The Power Was Meant to Be Shared

Introduction

The best sleep happens when both people in the bed are comfortable. In many homes across the world husbands and wives differ in their level of feeling comfortable. My wife by nature gets very cold, and often times as winter creeps in to the state of Ohio my mind thinks about the gas bill. If the coldness is making you uncomfortable make sure you run through the checklist.

Do you have on socks?

Do you have on a sweatshirt or hoodie?

Is it November 1st?

Typically the level of comfort hits it’s apex at night when we are trying to sleep. The bed is one place where the comfort of one person can impact the comfort of someone else. If I’m uncomfortable and I’m tossing and turning it impacts my wife sleeping next to me. In life often times our goal is to be comfortable. It’s the reason we pick up extra shifts, or have a part-time, or decide to go the entrepreneurial route. We are all looking for comfort, even in a space of healthcare, when someone is approaching the threshold of life unto death you may hear a doctor say, “we just want to ensure that your loved one is comfortable”.

Let’s set the stage with this letter, I need to make it abundantly clear Paul is writing a letter, not a sermon, this is not a narrative of what he observed, this is a letter of encourage to the Christians worshipping at the church in Corinth. I believe this is what makes this impactful, it would be similar to a phone call today or an email, it’s personal means of encouragement so Paul writing this letter with the overarching tone of consolation, comfort, and deliverance brings a sense of soothing to the spirit. It’s imperative that we see the blessing in the mission of the apostle’s, that we have an inside view of what some of the challenges that churches faced. The blessing is we can garner practical ways to be purpose driven as a congregation.

2 Corinthians 1:3–7“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.”

What is the Purpose of the Church

Have we ever really asked ourselves the question, what is our collective purpose and responsibility for each other. We can preach about the power of God, we can teach about sound doctrine but what is our true responsibility for each to each other. Often times we miss the mark as churches because of our lack of importance that we put on healthy interpersonal relationships. Is this place, are these group of people going to be a comfort in my time of suffering. One purpose of the church is to be a collective body of individuals that worship together. Encouragement, comfort and deliverance are a part of the process that helps people become whole. What is the “interpersonal” purpose of the church. Love one another, Love God, these things cannot be accomplished unless we build healthy relationships. It’s not just about building healthy relationships, but it’s also about understanding how to build a healthy relationship with God and a healthy relationship with one another.

2 Corinthians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,”

Understand who God is in relation to who we are as a body. God is the sovereign and authoritative being that we all must obey. God is our Father, I’m thankful for Paul’s collective inclusion as it pertains to God. So many times we place obstacles in our way because we try to make differences. God is our Father, spiritually and from a relational perspective we all have the same father, we all serve the same Jesus. Therefore we are all exposed to the same comfort.

Before we dig deeper into suffering I want to make it abundantly clear that the suffering that Paul is talking about is suffering at the cause of Christ, not because you’ve made a mistake or you’ve made a decisions that has put you in a challenging place in life. There is a difference between suffering because of persecution, oppression or the enemy is trying to destroy your faith than us suffering because of the selfish and flesh driven decisions we have made.

Nonetheless no matter what you are going through, God is the God of all comfort. God comforts us in all tribulation. Here’s where grace kicks in, God always provides comfort when we are suffering for the cause of Christ but the abundance is that God has even provided us comfort in situations where we messed up. This speaks to the Fatherly being as God, he corrects, he’s reprimands but it’s never void of a lesson he’s teaching you in the process. Understand that comfort doesn’t always mean removal, sometimes comfort is the ability to withstand the tribulation.

The Cycle of Comfort

Comfort is a cycle, typically it’s not that we do not or cannot withstand the trial the problem is navigating without anyone to lean on. If people weren’t important in this journey, the text would not say “who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God”.

Your comfort isn’t just for you! Your comfort is to lighten the load in effort to help others. Your comfort isn’t just for you! Your comfort is to lighten your load to help others. What happens with comfort, what happens with consolation is we become empowered.

2 Corinthians 1:5 “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.”

His suffering equals my consolation, our consolation, our encouragement speaks to the power of Jesus that even through suffering and death it could provide comfort to all of humankind. Not just a little comfort, not just a little consolation, but it abounds, to be in overflow as a church begins with us starting to understand what it took just get to a place to encourage one another.

Managing Afflictions

2 Corinthians 1:6 “Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.”

Understanding purpose also means understanding the purpose of your afflictions, Paul is setting a stage in effort to be vulnerable in the same way:

2 Corinthians 1:8–9“For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,”

Understand that suffering in effective because it adds a sense of appreciation to deliverance. Suffering is necessary for deliverance. True freedom is only appreciated if you know what real shackles feel like physically and emotionally.

One of the most challenging afflictions is navigating addiction, and a counselor or a therapist might tell you there are essentially 4 stages to recovery.

Recognition & Acceptance

Detox & Withdrawal

Rehabilitation & Treatment

Maintenance & Relapse Prevention

What typically happens with afflictions, especially ones we are responsible for, the stage we think we are at isn’t the stage we are truly at. The problem with suffering is we want to skip steps, jump hurdles and automatically end up in a place of maintenance. Understand something recognition and acceptance hurts sometimes, detoxing and withdrawing hurts but it’s required for deliverance.

The grace of God provides comfort to us.

God’s comfort gives us the power to comfort each other.

Suffering of Jesus is the power that abounds in us. I can persevere through some things because of the power of God.

Understand that affliction today could make space for God’s comfort today. Your comfort today can lead to your deliverance in the future and you being an aid to someone else who might be suffering.

Hold On To Your Hope

2 Corinthians 1:7 “And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.”

My hope is consistent and doesn’t waver because Jesus is the very nature of sacrifice and reciprocation and initiative simultaneously. Before I even knew who I was Christ died for me, even though I’ve made some mistakes God comforted me!

The comfort, nor the suffering is not one-sided, just like we are partakers in comfort, we have to be partakers in the suffering. Remember just like pain increases, so does the comfort of God. God is a deliverer! God is a counselor!

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly lean on Jesus’ name On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand