Conflict, Within and Without

Sexagesima 2010
Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
February 07, 2010

2 Corinthians 11:19 9 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.

Thus opens this particular passage from II Corinthians, as the Apostle Paul now finds himself under attack from the very congregations he planted so laboriously at Corinth. I say “congregations” because Corinth turned out to be one of St. Paul’s very successful church plantings, resulting in several congregations, actually house churches of various sizes, all over the city. Recall how that in 1st Corinthians, Paul complained that the church at Corinth was threatening to break into factions, some following Paul, others following Apollos, and others Cephas. Thus, it seemed that that the church had growth problems, which lent themselves to bickering over leadership and other issues.

Evidently, the church at Corinth had something else, too: pride. As you know from your church history, Corinth was a prosperous city with a strong economy. This was owed in part to its strategic location. One source says, “Corinth was located directly south of the Corinthian Gulf, on the Peloponnesian side (southern Greece) of the Isthmus of Corinth. Two harbors accommodated the city's position of control over the isthmus between two seas. Lechaeum served the westward facing the Corinthian gulf, and Cenchreae functioned as the harbor on the eastward facing the Saronic Gulf.” In addition, “Not surprisingly the city derived income from its control of the isthmus. A charge was imposed for boats or cargo hauled on a platform across the isthmus on the "Diolkos," a paved road.” They actually hauled boats and ships across this narrow strip of land for a fee.

It must also be noted that Paul’s congregation was varied and diverse, including the noveau riche of Corinth, working men, slaves and freedmen. This diversity naturally led to a rich, but heterogeneous church congregation. A mix of peoples, occupations and incomes such as this expressed itself in many differing views and opinions, no doubt some of them very strongly felt, and many of them concerning the Apostle himself. This is the position He found himself when he penned the second Corinthian epistle.

The pride the Corinthians felt was coupled with a misdirected sense of leadership. Paul goes on to say: “For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. ” In saying this, Paul sets up a choice and a dichotomy that many of us in the Body of Christ face from time to time.

How could this be? What situation in the early Church could have triggered such a statement? Simply, it was the fact that soon after the Church was founded, many false preachers and religious charlatans approached the early congregations. Speaking wonderful words and projecting a holy and pious presence, these men, many of them rank heretics, appeared at many of the meeting places and sought to sway the congregations. Taking advantage of both the simplicity and generosity of the early Christians, these religious con men sought not only hospitality, but wages as well. Contrast this to Paul’s claim that he sought nothing from them but their earnest faith in God. He emphasized that he supported himself, as he told us in “I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. 34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.” Paul also states that he ”robbed other churches” to help support the Corinthian mission effort. By this he obviously meant that he used general church funds to subsidize them.
Again, contrast that with the openly avaricious itinerant preachers descending on the Corinthians.

What is the point of this to us? How can we benefit today from the struggles of a 1st century Greek church? Simply this: earlier we mentioned that St. Paul had set up a dichotomy and a choice that we all face some time or another in life.
This dichotomy is the choice of two paths, ultimately. One path is the tried, true, ancient, and honorable doctrine and beliefs of traditional Christianity, while the other is the lure of the new, the sensational, and the exciting “new frontiers” that mankind constantly seeks. The one, old and burnished with age, may be battered and besieged with the onslaughts of the New Morality, yet it stands. The New, while claiming to be something fresh, is simply the old traps laid out by Our Enemy below, that nevertheless succeed in snaring those souls bereft of Gospel armor.

Let me provide a current example. We are all aware of the alarming rate of teen and underage pregnancies in this country. Several approaches have tried to combat this problem, including safe sex seminars, free contraception giveaways, and sex education in general. Most have mixed results, to the point that some large school systems have adopted a “if you can’t beat ‘em, then join ‘em attitude.” They have, in effect, thrown up their hands. Then, lo and behold, a new study has just appeared that shows one approach has had good success in places where it has been funded and applied. That approach is called abstinence training. In response to this new study, the anti-abstinence forces are furious. Recently, a reporter shoved a microphone in front of a 12-year-old girl who was participating in abstinence training. When the reporter demanded if the girl thought that abstinence training really worked, she coolly replied, “Every time it’s tried.” Are we surprised?

Let us return to the Corinthians and draw a lesson from their situation. Just as people can choose the time-honored, but rarely practiced abstinence before marriage versus the new frontiers of societal libertinism, the Corinthians had a choice. They could continue to honor the teachings and moral example of their apostle and founder, St. Paul, or they could embrace the new, the fresh, and erroneous teaching of the new voices in their midst. This is exactly why St. Paul upbraids the congregation by telling them that they must be wise, because they put up with fools. John Calvin says this: “For ye bear with fools willingly. He calls them wise -- in my opinion, ironically. He was despised by them, which could not have been, had they not been puffed up with the greatest arrogance 7 He says, therefore- "Since you are so wise, act the part of wise men in bearing with me, whom you treat with contempt, as you would a fool." Hence I infer, that this discourse is not addressed to all indiscriminately, but some particular persons are reproved, who conducted themselves in an unkind manner.” Here they have the greatest Evangelist known to the Christian world, one who lovingly planted their congregations and fed them even with other churches’ funds, only to find himself vilified and dismissed as a fool. This is, once again, a fine example of fallen human nature at work.
The extent of St. Paul’s sense of injury is so immense that he even proceeds to rehearse his qualifications for the Corinthian church. He is “compelled” to boast, as he later tells us, of his sufferings for Christ. They are immense, only to be described as incredible to anyone who had not had the irresistible conversion experience that St. Paul underwent on the Damascus Road. To sum up his sufferings, he was beaten five times with the requisite 39 stripes, he was beaten with rods three times, stoned once, and suffered shipwreck three times. He suffered hunger, thirst, privation and danger, both from the Gentiles and the Jews. He was exhausted, sometimes sleepless and constantly harried on many fronts.
On top of these external dangers and troubles, Paul had the daily pressure of care for the churches. Sometimes, when I feel a bit stressed, I read this passage and realize that it is all very, very good. The only time I personally have shed blood for our Lord was during a church cleaning session when an old sanctuary lamp shattered in my hands! I daresay there is no comparision….
What we are talking about is not a new or even novel message in any way. It is, in the words of our Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Leonard Riches, not even old-fashioned enough to please our Lord. He addressed the presbyters and delegates in that fashion, saying that it could be a problem if we are not that old-fashioned.
Rather than run after the effervescent, even nebulous directives, whims and fads of a lost society, let us hold to the old, the tried, the true, and the tested. Our Lord doesn’t change; He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We need to be the same.
Refresh yourselves in the old and rich. Read the Scriptures every day. At least once a year, read the Thirty-Nine Articles to get a flavor of the strong intellectual underpinnings and vibrant faith of the Anglican Fathers. Meditate on your salvation with uplifted heart and eyes. Give thanks that God has chosen you, despite your sins and failings, to enjoy life with Him forever. Never let that fade from your heart.
We Christians are a blessed people. We are fortunate beyond our deserving. We are saved without merit, forgiven beyond measure, and strengthened beyond belief for a life of love and service.
This is not a new message. It is as old as Christianity itself, and yet as fresh as the purest sunrise in the first days of spring, when all the Earth celebrates the ever-present Glory of God.
Glory be to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, now and for ever. AMEN