Love and The Cross of Christ
July — Month Two of Our Summer in Corinth
July is the hinge month of our summer series. We finish 1 Corinthians and step across into 2 Corinthians. However, the one-page gap between those two letters is misleading. Paul did not write 1 Corinthians, drop it in the mail, and then sit down a few weeks later to write 2 Corinthians. Between the two letters lies roughly eighteen months of relationship trouble. There were follow-up visits that went badly. There was at least one painful, tearful letter that has been lost to history. There were rival teachers who showed up in Corinth and began undermining Paul behind his back, calling him unimpressive in person, accusing him of being a con artist, suggesting his refusal to accept their money proved he was not really an apostle.
By the time Paul writes 2 Corinthians, he is a wounded pastor writing to a congregation that has broken his heart, asking them to trust him one more time. That is the letter we step into on July 26.
July's Sermons at a Glance
July 5 — Coming Together as a Church (1 Cor. 11–12): The Lord's Supper, spiritual gifts, and the radical idea that the church is one body of many parts.
July 12 — Love and Consequences (1 Cor. 13–14): The most famous chapter in all of Paul's writing, read not as wedding poetry but as the daily measure of a Christian life.
July 19 — The Very Best Really Great News (1 Cor. 15–16): The resurrection of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, and why everything in the Christian faith stands or falls right here.
July 26 — Yes and No (2 Cor. 1): Paul defends his integrity to a church that has begun to doubt his word. We enter 2 Corinthians.
A Thought to Carry With You
The pivot from 1 Corinthians to 2 Corinthians is also a pivot in tone. The first letter is direct, full of arguments and instructions. The second letter is vulnerable. Paul writes about an affliction in Asia so crushing that he "despaired of life itself" (2 Cor. 1:8). He writes about carrying around in his body the dying of Jesus. He writes, eventually, about a "thorn in the flesh" that God will not remove.
Why does this matter? Because most of us, if we are honest, have an unspoken theology that says the closer you walk with God the smoother your life will get. Paul's life argues the opposite. The closer he walks with the crucified Christ, the more the shape of the cross presses into his daily life. As his life takes on a cross-like shape, God's power is revealed more and more clearly, through Paul’s weakness.
This is the message twenty-first-century Christians most need to hear, the one we most resist hearing. We are not promised a charmed life. We are promised the living presence of the resurrected Christ.
Looking Ahead to August
August takes us deep into 2 Corinthians. Paul will describe Christians as "ambassadors of reconciliation"; he will offer teaching on generosity (some of the richest verses on giving in all of Scripture); and he will make another bold, but tender, defense of the integrity of his ministry.
Mark your August Sundays:
August 2 — Heart Tablets (2 Cor. 2–3) Communion Sunday
August 9 — What Ambassadors Do (2 Cor. 4–5)
August 16 — Frankly Speaking (2 Cor. 6–7)
August 23 — Testing Your Love (2 Cor. 8–9)
August 30 — Bold Humility (2 Cor. 10–11)
A Simple Practice for the Month
Read 2 Corinthians 1:3–11 slowly, three times this month (beginning, middle, and end). It is Paul's opening blessing, and it is built on one word: comfort. Paul uses some form of that word ten times in nine verses. He is telling us that the God we worship specializes in showing up in afflicted places. The God who raised Jesus from the dead is the same God who meets us in our hardest weeks. Let those verses do their slow work on you.
See you Sunday.
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