Travels of the Heart: 2 Corinthians, Chapters 5-8

Greetings, ST, ‘Ettes, ‘Sieurs, and All!

It’s good to be back with you here. I hope the time that’s passed since the last installment of the series has been good for everyone.

Our exploration of St. Paul’s own growth in faith through his epistles/letters brings us once again to Corinth, in southern Greece about 50 miles from Athens. It offered access for trade through two major harbors, controlling trade routes to both Italy and Asia. This prosperity might seem to be the perfect seedbed for virtue. In Paul’s time, however, it had a cosmopolitan air and a reputation for a free-wheeling attitude toward accepted social/moral norms. Paul’s visits to Corinth – at least 3 of them – during his second missionary journey are mapped out by his sometime physician-companion, Luke in his Acts of the Apostles [15:36-18:22].

Paul had successfully founded two churches in Corinth, in tandem with his fellow evangelists (and tentmakers) Prisca/Priscilla and Aquila. Leaving the faith communities there in the capable hands of this committed believing couple, and a gifted Alexandrian convert in their care, Apollos, Paul traveled on to Ephesus, in what’s now Turkey, to initiate his third foray on mission [Acts 18.23-21.26]. Enroute, Paul heard of problems among his fledglings and sent a companion (possibly Titus) to investigate. The news was not encouraging. Concerns included: questions of morality, about the liturgy and the holding of assemblies, the recognition of spiritual gifts and the avoidance of contamination from pagan religions. Overall confusion about basic Christian teaching and a recurring insistence by a vocal minority that male Gentile believers had to be circumcised and that all should adopt Jewish dietary restrictions made for tensions and division that Paul sought to address in writing. Scholars date the first Letter to the Corinthians to Easter of 57 AD, and the second Letter to the Corinthians to the Fall of 57 AD They also suggest that what has come down to us as two letters may have been part of a longer, separated correspondence made up of 3 or 4 different communications. One of these was so strongly worded that it’s called the ‘severe letter’. Now that we’re reoriented to time and place, let’s dive back in, shall we?

When we last sat in on St. Paul’s communication with those in Corinth, he reminded them (2 Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 12-15) – and us – that wherever they/we might be on the path of earthly life: near its end, or somewhat closer to its beginning, God is glorified in the sharing of the Good News of the Father’s love fully expressed in Christ’s teaching/passion-death/resurrection. Paul hopes that the Corinthians will truly live as everyday signs of God’s glory in the world, filled with joy and hope that they will share.

Verses 16-18 – which close out the chapter – show us Paul’s willingness to give his life to/for the ministry with which he’s been entrusted. The risks are are many, but worth everything to Paul: “Yes, the troubles which are soon over, though they weigh little, train us for the carrying of a weight of eternal glory which is out of all proportion to them.”[Chapter 4, verse 17, NJB, Kindle Edition.]

As chapter 5 begins, Paul expresses the longing he feels for the fulfillment of this promised glory (verses 1-4). Describing the body as a tent would come easily to the tentmaker Paul, for whom it also involved a sense of intimacy and the Presence of God, recalling the journey of the Exodus and the Tent of Meeting (cf. The Book of Exodus, chapter 33, verse 7ff). The image of our desire to “put on our heavenly home over the other” (verse 3) paired with “to have what must die taken up into life” (verse 4) brings the tension of being ‘in the world, not of it (cf. The Gospel of John, chapter 17, verse 14) to the awareness of Paul’s listeners/readers. He is aware of their possible uneasiness and quickly reassures his flock (Chapter 5, verses 5-9, NJB, Kindle Edition.]):

“This is the purpose for which God made us, and he has given us the pledge of the Spirit. We are always full of confidence, then, when we remember that to live in the body means to be exiled from the Lord, going as we do by faith and not by sight -we are full of confidence, I say, and actually want to be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord. Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are intent on pleasing him.”

Verses 10-15 of chapter 5 are a reminder to Paul’s listeners/readers that the fact of ultimate judgment of one’s conduct by God should always guide our choices and actions. As well, Paul contrasts his own attitude toward his flock in Corinth: firm, grounded in truth, and quietly expressing the authority conferred on him by Christ and affirmed by the church leaders with whom he met in Jerusalem with the individualistic personality-driven efforts of some in and among the congregations in Corinth. He continues in verses 16-21, by emphasizing the newness of the believer’s self-understanding and relationship to others in light of the reconciliation with the Father accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ. The confidence and joy that fill these verses puts Paul’s supposedly stern attitude in a somewhat different light.

Chapter 6 begins with an urgent call to action that is poetic but firm in verses 1 and 2. He recalls the authority that he and his companions have in Christ, tempering it with pleading that while they have accepted their own salvation, they need to make it fruitful by the witness of their lives and words to those they encounter daily. For those now in the midst of the Lenten season, in preparation for the new beginning and joy of Easter, these words were the summons at the start of the forty days’ journey and a reminder throughout it: It’s never too late to begin or to start over.

In verses 3-10 of chapter 6 [NJB, Kindle Edition], Paul contrasts his own behavior – and that of his companions – with that of others ‘ministering’ in their wake:

“We do nothing that people might object to, so as not to bring discredit on our function as God’s servants. Instead, we prove we are servants of God by great fortitude in times of suffering: in times of hardship and distress; when we are flogged, or sent to prison, or mobbed; laboring, sleepless, starving. We prove we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by a spirit of holiness, by a love free from affectation; by the word of truth and by the power of God; by being armed with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, prepared for honor or disgrace, for blame or praise; taken for impostors while we are genuine; obscure yet famous; said to be dying and here are we alive; rumored to be executed before we are sentenced; thought most miserable and yet we are always rejoicing; taken for paupers though we make others rich, for people having nothing though we have everything.”

The serenity in Paul’s recitation of paradoxical circumstances here sounds like it would be something to cultivate in our own anxieties. In the concluding verses of Chapter 6 (verses 11-17), Paul advises his spiritual children not to try to have it both ways in their lives. He prefers that they limit their interactions with non-Christians, particularly in the areas of business dealings and marriage. Not out of disdain for any person, but out of concern for his fledglings, that they may not yet be strong enough to withstand the pull of former associations and habits. (Perhaps the fickleness of the Israelites after their deliverance from Egypt is on Paul’s mind here?) Better safe than sorry.

On that cautionary note, we and Paul’s congregations move to Chapter 7 of this second letter to Corinth. Chapter 7 reinforces his considerations of Chapter 6 (verses 1-4), fills in some reassuring personal details about Paul’s interactions with his fellow missionaries (verses 5-7), and a reference to the ‘severe letter’ he’d sent them at some point – and his having been encouraged by its positive effects (verses 8-15). These verses may remind some of us of adolescent interactions with parents/teachers/first bosses that seemed over-the-top at the time but brought forth good fruit later.

Chapter 8 deals with the contemporaneous issue of a collection to ease the destitution of the church in Jerusalem that Paul had organized among the faithful he had shepherded. Paul holds up the example of the generosity of less-wealthy believers in Macedonia (verses 1-5); reminds the Corinthians of their ability – and earlier commitment – to be generous (verses 6-15); and commends Titus and two unnamed companions who are charged with obtaining and delivering the donations to the Jerusalem Church (verses 16-24)

(A link for an overview of Paul’s travels is here.)

(A new link for a variety of Bible translations is here.)

Thanks for reading! See you in the comments….