I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 2 Corinthians
5:11-21
2
Corinthians 5:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to
persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your
conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are
giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who
take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are
“out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it
is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one
died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who
live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was
raised again.
16 So
from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in
Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the
message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though
God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be
reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God.
-- I heard a story about a man who was
driving to work one day -- and there was a car just right on his bumper -- it
was a busy road, and this woman behind him was just tailgating him and not
giving him any room at hall -- he was watching her in his mirror, when he
looked up and the stoplight was turning yellow -- so, he did the right thing --
he stopped at the intersection, even though he could have run the yellow and
made it across the road
-- well, this just set that woman
off -- she was furious -- she began honking her horn and he could see her
screaming in frustration and making gestures at him in his mirror -- she was so
preoccupied at yelling a him, she didn’t notice the police officer standing
next to her car until he tapped on her window
-- The officer ordered her to exit
her car with her hands up -- He took her to the police station where she was
searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell -- After a
couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door -- She was
escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with
her personal effects.
-- He said, “I’m very sorry for this
mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn,
flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him -- I
noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker -- the ‘Choose Life’ license
plate holder -- the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker -- and the
chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk -- Naturally, because of the
way you were acting, I assumed you must have stolen the car.”
-- we’ve all heard that old cliché,
“Actions speak louder than words” -- but the thing is, it’s a cliché for a
reason -- it is so true -- and it’s something that we really need to keep in
mind as we go about our day
-- I’ve noticed a trend lately on
the news and on social media and in talking with friends and coworkers --
people that I know to be good Christian men and women are not acting like good
Christian men and women -- in this case, not only their actions, but their
words are not reflecting the person they claim to be
-- it’s like a few years ago --
there was a guy at work that could only be described as grumpy -- no one wanted
to talk to him -- nobody wanted to be around him -- he was just an overall,
disagreeable type of person -- he came across as mean and harsh with everyone
-- I was talking to him one day, and he mentioned having been on the Walk to
Emmaus and that he attended a local church that I knew well -- and I was
dumbfounded, because I had never once considered that he was a believer based
on how he acted and how he talked
-- and I’m afraid that this same
impression is being shown en masse by Christians today as evidenced by the
negative connotation that the word “evangelist” has in our culture right now --
we are simply not acting like Christians -- we are simply not being who we are
called to be in our lives and in our words and in what we do
-- to remind you of another common
cliché: “what you do says more about what you believe about Jesus than what you
ever might say”
-- so, this morning, I want us to
look at this passage from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians while keeping
in mind the question, “Am I who I claim to be in Christ?”
II. Scripture Lesson [2 Corinthians 5:11-21]
-- before we dive into the
scriptures, let me remind you of the context of Paul’s letters to the
Corinthians -- the church at Corinth is known as “the carnal church” -- it was
a very diverse church, with both Jews and Gentiles -- but it had a lot of
Gentiles who had come from pagan religions that had practices that were not
morally acceptable in either Judaism or in Christianity -- for instance, the
blending of sexual rituals and actions as part of worship
-- and so, this church was known for
“not walking the walk or talking the talk” -- mostly, because they just simply
did not understand what it meant to be a Christian -- this was a church with a
lot of baby Christians who were just learning what they were supposed to be as
Christians -- how they were supposed to live differently than before and
differently from those around them by the power of the Holy Spirit within --
so, they went from being almost identical to the world around them to the other
extreme, where they became ultra-holy and judged those within the church and
those around them -- and so, Paul is trying to get them to understand who they
are in Christ -- and how they are to live as Christians -- how they are to walk
and talk and behave and speak and think as people who have been saved through
the body and blood of Christ
-- that’s where we’re at -- and
that’s the people that Paul is talking to in these verses -- a people,
unfortunately, not too different from us today
-- so, let’s begin looking at this
passage in some detail -- look back with me at verse 11-15
2
Corinthians 5:11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to
persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your
conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are
giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who
take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are
“out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it
is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one
died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who
live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was
raised again.
-- in these verses, Paul is
explaining himself and his actions to the people of Corinth -- if you’ve read
any of Paul’s first letter to the church, you will see that the church had a
lot of problems -- there was division -- there was sin -- there was
licentiousness -- in the body of believers -- they didn’t know what or who to
believe nor how they were supposed to act
-- so, Paul spent quite a bit of
time correcting their behavior and explaining to them how a Christian should
live and act and speak -- not only during worship services -- but every day of
their lives
-- some in the church took offense
and questioned Paul’s authority and Paul’s motives -- and we see him defending
both in these letters, including right here in these verses
-- Paul tells them that the reason
they acted and directed the church as they had done was driven by their fear of
the Lord -- now, this doesn’t mean they were afraid of God in the sense we
might take it as we read these words in today’s English -- no, the word “fear”
here means awe and respect -- it means Paul and his followers knew the Lord --
that they recognized Him as the supreme ruler of the universe -- that they knew
His power and His majesty -- they knew His authority -- and they respected Him
and His word -- they were in awe of Him and humbly responded to His words and
His commands through that healthy fear
-- in other words, Paul is saying
that his actions and his words were based on how God wanted him to act, not on
how the world expected him to act -- because he knew God and feared God, he
lived differently from those around him -- and this fear and awe led him to try
to persuade others to follow his example and live like him -- as a people
redeemed and saved through the cleansing blood of Jesus
-- he makes the point that he wasn’t
doing it just for show, to commend himself to them and prove his authority as
an apostle -- he was doing it because that’s who he was now -- a sinner saved
by grace -- a person changed from who he was into a better person through God’s
love poured out into his life
-- and, he goes on, this is how you
should live, too -- as he says in verse 15, because Jesus died for all --
meaning, in context, all of the believers in the church at Corinth -- you
should no longer live for yourselves -- you should no longer just do what you
want to do and say what you want to say and continue to live as the world lives
-- no, Paul says, you should live for Christ because He died for you and was
raised again from the dead on the third day to prove His authority and victory
over sin and death
-- the whole point Paul is making in
these verses is that Christians should be different -- the Bible calls us a
peculiar people -- a strange people -- meaning that our allegiance and our
actions and our thoughts and our behaviors reflect the Spirit within us and no
longer reflect the values or the behavior of the flesh or the world
-- verse 16
16 So
from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
-- Paul speaks here about no longer
having a worldly point of view -- which lets us know that there is also an
alternative -- a Christian point of view
-- so, what does he mean by point of
view? -- well, it’s the way we live -- it’s the lens by which we see the world
and our place in the world -- it’s the way we define who we are and what we do
-- for instance, we were all raised
in the south -- we have a southern point of view -- we see things differently
than those who are from somewhere else -- the way we approach life is different
-- we talk slower -- we move slower -- we have different values -- different
interests -- different likes and dislikes -- we tend to be more religious --
more family-oriented -- we like grits and NASCAR and college football and we
like to take care of ourselves rather than let the Government do it -- it’s
just a different way of looking at life
-- Paul says here that before we
came to Christ, we all had a worldly point of view -- that means that we looked
at life and we did life based on what the world thought was important -- on
what the world thought was morally acceptable -- on what the world thought was
normal
-- in Paul’s day, things like sexual
immorality -- a very harsh patriarchal society that degraded children and women
-- slavery -- striving for wealth and influence and power -- not caring about
others, but only yourself -- no regard for the sanctity of life -- judging
others -- punishing others harshly -- that was normal -- that was the way of
the world in Paul’s day -- but, unfortunately, that was the way that some of
these baby Christians in the church at Corinth were still living
-- so, Paul makes the point that we
shouldn’t do that any longer -- in the way we live or in the way we look at
others -- we shouldn’t see them through the world’s point of view, but through
a Christian point of view -- in other words, instead of seeing them as the
world saw them, we should see them as Christ saw them -- instead of relating to
them as the world related to others, we should love them as Jesus loved them --
and, instead of acting like the world expected us to act, we should look at
what we were doing and saying in light of how Jesus would have us live -- in
light of His word and His commands
-- this is very important for us to
get, because it’s still a problem today -- are we living life through a worldly
point of view or through a Christian point of view -- if someone were to look
at us, would they know that we were Christians or would they think we just
another member of society?
-- we need to stop before we act or
speak or make decisions and ask ourselves if what we are doing lines up with
the world or with God’s kingdom -- would
Jesus be okay with what we do or say or the decisions we make? -- that is the
question that Paul’s words raise here in this passage
-- what difference does being a
Christian look like: in our lives? -- at
the store? -- at the voting booth? -- on Facebook? -- in what we say and do?
-- verse 17
17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone,
the new is here!
-- this is what should be making the
difference evident between someone from the world and someone from the Kingdom of
God -- we are different -- we are new creations -- we are not as the world is
because of Christ’s death and resurrection
-- we are born again into a new way
of life -- into a new kingdom -- the old has gone -- the new has come -- and we
should no longer be living and thinking and doing life as the world, but as
people saved by grace and forgiven through the blood of Jesus
-- verse 18
18
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us
the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed
to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,
as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s
behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for
us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
-- with this new life, comes new
responsibilities -- not only in living our lives in the fear of the Lord --
living our lives and becoming who Jesus would have us be -- but also in our
relations to others
-- Paul says here that we have been
made ministers of reconciliation -- messengers from God -- men and women who
speak God’s truth and God’s message of love and hope to this world today -- to
show them they are on the wrong path and to lead them to the straight and
narrow path that leads to salvation and eternal life with God
-- we are called to point others to
the cross, whereby they will be reconciled to God and find new life in Him,
just as we were reconciled to God and made into new creations, too
-- in addition to being ministers of
reconciliation, Paul says we are to be Christ’s ambassadors
-- what is an ambassador? -- an
ambassador is a representative of another Government who goes to a foreign land
to represent their country and their leader -- to speak on behalf of their
leader
-- as Christ’s ambassadors, we are
to speak His message of love and forgiveness to this world -- we are to show
others how people in our Kingdom live -- we are to invite others to join us
-- but first, we have to remember
that we are ambassadors -- foreigners living in this world but not of this
world
-- I’m reminded of the story about
George Shultz when he was Secretary of State during the Reagan presidency -- as
Secretary of State, Shultz was in charge of diplomacy for the United States
Government -- he was in charge of all the ambassadors that were sent from
America to countries all over the world to represent the United States abroad
-- as part of his duties, Shultz would
meet with newly appointed ambassadors before they left the U.S. to take up
their new posts -- Shultz came up with a test for these newly appointed
ambassadors -- he had a large globe in his office, and he would tell them,
"You have to go over the globe and prove to me that you can identify your
country." -- They would go over, spin the globe, and put their finger on
the country to which sent -- not a one ever failed this test
-- Shultz did this to every
ambassador during his tenure at the White House, even when his old friend and
former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield was appointed ambassador to Japan and
came to meet with him before he left for Japan -- Shultz told him to go over to
the globe and point to his country
-- but Ambassador Mansfield did
something that shocked Shultz -- he spun the globe and pointed to the United
States -- He said: "That’s my country."
-- Shultz later said his experience
with Mansfield changed the test -- from then on he would tell all the
ambassadors heading out to serve in foreign lands, "Never forget you’re
over there in that country, but your country is the United States -- You’re
there to represent us -- take care of our interests and never forget it, and
you’re representing the best country in the world."
-- the same is true for us -- while
we may physically remain in this world, we must never forget where our home and
our allegiance is – the kingdom of God
-- and we must remember that we are
to live as members of this Kingdom and not the world
-- to truly live in relationship
with Christ, we must leave the old kingdom of the world and we must live life
with a new point of view -- a Kingdom view -- a Christian view -- lives
different from those around us and characterized by the love of Christ and the
fear of the Lord
III. Closing
-- I want to close by sharing with
you a story from Craig Barnes, the pastor of National Presbyterian Church in
Washington, D.C. that he shared in a sermon several years ago -- I think it
really illustrates the point Paul was trying to make in this passage to the
Corinthians and to us
-- Barnes said, “When I was a child,
my minister father brought home a 12-year-old boy named Roger, whose parents
had died from a drug overdose. There was no one to care for Roger, so my folks
decided they'd just raise him as if he were one of their own sons.
-- “At first it was quite difficult
for Roger to adjust to his new home—an environment free of heroin-addicted
adults! Every day, several times a day, I heard my parents saying to Roger:
-- "No, no. That's not how we
behave in this family." -- "No, no. You don't have to scream or fight
or hurt other people to get what you want." -- "No, no, Roger, we
expect you to show respect in this family." And in time Roger began to change.
-- “Now, did Roger have to make all
those changes in order to become a part of the family? No. He was made a part
of the family simply by the grace of my father. But did he then have to do a
lot of hard work because he was in the family? You bet he did. It was tough for
him to change, and he had to work at it. But he was motivated by gratitude for
the incredible love he had received.
-- “Do you have a lot of hard work
to do now that the Spirit has adopted you into God's family? Certainly. But not
in order to become a son or a daughter of the heavenly Father. No, you make
those changes because you are a son or daughter. And every time you start to
revert back to the old addictions to sin, the Holy Spirit will say to you,
"No, no. That's not how we act in this family."”
-- as we close in prayer, I want to
encourage you to think about your life -- what you do -- what you say -- how
you live -- and ask yourself, “Am I living like I am part of the family of God
or am I living like someone from the world?”
-- and this week, as you go about
your daily routine, stop and think about what you are doing and what you are
saying -- consider your position as an ambassador of Christ -- as a minster of
reconciliation -- and make sure your actions and your thoughts and your life
reflect the fear of the Lord and His Kingdom values
-- let us pray
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