“Following his lead”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, February 14, 2024 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (Forward, p. 16) CEV p. 1208
Poor fellow! The apostle Paul had his detractors and naysayers, and so well might he want to take the liberty of mentioning all that he has undergone on behalf of the gospel. He goes ahead and lists his misfortunes and struggles several times in his letters and one might easily conclude that he is boasting. Just note some of the things he mentions in today’s passage:
-patiently enduring sufferings and problems of diverse sorts, beatings, imprisonments, and riots, for instance.
-being overworked and being deprived of sleep or food.
-and continuing pure, kind, understanding and patient through it all.
-and despite all the pressure, despite of all these troubles, continuing to say and do only what is true and right.
-and most of all, sacrificing all, being ‘poor’ for their sakes, simply in order to bless them and make them rich.
So, is Paul simply boasting, trying to make himself look good in his readers’ eyes, trying to beat the ‘opposition’ at their own game? I think not. The clue, I think, is found in the final words of this passage. He mentions how he became poor for their sakes, which is exactly what he later says about Jesus (2 Corinthians 8:9):
"Though the Lord Jesus Christ was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich". Christ became poor for us, that we might become rich in Him.
Indeed, as we find reiterated over and over in his letters, Paul is simply trying to pattern his life after the life and example of Jesus. I think, trying in a very real sense to repay Jesus something of his own debt of thanks and gratitude for what Jesus did for him. And should not these motivations be ours as well? Indeed, to me what are two of
the compelling narratives and imperatives of this Lenten season that we enter into today, is to fix our eyes on the Cross of Jesus and consider what He did for us, and then, to live—and respond—accordingly.
Forward notes: “We are treated as imposters and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed (chapter 6, verses 8b-9).
“This passage from 2 Corinthians details faith as a paradox: impostors versus true, unknown versus well known, and best of all, dying versus very much alive. It turns the world upset down, as Jesus himself did, flipping the systems of power, dominance, privilege, and status on their heads. We are called to see the world and our place in it very differently.
“Ash Wednesday is my favourite holy day because I am reminded that in the nothingness of dust, in God’s value of the inverse of our earthly values, I am filled with the wonder of creation and the reality of the unfailing and unconditional love of God. In pondering and accepting my mortality, I find perfect freedom. My work, my life, and my whole being are all in God’s hands. This is the comfort of Ash Wednesday.
Moving Forward: “Attend an Ash Wednesday service. Pray the service, which starts on page 264 in the American Book of Common Prayer or page 543 in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer or page 281 in the Book of Alternative Services.”