How to comfort others.
2 Cor 1:1-11. WBC 17/4/05am
Intro clip: live 999 call of Eight-year-old Hope from Heybridge, Essex, kept her cool when mum Melissa Cook suddenly gave birth to a baby she did not know she was carrying. From this week’s news
CONTEXT
Letter written by Paul (ex Saul) about 57 AD to the Christians of Corinth and surrounding area of Achaia
- the mainland area of Greece, just W of Athens
- where Paul spent 1.5 years on his first missionary journey Acts 18. Where God said "I have many people in this city". C 52 AD
- this letter is some time later as in between this first visit and now there has been
o 1 Cor
o a painful visit and then a painful letter (2:1)
o … now: this letter
He writes because
- he’s delighted at their response. He told them to act in disciplining someone who was off the rails (not the incest of 1 Cor 5)… they did… and now Paul wants them to restore him
- he wants them to complete the collection they have started
- to prepare them for a forthcoming visit- where he hopes he won’t have to prove his apostleship (as they were doubting it because he wasn’t flashy enough)
… AND to help strengthen them in their struggle and suffering with what he’s learned and received
- in fact it’s absolutely fascinating. He starts this letter in his typical way: greeting, office, who it’s addressed to, praise
- but then, uncharacteristically, he launches into stuff about himself!
o He never does this! It’s always about THEM, elsewhere
But this IS about them. He’s got a story to tell them that will HELP them SO much
- and it will help us too. It will help us know how to find purpose and hope in our trials AND how to help others
Because we don’t always know how to comfort when someone is in trouble
- can feel just as out of our depth as little Hope
- hugely out of our depth when someone doesn’t just answer ’fine’ to ’how are you’
In fact- it’s far more simple and practical than we first think. And that’s a relief
WHAT IS COMFORT?
This passage clarifies some things about the nature of God (v3):
- firstly, He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
o God is Jesus-like. That’s how we know what He’s like.
" Not from the world around us… philosophy etc
o … but because He revealed Himself to us in Jesus
o So- we know He is good
- Secondly: He is Father of compassion
o That’s right out of the Bible
PS 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
- Thirdly: He is the God of all comfort
o Mentioned 10 times, here. So it’s important
Now, that’s more than just kindness… though there is a place for that
- we ARE to be compassionate and kind to one another!
And it’s not a ’comfortable chair’! You could be forgiven for thinking that in today’s environment!
- ’my own personal Jesus’. And ’pillow of ages fluffed for me…. to make sure all goes well for me’
- but we all know that is the ’spirit of the age’ and doesn’t produce the kind of disciples we are looking for. Doesn’t come up with the goods
the word ’comfort’, here, would better be translated- exhort, strengthen
- it’s the word paraclesis. Like the word ’paraclete’ used for the HS that the NIV translates ’comforter’- one called alongside to strengthen
o in fact: that is what the word comfort originally meant in English, but it’s been lost: cum (with) fortis (strength)
So- this is not about the kind of comfort that CAN be unhelpful
- makes people introspective, self-centred, needs-oriented..
- … dependent on US, even. Out of OUR need
- we are not to comfort others in that way!
God’s comfort… and the comfort we should offer to others is to make them STRONG. God and self-dependent. Both
- Jonathan helped David find strength in the LORD
- And there’s NOTHING wrong with being strong in yourself
o As long as your focus, dependence and eyes are on the Lord
WHY DOES GOD COMFORT?
Now- this is a revelation from this passage!
- understanding this will bring purpose and power to your situation
God doesn’t just come alongside us in trouble because He loves us and is compassionate
o If those were the only factors- He’d click His fingers and deliver us a whole lot more!
" Though He DOES do that, occasionally (V10 ’He has delivered us from deadly peril’)
" (sometimes we have to get desperate and cry out!)
His purposes and plans are a whole lot bigger than that- and He needs you to understand and be part of them
He comes alongside to strengthen us…. let’s be honest, not often to deliver us…. so that we will learn something and in turn be able to strengthen and help others
There is purpose in what Christians go through!
- do you think your loving heavenly Father would just allow things for no purpose? For no benefit?
- No: God has a plan… and He wants to use YOU more than you can imagine. And nothing that has befallen you can is wasted
o … if you will lay it on the altar as a sacrifice to Him, a suffering for Christ
o We don’t choose the suffering- but we choose the response.
" To see… find…use… God in it
For ’all things work together for good for those who love Christ’ Rom 8:28
Do you love Christ? Then- all things work together for good for you and others
But here is some honest insight:
- IF you let them. Like Paul did.
o It’s a choice. State of mind. State of maturity
- It doesn’t always seem like that. Sometimes we can’t see how God can use it… or that He is anywhere in it
o Hence v6- need for patient endurance. Sometimes all we can do is ’wait on the Lord’
o But be aware that Paul couldn’t probably see purpose in the fear of wild beasts in Ephesus and this (2 Cor 11:23) I have been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
But here, now, he sees purpose. "I can comfort you Corinthians"
- have you ever had that experience? "I see, now! God can use me in this. Been there"
Illustr: a little while ago I was talking to someone who had had horrific back problems. Had to crawl for a good number of years. Had prayer and everything. No avail (seemingly). But through long-term prayer and other things they are now better. When I asked them how they felt about those dark years they said ’grateful!’. Because of what it did for them and how they can help others. Boy, do they!
So- let me jump the gun and put state a bit of my last section, now
- there are no ’right words’ or ’formulae’ or eloquence to help people.
o In fact: even offering to pray WITH them can drive them potty!
- There’s no button.
- But you patiently understanding their distress (though different from yours)… saying things like ’I can partly imagine!’ ’That must have been awful!’… and the fact that YOU have made it through will speak VOLUMES
o Your STORY: not necessarily TOLD (as could come over ’I made it so you will!’) but SEEN…
o … will comfort (strengthen) others
What have you got that can be of use to others?
- here… around you…next to you… is a wealth of experience… resource base…POWER
o and it’s true: there is power in the hands of those who have suffered
o (1PE 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.)
And maybe you can see why God hasn’t delivered you, yet
- needed you to see this. Submit to this. Offer this.
- Has something for you yet to learn
- (again- this is not a button to press!)
Learning and strength is better than deliverance.
HOW DOES GOD COMFORT?
Now- how does God most often comfort?
Is it through prophetic words?
- sometimes. Have known it through WOK!
- But many Biblical prophecies weren’t v comforting!
A sense of blessing. His presence?
- sometimes. Certainly it says ’when you walk through the fire.."
o but his says ’I WILL be with you’. Doesn’t say anything about ’some feeling’
" in fact- most in the Bible is about facts, not feelings
- and my experience is, because I’m ’flesh’- when it’s tough I feel the least! (my psyche, soul, gets in the way!)
- and I’m just not sure feelings are PROMISED in here
How does God comfort us?
- in the same way Paul comforted, here
o by sending a people
o 2CO 7:5 For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn--conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him
- humanly!
Illustr: mum. At age of 27 in wheelchair. God, if you’re there, help!
- next day a lady knocked. "I hear you are in trouble. Can I help with your children." And she washed and cooked
We need to be able to see God’s help when it is there!
- "where is God?!!!"
o well- some Christians have been there for years
o ("yeah- but not the pastor… enough" though you lot are SO gracious, there.
" But I’m not Jesus!
" His BODY is!)
A man lived in a very low-lying area near a river. A man in a jeep drove up one day and said, "This area is about to be flooded. You need to get out of here!" The man replied, "I’ll just stay here and trust the Lord to take care of me." And very soon the water was swirling around his front porch as he sat in his rocking chair.
Soon after that, a man came by in a boat, saying, "You need to get out of here. The water is getting higher and higher." The man replied, "I’ll be okay. I’m just going to trust the Lord."
Finally, the man ended up on his roof because of the rising water. It had already flooded his house. Suddenly, a helicopter appeared overhead and lowered a chair so he could be taken to safety. He shouted back, "It’s okay. I’ll stay here. I’m trusting the Lord to take care of me."
Well, the man drowned and in heaven, he complained to the Lord that He hadn’t take care of him. And the Lord said, "Hey! I sent you a jeep, a boat and a helicopter. WHAT ELSE DID YOU WANT ME TO DO?"
HOW DO WE COMFORT?
So-how do we comfort?
Don’t feel you have to give a solution. Sometimes there isn’t one. That mystery lies with Christ
- but give yourself and your story (in silence if necessary)
Keep watch over one another.
Let me briefly explain- it’s v hard to give pastoral care nowadays
- folks are so busy and many are irregular
- if you come only alternate weeks others can’t tell whether you are okay or not (particularly if they only come alternate weeks)
o might be 2 months before attendance overlaps! (am,pm)
- to care for one another… and be cared for you need
o to worship together regularly. Be under the word.
o be in a small group
o be prepared to be prayed for at end of a service
o have friends here and be in relationships!
" If the only people who know you are those who are paid to- how sad is that!
o Keep an eye out for oneanother!
" We have tried to structure all kinds of things and just hasn’t worked!
o if YOU haven’t seen someone for a while- YOU phone them
Draw alongside oneanother
- and do practical things. Bake a cake
- don’t be afraid to mention ’the elephant’. The suffering. The name of the deceased. Paul isn’t! V 8ff
…. let what God has done in you flow over into the lives of others… so it may be… become… fully what God has intended.
Lord, I come before your throne of grace
