Anxiety For All The Churches

 

Tuesday, June 18, 2024


Psalm 107:1-22

2 Chronicles 6:32-7:6

2 Corinthians 11:16-29


Anxiety For All The Churches (2 Corinthians 11:28)


A phrase I often come across when talking with people about life is “I can’t complain; others have got it much worse.” I appreciate the sentiment; when life turns around and smacks you about, one of the most difficult problems to solve is trying to figure out how to deal with it on a spiritual level. For Australian Christians, it seems like an easy lifeline to consider how good our life is from an overall perspective compared to many other people around the world.


But then I read this passage from St Paul and I wonder: is that attitude good enough? What if things get really bad – I mean, really bad – will I be able to say “I can’t complain; others have got it much worse”?


Because the apostle had it worse than most: beatings, imprisonment, starvation, homelessness, shipwrecks, he had it all. Who could say they had it worse than St Paul? Yet he was able to put all those problems aside. What was his coping mechanism? What is the secret to St Paul’s rock-solid loving faithfulness?


It seems that he had a different perspective. On top of all these problems, he suffered daily anxiety over the churches. But it doesn’t seem to be so much “in addition to” his problems; rather, he was able to put up with all those other problems because he was focused so closely on this one problem over and against all the others. His concern for the health of the church gave him the freedom to suffer all these other problems without letting them get the better of him. Who cares about the floggings and shipwrecks, says St Paul? I’ve got a church to lead to heaven!


What problems are you suffering at the moment? How are you coping with them? How might you exploit your suffering in order to get closer to God?


Lord of my salvation, teach me the lessons you want me to learn from my suffering. Help me see things from your perspective. Just as you exploited death in order to defeat death, help me exploit my suffering to defeat the evil in my life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday, September 12, 2022

  Monday, September 12, 2022 Psalm 33 Habakkuk 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:1-14 In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. The lectionary has taken us from the beloved disciple to one of the most beloved of Paul's epistles: Ephesians. Paul must have loved this church very much: we get a sense of his fondness for them and their shared sense of purpose and worship just from the introduction. In what is likely just an introduction to a letter in the style of the ancient Roman world, Paul has managed to squeeze in the entire, wondrous story of God's work of redemption. Paul has framed it the way it ought to be framed: in a pastoral, encouraging tone. He has three main points here (remember, Paul proceeds logically to build up an argument, unlike John who circles around his main point). First: God intended to save us before the world was formed. Think back to the first l
Read more

“Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.”

  Monday, September 11, 2023 Psalms 28; 29 1 Kings 7:51-8:21 Acts 26:19-32 Observance: Deiniol, bishop (d. 384) “ Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.” The great many blessings of being under the protection of the blood of the Lamb fill our hearts with joy and peace. To have the Almighty Creator of the universe, the One who sits above the flood, filling the temple of our being with the cloud of His presence is what it truly means to be human. Every day is filled with adventure; every night turns to the rest of the victor. Certainly there are chains: sometimes they are physical chains, the suffering of being a Christian among people who do not love the Lord. Sometimes they are spiritual; the attacks of the powers of the air who try to distract us from the One we love. But they always fall away. Our Rock of Ages always frees us; always brings us out of the pit of despair. A won
Read more

Monday, September 19

  Monday, September 19 Psalm 45 Nahum 1:15-2:9 Ephesians 4:17-28 ...be renewed in the spirit of your minds... It is far too easy to read some of these Pauline lists of virtues and vices and feel like we have gone back to the dark days before the Reformation. The idea that if we behave ourselves then we can call ourselves “good people” is pagan, not Christian. Paul feels very strongly about how Christians behave, he “affirms and insists” upon it. But it is because of what has already happened that we should mind our step, not because of where we are going. Christ's resurrection is many things, but one aspect relevant for Paul's teaching this morning is that it demonstrates to us the radical new reality in which we now live. We too have passed (spiritually) from death to life; therefore, we experience a “renewal of our minds”. Instead of treading water until we die, we live lives. Everything now makes sense: God has spoken, so we have logic. God made us in His im
Read more