a follower of His Son in a book we refer to as a Bible. I know of
no other place we are taught to do so, and I’ve found it impossible to do
without letting Jesus do it all for me. “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who
labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to
esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among
yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the
fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one
repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to
everyone. Rejoice always, pray
without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise
prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from
every form of evil.”
From the Back
Porch,
Bob Rice
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