John Patton (1824-1907) left a comfortable life in
Scotland with his young wife in 1858 for the New Hebrides Islands in the south
Pacific Ocean. There he worked among a
people who seemed unresponsive to the gospel.
Then tragedy struck. Three months
after arriving, his wife and baby died, and with his own hands he had to dig
their burial plot. He wrote in his
journal, ‘I was stunned: My reason almost seemed to give way…’, but, ‘I was
never altogether forsaken. The
ever-merciful Lord sustained me to lay the precious dust of my loved ones in
the same quiet grave. But for Jesus, and
the fellowship he vouchsafed me there, I must have gone mad and died beside
that lonely grave.’
As we study these verses we are going to see that the
glory of Jesus shines forth through the way that Christians respond to opposition
and suffering. You see, false-teachers
had come to Corinth and were undermining the apostle Paul’s ministry and
message. These false-teachers had a form
of prosperity gospel. These
false-teachers pointed to their impressive giftings, their spiritual
experiences and their ability to raise money.
They said that Paul was unimpressive in appearance, not skilled as a
communicator, was always getting a hard time from the authorities and had to
endure loads of suffering. Paul didn’t
even charge them money for his ministry.
To the false-teachers all this was evidence that Paul was not being
blessed by God.
1.
Joy
in the midst of your pain
I have been reading a biography of Elizabeth Elliot
whose husband was murdered as he reached out to a group of Auca Indians in Ecuador
in 1956. After his death she didn’t cry
and sought to hold it together. She
thought that this was the way to demonstrate that she was trusting God. Some American journalists were impressed but
the locals were not. To the locals it
simply looked like she didn’t care about her husband.
The apostle Paul is a man who is willing to be real
about his emotions. We read of many
times when he followed Jesus’ example and wept.
Yes, he says that the Christian does not grieve without hope, but he
does not say that the Christian does not grieve. Indeed, many of the psalms give us permission
to ask honest and hard questions when our lives are filled with pain. Paul doesn’t say that he rejoices instead of
feeling sorrow, he says that he is sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
Paul had to endure a lot of pain. As someone who likes to be liked it strikes
me that he faced such great hatred for his faith in Jesus. Think of the bitterness on the faces of those
who beat him and imprisoned him. Think
of the hostility of the crowds that rioted against him and his teaching. Think of how hard it was to keep going after
sleepless nights and days of hunger.
Think of the frustration and sorrow he felt when reports came to him
that his young converts were falling for a version of the prosperity gospel. At times the pain must have been crushing.
What kept him going?
He rejoiced in his Father’s love and goodness. Jesus was with him. The Holy Spirit was empowering him. God graciously rewards all that is done for
His name. Ajith Fernando, a Sri Lankan Bible
commentator, says ‘the most important things in our lives are that God loves
us, [and] that no pain can destroy our relationship with him.’ His love is to be our deepest source of joy.
The most important thing that we can pray for
Christians friends going through times of sorrow and pain is that the Holy
Spirit would give them the power to understand the breadth and length and
height and depth of the love of God in Christ’ (Ephesians 3:14-20). That they could be aware of that joy in the
middle of their sorrow!
2.
Seek
the beauty of godliness
When Ajith Fernando was a teenager in Sri Lanka he was
hugely influenced by his pastor. That
pastor was a godly Irish Methodist minister by the name of George Good. I knew George Good when I was a
teenager. We used to call him uncle
George, even though he was not a blood relative. George radiated inner beauty. More than once Ajith writes of uncle George claiming
that he ‘influenced me in the beauty of godliness.’
The apostle Paul speaks of how he and his companions
sought to commend the good news about Jesus through lives that reflected the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit.
What does it look like when we let the Holy Spirit fills you? Despite all the difficulties they faced Paul
and his friends sought to live with purity, genuine love, truthful speech,
patience and kindness. He says, ‘our
sole defense is a life of integrity’ (7, Phillips).
The truth is that people will make assumptions about
who Jesus is by what they see of Him in our lives. Our actions have massive consequences in the
lives of those closest to us! We do not
want to be an obstacle in the way of them coming to faith. If they see us as proud people who are afraid
to be real about our faults and struggles, then they will not see that Jesus is
kind and full of mercy. If they see us
as impatient people who are easily irritated then they will not see that Jesus
longs to gather around Him flawed and broken people. If they see us as a people who are lose with
the truth and impure in our speech they will not see that God is holy love.
In a world full of people who are either arrogant or insecure
how refreshing it is to meet people who are humbly confident. Arrogance is based on big thoughts of
oneself. Our faith allows us accept that
we are weak, flawed and often failing.
Insecurity can be based on fear that we are neither loved or
accepted. We can be secure in the God
whose mercy is greater than our sin and who holds us securely in His love.
3.
Be
open-handed in love
‘Oh, dear Corinthians friends! We have spoken honestly with you, and our
hearts are open to you. There is no lack
of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. I am asking you to respond as if you were my
own children. Open your hearts to us!
(11-13, NLT).
Some of these Corinthians had caused the apostle Paul
a lot of pain. They had unfairly
criticized him. They questioned his
motives. They looked down on his
abilities. They sided with his
enemies. But he has not stopped loving
them, and he calls them to love him in return.
The Christian church grew remarkably in the early
centuries after Jesus returned to heaven.
One of the reasons for this was their radical love. It was the only place where people from
completely different classes and cultures could treat each other as
equals. There was radical hospitality
and sacrificial generosity. People
exclaimed, ‘see how they love each other.’
Jesus said ‘by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if
you love one another’ (John 13:35), and, our oneness shows the world that the Father
sent the Son into the world (John 17:21).
Conclusion
A few decades ago a woman in Australia watched her neighbor
who was a Christian with amazement. The
Christian neighbor struggled with crippling arthritis but without becoming
bitter. The woman was so impressed by
this that she asked if she could attend the neighbor’s church. She became a Christian, as did her young
son. That son went on to be a brilliant
Bible teachers and leader.
We don’t want to place any obstacle between people and
God, so, lets, live authentic Christian lives that are marked by joy in the midst
of pain, beautiful godliness and open-hearted love. We do this as we constantly remind ourselves
of what Jesus has done through His life and His cross and lean on the Holy
Spirit to change us from the inside.
