Text: 2 Corinthians 5:6-17
 |
| "Reconciliation" |
Introduction
A criticism that is sometimes leveled against Christians is
that “some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.”[1]
And if we take some of the texts found in the New Testament, we could certainly
come up with a basis for focusing solely on salvation as a means of exiting
this world and getting to heaven. Part of the reading this morning from 2
Corinthians 5 could be interpreted in that way.
I grew up in a theology that strongly emphasized the Second
Coming and the saved would be taken up, after which this present world would be
destroyed. Then this world would be recreated with the arrival of the New
Jerusalem. In one sense then, I grew up with the idea that this world and
everything in it was quite temporary and we shouldn’t spend too much effort “down
here.”
But on the other hand, the denomination had a strong
organizational branch dedicated to education, health and medicine, and disaster
relief. It was very much concerned about growing its presence. But these were most
always undertaken toward the ultimate goal of evangelism and “getting people
saved.”
What I read in Paul’s words found in today’s reading is not
either-or, but a both-and. In a nutshell, what Paul seems to be writing to the
Corinthians is that what is done in this world matters now to the physical
world, and what is done in this world matters in the future when Christ will take
into account what was done.
It is on this latter point that Christians raise eyebrows
because the idea of a judgment that evaluates works and then offers a payment
based on that seems rather foreign and antithetical to the entire message of
gospel and grace, especially when it is coming from Paul, the foremost champion
of grace over law and works.
What is going on?
The Church at Corinth and Paul
First, it needs to be noted that the idea of a future
judgment is not foreign to Paul’s theology. In addition to what we read today, we
find Paul writing about a future judgment and associated rewards in Romans and
in 1 Corinthians.[2]
What is key to note about Paul’s theology of future judgment is that the same
God who saves is also the judge. Rather than fearing judgment then, those who belong
to Christ should know relief and assurance instead.
Next let us turn to the context of the church in Corinth.
Many of you are already likely aware that the church in Corinth seems to have
been plagued by one problem, issue, and conflict after another. At least based
on the Pauline letters that we have left to us to ponder. There were conflicts
of leadership: some preferred Peter, others Apollos, others Paul, and others eschewed
any kind of human leadership and went straight to Christ.[3]
There was within the church sexual immorality that even the pagan Romans
frowned on.[4]
Members were taking one another into Roman courts to bring and settle lawsuits.[5]
There were conflicts over what one could eat or not eat.[6]
There were rivalries over manifestations of spiritual gifts.[7]
There were even conflicts involving the Communion meal.[8]
Members of the church were judging one another and dividing into factions, each
believing themselves to be better than the others.
One of the issues then may be related to an over-realized
eschatology that some of the members may have come to believe. These thought
that because they had been saved, the full realization of salvation had already
come and that what they did in their physical bodies on the physical world no
longer mattered.[9]
A second issue was that of authority. It seems that Paul’s
authority as an apostle was being questioned. He did not act like teachers and
authority figures were expected to behave. He did not demand to be supported,
and instead supported himself. The church in Corinth saw this not as a sign of
humble Christian behavior, but as a lack of power and authority and preferred
others who acted more in line with their expectations.[10]
The Second Letter to the Corinthian Church
The First Epistle to the Corinthians addressed these issues
and several others. But apparently the issues didn’t get resolved, because Paul
had to write at least one more letter. Chapters 10 through 13 of the Second
Epistle to the Corinthians is probably that letter. In these chapters, Paul
again has to defend his authority as an apostle and rebuke the church at
Corinth for their ongoing conflicts and behaviors unbecoming of
Christ-followers.
And that brings us to the first seven chapters of the Second
Epistle. (Several modern scholars theorize that the Second Epistle is an
amalgamation of three separate letters that are found out of order from their
chronologies.)[11]
These seven chapters, the last of Paul’s letters that we have written to the
church in Corinth, may be seen as a reconciliation letter. The conflict and
issues at Corinth seem to have been finally resolved and Paul writes to explain
himself and assure the Corinthians that he has not continued to be angry with
them. Our reading today was taken from the middle of this material.
The Future Hope and Present Realities
In this subsection, Paul seems to be writing excitedly about
the hope he and all Christians have in the promised future restoration of all
things. Physical bodies might be weak, they wear out, and trouble can hit us at
any time. Death is always a possibility. But none of that compares to the life
that we already have in Christ and the resurrection that we will experience. What
we see is temporal. All the troubles are temporary. What is promised beyond
what we can currently see surpasses anything we can truly imagine. The visible,
physical world weighs us down. We long for the life to come. We do not belong
to this world.
At this point we might expect Paul to go all in on the
future, the world and life to come. He does, indeed, long for it and hope for
it. But he tells his audience that while this world might be temporary and our
permanent home isn’t here, we should nevertheless live in the here and now as
if it were our home and Christ was here with us. A precedent for this pattern
may be found in Jeremiah 29 where the prophet writes to the exiles in Babylon
to live in their land of exile, the land of sojourn, as though they were going
to be there a long time. They were commanded to promote the welfare of their
temporary home because their future was tied to the future of their temporary
home.[12]
Both-And
If we heed Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we will
be better equipped to stay away from a couple ditches that we could find
ourselves in. The first ditch is one where because all our hope is in the
future, we come to believe that nothing in the present world matters. This is
where Paul’s words about judgment and rewards based in what happens in the body
are pertinent. How we treat the physical world and how we relate to creation
and created beings matters to God and therefore, it should matter to us. The
words about judgment is a call to critical self-reflection for individuals and
for faith communities. If we claim to be followers of Christ, but ignore
Christ’s concerns, are we really following Christ?
The second ditch is one where only the present is of concern.
Especially since Christ’s return is so long in coming, and placing faith and
hope in an event that could be another two-thousand years off seems esoteric
and difficult to comprehend. It is much easier to try to make concrete,
tangible efforts in the present and minimize or ignore what might or might not
happen in the future as it is inconvenient to try to explain to those outside
the church this very delayed hope.
The Ultimate Hope of Reconciliation
We need to go past today’s assigned reading, but when we do
we can see that for Paul, ethical works done in the present was a means of
bringing reconciliation. Starting with the last couple verses from the reading
here is the rest of chapter 5.
16 So then, from this
point on we won’t recognize people by human standards. Even though we used to
know Christ by human standards, that isn’t how we know him now. 17
So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The
old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!
18 All of these new
things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave
us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 In other words, God was
reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins
against them. He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation.
20 So we are ambassadors
who represent Christ. God is negotiating with you through us. We beg you as
Christ’s representatives, “Be reconciled to God!” 21 God caused the
one who didn’t know sin to be sin for our sake so that through him we could
become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21 CEB)
Anyone can devote their lives to doing ethical work in this
world and make a positive contribution and possibly a lasting difference. But
for Christians, there is an even larger objective. It is the reconciliation of
the world back to God. The hope of Christian faith is not simply a better world
or eternal life, but a world and life reconciled back to the Creator so that we
can all live together in peace and harmony, without fear.
Last week we read Paul’s words, “We also have faith, and so
we also speak.” We heard about the importance of speaking about our faith.
Today is a continuation of that conversation.
Paul’s theology is both-and. We must love this world, relate to it, and treat it as God does. We must begin to plant the seeds of God’s new creation within the world around us. We must tend to the sprouts and growth as they appear. But we must also point toward and speak about the hope that is found in the final reconciliation of the world to God. Our faith is not just in a glorified future, but in the power of God that is already recreating and restoring, who is working through our efforts to be Christ’s representatives in this world.
References
Dunn, J. D., & Rogerson, J. W. (2003). Eerdmans
Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co.
[1]
Attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
[2]
Romans 2:16; 14:10-11; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.
[3]
1 Corinthians 1:10-12.
[4]
1 Corinthians 5.
[5]
1 Corinthians 6:1-8.
[6]
1 Corinthians 8.
[7]
1 Corinthians 12-14.
[8]
1 Corinthians 11:17-34.
[9]
Paul’s discussion of the resurrection in 1 Cor. 15 seems to be related to this.
[10]
1 Corinthians 4.
[11]
[12]
Jeremiah 29:4-7.
