Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Milford

SERMON – “Glory! Plain & Simple”

2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-12 [NLTse]

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

I am writing to God’s church in Corinth and to all of His holy people throughout Greece.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7 We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.

8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, Who raises the dead. 10 And He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us. 11 And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety.

12 We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have

depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you.

SERMON

I don’t know about all of you but I think that we’ve been tricked. At least, I know I have.

I’ve long been a fan of superhero fiction, and have always loved watching or reading about the hero fighting to keep the damsel safe, rescuing her at great odds, and then living together happily ever after. Glorious!

The medium is a little bit different, but you see the same deception if you’re a fan of People magazine or of Woman’s Day or of Men’s Health: The lives of the rich and famous often seem so much more interesting and adventurous and “what life is supposed to be like” than our lives; in those pages the diet always succeeds and the workout always leaves great results. Glorious! Our TV shows and pop-music also portray and sing of bigger-than-life-romances and more-interesting-than-our-lives relationships, bigger-than-our-business deals, more-productive-than-we-could-ever-be movers-and-shakers, and of having a cleaner house and running a tighter ship than we ever could. Glorious! There’s engaging drama. There’s edge-of-your-seat suspense, There’s breath-taking passion. Glorious!

I say that I think we’ve all been deceived because the world portrays all of these things as “glorious”: Bigger-than-life! Heart-rending or heart-stopping! Earth-shaking! I think we’ve all been tricked into thinking that all of this is what “glory!” looks like.

Even here in Christ’s Church the idea of God’s glory shining through seems to be equated with bold healings, shocking deliverances, heartfelt reconciliations, mass conversions, awesome manifestations of the Holy Spirit! Glory is acknowledged at times when God gets us a new car or helps us win the lottery or does something else that we really, really, really, really want Him to do.

But I think the Lord Jesus is revealing to us today (by the Apostle Paul) that glory can be big and loud and attention-getting, but that glory is, perhaps even more often, a quiet, often-unnoticed breaking-into-our-world of Heavenly truth, character, and wonder.

1 Kings 19 memorably records a time when the Prophet Elijah needed encouragement from the LORD. And so, 1 Kings 19 records: “A mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper… And a voice said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (19:11-13)

We so often only expect God to show Himself in the hurricane-, earthquake-, and firestorm-like visitations of life! But oftentimes God’s simply there, waiting for us to notice that small bush-on-fire on the mountainside, waiting for us to notice that it’s not spreading or going out. Waiting for us to draw nearer… We so often only expect God to show Himself in the heavenly choir singing “Hosannas” and praise! But oftentimes He’s simply there, walking into our midst in the disheveled form of a lone angel messenger, waiting for us to give Him our attention. Waiting for us to give ear to His message. Waiting for us to draw near…

As we read through 2 Corinthians this week on our way through the Bible in 2017, Paul gives us images and examples of God’s glory shining quietly and mildly in the midst of the everyday mundane.

Paul shares that God’s glory bursts into our lives when we’ve trusted in Christ and the result is pain, grieving, disillusionment, fear, or confusion. Heaven shows itself shining around us in such moments in the form of God Himself comforting us through His Word or through the Body of Christ… The angels cry, “Glory!”

…

Paul shares that God’s glory bursts into our lives when He calls us to move in a certain direction on a given matter for Christ’s sake even though all the world around us is moving in the opposite direction. (Paul makes clear that we’re not moving in that direction because we’ve become passionate about it or because it’s come to break our hearts, but only because Christ has asked us to move in that direction for His sake and His sake alone.) Heaven shows itself shining around us in such lonely moments by having the Holy Spirit silently remind, encourage, and convict our hearts of everything Christ has ever promised… The angels cry, “Glory!”

…

Paul shares that God’s glory bursts into our lives when we are treated by unbelievers around us as though we are repulsive, ugly, uneducated, uncouth, evil – as though we are giving off some kind of cringing stench – treating us that way just because we are Christians. Heaven shows itself shining around us in such moments because, unknown to us, at these very same times other Christians around us and those Jesus is calling to Himself are finding us supernaturally attractive, beautiful, wise-beyond-our-years, gracious, noble – as though spreading an intoxicating perfume across their lives… And the angels cry, “Glory!”

…

In our reading, Paul tells about a time when God’s glory burst into he and his fellow-missionaries’ lives as they were sharing the gospel. He writes, “We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure! We thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die.” But Heaven showed itself, Paul said, because in those moments they stopped relying on themselves and learned to rely only on God. They thought they were going to die, but they knew that God raises the dead! God rescued them, Paul rejoiced! And he and his companions were confident God would keep rescuing them again and again!

Paul shares that God’s glory bursts into our lives when we don’t give up or give in to the world’s threats, persecutions, judgments, and pressures. Heaven shows itself shining around us in such moments by the Holy Spirit granting us supernatural faith in the unseen realities of the life to come and supernatural confidence in our own resurrection on account of His having raised Christ… And the angels cry, “Glory!”

…

Paul shares that God’s glory bursts into our lives when we bear up under the weaknesses and infirmities of these earthly bodies. Heaven shows itself shining around us in such moments as the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with assurance concerning our promised heavenly bodies… And the angels cry, “Glory!”

…

Paul shares that God’s glory bursts into our lives when we bear the grace and good news of Jesus to others as His ambassadors. Heaven shows itself shining around us in such moments as God makes Christ – afresh and anew – to be the offering for the sin of the world so those around us can be made right with and draw near to God… And the angels cry, “Glory!”

2 Corinthians 4:7 compares Christians to “fragile clay jars” containing great treasure. (Maybe like this McDonald’s cup containing this delicious chocolate milkshake.) Like the flimsy plastic casing of this cup, the Apostle Paul says that God likes working through our human weakness and fragility because it makes it clear to all those around us that any great power we demonstrate must be from God and doesn’t come from us, ourselves. After all, what are we? [Put the cup down and smash it with my foot!] [Try to smash it again and again and again!]

We’ve been deceived. God’s glory is not most often expressed in grand, attention-getting acts. It is most often expressed in flimsy, quiet acts of

faithfulness, servant-heartedness, self-sacrifice, and weakness… [Pick up the cup and put it on the Table.]

When people see us responding to hardships with grace, everyone with eyes-to-see knows that Heaven has burst into the world and sees God’s glory shining among us!

Let us live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministries. In everything we do, let us show that we are true ministers of God. Let us patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. Perhaps we’ll be beaten, put in prison, have to face angry mobs, be worked to exhaustion, have to endure sleepless nights, and/or go without food. May we prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. May we faithfully preach the truth!

God’s power is working in us!

May we use the weapons of righteousness in our right hands for attack and the weapons of righteousness in our left hands for defense. May we serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. Let us be honest even if they call us liars. Let them ignore us; we know we are well-known by God! Even if we are made to live close to death, let us not forget that we are still alive! Even if we get beaten, let us praise the Lord that we haven’t yet been killed. Even as our hearts ache, let us always thrill in the joy of the Lord. Even if we are made poor, let us know the glory of giving spiritual riches to others. Even if we own nothing, let’s always remember that, in Christ, we have everything!

O, those angels are crying, “Glory!”