2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10
Be Still: Lord Jesus, please still my heart today to hear powerful truths from your Word. Make me open to listen, and to learn again and again the beautiful hope that you offer me. Amen
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10
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: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonour, 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. (vv3-10)
Encounter: Here Paul reflects on his own steadfastness borne of his gospel-hope, in the face of changing circumstances. These include multiple occasions when he has suffered emotionally and physically for his ministry. In a passionate defence (verses 8-10), Paul lists several seemingly incompatible phrases: ‘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.’
Reading these, we might ask how these things can be true.
People today may make sense of suffering by seeing an opportunity for personal growth, or the opening of a door in a new direction. While there is no doubt God’s grace can achieve these and more, it does seem oversimplified for those who have suffered in unimaginable ways. Further, it dilutes the true hope we hold. How can Paul declare that he and Timothy hold these opposing stances at the same time? Because their radical faith goes deeper, and is far more challenging, hopeful and wonderful than the belief that things only happen to be made right in the present.
‘Having nothing yet possessing everything’ (v:10): as followers of Jesus, we have access to a love far-surpassing any other – and we can look forward to a time of new creation and restoration when all will be made new again, even if this redemption remains invisible for now. This is a powerful challenge to our faith, but also the most beautiful hope.
Apply: What would it mean to you to live ‘having nothing yet possessing everything’? How does it challenge you to consider that not every sacrifice may feel ‘worth it’ in this life? How does this simultaneously offer a beautiful hope?
Devote: Lord Jesus, thank you that the life you offer is much more than my years on this broken Earth. Help me to be both challenged and comforted as I step out today in the knowledge that you will one day fully redeem all your creation.