Untitled Sermon (8)

Boasting In God

2 Corinthians 1:12-2:2

            Corinth had a prosperous, growing economy with a socially aggressive population where each person was trying to make a name for their self and climb the social ladder.  Freed Men and retired soldiers from Rome were a major part of the populace.  Greco-Roman society was an Honor / Shame society.  People would often brag about their accomplishments, their status, and who gave them patronage (support).  Such boasting and bragging was not considered arrogant but helped to establish a person’s position on the social ladder.  In fact, boasting was considered a virtue.  So imagine how the up and coming, new money and wealth inhabitants of Corinth may have made boasting and bragging a full-time pastime.

            Boasting is a major issue and theme, for Paul when he writes to this church.  The word “boast” appears 9 times in 1 Corinthians and 32 times in 2 Corinthians (ESV).

            Having this as background helps us to understand why, after telling the church about a great affliction Paul and his companions experienced in Asia (possibly in Ephesus, see Acts 19), that he begins the body of the letter with a bit of boasting – Godly boasting!

12 Now we take pride in this, the testimony of our conscience is that in simplicity and purity of motive, not in worldly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, especially towards you.

The way the passage starts, it sounds like the kind of boasting the Corinthians might admire – “we take pride in this …”.  Paul is proud that he and his companions have conducted themselves toward the Corinthians in an admirable way.  But the boast is not about some grand achievement they have done.  It isn’t about being a gifted speaker or taking credit for being the first one to come to Corinth and proclaim the gospel.  It is about having a clear conscience before God in speaking to the church with simplicity and purity of motives.  The other traveling Apostles were more into worldly wisdom, flowery speech, personal fame and gain.  Paul’s message is simple and is all about the grace and mercy of God.

13 For we do not write to you anything other than what you can read and understand.  And I hope that to the end you will understand, 14 just as you partially understood that just as we have reason to boast of you, you also have reason to boast of us in the day of the Lord Jesus.

There are no hidden messages in Paul’s words.  He doesn’t try to mislead them with alterior motives.  Paul is going to continue to speak of God’s grace with simplicity and purity of motive.  Apparently Paul boasted of his relationship with the Corinthian Church to others.  He stayed in Corinth for 2 years and had a very successful ministry in conversions and discipleship.  So, Paul would tell others about his relationship with the Corinthians.  This was one of the credentials he liked to wear, that he was a friend of the Corinthians.  In an Honor / Shame society, bragging about your associations was important to have credibility.  Paul’s success in Corinth was a huge credential for Paul.  The church knew Paul spoke of them in this way.  This is what he means when he says they have partially understood Paul – that Paul would brag to others about about all that God had done in Corinth.  What the Corinthian Church didn’t understand was that they also had reason to be proud of what God has done through Paul on their behalf.  Paul looks forward to the day when he can brag about the Corinthians in the presence of Jesus and wants them to be able to brag as well about the faithfulness of God on their behalf through Paul.  They will be able to point to Paul and thank the Lord that He sent such a faithful minister to them.  The praise belongs to God and is not worldly praise exalting self or one another.  It is about what God has done for the many (in this case, the Corinthian church) and what God has done through one (Paul) for the many.  They are mindful of all the difficulties and hardships Paul has endured and have prayed for him.  The praise and honor belong to God.

15 And with this confidence, previously I wanted to visit you twice so that you might have double favor, 16 that I might go to Macedonia through you and come to you again from Macedonia in order to be be helped by you on my way to Judea.

The churches in Greece, Asia, and Macedonia were putting together an offering for the saints in Judea where many lived in poverty.  The early chapters in Acts (see Acts 3 and 4) describe how converts in the Jerusalem Church would sell all they possessed and to give to the poor in the congregation.  They shared their possessions in common.  Twenty years later, the church in Jerusalem was still struggling in poverty. 

When Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians, he was somewhere in Macedonia. The Corinthian church had been told by Paul that his plan was to leave Ephesus and head to Macedonia in order to collect funds for Jerusalem from the Macedonian Churches.  Corinth was on the way, so he planned to stay in Corinth for a few months then move on to Macedonia.  On the way back, the plan was to stop again in Corinth, collect their offering for the church in Judea and depart from Corinth to Jerusalem.  But something happened and changed the plan.  While Paul was still in Ephesus, before he started the journey to Macedonia, he was forced to make a special visit, a painful visit to Corinth.  Paul alludes to this painful visit in 2 Corinthians 2:1. This unplanned visit changed the everything.  Paul returned to Ephesus and continued the ministry there for a period of time and then went on to Macedonia without stopping in Corinth.  Paul writes 2 Corinthians from Macedonia to let the Corinthian Church know he will soon arrive and will leave from them for the journey to Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 12) – only one visit, not two.

The painful visit to Corinth was required in order to deal with some nasty business.  Most likely it involved the affair with the man in the church who married his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1-2).  Also, there were divisions and in-fighting within the church.  This may have become more severe.  And lastly, there was significant sexual immorality taking place within the congregation.  (we learn about all of these problems from Paul’s first letter to Corinth). The painful visit was necessary in order to set things right in the church.  Paul made the one-week journey to Corinth, stayed a short while then returned to Ephesus.  This change in plans gave Paul’s critics in Corinth more reason to criticize him.  And so, Paul now has to defend himself to the whole congregation:

17 Therefore I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or do I make my plans according to the flesh, so that with me there is both yes and no at the same time?

The critics used the change in plans to accuse Paul of being fickle, of saying one thing and doing another.  His yes could mean no and his no could mean yes.  Paul points them back to the love of God for them and that the message Paul brought them of the promises of God in Christ Jesus have all been Yes.  God does not make promises that He has no intention of keeping.

18 But as surely as God is reliable, our message to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, is not both yes and no at the same time but has become Yes in Him. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are Yes.  Therefore, also through Him they are the Amen to the glory of God. 21 Now the one who establishes us with you is Christ and the One who anoints us is God 22 who also seals us and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.

Because of Jesus, all God’s promises, Old Testament and New, have found their fulfillment and answer.  Jesus is the positive affirmation of all that God said he would do to save and rescue humanity.  Amen means “it is so” or “so be it”.  Through Jesus all of God’s promises are realized.  They are Yes in Christ.

            The promises are realized in the Trinitarian God we serve.  Jesus is the one who establishes our relationship with God.  Because he died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave, we can have new life through faith in him.  Our relationship with God has been redeemed, restored, and established.  God the Father is the One who has anointed us.  In other words, He has set us apart to be his children.  And God is the one who establishes Paul and Silvanus and Timothy as well.  God, through Jesus, has placed Himself in an indisputable and irreversible relationship with all believers, and this includes Paul.  God has also sealed us.   To be sealed means to have a mark of ownership placed on your life.  God seals us in His Spirit.  We belong to Him and He has put the Holy Spirit within us as the seal of His ownership.  The Spirit within us has become the guarantee that we will receive all the promises of God.  Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are also established, anointed, sealed, and guaranteed eternal life with God.  Having pointed the church once again to the love of God, his promises, and Paul’s involvement as someone who cares deeply for them, Paul now explains why his plans had to change.

23 But I call God as witness against my life, that in order to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over (dominate over) your faith but we are fellow workers for your joy.  For you are standing firm in the faith. 2:1 But I decided this myself, not to come to you again in grief. 2 For if I grieve you, who is to make me glad if not the one grieving because of me?

Paul made a decision about something that concerned all of them, but he did not consult them first.  He didn’t follow through on the plans they made together.  Now he wants them to know why and calls God as witness against his life that what he is saying is true.  He didn’t come as planned to Corinth because he did not want to have another painful visit that would grieve the ones Paul wishes to rejoice with and be glad with.  So he went directly to Macedonia and bypassed visiting them. 

            Some in the congregation interpreted these actions as being fickle – his yes means no and his no means yes.  They perceived this as another example of how Paul tries to dominate and control them – Lord over them his position and authority.  But it was out of love that plans were changed.  They were standing firm in their faith and were working things out.  Paul trusts that they are being faithful and are following through in obeying God.  He knows that the Lord is working out the problems and issues in the church.  Another visit from Paul would only bring more pain and grief.  He wanted to allow time for things to settle down.

This passage in 2 Corinthians encourages us to lift one another up and rejoice in each other's victories. By recognizing and celebrating the work of God is doing in each of our lives, we can build a stronger community that reflects God’s grace and strengthens our faith during trials and conflicts.

True boasting is rooted in recognizing and celebrating the work of God in our lives and in the lives of others.  Our reason to boast is the love God has for each of us and gives to us for one another.