Letters Of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation

GOOD MORNING. This morning, we’re looking at our Epistle lesson, and letters of recommendation if you saw that. You might have needed one for a job, a college application, to rent an apartment. I’ve written lots. But what is your ultimate letter of recommendation? We can sometimes get a little obsessed with credentials, believing they are the only measure of success. This isn’t just a modern problem; it was a big issue for St. Paul in Corinth.

A few years ago, I saw an amazing action movie I’m still trying to get my family to see. It’s over 3 hours, and in Hindi. In this movie, there was one of the coolest character introductions I’ve ever seen. Our hero is viewed from a distance, squatting by a quiet river with a light fog. The picture is cut in half with the reflection perfectly mirrored on each side. Then the camera zooms in, and as it zooms, it spins, and you realize everything was upside down. The reflection was the real world, and what was on top turns into a warped reflection of reality.

And, of course, I am taken out of the movie as I think, what a great Sermon Illustration. Very few images are a better description of Paul’s Biblical World View. Paul describes how we see the world in 1 Cor. 13: Now we see through a mirror darkly, but then, face to face. Of course, they didn’t have modern mirrors, so it would be more like seeing your reflection in a wavy pond.

Paul wrote over a quarter of the New Testament, and one common theme in his writings is this image that we value everything upside-down. Statements Paul makes to the Corinthians such as Christ’s Power is made perfect in our weakness only make sense if we look at power and authority through the cross.

This upside-down truth brings us to our epistle lesson from 2 Corinthians. He’s not trying to teach the Corinthians the basics of the Gospel, like he does when he writes the Galatians. Paul sounds different, because his relationship with Corinth is different. Around AD 50, when Paul was on his 2nd Missionary Journey, he started a church in Corinth and led the church there for 18 months.

After moving to Ephesus, Paul got a report that things were not going well. So, he wrote the letter we know as 1 Corinthians to correct these problems. When the letter came many within the church decided to reject Paul’s authority, and therefore ignored his teaching. They didn’t want to discuss whether what he said was right or wrong. They just said, “Who’s he?” He’s not my boss. In other words, they stuck their fingers in their ears, which clearly ticked Paul off.

That’s why our LESSON begins the way it does. 2:1 says that Paul made a painful visit, which would sound familiar to any of us who have been waiting in our rooms for our “Father to get home to pay us a painful visit!” Reread verses 2-4, it’s basically Paul saying, that that visit, hurt me more than it hurt you.

After this, most of the church realized apologized to Paul, and wanted to reconcile. That’s why Paul wrote 2 Corinthians. It reads like a love letter. Paul shares how much he loves them, but reviews First, how they wronged him, and Second, how it stems from being distracted and seduced by sin.

How had the Corinthians rejected Paul as a leader? The same reasons the world would give. He was poor, earned a meager living as a tentmaker, was under constant persecution, and suffered at the hands of worldly authorities. He was often homeless, and compared to others, was not an impressive public speaker. Everything measurement you would have on a tv show.

In chapter 2, Paul explains how elevating leaders because of their wealth, popularity, looks was a betrayal of Jesus. It revealed a distorted value system. True Christian leadership isn’t about status or self-promotion. Paul’s saw his life and ministry to point people to Jesus,. Paul’s ministry was marked by humility, suffering, and poverty to serve others. When they disapproved of Paul’s suffering, they were really disapproving of Jesus.

In chapter 3, Paul refers to the demand of some Corinthians that he provide letters of recommendation to prove his authority. Since Paul planted the church, he replies in verse 2, You are my letter of recommendation. written in our hearts, known and read by everybody. God’s Holy Spirit has written His recommendation on your hearts as His new covenant people. The fruit of the Gospel in your hearts is all the evidence I need.

A truly successful ministry isn’t measured by statistics or status, but by the fruit of transformed lives. Many in Corinth had a past filled with immorality, idolatry, and drunkenness before they met Christ. But now Paul could point to their transformed lives as the unmistakable sign that something real had happened.