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Wallingford Presbyterian Church February 3, 2008 |
Rev. Ken Sunoo |
This is now the 4th in a series of sermons I’m preaching on 2 Corinthians. After today, we’ll take a break from this series for Lent and return after Easter.
Last week, we looked at 5:14: Paul says that the love of Christ urges him on – literally, the love of Christ holds him together. It’s what motivates his life. That passage sets the stage for the rest of today’s passage.
I’d like to draw your attention to two key words in our text.
First, the word “reconcile” – in verses 18-21 Paul uses “reconcile” or “reconciliation” 5 times. The root word in Greek is allaso, meaning “to change;” that’s what reconcile means, to change something. But here Paul adds a prefix (in Greek, prefixes can be added to make words very precise – that’s why scientific vocabulary often employs Greek terms). The prefix Paul adds is kata – which means “down.” So the word Paul uses is katallaso, literally to change down from above, or a change that happens down here from above.
If that word katallaso sounds a little familiar, it’s because we get the English word “catalyst” from it. Now, I readily admit that I’ve retained very little from my high school chemistry class, but I do remember that a catalyst is a chemical agent that causes a reaction, but it itself remains unchanged at the end of the reaction.
Paul is saying that God acted as a catalyst, and he came down among us and redeemed us. God came down among us in the Incarnation and changed us without altering his character. He reconciled us. We now have something to share which is genuinely new - the possibility of forgiveness and a new beginning.
The second word I’d like to draw your attention to is the word that’s translated “ambassador.” The Greek word used in this passage for ambassador is “presbeuo,” from the root word “presbeuterion,” which means council of elders. A presbyter, or elder, is someone who represents the council. Our denomination, the Presbyterian Church, is the denomination of elders, those who are members of the council, which we call the presbytery.
Once again science has used this word, but this time, it’s used in a more negative way as far as Presbyterians are concerned. I’ll explain by sharing a personal story.
For almost 35 years, I wore glasses and contacts because I was extremely nearsighted. No matter how tiny the print, I could clearly see it if I held it up close to my face. However, everything far away was blurry. Without my glasses, my eyesight was around 20/450. In other words, what I could see at 20 feet, people with good eyesight could see at 450 ft.
Two years ago, I finally gathered up enough courage to undergo Lasik surgery to correct my vision. What a remarkable transformation – now I have 20/15 vision and no longer need glasses or contacts to watch t.v. or drive a car.
However, I just turned 44, and now I realize that I’m starting to have trouble focusing on the tiny print I used to have no problems reading. I look at the telephone book and wonder - what are those letters on the page? And those numbers – are those 6’s, 8’s, or 9’s? Face it -those numbers are badly designed to begin with! But now, they also appear blurry.
I’ve come to the sad conclusion that soon, I’m going to need reading glasses. In fact, I’ve tried borrowing some reading glasses, and I’m amazed at how sharp words and numbers suddenly look.
Do you know the term optometrists use for these cases like mine? It’s presbyopia! Presbyopia is caused by an age-related process, when the lenses inside your eyes begin to lose their flexibility. It happens to people in middle age, usually beginning in their 40’s.
In other words, the medical establishment has decided that presbyopia means the vision of old people! I personally think this condition was misnamed – and it’s truly not because I’m in denial about my age.
Well, that’s kind of a dirty trick that science pulled on us, because now when people think of the Presbyterian Church they’ll think it’s the church of old people, the church of the elders. But in spite of the fact that we have some absolutely terrific members in the 65 and over crowd here, that’s not entirely accurate, is it?
The word presbeuo from which our denomination gets its name, actually means someone who represents the council (or presbytery). In other words, we should really be called the church of the ambassadors.
The fact that we call the members of the council elders rather than ambassadors may make you think that our church is only for older people, or at least only led by older people. But technically, you can be a very young person and represent the council. That’s why our Book of Order provides for youth, on occasion, to serve as elders and deacons. Please understand me - there’s nothing wrong with growing older. We need the wisdom and experience our elderly bring to our church. But the name of our church really has nothing to do with age.
And the truly important thing to remember is that whether or not we’ve ever been ordained as an officer, we’re all called to be ambassadors; that is, we’re people who have been given a good message and have been sent out into the world to share this message with everyone we meet.
In this passage, Paul talks about how the old way of looking at life has given way to a new way of looking at life. We are called to be ambassadors of this new way of looking at life and to share it with the world. It has nothing at all to do with being old – in fact, it has everything to do with being new!
Now, what is the old way of looking at life? Paul is describing a way of looking at life in which we are convinced that nothing really changes. That was a Greek way of viewing the world, and the Corinthians were mainly influenced by Greek philosophy. The Greek view held that basically history is cyclical, and nothing really changes. Many of us are still influenced by this view of life – after all, we’re all familiar with the phrase “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” That’s the main thing Paul’s working with, because when he describes the new way of looking at life, the new way involves change, but the old way says nothing changes.
Do any of you remember the cartoon strip “The Far Side” by Gary Larson? I have several books of “The Far Side” collections, and I want to share one of my favorite cartoons. In this cartoon, he has four separate pictures, and the title is “The four basic personality types.”
There’s a table in each of the panels, and on each table is a glass of water. The first picture shows a smiling woman who says, “That glass is half full!” To the right of this woman is a man who looks rather glum and says, “That glass is half empty!” Then there’s a third person down in the left-hand corner who looks totally confused, and he says, “That glass is half full…No! Wait! Half empty!...No, half…No…What was the question?” He’s totally confused, but notice, there’s still a half a glass of water on the table. That hasn’t changed.
The fourth one is the best of all. Larson draws a man who’s absolutely enraged, and as he’s standing there looking at the glass on the table, he says, “Hey! I ordered a cheeseburger!”
Notice, what Gary Larson is showing is that perceptions might change, but the reality remains the same: there’s a half a glass of water on the table for all four people. Nothing really changes. And basically, that’s the main message of Greek philosophy.
Well, the Apostle Paul counters Greek philosophy with something genuinely new to share: “If anything is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (17-18). There is something genuinely new offered by Paul - the newness of reconciliation, a new possibility of forgiveness, a new creation. We are ambassadors of this ministry of reconciliation, and we get to share it with the world.
What does it mean to be an ambassador? When you’re an ambassador, it’s vitally important for you to be certain who you represent and what their main policy concerns are. When you know what is primary and what is secondary for the person or people you represent, then you know what you can give on and what you can’t. You know what you must defend and what you needn’t bother to defend.
The best ambassadors of Jesus Christ are the ones who know him the best. The closer we are to Jesus Christ, the more we know his love, the better we’ll be able to communicate and share that love with others. Our own growth and faith in Christ are the most important factors in being his ambassadors. When we know what’s primary, we don’t get entangled in what’s secondary. A good ambassador knows what hill to defend and what hill to give way. We can’t defend everything, we can’t die on every hill, so we have to know what is essential to our faith.
Keeping in mind what is primary and what is secondary will help us to avoid a lot of mistakes. For example, it will remind us that when we are ambassadors of Jesus Christ, we are not then ambassadors of our own culture. The gospel transcends culture. The best missionaries have been aware of this fact. It’s one of the reasons why there’s been such phenomenal growth of Christianity in Korea. Our job as ambassadors is not to force our culture on others; our job is to share the good news within other cultures. That’s why it’s so vital to learn the language and culture of people in other lands before we share our faith with them.
We’re also reminded that we’re not ambassadors of our own personal experiences. When I worked at the Young Nak Presbyterian Church in Korea, I was told by one church member that in order to truly experience the presence of God, one needed to go away to a prayer retreat center in the mountains and pray all night.
Now, I’ve had the pleasure of attending all night prayer meetings at a prayer retreat center, where people gather every week to pray through the night until 4 am. They certainly can be very powerful and meaningful times. I have no doubt that this person’s experience praying at a retreat center brought him closer to God. But to insist that everyone needs to follow his example is a mistake. We should not impose our particular religious experiences on others. We need to remember that both Paul, who had a dramatic conversion experience on the road to Damascus, and Peter, who had a more gradual conversion experience, were both effective ambassadors for Christ.
Furthermore, when we’re focused on the primary truths of God we’re less likely to be found judging others. Our job as ambassadors is to share the good news of salvation, but God has given everyone the freedom to accept or reject that message. We don’t have the right to try to take away a person’s free will. We need to concentrate on being faithful ambassadors and leave the job of judging to God. One of my seminary professors taught that in all that we do and say, we should always ask ourselves, “What signifies the gospel?” (James Kay)
In other words, we’re reminded that as ambassadors, we’re limited in what we can do. We’re called to bear faithful witness of God’s message, but it is not our responsibility to convert or save anyone. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job.
We’re called to be ambassadors of the love of Jesus Christ. God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. It’s our mandate, and our privilege, to share with our generation the good news that God loves us. Let’s go forth in the knowledge that God in Jesus Christ has begun and will complete the reconciliation of the world, and let’s go forth as ambassadors for Christ in this crucial present. Amen.