Tag: 2 corinthians

Generosity and Thanksgiving (2 Corinthians 9:6-15)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (New International Version)

Generosity is at the heart of any good family, neighborhood, workplace, organization, church, and individual. To be generous is to reflect the image of God, who is wildly generous, giving freely and liberally on our behalf.

We often associate being generous with giving a handout or money to someone or some organization in need. It is that, but much more. Generosity doesn’t have to do with the size of our check or the amount of our contribution. 

We can be generous with our time, abilities, words, and with what little or much we have of money, as well. Generosity means to go above expectations – to give with magnanimity, to go out of your way to do good when no one is looking – and experience giving as its own reward.

Jesus, for whom the Apostle Paul learned about the true nature of being generous, embraced generosity as a way of life while he was here on this earth. No one expected Christ to go out of his way to call the least, the lowly, the lost, and the last of society. The people on the margins of respectable culture had no expectations that the Messiah would head their way. But he did. 

Christ the Lord even went so far as to hang out with the despised tax collectors, and freely talk with sexual deviants. The high brows of society couldn’t raise their eyebrows high enough for Jesus. It was just too much for them. Not only was Jesus making them look bad with his generosity as a way of life, but he was also, in their minds, generous to the wrong sort of people.

The follower of Jesus does so by surveying the landscape of human need and giving to people in places where no one expects a handout. 

It’s interesting that Christ lived a simple life with little to no money. He largely depended on the generosity of others. Yes, my friend, generosity is a two-way street. Being generous to others is the easy part for many people; receiving the generosity of other people is often much harder.  Yet, Jesus did both – he gave and received.

Jesus was generous in ways which were consistent with the Father’s will. Christ gave of his time, and of his divine ability to heal and forgive. He was perhaps the most magnanimous person of all-time, due to his generosity of compassion, kindness, love, and humble service to others. 

And the height of Christ’s generosity was in giving his life so that you and I could live a life free from the power of guilt and shame. Such deliverance, through the cross, is offered and given, free of charge. That’s over-the-top generous.

Money is merely a barometer of one’s generosity, that is, of our stance and approach toward money. You don’t need to be rich to be generous. A large and expansive heart always finds ways to have a generosity of spirit wherever it goes.

Jesus warned against using generosity in order to be noticed:

“When you do good deeds, don’t try to show off. If you do, you won’t get a reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to the poor, don’t blow a loud horn. That’s what show-offs do in the meeting places and on the street corners because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward. When you give to the poor, don’t let anyone know about it. Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret, and he will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4, CEV)

A generous heart is a heart of gratitude. Giving thanks is the logical and organic way of expressing generosity.

Consider just a few biblical verses that encourage us toward thanksgiving: 

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise. (Psalm 95:2, GNT) 

Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving.
Come into his courtyards with a song of praise.
Give thanks to him; praise his name. (Psalm 100:4, GW)

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 118:1, NRSV)

In the Gospel of Luke, a story is told of ten men with leprosy who were miraculously healed by Jesus. A Samaritan, the lowliest of the low, was the lone person who came and fell at Christ’s feet with intense gratitude. While the other nine went about their lives free from disease and glad for it, only one guy took the time to thank Jesus. (Luke 17:11-19) 

Indeed, sometimes we must be reminded to give thanks and to show gratitude for the ways in which God has provided for us. Yet, if our hearts are abundantly full of generosity, no reminder is needed; it just comes pouring forth.

Those who have small hearts will only realize small blessings. But those who plant many seeds of generosity and gratitude will see abundant blessings.

May it be so, to the glory of God.

A New Outlook on Life (2 Corinthians 5:17-22)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (New International Version)

Everyone sees things (and people) only in part. We all have our own unique perspective and take on life. And we interpret life from that particular angle.

God has brought us new life, and with it, a new outlook on life, made possible by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul gained a new orientation on his life because he encountered God’s love through Jesus Christ. And his experience of love caused Paul to live for Christ and not for himself. He gained a new perspective.

Conversion to Christ and following Jesus brings a new outlook on life that enables us to live a good and beautiful existence on this earth for the sake of the church and the world.

God brings a new outlook to us in three major ways. The way we look at ourselves, others, and God:

  • No longer do we need to compulsively demean ourselves, nor think of ourselves as better than we really are. Instead, encountering a new life in Christ, we see that we are truly loved by God and worthy of giving and receiving love. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!… This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:1, 16, NIV)
  • No longer do we view others as tools to take advantage of; and neither do we look merely at one’s outward appearance. Instead, experiencing new life helps us to see other people as spiritual persons, important to God and needing divine love, just like us. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:10-12, NIV)
  • No longer do we view Christ as merely a good teacher or a moral man. Instead, our new life gives us the lenses of seeing Jesus as Savior and Lord. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:13-18, NIV)

With new life comes a new perspective that results in a new way of life. I was once walking with my late mother-in-law through an art museum. We came upon a piece of art that didn’t necessarily speak to me; and I really didn’t understand it. But my mother-in-law happened to know the artist who painted the picture. And she told me about the person, why she painted it, and what she was trying to convey with her art. This information completely changed the way I saw the painting.

As we progressively get to know God, it really ought to transform how we view the Lord and look at Holy Scripture. And when we discover God in Christ, we see a caring Lord who went out of the way to become one of us, become the pioneer of our salvation, and bring about redemption and reconciliation through an ignominious death on a cross.

God has deliberately sought us and brought us back into the divine dance through Christ – which is why we celebrate. And the highest form of celebration is imitation, that is, becoming ambassadors representing who Jesus is by being just like him.

We imitate Christ through our relationships. Whenever we act with humility, mourn over the world’s sin, deal with others according to grace and gentleness, seek right relationships and keep everything above board, are pure, merciful, and peacemaking in all our dealings, and love and pray for our enemies – then we are encountering God, imitating Christ, and living a new life from a new vantagepoint.

Because Christians have been reconciled to God through Jesus, it transforms how we see people and our desires in our relationships with them; and it changes our stance and perspective on the God who initiated and brought salvation and reconciliation to us. I want to:

  • Grow in a relationship with God through worship, prayer, and scripture reading
  • Grow in relationships with other Christians in fellowship, service, and love
  • Grow in relationships with my neighbors and everyone I encounter, to be an ambassador for Jesus, as if God were working through me to accomplish the compassionate loving of the world and demonstrating how to live a blessed and peaceful life.

In finding our true spiritual home, we find life. There’s nothing quite like being able to live a peaceful existence because of God’s reconciling work in Christ on our behalf.

Lord God, bring us together as one, reconciled with you and reconciled with each other. You made us in your likeness, and you gave us your Son, Jesus Christ. Enable us to know you and one another in the spirit of grace and love. Amen.

A Spiritual Check-Up (2 Corinthians 13:5-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.

We pray to God that you will not do what is wrong by refusing our correction. I hope we won’t need to demonstrate our authority when we arrive. Do the right thing before we come—even if that makes it look like we have failed to demonstrate our authority. For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth. We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature.

I am writing this to you before I come, hoping that I won’t need to deal severely with you when I do come. For I want to use the authority the Lord has given me to strengthen you, not to tear you down. (New Living Translation)

God is concerned about our spiritual health and vitality. And so, it’s important that we have regular spiritual check-ups and tests to evaluate the vitality of our faith. If we are spiritually sick or debilitated, the Lord seeks to restore us back to health.

In the Gospels, whenever Jesus miraculously healed a person, it was for far more than taking away a disease or correcting a disability. The Lord sought to make them well in order to restore a person’s life by including them in the community. For example:

  • Leprosy put a person on the outside, both literally and relationally. Ceasing to be a leper meant that a person now had no obstacles to full participation in communal life.
  • Blindness reduced a person to being a beggar in order to survive. Having sight restored meant that the person can now work with others, make a living, and contribute to the needs of others.
  • Incarceration was (and still is) a complete removal of a person from society. Being in prison severs many human connections. Release from jail opens the way to reconnection and an opportunity to have a different way of being with others.
  • Poverty encumbers a person and weighs them down so heavily that it limits their ability to function socially and relationally. Without poverty, a person is able to establish healthy patterns of giving and receiving within the community.

Those who are physically whole, mentally sharp, emotionally satisfied, and spiritually redeemed are free of obstacles and impediments to communal life.

So, it is a travesty whenever the people who enjoy full inclusion in the community, turn around and separate themselves, keeping relational distance from certain persons, and do not participate in the common good of all. They makes themselves sick and weaken their faith because of their lifestyle.

The type of spiritual examination of faith the Apostle Paul was talking about was not to obsess over whether one is a true believer, or not. He was referring to the person who claims faith yet maintains separation from others. In other words, to exclude others is the kind of behavior that unbelievers do, not Christians.

Yet, there are many sections of Christianity and entire Protestant denominations who pride themselves on such separation. They believe they’re being holy and keeping themselves from impurity. However, far too many of them are really putting a sanctified spin on their own sinful predilections to avoid people they don’t like.

Paul has no tolerance for calling exclusion of others “holiness” and naming the maintenance of an insider/outsider status as “sanctification.” The Apostle knew this was all poppycock and wanted nothing to do with it.

Christ didn’t die on a cruel cross, take away the obstacles to faith, open the way to know God, and create peace through his blood for a pack of so-called “Christians” to then erect imaginary concrete border walls to keep others out of Christian community and fellowship.

In God’s upside-down kingdom, the privileged insiders are really the outsiders; and the underprivileged outsiders are actually the insiders.

The privileged believers are just as sick as the leper, the blind, the poor, and the prisoner; and just as much in need of restoration. The path to their inclusion is solidarity with the entire community of the redeemed – rather than picking and choosing who is in and who is out.

All this, of course, is another way of stating that Christianity is as beset with cliques as anywhere else – with individual believers, local churches, and particular traditions following their pet theologians and pastors and not associating with others who follow a different set of folks.

The ancient Corinthian church was a train wreck of opposing groups and cliques. The Apostle Paul had had enough of it and called the people to do some serious self-examination. And he was careful not to degrade or discourage them but to try and encourage the church to tap into the Christ which dwells within them.

Spiritual health and restoration, for Paul, meant specific behaviors which intentionally include people. To be inclusive means we actively work toward grafting people into community, as well as discourage behaviors that create division, and thus, spiritual illness. Here are three ways of including others:

  • Practice hospitality. The word hospitality literally means, “love of stranger.” A hospitable believer goes out of their way to invite another into their life, to give them the gift of relationship and fellowship.

Take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home. (Romans 12:13, CEV)

Above all, show sincere love to each other, because love brings about the forgiveness of many sins. Open your homes to each other without complaining. And serve each other according to the gift each person has received, as good managers of God’s diverse gifts. (1 Peter 4:8-10, CEB)

  • Nip bitterness in the bud. In an ideal world, everyone holds hands and sings kumbaya together. We live, however, in a fallen world. Harmony, unity, and peace take copious amounts of energy. Like an attentive gardener, we must do the work of identifying weeds and uprooting them, so they don’t take over the garden.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Hebrews 12:14-15, NIV)

  • Seek to encourage others, and learn how to do it. Encouragement is both a gift and a skill to be developed. To encourage another is to come alongside and help someone with both affirming words and willing hands. It’s what Jesus did (and does) for us.

Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So, encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:10-11, NLT)

Hospitality, harmony, and help are all forms of love. And love is to be the guiding principle and practice of church and community. Love is always the prescription for a healthy spiritual life and a restored community of faith. It prevents truth decay.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Power in Weakness (2 Corinthians 13:1-4)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Exploring Church Ministry Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Way of the Cross, by Jyoti Sahi, 2009

This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you. (New International Version)

One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. (Deuteronomy 19:15, NIV)

The missionary Apostle Paul had already visited Corinth twice. Citing his upcoming third visit in the context of establishing a crime, this was a warning to the Corinthian Christians: When I get there, it won’t be a pleasure cruise. Paul would flex his apostolic muscles toward the church.

The Apostle was accustomed to people opposing his ministry and generally making a stink of things against him. The Corinthians were being rather stubborn and unrepentant. They were unwilling to change their ways nor their attitudes.

In order to discredit Paul, his opponents labeled him as weak and ineffective. They challenged him as to whether Christ was actually animating his words, or not. But Paul was no weakling, nor was he a simpleton. He used their own language against them by pointing out that Jesus was accused of the very same things – Christ was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God.

Christianity is an inherently paradoxical religion. It’s not going to make sense to the ungodly and the unbeliever. The cross – the place of submission, torture, death, and apparent weakness – was actually the supreme demonstration of God’s power. This was proven by the resurrection of Christ from death.

In the same way, although Paul seemed weak, unimposing, always engaged in suffering service, these very things were the ultimate sign that God’s power was at work in his ministry. The Apostle shared in the sufferings of Christ and gloried in the reality that he was weak.

And since Paul also shares in Christ’s resurrection, he therefore shares in the power of Christ. He will use this power, given to him by Christ in the form of apostolic authority, and deal with the recalcitrant Corinthians forthwith.

The Corinthian Church, not knowing who they were really dealing with, had a tiger by the tail. There is a time for gentle and compassionate pastoral care, and then there is the time for using the shepherd’s crook for some tough loving discipline.

If the sin-busting strength of the cross, and the spiritual power of the resurrection, are truly fueling Christian ministry, then it is a fool’s errand to oppose it. Chastisement and a lesson in humility are in store for the haughty opponent working against authentic Christian service.

We really have to get this wrongheaded notion out of our noggins, that power and strength are all about an aggressive exercise of authority. If I see one more church put out an advertisement for a pastor who has “strong leadership” I think I’m going to puke. Because what they typically mean by strength is a command-and-control sort of stereotypical military Sargent type of person.

That’s diametrically opposed to the leadership and authority Jesus exercised, and the kind of values which characterize the kingdom of God. In God’s economy, humility and meekness are the true demonstrations of power. Real power in this world is the power of self-control – and not the control of manipulating others to get and keep power that won’t last.

Little wonder that pastors of churches these days can be some of the worst immoral and unsavory characters around. Congregations hungry for “strong leadership” inevitably hire narcissistic persons. And then when things go sideways, the church wonders what the heck happened.

But the signs were continually there, all along. When the church leaders pray, they’re not addressing God, but publicly telling those listening what they should be doing. In speaking, they tend to preface their comments with “The Bible says…” which is really a clue that they’re about to spout a bunch of opinionated nonsense cloaked in religious garb.

Until we embrace the mystery of the faith, expressed in paradoxical ways, with the weak displaying the real strength and power of the gospel, then we can expect Jesus to show up with a whip and give people what they’ve really wanted all along – and they won’t like it one bit.

Paul, a mentor to many first generation Christian pastors, encouraged them this way:

I solemnly call on you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge those who are living and those who are dead. I do this because Christ Jesus will come to rule the world. Be ready to spread the word whether or not the time is right. Point out errors, warn people, and encourage them. Be very patient when you teach.

A time will come when people will not listen to accurate teachings. Instead, they will follow their own desires and surround themselves with teachers who tell them what they want to hear. People will refuse to listen to the truth and turn to myths.

But you must keep a clear head in everything. Endure suffering. Do the work of a missionary. Devote yourself completely to your work. (2 Timothy 4:1-5, GW)

Weakness, hardship, suffering, and opposition are part of the work of Christian ministry. In this, there is eternal power, which shall never be overcome.

Almighty God, may your grace be sufficient for me, and my power made perfect in weakness. Help me to rely upon and use my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong, through Jesus Christ my Lord, in the enablement of the Holy Spirit. Amen.