This is part 30—the final part!—of a sermon series through 2 Corinthians. Paul has been all over the place from hard accusations and sarcasm to forbearance and tenderness. What more is there to say?
Like any parent saing good-bye, Paul will use these closing words to get in just a few last word of advice.
2 Corinthians 13:11-14
Commentary11 Finally, brothers:
And the God of love & peace will be with you.Rejoice!
Aim for perfection!
Listen to my appeal!
Be of one mind!
Live in peace!
12 Greet one another with a holy kiss!
13 All the saints send their greetings.
14 May
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.
v11 I fiddled with the NIV translation a little bit, because the five indented lines are a series of commands. (In fact, 4 of the 5 commands are a single word in Greek; so the sense of the passage is very forceful: Rejoice! Aim! Listen! Be! Live!)
The NIV translated the word rejoice as "goodbye" and I have no idea why they did so; compare this verse with Philippians 4:4-9, another set of closing commands introduced with the command "Rejoice!"
Aiming for perfection will make one crazy! The word denotes restoration and wholeness—being what one is supposed to be. The same verb is used to describe James & John mending their nets (Matt. 4:21), equipping or supplying what is missing (1 Thess. 3:10), or being restored from sin & suffering (Gal. 6:1, 1 Peter 5:10). In any event, Christ is the agent of any perfection envisioned by Paul here, and we must submit to his healing touch.
The third command might be rephrased: Be encouraged! So much of our walk entails trying to get our heart, soul, mind, and strength going in the same direction; therefore Paul’s exhortation is to take what one knows and put it into action.
The last two commands in this verse allow for diversity of opinion and differentiation within the community—as long as members of the community are willing to come together on the important matters of faith & practice.
v12 a holy kiss. Nothing at the time compared to this innovation of Paul’s to promote reconciliation & fellowship.
v14 One of the few verses of the NT that mentions each member of the Trinity explicitly. The verse gives the path to unity within the community in a nutshell: grace through Christ (and not through a different gospel, e.g. 2 Cor. 11:4); love of a God who is for us, saying "Yes!" (2 Cor. 1:18-20); and fellowship through the Holy Spirit that draws us closer to God and to each other.
Points to Ponder
Aim for perfection! The perfection Paul has in mind is mending and wholeness. Can your relationship with God be mended if you are steadfastly not mending your relationship with others?
Aim for perfection! Before his death, Rabbi Zusya said, "In the coming world, they will not ask me: 'Why were you not Moses? Why were you not David? Why were you not Abraham?' No. In the world to come they will ask me: 'Why were you not Zusya?'" Let the Spirit of Christ restore you—not making you into somebody utterly different, but making you into the person that God created you to be!
3 comments:
sending a holy kiss, from alaska, to all of my casco alliance family. we love and miss you all. please comment on the sermon notes if you are ever lead to share, i miss the connection with each of you.
this alignment you speak of is just what i seem to be struggling with. it makes me question just whom it is i'm supposed to be, when i reflect on just that i'm angered at myself for not being able to carry out the small task the Lord has given, such a small task to me.
The struggle seems too much sometimes, doesn't it? However, the more I learn, the more I think we learn (and grow) more by way of the struggle than we know. The struggle teaches us humility (we are not there yet!). The struggle teaches us our limitations (we can't do it all!). And if we have the eyes to see, our own struggles teach us to be forgiving to others in their struggles.
We are so tiny in the overall scheme of things we cannot see that lots of the growing we need to do takes a lot of time, and we despair when it doesn't happen right away. Hang in there! Allow yourself to forgive yourself for not being perfect and know that God loves you just as you are!
Grace and peace to you!
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