2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 5:6-9

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him.

2^nd Corinthians 4:16-18, 5:6-9

In 2^nd Corinthians 4:7-10, Paul laid out the reason that we continue to live our lives as fragile, fickle, and frail individuals: it is to show that the power demonstrated in our lives belongs to the Lord and the Lord alone. Clearly it does not reside in us. Our sin demonstrates that our righteousness is not born of us. The flimsy nature of our physical bodies shows that it is not some personal might that gives us confidence. Our doubts and struggles illustrates that it is not some reservoir of inner resolve that compels us. It is only the Lord, through His grace and by His Spirit that we persevere.

Because of this Paul can speak with assurance about our current state. He confidently asserts in v16: “So we do not lose heart.” As before, Paul demonstrates the effect of his faith in his own circumstances (persecution) to encourage his audience to do the same. In this section, he addresses three major points:

With the Christian Life comes affliction

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

Paul does not deny that through persecution, and indeed life itself, the outer self is wasting away. What is our outer self? It is our bodies, our physical manifestation on this earth. Taken a bit more metaphorically, our outer self can be the affairs of this world, our finances, our prestige, or our families. Whether through direct service of Christ or simply through the frailty of our form, we are wearing down, wearing away. Paul doesn’t whitewash the hardship this life of serving Christ will bear us. He doesn’t conform to the notion that opposition is tantamount to failure. Jesus, in fact, says the contrary: “In the world you will have tribulation.” And later: “I have given them the word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world.”

Jesus certainly isn’t indicating opposition as failure, He actually borders on asserting the contrary. We need to give up the notion that opposition whether spiritual, physical, or mental will somehow fade away if we only followed God more, only loved God more. On the contrary, we should expect these things.

Affliction Prepares Glory

Paul tells us what our heart should be like in the midst of affliction though: “our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comprehension.

First he asserts that in spite of the degradation of their physical lives, their inner lives are being renewed. This is the work of the Spirit in us. It renews. It brings us strength when we have none of our own to offer. The trick for us is to live in expectancy of that strength. Too often, when the affairs of the world turn against me, when ministry seems dead, when justice is absent, I become morose and live my life as a put-upon bitter soul. This should not be. When we are at our weakest, our most beaten-down, we must ask for and expect the renewing strength of the Spirit.

Secondly, Paul confirms that our affliction is A) light and B) momentary. It is only when we view affliction and indeed this life within the proper timeline of eternity that we can find solace in its brevity. For many of us though this is too much. We simply cannot see beyond the day; simply cannot see beyond the oppression; beyond the pain. In no way does this minimize the fact that the pain is real or that the injustice is real but it does view these things within their proper context--- eternal life. For many of us, this means we have to take a real hard look at our belief system. Is eternity something that we doctrinally assent to or is it a reality that is ingrained in our very being? If we do not believe (in the deepest possible way) in eternity, the trials and oppression of life in this world will always loom large. And why not? If this life is all there is, and pain and suffering such a big element of it, what reason is there to claim any hope or victory? We must constantly preach to our hearts that this is not so; that the only proper way to view suffering is to see it as a mere pin-prick in the expanse of eternal life.

Thirdly, Paul says not only is affliction momentary and light, but it also is preparing for us a reward further down the line. While he does not elaborate on it here, we can, by inference, imagine this as one of the great mysteries of heaven. Compared to what is coming, our troubles, intense as they may be, are nothing compared to the glory of the Lord that we will experience.

We walk by faith, not by sight

With this consolation, Paul moves on to describe a lifestyle in which suffering, and indeed all aspects of this life, are viewed in their proper context: “as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” And later: “we walk by faith, not by sight.”

This is where the rubber meets the road for us. Here Paul describes a way of viewing the world in which we are not overcome with worry or undue preoccupation with the physical, material realm (i.e. materialism) but rather “see” through our faith. The concerns of this world are not unimportant (or irrelevant) but trifling in comparison to the rest of our eternal life. Our reactions (here is the hard part) should remain grounded in light of eternity and not based on the immediate nature of the trouble or threat surrounding us. Opposition should not perplex us. Worry should not cripple us. Financial woes should not upset us. Sickness and death should not morbidly oppress us. We can all testify to our weakness in this regard.

So how do we see life in this way?

1.       Surround yourself with God’s word. We cannot believe what we do not know. If we want to be influenced by what God has to tell us then we must integrate it as fully into our lives as we able. Read it. Study it. Memorize it (ick). Meditate on it.

2.       Confess, confess, confess our weakness and frailty to the Lord. He knows what we are. He knows how fragile and fickle our bodies and minds are. Only by confessing our failures can we expect to experience different results.

3.       Expect affliction, react slowly. I don’t know about anyone else, but my first reaction to anything is usually bad. I let slip my words far too easily. I stress far too quickly. We must go into life expecting affliction but also expecting the resolve to overcome it (the renewal of v16). We must also delay reacting. Give yourself time to view the trouble within its proper context.

4.       Surround yourself with fellow foresighted believers. This is good advice for nearly anything within the Christian faith but is most pointedly so here. Too many believers live with a victim mentality. We expect the temptation, the persecution, the affliction, but live as practical materialists with no real belief in the eternal life and therefore give ourselves over to wallowing in our trouble and complaining about our problems. Neither of these should have any place within the Christian faith. We must be discerning with those we surround ourselves with (in this I mean with those whom we allow into the deepest parts of our lives, not just physical proximity) because we can quickly get pulled into a spirit of despair.

Nobody likes affliction. No one likes to be sick or have their plans foiled. We all long for heaven. We long to live in the presence of the Lord where there are no tears. While we are here however we are faced with the inevitability of troubles. We should however, take Paul’s final piece of advice in this section to heart, that in whether we are taken away to heaven or left to continue the work on this earth we should “make it our aim to please Him.”

Thoughts on Elections - A Short Conversation

Two men sit in a sparsely furnished apartment. A black futon serves as the central seating location. A laptop is perched atop a stack of books on a coffee table. The remains of dinner sit in unwashed dishes on the kitchen table.

“Anything yet?”

“CNN says they’re not ready to call Ohio.”

“Yeah, nobody wants to make a mistake like in 2000. Nobody wants to jump the gun.”

“I feel like I want to turn it off but I just can’t. It’s like some kind of televised train wreck.”

The indistinct drone of the live-stream washed over the room, lurking beneath the surface like some predator scouting its prey.

“I know I’ve said this in the past, but I really don’t feel comfortable voting for either candidate. I know I said that in ‘12 but I feel like its truer now.” The younger of the two men leaned forward and furrowed his brow.

“There’s never going to be one complete candidate.”

“I know.”

“Unless Jesus returns.”

“That’s an option right? The scary thing about this year is that everyone seems afraid.”

“I understand that. We’re living in post-9/11 America.”

“I know but it seems like we’re not afraid of the right things.”

“How so?”

“I mean I understand that there are legitimate reasons to be concerned over terrorism. Everyone has the desire for self-preservation. I get that. But it seems like it’s morphed into something different. Self-preservation is supposed to be one aspect of the way we view the world, not the only one. Right now I feel like it trumps everything else; it trumps mercy and forgiveness and understanding.”

The ticker on the bottom of the screen announces that 46% of reporting districts in Arkansas are voting Democrat. A grey-haired man appears on-screen analyzing the geographic, economic, and racial make-up of the state for an audience that for 99.9% of their lives might not know another thing about the state, or even that it existed.

“Who would ever think we’d care so much about Arkansas? That anyone would care so much about Arkansas?”

“Who would have thought we’d ever care so much about Florida? Or hanging chads?”

“Politics and elections in general seem so self-sustaining. It’s almost like the act of electing someone is divorced from the process of actually governing. That’s why it scares me when congressmen and senators spend so much of their time campaigning. I mean, what would happen if I spent even 10% of my time at work looking for a new job?”

“You’d probably get promoted, right?”

“It’s scary.”

“Yeah.”

“What I was saying is that I feel like we’re so afraid of what might happen to us, to our families, to ‘our’ people. What does that say about us? What kind of people are we if we only care about ourselves? Shouldn’t there be some consideration of others? Even if it doesn’t positively affect us personally? Take the immigration issue: people are so afraid of immigrants or refugees or whatever person you’re talking about. They’re afraid that they’ll take jobs, afraid that they’ll create crime, afraid that they’ll erode the moral fiber of America (whatever that is). Where is humanity in that? I mean if you were walking down the street and saw a refugee standing there homeless and hungry, what would you do?  Would we be able to speak in the same strong words that we do on Twitter or Facebook? “

“There’s no accountability for our words.”

“Yeah. And that’s super dangerous too. All of us do it, but with candidates it’s so much worse. You can just talk and talk and talk and it doesn’t ever have to go anywhere. I mean you don’t have to do anything. You can just say outrageous things or make obscene demands and there’s no accountability. I mean we all do it though. That’s basically what social media is. ‘Don’t judge me by how I live my life; judge me by what creedal statement I can fit in 140 characters’. “

“Is the medium the problem?”

“Partly, I think. I mean the medium does dictate what can be communicated in a way, but we’re also responsible for the content. I can’t solely blame the news cycle for the opinions of a candidate, but we’ve created this sound bite and headline culture. I think it’s a byproduct of the internet. We’ve got so much access to information, news or otherwise, that we don’t know what to do with it all, we don’t know how to filter it or analyze it. So we get overwhelmed and reduce it down into headlines and screen crawls. Yeah, we could look up someone’s voting record, but that’s so much work. We’d rather just see someone summarize if for us.”

“We’re abdicating our power.”

“Exactly.”

“Tea?”

“What?”

“Tea. Do you want tea?”

“Oh. Sure. Earl Grey?”

“Classic.”

“I try.”

The younger of the two (it is, in fact, his first election as a registered voter) rises and sets a grimy kettle on the stove. The stopper has broken and the steam pours out as the electric stove creates strange music as it contacts the bottom of the silver kettle. He brings over a bag of chips and pulls it open. Neither one of the men takes from the bag and it sits untouched.

“The scary thing about people being afraid is that people do dumb stuff when they’re afraid. Like cornered animals. One time when I was a kid we went to Sea World. We were sitting on a, I don’t know what do you call it? An Embankment with a tree and woodchips and such. There was this shrew. I don’t know why I even knew what it was called. Maybe my parents told me. Anyway, it was backed up against the tree. It couldn’t get back to its hole or something. It was making the most angry and un-shrewlike noises I had ever heard. That’s what we’re like when we’re afraid. And these candidates seem to be focusing in on making us afraid. Afraid our rights are being taken away. Afraid that some ‘other’ people are coming for us. Afraid that the other side are Nazis or something. It’s always Nazis, by the way. Afraid that the other side are racists.”

“But scared people are scary.”

“Right. Or maybe being afraid just shows how selfish we are, how little it will take for us to revert to some sort of self-focused narcissism.”

“Isn’t that exactly what we are though? We live and die by our own experiences. Politicians are just capitalizing on what we truly are down deep. We claim to be enlightened and to care about others but at the core of it all we’re just selfish children. We’re broken.”

“Yeah. “

A silence fell and their eyes both drifted toward the screen displaying colorfully outlined states in red and blue and (rarely) a purple. It’s amazing how they eyes are naturally drawn to an illumated screen, the older man briefly thought, isn’t that scary. Still they stared on. The younger reached into the hitherto unmolested bag bringing forth a handful of greasy and mostly broken chips. As he crunched merrily, crumbs fell onto his sweatshirt. So many tiny morsels.

“It feels like the worse than it’s been,” the younger man finally spoke. “but I imagine everyone feels like that.”

“”I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.” “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in the world, Frodo, besides the will of evil.””

“Really? How long did it take you to memorize that?”

“My mind is a vast resource of useless information. Bow in awed wonder.”

“I’m not sure that counts as useless info. Tolkien had something there.”

“Was that Tolkien or Peter Jackson? At this point I can’t really remember.”

“I have to hope that there is some other force in the world. Something bigger than mere chance or simply the will of the people. The will of the people can be wrong. My own will can be wrong. It is wrong--- a lot of the time.”

There was a pause. The younger man spoke again.

“I imagine that every voter throughout history thought that their election was the worst. I mean maybe the colonists were stoked at getting George Washington to be President. They wanted to make him King right? But even then there were factions and disagreements. Every generation thinks it’s the worst. I know that should make me feel better but it doesn’t. It just makes me feel like we’re constantly making the same mistakes. Constantly giving in to the same fears, the same pride, the same self-centeredness.”

“There is nothing new under the sun.”

“Solomon must have been pretty depressed.”

“Something like that.”

“So what’s the difference between me and some guy in 1967 thinking that Nixon was the only way to redeem the country from utter ruin and despair?

“Netflix?”

“I mean I’d like to think that I --- that we, are not so blindly loyal in the face of reason; that we evaluate and vet our leaders but look what’s going on now? We’re not, we’re just repeating the same mistakes like some democratic Groundhog’s Day."

“You sound vexed.”

“Yeah. I’m vexed.”

“If it helps, and I’m just talking here, I think you’re right. I don’t think that there is one and only one political messiah that’s going to save us. And yes, I do think that we’re never going to find one candidate who perfectly aligns with our personal beliefs, especially if we’re following Jesus. Ultimately we must be true to our convictions, our worldview. That might never align with a candidate. At the same time, voting is a blessing.”

“It certainly doesn’t feel like it.”

“Still, it’s a blessing to even be given the choice. Now that choice might not be the best. But I don’t think that that we are morally condemned if we vote for someone who might disagree with our convictions on some issues, even major issues. I don’t mean to sound wishy-washy, but we’re not choosing between black and white here. We’re choosing between lighter grey and darker grey.”

“That leaves me incredibly unsettled.”

“I know. But these are the choices we have been given. And I think while we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves in this regard, we also need to not be so hard on people who we see as making horrific, even morally compromised decisions. They’ve got the same options we do. There are certainly positions I share with the candidate I didn’t vote for.”

“Also, unsettling.”

“I think too that we all need to realize that we are all broken and all selfish and all prideful. That’s the root behind all of this. Pride cloaks itself behind blind loyalty and fear. Unless we can admit that we’re all flawed and incomplete, we’re going to be apt to fall in line with whichever politician tells us the things we want to hear.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a pop-up ad of a stressed housewife touting the cleaning effectiveness of some brand of detergent. The ad seemed to ratchet up the volume ten-fold and the thoughts of both men were lost in the fray. When the stream returned, the well-dressed moderator was talking to the governor of South Carolina. It was 9:53pm. The younger man drained the contents of his mug and set it down on the coffee table. He threw himself back against the cushions.

“Honestly, I don’t even understand how you can govern at all, actually,” the younger man broke in. “I mean: do you represent the collective will of the people or do they simply appoint you as their representative and your opinions are your own? And if that’s the case, how does somebody go about affecting change without seeking to legislate obedience out of others? That doesn’t seem to be part of the American democratic ideal.”

“I guess it depends”

“On what?”

“On the individual, it always comes down the individual. Does Joe Senator sincerely have the good will of his constituents in mind or is he simply intent on representing himself. If it’s the latter, then he or she will say whatever it takes to get elected.”

“That still makes me feel not super confident.”

“I’m not sure we can ever have confidence in another human being. Elected officials are just us. Just as we have often sordid motivations, so do they. The truly well-intentioned official can only act as best he knows how; legislate as he knows how, with an eye toward the good of his constituents. They do elect the man or woman, but the man or woman then speaks and acts for them. “

“Quite idealistic don’t you think?”

“I guess so. But what else is there to rest upon? That’s why it ultimately comes down to whether you believe that there is something bigger than this world, bigger than chance, bigger than simply humans behaving as humans for good or ill. Otherwise, you end up much more apt to fix your horse to the politician or party who can bring you personally the most good. Political hedonism.”

“You’re saying that it comes down to whether you believe that there more than just this world.”

“Absolutely. If not --- if not then we’d better only look out for number one.”

“That makes me draw some conclusions on where these candidates have laid down their stakes.”

“Indeed. If this world is all there is, then this,” the older man waved his hand at the screen, “is the best you’re going to get.”

“I know myself. I don’t even trust myself to run my own life, let alone a country.”

“Probably best.”

“Thanks. Appreciated.”

“Always.”

They fell back into silence, opting to let the broadcast fill the void in conversation. The race was incredibly close, as if the country wallowed in as much ambivalence as they. Certified analysts were brought in as the hours wore on. These experts painted in conjecture and speculation as if their lives depended upon it. Perhaps each was hoping that by prognosticating enough something would be accurate. Maybe stuff like that looks good on a resume, the older man thought. They looked like hometown weathermen dressed up in their parents’ fancy clothes. Their eyes were pools of desperation.

“So, who did you vote for?” the young man asked.

“Don’t worry buddy, I wrote you in.”

2 Corinthians 3:7-8, 16-18

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?

2 Corinthians 3:7-8

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

In the Old Testament, God defined the Hebrew people as His own by separating them from the other nations. He did this by giving them (through Moses) the Law. This law served to highlight the peoples’ inability to absolutely adhere to it. Its intent was to showcase their need for atonement. Yet the Israelites instead first turned to idols and later molded the Law into an idol itself by following it as the means to their salvation even while ignoring their blatant inability to fulfill it. In this way, the Law only served to keep the people of Israel from the Lord and His glory rather than draw them to the reality of their depravity and need for atoning mercy. This idolization of the Law was most prominently visualized by the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. This physical cloth separated the Lord’s glory from His people. This curtain, dramatically, was torn in two at the death of Christ, who through His death and resurrection removed the barrier between man and his Creator.

Today, through the work of Christ, there is now no separation between the Lord and man. The veil has been torn away (literally and figuratively). The glory of the Lord can now be experienced in the lives of all His people. This is why Paul can state that: “and we all, with unveiled face, behold[ing] the glory of the Lord.”

Now all of this is very well and good from a historical and theological perspective, but what does it mean for us practically? What bearing does it have upon our lives? I can see three:

1.       Through Christ’s sacrifice there is no barrier between us and the Lord. We can approach the throne of God confidently because of Christ’s atoning work. We need no intermediary to approach the Lord. There is only one mediator between God and man --- Jesus. We don’t need any ‘greater’ or more holy spiritual leader to speak to God on our behalf. Our prayers are heard by God unimpeded.

2.       We can experience and reflect the glory of God. We do not live lives devoid of the Lord’s presence. His Spirit works in us and through us. Not only are our lives changed, but we also, like Moses, reflect the glory of God to others. The glory of God does not only dramatically reorient our own lives, (see point #3) but also changes the lives of others.

3.       “and we … are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to another.” Our exposure to God’s glory, made possible by Christ, cannot help but to change us. The Spirit He has given us begins the process of transforming us into the image of Jesus. We cannot be mere spectators in the Christian life. We cannot simply agree with some theological creed and return unchanged. It. Is. Not. Possible. If we have been exposed to God’s glory; if we have repented and experienced forgiveness, our very natures have been changed and are being changed. It is inevitable. We need to examine ourselves honestly and ask: Have we truly repented? Have we truly experienced forgiveness? And if we have experienced this new birth, is there corresponding change? Does our life bear the evidence of that transformation? Are our motives changed? Perhaps most dramatically and poignantly: Do our lives look more like Jesus’ than they did a year ago? Five years ago? Ten years ago?

Let us praise the God that He has given us access to His glory through Christ. Let us come before our Lord boldly. Let us reflect His glory to others. Let us look for and pray for that His transformation in our lives.

2 Corinthians 3:2-6

You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

2         Corinthians 3:2-6

Much of the first third of Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth is made as a refutation of those who doubted his apostleship and sought to deny and twist his teachings. Due to this, he repeatedly defends his gospel (which is the true gospel) and his own calling as an apostle. After two chapters defending himself Paul cuts to the quick of his ministry. He outlines the basis for his (and our) calling. “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us,” he maintains. Nothing, Paul says, not one single element of the success in ministry that he and his companions have seen has been of their own doing. Paul, as eloquent and confident as he was, brought nothing to the table that ‘aided’ the gospel of Christ. Likewise, we too bring nothing to the table. No skill or talent, gift or knowledge we possess brings anything to the message of Christ. In fact, these traits (which we see as pedigree) actually are garbage (refuse, Paul politely calls it) compared to the greatness of knowing Christ.

Paul continues: “but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant.” It is God who gives validity to the ministry of Paul. In spite of the theological and ecclesiastical background he had, it was God himself, and not his resume, that qualified him for service. Paul states this to defuse the arguments of his opposition who likely sought to erode the legitimacy of his calling. In understanding this, we can experience the same joy in our lives. Whatever it is that we bring to the table with us, be it knowledge, experience, and victory or be it shame, foolishness, and inexperience – all of it is made nothing before a holy and righteous God. The validity of Paul’s calling shares the same resplendent cause as our own salvation --- that in and of ourselves we are dead, our works are dead, and our knowledge is dead. Only through Christ are we made alive. Only through Christ do our talents have meaning and purpose: glorifying and proclaiming the risen Christ. Our sufficiency is the same as Paul’s--- a sufficiency only found in Christ.

This is why Paul could write to the Corinthians with such confidence. He knew who it was that had called him. This is why we can and should live and minister in confidence ourselves. We too know who it is that calls us. There is no place for pride or boasting in the gifts and talents for they come only through the grace of Christ. Whatever it is we see as an avenue for success, be it an effervescent personality, skill in writing or preaching, a sympathetic spirit, all of it comes from God and is to be offered back up to God. Our joy should be found in that Christ has made us worthy. Whether we feel it on a day-to-day basis or not, the truth remains. Even when we feel the weakest, the lowest, and the most worthless we can know that we have been called by Christ and commissioned to the greatest cause.

Most days though, we remain woefully ignorant of our calling, choosing the easy path of progressing through the daily rigors of life choosing (willfully or not) comfortability over God’s desire for us. It is easy to do, as the demands of the day require our attention. Our fault lies in when we see these realities as the only reality, that our purpose is only as deep as satisfying the basic needs for life. In truth, our calling goes beyond and through all of the mundane, necessary daily affairs. Yes, we need a job, but what is that job but an avenue for the gospel to intersect with our co-workers? Yes, we need to train and instruct (and have fun with) our children, but we do these with an eye toward imparting the knowledge and respect of the Lord to them. Our calling is such that we operate with two eyes. One eye remains focused on the necessary affairs of life. The other trains itself on the mission of the Christ. These two are not divorced, but integrated. It is far too easy to lose focus on the eternal and get trapped in the temporal.  However, we should not neglect but rejoice in the calling we have been given by God. We need to live in the confidence we have in Christ as Paul did and search earnestly for the leading of the Lord. We must keep our eyes trained on the mission field of our lives and minister creatively out of the confidence that we have a mighty Lord who has not only redeemed us from sin but commissioned us as ambassadors for His kingdom. A God who did all this surely can be trusted to provide the victory.

Let us remain fixed on our calling, serving our Lord with humility (for we know that our sufficiency comes only through Christ), and confidently searching for and following His leading.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

These verses are often used as a reassurance for Christians when they come to feel beleaguered by the world. To be sure, Paul took great consolation in the understanding that the ministry of Christ brings both salvation and joy to the believer but frustration and consternation to the non-believer. Yet this verse is often taught as if the fragrance of Christ were some literal perfume. We just spritz on a little Jesus and it produces positive and negative effects on those who catch a whiff. If we have a bad day, we chalk it up to some ethereal sense of Christ that prompted negative responses from others.

However, the promise of this verse is not in some passive, intangible scent of Christ. To be sure, our obedience to Jesus does bear fruit in our behavior to even the casual observer without even our awareness but Paul made these comments directly in relation to his speaking about Christ. The fragrance he mentions is the message of the risen Christ. We can see this by looking at verse 14 where he refers to the fragrance as “the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere”. It is very much the reactions to the gospel to which he is referring.

That said, we should carefully examine ourselves and the responses our life elicits. Does our life bear witness to what we say we believe? Do our words bear out, even proportionally, the truth that is in our hearts? Do we propagate the fragrance (as Paul puts it) of Christ through our words and actions? Is our conversation seasoned with talk about our Savior? Or are our love ballads to Christ empty words that have no bearing upon our non-worship service lives?

Paul spoke of the Lord going before them and working through them as they traveled and spoke about the risen Christ. Is the same true of us? Is Christ working through us to produce fruit? Of course not everyone is an evangelist or preacher like Paul. This concept doesn’t even need be confined to actually sharing our faith (as we have come to call it). It can simply be that our lives so radically revolve around Christ that he naturally permeates our conversations with our friends, our family, our church, and yes, our non-believing acquaintances.

God works through us in ways intangible and mysterious but we must also commit ourselves fully to serving Him with our whole being in every arena of our lives. The results then are out of our hands. To some the person of Christ will be freedom, relief, and redemption. To others, foolishness, intolerance, and frustration. Our service is based upon our calling not upon the results. Let us abandon ourselves that we may truly be the fragrance of Christ to the world.

Forever Be (Higher Than The Angels)

Over all the ages

You reign

Never ceasing, never ceding

You reign

Unencumbered by creation

You rule over every nation

You reign

Over all the earth

You reign

No force too great, no mite escapes your gaze

You reign

No sin may frustrate

No plan obfuscate

You reign

Ever reaching, you are,

You were, you will forever be

Holy,

Holy

So much higher than the angels

So much higher than the angels

Holy

Holy

Omnipotent and mighty

Your reign will forever be

Over all our lives

You reign

In our hearts, in our minds

You reign

Undeterred by our weakness

Your sovereignty is boundless

You reign

In all the heavens

You reign

No power of hell, no profane throne

You reign

Though darkness stand against us

And wickedness oppose us

You reign

Ever reaching, you are,

You were, you will forever be

Holy

Holy

So much higher than the angels

So much higher than the angels

Holy

Holy

Omnipotent and mighty

Your reign will forever be

No power can stand against you

No force can overwhelm you

Ever reaching, you are,

You were, you will forever be

Holy

Holy

So much higher than the angels

So much higher than the angels

Holy

Holy

Omnipotent and mighty

Your reign will forever be

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Paul begins his second (recorded) letter to the church in Corinth in a very different tone than he did in his first. Whereas his first letter was written in gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) rebuke, his second letter begins by reminding them that God is:

The Father of all mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction (v3)

He goes on to address both his (and his companions’) own suffering and the suffering that all Christians experience.

Given how much Paul talks about his own suffering he was obviously going through a difficult time. Through his suffering he makes several observations on suffering:

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many. (v8-11)

1.       Despite their circumstances, Paul and his companions trusted that God would deliver them. I find no greater source of comfort than verse 10 where Paul states (after outlining the insufficiency of their own bodies) that: “And He will yet deliver us.” There are many circumstances in our lives which try and test us beyond our capabilities. Whether it is sufferings, sicknesses, or temptations, there are many situations in which we do not yet see the light of victory. In fact, many times we don’t even see the slightest flicker of hope. Paul knew of these, he says that he could not even trust he “despaired even of life” yet Paul could also confidently proclaim that God would yet deliver them. If He wanted to, God could just raise them from the dead, should they die. That kind of trust is born not out of circumstance but rather out of knowledge of and a relationship with our heavenly Father. Even when we see no reasonable cause for joy; no logical reason for confidence, still even then we can rest in our knowledge of the loving and faithful character of our Father.

2.       Secondly, we can see that prayer matters. After outlining his struggles and expressing his unyielding hope in God, he encourages the Corinthian Christians: “you also joining in helping us through your prayers.” Not only does this verse remind us that prayer does in some mysterious and unfathomable way, work in affecting change, it also teaches that complete confidence in God does not preclude us from seeking the means for rescue. Paul in essence says: I know that God will deliver us, pray that God would deliver us. There is no contradiction here. If anything, this reminds us of the means that God often uses to accomplish his purposes. The Lord uses the actions and prayers of godly men (among many other things) to accomplish his goals. Therefore we trust in him knowing that: “God works for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28)

3.       Thirdly, the purpose of Paul’s rescue is that people would thank the Lord. We must always remember that the end game of our prayers is that people (ourselves first of all) would praise and magnify the Creator. While we of course seek the healing, rescue, and clarity that comes through prayer but we must never forget that the ultimate aim is praise and honor to God.