2 Corinthians: Paul Bares His Heart to a Skeptical Church Ministers of Reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 Layne Lebo June 24, 2018

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1 2 Corinthians: Paul Bares His Heart to a Skeptical Church Ministers of Reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 Layne Lebo June 24, 2018 The question I ve asked you to think about each of the last 3 weeks is, When I face challenges or difficulties in life whose resources do I rely on, my own or God s? That s a critical question for each of us to wrestle with. As I studied 2 Corinthians chapter 5 this week it occurred to me that an important presupposition lies behind that question a belief Paul had that shaped him as he wrote to the Corinthians. Paul believed there s much more to this life than meets the eye. Listen to how he states that truth at the end of chapter 4. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. If you and I believe this life is all there is that reality is confined to what we can see, touch, taste, hear and smell with our senses then we re going to rely on our human resources. But, if like Paul, we believe there s a spiritual reality that goes beyond our senses, we ll seek the resources God makes available to us. I d like you to follow along as I read verses 1-10 of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Listen to Eugene Peterson s translation of verses 1-5 in The Message paraphrase: 1

2 We know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven God-made, not handmade and we ll never have to relocate our tents again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we re tired of it! We ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we ll never settle for less. Paul lived his life with an awareness that this life isn t all there is. I know what Paul says is true, but I don t always live my life with that truth in the forefront of my thinking. In fact, I m not sure I live like I believe that very often. I m guessing that s true for many of us. So, what do we do about that? Do we beat ourselves up over our failures in this area? Do we ignore it and move on to another passage of Scripture that s more comforting like Psalm 23? Or, do we wrestle with it and ask God, What does it look like for me to align my life with the truth of your Word on this issue to live as if this life isn t all there is? As I reflected on what these verses say about living life with a focus on eternity, it occurred to me that I have encountered people who get what Paul is saying here: elderly saints who have walked with God for decades and understand that there time on this earth is in all likelihood, very short and I ve seen it from people who have been diagnosed with a lifethreatening illness. Seniors who know their life is winding toward a close and people with serious illnesses are forced to reckon with the realities Paul talks about in these verses. John and Sheila Anderson have been on a journey of dealing with a life-threatening illness now for over a year and they ve graciously consented to sharing with us today. John and I regularly have short conversations about insights God has given him or things that he s processing in relation to something I ve shared in a sermon. And so, he and his wife quickly came to mind when I thought about someone sharing with us today. John & Sheila Anderson Sheila, would you begin by giving us a quick overview of your health journey over the past months? How has your battle with cancer shaped and changed your outlook on life? How do you see things differently now than before? John, as kind of the theologian of the family, how do you read Paul s words in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10? What do see in Paul s words that maybe you didn t see before walking this journey you re currently on? 2

3 Sheila, do you have any words of encouragement or challenges for us as you as you close today? I ll continue reading chapter 5 now beginning with verse 11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are out of our mind, as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:11-15 Paul is continuing his defense of himself and his ministry before the skeptical Corinthians. He says that his motive for preaching is to persuade others to know Christ, not to play games with them. Who he really is, is plain to everyone. All that he does, Paul says is not for himself and his gain, but for them and for their good. And then in verses 14 & 15 he writes the rationale behind all that he does. I ll read it from The Message: Christ s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do. Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. And that brings us to the best-known section in this chapter it s the place from which I got the title of today s sermon Ministers of Reconciliation. I ll begin reading at verse 16 and I d like you to read the words that are in bold aloud with me So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 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. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 The words Paul writes here are built on the foundation he laid earlier in this chapter there is much more going on around us than meets the eye. As followers of Jesus we re called to focus not on what is seen and temporary, but on what is unseen and eternal. The temporary 3

4 nature of our life here on earth in its present form and the eternal nature of our life with God shifts our focus and priorities. Rather than being concerned only with the stuff of this life, we re focused on a new reality. And that reality changes how we view people and the priority we place on sharing our Heavenly Father s heart of love with people who desperately need Him. These 6 verses are powerful. They offer one of the most succinct and clear presentations of the Good News of Jesus that we find in all of the New Testament and they highlight God s call for us to live our lives on mission with Him. I want us to look more closely at this section, beginning with verse 17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! One of the commentaries I looked at pointed out that Paul s statement here is a clear reference back to the words of the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 43 verses 18 & 19: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah, speaking as God s mouthpiece, was challenging the people of Israel, not to be stuck in the past their slavery in Egypt; their idolatry and failure to obey God s law; their oppression at the hands of foreign nations but to look with hope at the new and fresh things God was doing. He was changing their identity as a nation. Now Paul applies this truth on a personal level to the Corinthians. He says, when you and I are in Christ, we re new creations. This is a vital truth for us. We tend to define ourselves by what we ve done in the past whether good or bad though usually we focus on the bad sins, mistakes, bad decisions, failures, missed opportunities, etc. But Paul reminds us that those things don t define us now. In Jesus Christ, we are new creations. The old has gone and the new has come. What do you hang onto from your past that defines you? You don t have to keep lugging that around with you. If you re in Christ, it doesn t define you anymore. You re a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come. Let s look now at verses 18 & 19: 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. The word reconciliation occurs 4x in these two verses. And Paul is clear that reconciliation the bringing together of people or groups of people that have been 4

5 separated or estranged is God s work; He is the initiator. God reconciled all people to Himself through his Son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life on the cross for us. The way to God was blocked by sin. There was a chasm between us that couldn t be bridged, but God took the initiative in bridging that gap through the death of his Son, Jesus. But it doesn t end there. Now that God is actively reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus, He has chosen us to be his ministers of reconciliation. Most of us have heard that said in different ways many times and so it may just kind of fly right past us. But I want you to think about this with me. You and I were far away from God, because of our sin. There was a gap between us that we could do nothing about. But God in his love decided to close that gap by sending his Son, Jesus to die for us. At the moment Jesus died on the cross the massive temple curtain that weighed over two tons miraculously ripped in half. The barrier that blocked off the holy of holies in the temple where God dwelt from the area where people could walk was split open at the moment Jesus breathed his last breath. But God didn t stop with that. Now He has declared that those of us who have accepted his offer of reconciliation and have entered a relationship with Him, we are now the ones He chooses to use to reconcile others to Him. It s an amazing turn-around. Do you want proof that you re a new creation? God thinks so much of you that He s decided now you re going to be his minister of reconciliation to others. And that brings us to verse 20: 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. Christ s ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation both sound like government offices. Paul says and it applies to all of us who have been reconciled to God he is an ambassador of Jesus and God is making his appeal to people who are estranged from Him to be reconciled to Him through Paul. Again, what better proof that we re new creations than that God has chosen us to represent Him to others not as perfect specimens of godliness, but as clay jars where the treasure of Jesus is housed? We began today by focusing on the nature of reality that there is much more going on here than what meets the eye. And we re finishing with the understanding that God has not only made us new creations and reconciled us to Himself, He also calls us to be his ambassadors, his ministers of reconciliation. And the link between the nature of reality and 5

6 God s calling for us is found in verse 14 where Paul says, For Christ s love compels us. We re compelled by Jesus love to understand that there is much more to life than what we see around us. And based on that understanding, his love compels us to share his love with others so that they too can be reconciled to God. In closing, I d like to read verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 from The MESSAGE: What we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We re Christ s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God s work of making things right between them. We re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he s already a friend with you. 6