Commending the Gospel

The alarm goes off at 6:45, just like it does every morning.

Kate gets up and heads to the shower. At ten past 7 she's in the kitchen making tea and toast and checking to see if anything interesting has popped up on Facebook. She notices that it's the birthday of an old friend of hers, and she wonders if it's been too long to send a Happy Birthday message,
when her phone beeps. It's a text from a friend at work, and all it says is, 'I love you.'

The alarm goes off at 6:45, just like it does every morning.

Ben struggles to get out of bed and by the time he's left the shower he's still half-asleep. He gets dressed, and as he wanders downstairs he remembers that he forgot to buy milk on the way home from work last night. Then he hears a knock at the door. Strange, he thinks, the postman doesn't usually come this early. But when he opens the door he sees that it's not the postman. It's Jo.

She's standing on the doorstep, soaking wet. It's raining. 'What are you doing here?' Ben says, 'I didn't think we were going to see each other 'til Saturday?' 'We weren't,' she says, 'But I thought I'd bring you breakfast!' She holds up two cups of coffee from Ben's favourite coffee shop, the one in the middle of town. 'I bought muffins too,' she says with a sheepish grin, 'but the Metro was broken and I got hungry on the walk!' 'You walked from town to here…in the rain…just to bring me coffee?' Ben asked in disbelief. 'No,' Jo replied, 'I walked from town to here in the rain to tell you that I love you.'

Two messages. The words are the same. But one very different from the other. Why?

Because the message is affected by the messenger.

Two weeks ago at the end of chapter 5, Paul told the Corinthians that it wasn't just his job to tell people about Jesus, it's the job of every Christian.
If you're a Christian, Paul says in 5 v 15, you should no longer live for yourself, but for him who died for you. If you are a Christian, v18, then not only has God reconciled you to himself, he has given you the ministry of reconciliation. It's your job to tell other people that they can be forgiven and made friends again with God, through faith in Jesus. v20...

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

But now, Paul says, telling people about Jesus isn't just about what you say, it's about how you live. Why? 

Because the message is affected by the messenger. Look at 6 vv 3-4a… 

We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way

Now if you've been here as we've been going through 2 Corinthians this term, v4 should strike you as strange. Paul says, "as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way." Paul and Timothy, who wrote this letter, want people to think well of them. Which is strange because back in chapter 4 and v5, Paul said,

…we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord…

For the last few chapters Paul has been arguing that the Corinthians shouldn't be embarrassed of his ministry, they should actually take pride in it. And one of the reasons they should take pride in Paul was that he had no interest in people loving him or following him, he didn't preach for the fame or the glory, he only wanted people to love Jesus and follow Jesus as Lord.

So what's going on in chapter 6? Has he changed his mind? No.

But he knows that people will only listen to him if they think well of him, he knows that how people respond to the message is linked to what people think of the messenger. And so he and Timothy try to commend themselves in every way.

And first of all we see Paul commends himself,

By what he's willing to endure, vv 4-5

Look at vv 4-5…

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger

For Paul, preaching the gospel of Jesus brought serious consequences. Later on in 2 Corinthians he says this…

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked…in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 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.

Why was Paul willing to go through all of that? Because he believed what he preached.

You might say you want to join the team, but I believe you when I see you train hard and practice, week after week. You might say the exam is important, but I believe you when I see you get up early every morning and in the library every night. Paul commends himself, and the gospel, by what he's willing to endure.

Secondly he commends himself and the gospel,

By his life and his love, vv 6-7

Look at vv 6-7, ("We commend ourselves in every way…)…

...in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left

Paul's life was genuine. He and Timothy and Silas had lived in Corinth for 18 months. The Corinthians had seen them live their lives, "in purity…in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love." Paul practiced what Jesus preached.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. You can't hide those things from the people who know you, and you can't fake them for the people who live with you. And Paul had nothing to hide, or fake, because the way he lived matched what he said.

And, look at v6 again, he spoke to people with "understanding, patience and kindness." That doesn't mean that Paul was a people-pleaser. He didn't just say what people wanted to hear. It tells us in v7 that he spoke the truth from God by the power of God. He wasn't afraid or ashamed to be clear about what God says is right and wrong. But when he spoke he did it in love. With understanding and patience and kindness.

And he didn't fight with people. When people attacked him, the only weapons he used in response were "righteousness in the right hand and in the left." Paul commended himself, and the gospel, by his life and his love.

Thirdly he commended himself and the gospel, 

By caring about what God thinks, not what people think, vv 8-10

Look at vv 8-10, ("We commend ourselves in every way…)…

...through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Some people loved Paul, but other people hated him. Some gave him glory and some dishonoured him. But Paul wasn't really concerned about that. His concern was God's opinion of him.

So when life was hard, Paul was still rejoicing. When people beat him and tried to take even his life away, he knew that in Christ he still possessed everything. He might have been poor in the world's eyes, but he spent his life giving away a message that was a treasure beyond any price.

In every way possible, and in everything he did, Paul wanted to live his life so that people would think well of him. Not so that people would love him, but so that people would listen to him, and learn to love Jesus. By what he was willing to endure, by his life and his love, and by caring more about what God thought of him than what people thought of him, Paul was commending himself. And he was commending the gospel.

Because he knew that the message is linked to the messenger. What people thought of the message of Jesus was affected by what people thought of the messenger of Jesus. 

If you are a Christian here this morning, then you and I are Christ's ambassadors. We've been given the message of how people can go from being God's enemies to being God's friends. And I hope you want to tell people that good news. That you want to pass on the gospel. It is our duty and our job and our joy.

But one of the things that will affect how many opportunities we get to share that message, and one of the things that will affect how interested people are when we share with them, is what people think of us. What people think of the message of Jesus is affected by what people think of the messenger of Jesus.

The way we live can commend ourselves and our message to our friends and family and colleagues. It can attract people to the gospel. 

But the opposite is also true. How we live and act can also put people off. Our lives can discredit the gospel, and be a stumbling-block. One of the things that put people off Christianity is Christians. So we need to ask ourselves, 'Are we making it harder for people to believe in Jesus?'

They know we're Christians, we've told them that we are, but perhaps as they look at our lives they come to the conclusion that Jesus doesn't really matter that much to us. So why should he matter to them?

They know we're Christians, we've told them we are, but perhaps as they look at our lives we don't seem to be doing any better than them. We're just as negative and cynical as they are. We get angry like them. We worry about the future, like them. We're jealous and envious and complain about things just like they do. And the only times they do hear us talk about our faith perhaps we're not very nice. What we say about homosexuals sounds mean and what we say about abortion sounds judgmental. So why would they want to know about Jesus?

Or perhaps they know we're Christians, we've told them we are, but perhaps it just doesn't seem to be true. We say we worship God, but we're chasing after promotion just as hard as they are. We respond to a hurtful words in the same way we do, and we talk about our new car in the same way. We call ourselves Christians, but we seem to worship people and opinions and things just like everyone else. So what difference does Jesus really make?

The message is affected by the messenger. 

The alarm goes off at 6:45, just like it does every morning.

Kate gets up and heads to the shower. At ten past 7 she's in the kitchen making tea and toast and checking to see if anything interesting has popped up on Facebook. She notices that it's the birthday of an old friend of hers, and she wonders if it's been too long to send a Happy Birthday message, when her phone beeps.

It's a text from a friend at work, and all it says is, 'Hey Kate, what are you doing on Sunday? My church has got a service at 10:30. Hope you can come. Beth' That's weird, thinks Kate. Why would Beth think I'd want to go to church with her?

The alarm goes off at 6:45, just like it does every morning.

Ben struggles to get out of bed and by the time he's left the shower he's still half-asleep. He gets dressed, and as he wanders downstairs he remembers that he forgot to buy milk on the way home from work last night, when his phone beeps. It's a text from Chris, and all it says is...
'I'll be there in 10 minutes, the usual?' Ben knows what it means.

It means an bacon and egg McMuffin and a coffee, and it means that Chris, one of the guys from his team at work is on his way to McDonald's. They've worked together for a couple of years, and Chris isn't like the other guys in the office. Not that he's not a nice guy, he is, but as Ben leaves the house he wonders what it is about Chris that makes him different. He doesn't make the same kinds of jokes as the others, and he doesn't laugh at the same things they do. He doesn't make a big thing of it, but Ben notices. He doesn't complain about their boss or their other colleagues. In fact, now that he thinks about it, Ben can't remember the last time Chris blew up in anger or said a bad word about anyone.

He knows Chris is a Christian. He often mentions his friends from church and Ben's seen the Bible that he carries round in his bag every day.
A couple of times Ben has told him something and Chris said he'd pray for him. A while back they even had a conversation about abortion and Chris shared what he believed. Ben didn't agree with everything that Chris said, but Chris was kind and thoughtful in the way he disagreed.

By the time arrives at McDonald's Chris has found a table and there's a McMuffin and coffee sitting opposite him. They chat about nothing in particular for a while and Ben asks Chris what he's getting up to at the weekend. 'Oh, you know,' Chris says, 'the usual.' 'Bit of DIY on Saturday, and church on Sunday. Actually I'm playing guitar in the band this week.'

'I didn't know you played guitar,' Ben says, 'Are you any good?' Chris laughs. 'Not really, but if you'd like to you're welcome to come along and hear for yourself.' 'Thanks,' says Ben, 'I'd like that.'