God's Fellow Workers

God's Fellow Workers

I wonder if you have a slightly embarrassing member of your family?! Someone who, when you know your friends are going to meet them, you give them a bit of warning first. You love them, but if you're honest a part of you is a little bit embarrassed of them. That was Paul. Or at least that's what the Corinthians were tempted to think of Paul. The Corinthians were all about image. Corinth was a fashionable city, it was an impressive city, It was close to the coast and was a centre of trade. People would come from all over the world bringing their goods but also bringing their ideas. And the people in Corinth loved to hear the newest teachings and listen to the latest celebrity speakers. These philosophers and thinkers attracted huge crowds and, if they were good, could earn huge sums.

They were impressive. But Paul…was not. Paul didn't look impressive. He didn't charge people anything to come and listen to him. His language and his style weren't sophisticated. He'd had some success gathering groups of believers in various towns and cities. But he'd also been kicked out and beaten up more often than he'd been welcomed. Paul wasn't impressive. By the standards of Corinth, Paul and his ministry were, frankly, a bit embarrassing. And so for the last few chapters Paul has been explaining and defending his ministry. Look back at chapter 2. He said in v15 that he and his message are like "the aroma of Christ." But in verse 16 Paul knew that not everyone liked what he had to say, he wasn't as popular as some speakers,…but Paul insisted that the truth of what he was preaching could be seen in the lives of those who have been changed. Paul knew that some people wished he could be a bit more Old Testament. A bit more like Moses, holding out his staff and parting the Rea Sea, or going up to the top of a mountain and coming down with the 10 commandments written by the finger of God. That's more impressive, that's more Corinthian. But as Paul points out in the second half of chapter 3 his ministry and his message was far more glorious than Moses' ever was. The Old Testament law that Moses taught only showed people how sinful they were. The message that Paul taught, the message of Jesus, showed people how they could be saved.

You're right Paul says, in chapter 4, we're not impressive, we're not flashy. But our message is greater than anything else. We're like jars of clay. Old kitchen pots and pans, that have been filled with the treasure of God, v7. In fact, he says, our weakness only goes to show that the message that we bring is glorious not because it come from us. But because it comes from God. And, v13, our lives demonstrate that we believe what we preach. That's why we keep on going even when we've been kicked out and beaten up. We know, chapter 5, that the message of Jesus is true. We know that because we follow him, heaven is our home. So we don't care for the things of this world that are passing away. We live by faith and not by sight.

So, Paul says, we may not be impressive in the world's eyes. But you shouldn't be embarrassed of us.
Our ministry may not be what the world admires, but what we do and how we live confirms the truth if what we preach. That's what he's been saying, and in chapter 5 vv 11-15 we get a summary of

1. Paul's Ministry, v11-15

Look at vv 11-15. Paul has explained himself and explained his ministry, "not," as he says in v12

…trying to commend ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than what is in the heart.

His ministry wasn't something to be embarrassed about. Actually it's something to take pride in. It's a reason to believe that Paul is not just another philosopher or thinker selling his ideas for money and trying to draw a crowd. Paul and his message were different. Different because, as it says in v11, he knows

what it is to fear the Lord.

Paul had come to believe that Jesus really is the Son of God. That he came to die for our sins because we have made God our enemy. And that if we say sorry to God and put our faith in Jesus, then God will count Jesus' death in place of our own, and we can saved. 'Fearing the Lord' is a mixture of knowing that God rules, and knowing that God loves. And because Paul feared the Lord he tried to persuade other people of that truth. He didn't trick people, or sell his own ideas. He simply made the message of Jesus as simple and plain as he could. And in a world like Corinth, that only cares about looking impressive and sounding wise, and having power and charisma and presence,

In a world like that, Paul's simple message, which people hated as often as they loved, Paul's unimpressive appearance, and Paul's history of being persecuted for what he taught. Well to the Corinthians, all of that made Paul and his ministry seem crazy. Some of them even suggested that Paul and Timothy were out of their minds. What does Paul say to that? Well, if that's true, Paul says in v13, then we're out of our minds for God. But, if we're in our right minds, and if what we say is true. Then it's for you. You see, Paul's ministry might seem crazy to others, but it makes perfect sense to Paul. He was convinced, (v14-15), that Jesus had died to save him. So what else can he do, apart from put to death his old life, and now live his whole life for Him. What else can he do but go on preaching his unimpressive sounding message?

He knew that it was the true, and, Christ's love compelled him. It's a wonderful explanation isn't it?

Paul's ministry, what he said, and the way he lived, may not have been impressive in the eyes of the world.
But it's wasn't something to be embarrassed about. His ministry confirmed his message.

But that's not all. Because, Paul says, if he's right, and Jesus died to save not just him but all those who trust in him, then it's not just Paul who should live for Him.

Look at v14-17 again,  If anyone is a Christian, and knows that Jesus Christ died for them, then, as he says in v15, they should "no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

Do you see what Paul is saying? The call to tell people about Jesus, to let people know the truth about God rule and God's love, is not just his ministry. It is our ministry too.

2. Our Ministry, v16 – 6v2

Look at v18 –19, God has called us to the same ministry as Paul! If we are Christians, he says in v18, then God has not only "reconciled us to himself" he has also "given us the message of reconciliation."And in v19 he puts it even more strongly,

[God] has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

When you become a Christian, you don't just become part of God's family. You become part of his plan. God's plan of how to tell the world about Jesus is you, and it's me.

It's us.

Think I'm making this up? Look at v20 Paul's ministry is our ministry. We are Christ's ambassadors. Ambassadors represent people don't they? They go places, and say things in place of someone else. The Queen can't be in more than one place at one time, so what does she do? She sends ambassadors, all around the world. And it's the ambassador's job to speak on behalf of the Queen, to pass on the any message that she has given them.

Jesus is in heaven. One day he will come again. But until that day, he is in heaven and we are his ambassadors. How are your friends, and your families and your colleagues, and the guys down the pub and the friends at the school gate going to find out about Jesus? He's not going to come to them and speak to them. He doesn't need to. He's sent them you, as his ambassador.

If you are a Christian then Christ is sending you to tell people that they need to make things right with God.
It's our job as Christ's ambassadors to pass on the message that people can be right with God again because, v21 Just look at what Paul calls you if you are a Christian here this morning in chapter 6 v1. You are

God's fellow workers.

Fellow-workers, co-workers with Paul, and with God. Paul's ministry is our ministry. And so we should follow his example. As a church, we should try to persuade people of what we know is true. And like Paul we may be persecuted and laughed at for what we believe. Our world today is every bit as obsessed with appearance and image as Corinth was 2000 years ago, and so you can be sure that we still won't look impressive and some people still think we're crazy. But like Paul, Christ's love should still compel us. You and I are jars of clay. There's nothing special about us. But we have been filled with the treasure of God, the truth about Jesus.

You and I are Christ's ambassadors, his co-workers. And he has given us the message of reconciliation.

One day Jesus will come back in person. One day he will appear to our friends and our families and the guys down the pub and our friends at the school gate. But on that day it will be too late for them to turn back to him and ask for his forgiveness.

The time for people to hear and believe and be saved is now. Look at 6v2

If you are a Christian here this morning then Paul's ministry back then is your ministry today.
You and I have been given this time and this opportunity to tell people about Jesus, so that they might be saved.

Now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of salvation.

Let's pray that God would help us to be faithful to his call.