An insufficient sufficiency
2 Corinthians 2:12-3:6

Introduction

To become a Sydney Anglican minister requires going through a long and drawn-out process. It takes several years … several reports and letters of recommendation … several panel interviews … and a psychological assessment. Now I’ve mentioned this before … but MY psych report said that Brendan is … quote; ‘emotionally bland’. Emotionally bland. And when Deb read that … she was upset. She said ‘I can’t believe they would say something so negative. Doesn’t that upset you Brendan?’ I said ‘eh’.

Now the reason I mention that again … is because that description was picked up in the interviews. One panel wanted to know if I would be able to connect to people on an emotional level. Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘WHAT! Brendan is THE MOST empathetic person I know. He’s like a walking hug.’ That was a bit TOO much laughter … thank you. But the REASON for all this … is that WHEN the wrong person slips through the system … they can do enormous damage to a church. When a church suffers at the hands of a bully … gets taught liberal theology … or has a minister commit sexual immorality with someone in the congregation … it can take a church 5-10 years to recover. So we want to make sure we get the RIGHT people for the job.

And THIS is what we’re looking at in our passage today. We’re looking at what makes a person suitable for Christian service. So as we’ve seen over the last 3 weeks … the letter of 2 Corinthians was written because certain false teachers … whom Paul sarcastically refers to later in the letter as ‘super-apostles’ … certain ‘super-apostles’ had infiltrated the church in Corinth. And they wanted the Corinthian Christians to sit under their teaching … and support their ministry financially. And this was quite common in the first century. Itinerant preachers or philosophers would travel from city to city … and ask those who may be benefitting from their teaching to support them financially.

The problem for these super-apostles was … Corinth already had an apostle; the Apostle Paul. The church in Corinth was founded by Paul … see Acts 18. And Paul would visit them from time to time … as his missionary journeys would permit. So these so called ‘super-apostles’ started bad mouthing Paul … so the Corinthians would stop supporting HIM … and start supporting them. And so far in this letter … Paul has dealt with 2 of their charges; (i) his extensive suffering, and (ii) his changed travel plans.

Well in TODAY’S passage … Paul puts himself up against these super-apostles. He puts himself side-by-side … and asks ‘what REALLY qualifies a person for Christian ministry?’ What are the MAIN ingredients God looks for in a Christian minister? But when I say ‘Christian minister’ … I don’t just mean me. The MAIN ingredients Paul discusses in this passage apply to ANY Christian … who wants to serve the Lord. So whether you help out with welcoming … or morning tea … or are a missionary … or an ordained Anglican minister … our passage today is outlining what are the MAIN ingredients God looks for … in his servants.

And there are 3 main ingredients in this passage … which are our 3 points for today. So we’re going to start by looking at the need for empathy and love in ministry … which I’ve titled (i) A heart for ministry … v. 12-13. We’ll then look at HOW Christian ministry is conducted … which I’ve titled (ii) The process of ministry … v. 14-17. We’ll then conclude by seeing what makes a person an EFFECTIVE servant … which I’ve titled (iii) The power behind ministry … 3:1-6. And w we’re going to need our Bibles open for this one. Not only is this a difficult passage to understand … but each of these 3 ingredients are quick shocking. Prepared to be shocked today … as we ask; ‘who is sufficient for Christian ministry?’

A heart for ministry (2:12-13)

And our passage today picks up from the passage we looked at 2 weeks ago. As I mentioned last week … v. 5-11 were kind of a detour … a side quest … from Paul’s train of thought. And Paul’s train of thought … was him explaining his change in travel plans. So Paul had initially planned to visit Corinth in person … on his way TO and FROM Macedonia … 1:16. But his first visit was SO painful … 2:1 … that he decided to ‘SPARE’ the Corinthians a second painful visit … 1:23 … and write them a letter instead. And we’ve been referring to this now lost letter as 1.5 Corinthians. We PICK up Paul’s train of thought in:

2 Corinthians 2:12-13 (NIV) Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

Now once again … we need to read between the lines a bit here … because Paul doesn’t finish the story. The very jarring gear change in v. 14 has led SOME scholars to think v. 14 and following is a completely different letter … that some redactor shoved together years later. But the reason Paul doesn’t finish the story is because the Corinthians already KNEW what happened with Titus. They don’t NEED some clunky bit of Hollywood exposition.

The problem is … we do. And our best guess is that Paul sent 1.5 Corinthians to Corinth … with Titus. There was no Australia Post back then. If you wanted to send a letter … you sent it with someone who was going that way. So Titus was one of Paul’s closest companions and fellow workers. He even gets his own letter in the NT. So the plan was for Titus to go deliver the letter to Corinth … while Paul would go to Troas to preach the gospel … and Titus would then meet up with Paul a little later in Troas.

And when Paul is in Troas … and a mini-revival breaks out. When the NT says ‘a door had opened’ … v. 12 … that’s code for people being open to the Christian message in record numbers. And friends … there’s very little that gives Christians a bigger thrill than seeing people being open to the Christian message … is there not? Like every time we’ve run the Alpha course … or Christianity Explained … the church members who are THERE … go home on a HIGH … after EVERY session. If you don’t believe me … just ask Nick or Angela or Cassandra or Neil. Why do you think they keep coming back? It’s a truly thrilling experience. If you want to experience that high … come and see me today … because we’re kicking off the next course this week.

So Paul would have been on a MASSIVE high. Not a drug induced high … but a gospel induced high. A door had been opened to him! And this is what makes v. 13 so shocking.

2 Corinthians 2:13 (NIV) I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

If Paul is on a gospel induced high … WHY does he leave? Well it COULD be anxiety over Titus’ safety. But the context of 2 Corinthians suggests Paul is worried about how 1.5 Corinthians was received. Had his letter of rebuke alienated or healed the Corinthians? The reason Paul left fruitful mission work behind … was because he was anxious about one of his churches. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 … Paul lists ALL the different ways he’s suffered as an apostle. He ends the list this way:

2 Corinthians 11:28 (NIV) Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

To be an effective servant of the Lord … whether paid or unpaid … you need to have a heart for your church. You need a love for your Christian brothers and sisters. Paul had such a concern for the Corinthians that he left fruitful gospel ministry behind … JUST so he could find out how they were … how they’d reacted to his letter.

So friends … do we truly LOVE our brothers and sisters at this church?

Like if someone has been missing at church or Bible Study for a week or two … are you on the phone … finding out how they are?
Do you get upset if you can’t make it to church one week … due to illness?
Will you say ‘no’ to appointments on Sundays … because NOTHING is going to stop me from being mutually encouraged by the saints at Earlwood Anglican?
Are you fervently praying for the wellbeing of your fellow church members?

Because that’s one of the main ingredients to being an effective servant of the Lord. You have to have a heart for ministry … because you have a heart for the saints.

The process of ministry (2:14-17)

Well … if leaving behind fruitful mission work to check up on the Corinthians isn’t shocking enough … Paul says something even more shocking in v. 14:

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) But thanks be to God

That’s not the shocking bit. Reading between the lines … it seems Paul FOUND Titus … and heard the good news that the Corinthians had repented. So he thanks God. The shocking bit comes next:

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Now … what is this triumphal procession? Well … it was a public celebration … kind of like a ticker-tape parade … for a conquering king. The Roman historian Appion gives us a picture of what was involved. So the WHOLE city would line the streets … to welcome the victorious army home. And the king … usually Caesar … would be out in front … riding on a chariot. Following him would be the officers … followed by the soldiers. And right at the back would be captured prisoners. Paul says THIS about the triumphal procession in:

1 Corinthians 4:9 (NIV) For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena.

Now Paul is talking about his SUFFERING in 1 Cor 4:9. But the point is … the captives … who are on display at the END of the procession … are led to the arena to be executed. And this is what Paul seems to be saying about Christians in v. 14. Like … WE would think the Christians would like to be the soldiers up the front. But Paul is saying we’re the enemies Jesus has captured … who are being led to our death. It’s kind of shocking … is it not?

But when we dig a little deeper … we find that this actually lines up with the teaching of the NT. For example … Romans 5:10 says ‘while we were God’s ENEMIES … Christ died for us’. We were ALL enemies of Christ as some point. We became Christians WHEN Christ ‘captured’ us for his kingdom. So in a sense … we’re captives.

Or then there’s how Jesus tells Christians to ‘take up your cross … and follow Christ’. Now when Jesus took up HIS cross … he was being led as a captive … condemned to die. But that was to atone for Sin. What Jesus means when he tells us to take up OUR cross … is WE need to be ready to suffer … like Christ did. We need to be ready to suffer … just for being a Christian. And in that sense … we’re condemned to die.

But if that’s not shocking enough … Paul says our suffering is HOW we do gospel ministry. Being prepared to suffer is the PROCESS of ministry. But this ministry is not talking about doing morning tea … or be on the Bible reading roster. It’s talking about spreading the gospel. Have a look at:

2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NIV) For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.

What Paul is saying is … when SOME people see our willingness to suffer for Christ … they say ‘man … Christ must be amazing … if these people are willing to die for him’. When the Romans saw how the Christians LITERALLY died in the arena … singing hymns and praying as the lions ravaged them … they said ‘these people have something we don’t. They have a peace and a security we don’t have’. When SOME people see us taking up our metaphorical cross … they turn to Christ … and find life … eternal life.

But when OTHERS see Christians suffering for Christ … they say ‘what kind of a horrible God would allow his people to suffer for him?’ And THESE people turn away from Christ. When SOME see us taking up our cross … it leads them to death … in Hell.

OK … being led as captives for death is the second ingredient to effective ministry. We need to be willing to let our suffering for Christ BE how we spread the gospel … even if it means turning some people off.

Because SOME people can’t cope with this. They don’t LIKE people recoiling form them. So what they do … is they modify the message. That’s what v. 17 is getting at:

2 Corinthians 2:17 (NIV) Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.

So a ‘peddler’ was someone who watered down their wine … so they could sell more. Paul says that’s not the process of ministry. We speak … as though we’re speaking before God … with absolute sincerity. So here’s application point number 2 for today. Number 1 was develop a heart … a love for the saints of Earlwood Anglican. Number 2 is … always speak about Christ with absolute sincerity … even IF it means bringing death to some.

What Paul is saying is … a vibrant Christian ministry is NOT a life of strength. We would much rather be up the front with the conquering Generals … right? No. A vibrant Christian ministry is a death march. We follow in the steps Jesus himself marked out for us in the cross. IF the gospel is to go out from us … it will go out from us in weakness and death.

The power behind ministry (3:1-6)

So … the kind of servants God is looking for are (i) those who LOVE His people … have a heart for his people, and (ii) who are willing to die daily … metaphorically or literally … so the gospel can go out from us … EVEN if it means we’re the aroma of DEATH to some. Now this leaves only 1 question … which Paul pre-empts at the end of:

2 Corinthians 2:16 (NIV) … And who is equal to such a task?

The Greek word literally means ‘who is SUFFICIENT for such a task?’ And in chapter 3 … v. 1-6 … he tells us:

2 Corinthians 3:1 (NIV) Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people (the ‘super-apostles’), letters of recommendation to you or from you?

So Paul is putting himself side-by-side … against the ‘super-apostles’ … to compare the two. And he says the super-apostles have these letters of recommendation … supposedly from the Jerusalem apostles. All totally fake. So Paul says ‘do I TOO need letters of recommendation … for you to accept me?’ Well if so …

2 Corinthians 3:2 (NIV) You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.

The very fact that the Corinthians turned to Christ … not the WHOLE city … but the church … IS Paul’s letter of recommendation. His gospel ministry in Corinth bore the fruit that is their faith. And that is a witness to EVERYONE … known and ready by EVERYONE.

So … the super-apostles have letters of recommendation. Paul has a letter of recommendation. So THAT’S not showing us who is legit. So what DOES separate the wheat from the chaff? What IS the third and final main ingredient behind authentic Christian ministry? Paul’s answer is once again shocking:

2 Corinthians 3:5 (NIV) Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

Now the word ‘competent’ there is the SAME Greek word Paul’s used in his question in 2:16. Who is sufficient for MINISTRY? The one who knows they’re not sufficient for ministry. The reason this is shocking is because it’s ironic. Paul’s confidence that he is better equipped for ministry than the super-apostles … Paul’s confidence that he is more sufficient for ministry than the super-apostles … is rooted in how he knows he is insufficient for ministry.

And this is how God has ALWAYS chosen his heroes of faith:

When God called Moses … Moses said ‘I am not eloquent of speech’.
When God called Gideon … Gideon said ‘I am the weakest man of the weakest clan’.
When God called Jeremiah … Jeremiah said ‘I’m too young’

God ALWAYS chooses people who KNOW they are insufficient for the task. Why? To show that our sufficiency comes from God. The story of Gideon is the perfect example of this. When God called Gideon … Gideon mustered 32,000 soldiers. The Midianites we believe … had over 130,000 soldiers. So the Israelites are already outnumbered 4 to 1. But God said to Gideon; ‘you have too many men for me to save Israel with’. So he whittled Gideon’s army down to 300. 300 soldiers against 130,000 soldiers. Why? To show that our victory … our sufficiency doesn’t come from US … it comes from God.

2 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV) He has made us competent [… sufficient …] as ministers of a new covenant

Paul says ‘I had weakness … and the Lord had strength … so we teamed up.’ And THAT … brothers and sisters … is the final ingredient to authentic gospel ministry. It’s not false humility. It’s not pretend modesty. It’s the knowledge that we could be the smartest theologian on the planet … the greatest teacher in Christendom … the most convincing orator the church has ever seen … the most passionate evangelist who ever lived … but NOTHING we do will be any consequence for the kingdom … unless the Lord works in us.

So our third and final piece of application for today is this. Before you do ANYTHING for the Lord … acknowledge that in SPITE of whatever gifts and skills and talent and intellect and passion God MIGHT have blessed you with … acknowledge that you are still insufficient for whatever task is before you … and ask God to make you sufficient. That’s what I do every sermon. It takes me about 12-14 hours to write a sermon each week … give or take. 2 of those hours are spent specifically praying for God’s sufficiency to help me write the kind of sermon he can use most powerfully. Yet even though he helps me turn up every Sunday with a sermon … I remain insufficient every Monday.

Conclusion

And THEY are the main ingredients God is looking for. He’s looking for disciples who have a heart for their fellow disciples. He’s looking for disciples who are willing to be weak and die … metaphorically or literally … to MAKE new disciples. And he’s looking for disciples who KNOW they’re insufficient for ministry. Hudson Taylor is one of he most famous missionaries in human history. He was the founder of the China Inland mission … now called OMF. He once famously said ‘God chose me … because I was weak enough’.