This week I’ve been listening to a series of lectures on depression by Arch Hart, who’s Professor of Psychology at Fuller Seminary in the US. One of the interesting things he said was a piece of advice he gives to ministers. He says never take your day off on a Monday if you can possibly help it. Why? Because that’s the day you’re most likely to be depressed and instead of being revived by a day off you’ll just waste it. And I can understand what he means. Imagine you’re the pastor of a church that’s wracked by divisions; where people are arguing over theology and how to apply it to their daily lives; where some of the congregation are involved in immoral behaviour and are even boasting about how sophisticated they are and the rest of the congregation just turn a blind eye; where every time you preach someone will complain that it was too long, or too simplistic or too complicated; where they point out that the other preachers are obviously far more gifted than you are; where they object to anything new. Monday would be a pretty depressing time wouldn’t it?
Now, I hope you realise I’m not talking about my experience here at St Theo’s. I’m actually thinking about Paul’s experience at Corinth, because that’s the sort of Church he had to deal with there. If you read his first letter to the Corinthians, you’ll get an idea of the issues they faced. They were a very gifted Church but they’d allowed all sorts of problems to grow up in their midst.
Now their theological and moral problems are largely dealt with in the first letter, but there was still one major issue confronting them. It wasn’t theological so much as sociological or cultural. They had a problem with their understanding of the nature of Christian leadership. Their background, of course, was the first Century Greco-Roman world where leadership was about strength of personality, being forceful, a great orator. Theirs was the cult of the hero, of Hercules and Zeus. In the first letter we read about the objections that were raised about Paul’s leadership, the way people compared him to Apollos, apparently a great orator, or Peter, whose strong personality comes out so clearly in the gospels. But Paul wants to draw them away from these models that derive from secular culture to a more Biblical understanding.
Now before we go any further let me suggest that the situation he addresses in 2 Corinthians is in fact not much different from our own. Think about it: what’s your image of the ideal leader? Whether it’s a politician or the captain of a sporting team or a business leader, what sort of attributes would you expect of them? Would you be looking for someone who was strong, purposeful, confident, high achieving, successful, eloquent? Now think about what you’d look for in a Christian leader. Does that word Christian make any difference? My guess is that for many it doesn’t. Even in the church we have an image of leaders who are strong, forceful, confident, eloquent. We hate the stereotype of the vicar as the bumbling idiot; sweet but inoffensive; kind but ineffectual. We want a leader who’s strong, who can do no wrong, who’ll be an example to the flock, who’ll lead us to victory over our opponents.
But what’s the model we have for ideal leadership in the gospels. Well, it’s Jesus Christ isn’t it? Jesus Christ who humbled himself and became like a servant; humbled himself to the point of being taken away and hung on a cross. We have as our model a leader who was first and foremost a servant.
Now this is an important issue for both leaders and those who are led. If you’re a leader in the church ask yourself, (and I ask myself this question) ’What image are you trying to project?’ Does your strength as a leader come from your personal strength of character or from your close mimicking of Christ? Are you first and foremost a servant or a director?
For those who are part of the congregation that’s being led, what characteristics are you expecting to see in your leaders? Are you looking for the ways that God will show his power in his Church despite the weakness of your leaders? Do you accept their weakness? Well, that’s what we’ll be thinking about as we work our way through 2 Corinthians over the next couple of months.
Well, that’s all by way of introduction to the book. Let’s now think about these opening few verses as Paul discusses the way he’s suffered for the gospel.
Paul’s Troubles
He begins after the usual introduction, where he introduces himself and in this case Timothy and gives his credentials, with an opening prayer. It’s the sort of thing you would have heard in a Jewish synagogue at the beginning of the service. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation." He’s recalling his readers’ minds to their Jewish heritage, to the prophets and kings who, like him, suffered for their faithfulness to God.
Think of the great men and women of the Old Testament. There’s one thing so many of them have in common. It’s the way they suffered for their faithfulness to God. Think about David as he hid in the wilderness from Saul’s army. Think of the Psalms he wrote when he cried out for God to save him, to bring him comfort. Think of Elijah on Mt Carmel, crying out to God that he was the only one left who hadn’t bowed his knee to Baal. Think of Naomi bewailing the loss of her husband and two sons. Think of Jeremiah, under attack for faithfully speaking God’s words to the residents of Jerusalem. And remember how they looked for God to comfort them, how they rejoiced when it happened. Naomi, sitting with her grandson on her knee knowing that God hadn’t forgotten her after all. Jeremiah singing "He took me out of the pit and from the miry clay." David singing "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."
Job summed it up like this: "human beings are born to trouble just as sparks fly upward."
And here Paul is reminding his readers that what he’s experienced and what they’ll experience is normal for any human being. Of course in his case it’s been extreme. Look at v8: "8We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death." Now there are lots of guesses as to what Paul is describing here. Certainly in Ephesus we read that there was a great riot as a result of his preaching and he could easily have been killed by the crowd. Later on he talks about a thorn in the flesh. But whatever it is, it seems that he was severely depressed by it, to the point of wondering whether life was worth living. At least that’s what I take him to be saying in v8: "We despaired of life. We felt like we’d received the sentence of death."
You may know just how he felt. So worn down by trouble that you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning. As Job said it’s part of the human condition to be beset by trouble, by worries, by stress, by loss.
I know there are people in this congregation who have experienced a whole range of trials and tribulations in their life. You may have suffered abuse of one sort or another, either as a child or as an adult. You may be someone who suffers from depression. According to Arch Hart somewhere between 5 and 10% of the population will suffer from clinical depression at some time or other. There are people here who have suffered the loss of loved ones. Parents or spouses or children who have died; spouses who have abandoned or betrayed you. Some have found themselves unable to conceive. Some are separated from their loved ones by great distances, or by family breakdown. There are some who are suffering or have suffered from debilitating illness, perhaps even life threatening illness. You may have been unfairly treated as a result of racism or age or your socioeconomic situation or your level of education.
Every one of us will have suffered in one way or another. But here’s the tricky bit: when we’ve suffered in such a way it’s so easy to feel weakened by it, even to consider ourselves a failure as a result of it.
And that’s where, again, it strikes home for us. Because you see, we have this self image as Australians that doesn’t allow for weakness or failure. I wonder do you all know who Sally Robins is. Well you may have forgotten her name, but there’s every chance you’ll know who she is if I tell you that she’s the rower who ran out of puff in the final of the women’s 8s in Athens.
And what did people say after that happened. "It’s un-Australian to give up. It’s un-Australian for one of our sporting representatives to not keep going even if it kills her. In one poll I saw 51% of people thought she’d been fairly treated by the rest of the crew after the race.
So what does that say to you or me when we look at our weaknesses? How do we deal with the fact that we’re weakened by the various things that have happened to us in our life?
Well, let’s see what Paul has to say about it.
Christian troubles create a community of care
First of all he says that our suffering, our weakness is something that God will use to strengthen the community of God’s people. Christian troubles act to create a community of care. Look at v4. "God consoles us in all our affliction so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. "
The first place we should look for comfort is to God. That’s the pattern throughout Scripture. But the way God comforts us now is so often through other believers; who themselves have experienced trouble and have received comfort from God.
It’s a universal truth, that trouble binds humans together in a way that prosperity never does. You know the old saying: "A friend in need is a friend indeed." The great Australian myth of mateship was born out of adversity, out of people having to band together to survive in the harsh conditions of the outback or in times of war or during the depression. And let’s face it, if you’re suffering some particular trouble, who is it you look to for comfort? Isn’t it someone who knows what you’re experiencing? Someone who can say, "I know exactly what you’re going through. I’ve experienced just that in my own life."
Next time you’re at the bank (or the supermarket) and the queue is stretching out the door because there’s only one or two tellers or checkouts operating, notice how people start to talk to each other about how bad it is. Their mutual frustration binds them together, makes them instant friends. So if you’re someone who’s experienced trouble or sadness think about how you can use that experience to help someone else who’s experiencing something similar.
Christian troubles link us with the experience of Christ himself
But secondly Christian troubles link us with the suffering of Christ. He says "the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us." The NIV translates that: "the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives." Jesus suffered as a sign of his solidarity with us. His suffering on the cross was such as to absorb all the punishment due to rebellious humanity. But I think Paul’s also thinking about how Christians continue to participate in Christ’s suffering as we experience opposition. He talks about that in Colossians 1. There’s a sense in which we’re somehow joined to Christ in his suffering as we too suffer opposition in his name. That may be partly what he’s thinking about as he describes himself as being crushed almost to the point of death.
And like Christ’s suffering our suffering too, has a purpose.
Christian troubles have a purpose
1 They help others
We’ve already seen how the comfort with which we’ve been comforted can be passed on as we comfort others. God will use our experiences to help others, if we’ll let him. Paul’s suffering is first of all for the sake of sharing the gospel with others. But it’s also so he can pass on the comfort he’s received to those to whom he ministers.
2 They help us
But secondly, the result of his suffering even to the point of death, was that he was forced to stop relying on himself, and to begin to rely on God who raises the dead. Now I imagine that Paul would have been the totally self reliant type. That’s certainly the picture we get from his description of his earlier life. But the truth is, most of us are equally self reliant. We’re trained to be from an early age aren’t we? We’re taught the Australian myth of self reliance. Real Australians never give up. A real mate is someone who can be relied upon, who won’t let you down.
So what do we do when we find we can’t deliver? When we collapse half way through the race? When we burn out because we’ve worked longer hours than anyone else, just to prove how able we are?
Well I hope we never come to that point because we’ve read God’s word and heeded what it says. What does it say? Look at v9: "we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again."
God uses the troubles we face to turn us back to him, to remind us that we need his help, his strength and power if we’re to finish the race, if we’re to serve him effectively.
3 They teach us all to keep praying
But finally, they teach us all to keep praying. v11: "As you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many." It’s all too easy to underestimate the power of prayer. But it’s when we begin to realise that we can’t work in our own strength that we start to see how important it is that we ask God for his strength. I have no doubt at all that the good things that have happened here since I came have been to a large extent the result of people’s faithful prayers for our work.
I was joking to Camille during the week that this series is called ’Power in Weakness’ and that this is my special subject. But it’s not really a joke. I learnt a long time ago that I’m very much limited in what I can do. Both in terms of natural ability and in terms of time and energy. And the longer I live, the less time and energy I seem to have. But with God working through me I can do anything; despite my weakness, despite the things I may suffer as I go along.
You too can do amazing things for God, no matter where you’ve come from, no matter what you’ve suffered. The question is, what do you do when suffering comes to you? It will, and there’s no point denying it when it comes. Nor would I want to diminish its impact on anyone. But what do you do with it? Do you complain that you don’t deserve it? Do you curl up and hope to die? Do you give up because you’re of no use to God? Or do you take the opposite tack? Do you pretend that it doesn’t matter, that you can rise above it? Or do you what Paul does? Do you look to see how God might use it, to comfort others, to drive you back to dependence on him, and to remind you to keep praying.
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Questions for discussion:
What troubles do you think Paul is thinking about as he describes his time in Asia Minor?
How do the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives? Is there a connectin between this and God’s comfort overflowing from our lives?
How has God comforted you in some of the trials of life?
How can you use those experiences to comfort others?
Paul says that his suffering drive him back to dependence on God. How else might people deal with their suffering?
How can we make sure that we acknowledge our suffering and turn to God for comfort rather than relying on ourselves?
If we must rely on God to help us, how does that affect our view of prayer?
Spend some time praying ofr people you know who are struggling at the moment, asking God to comfort them, parying that they will rely on him for strength and that they will be able to comfort others once their struggles are eased.
