Message: New Creation in Christ / 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-19

 As our first Scripture reading, we read 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-19. Here, Paul emphasized his confidence in his faith and ministry twice (5:6, 8), using the Greek word θαρρέω (tharreo), meaning 'to be confident' or 'to be courageous.' This word appears five times in this letter, the only one of Paul's writings where it is used. 

In fact, Paul often faced challenges that discouraged him. In this letter, he describes some of the hardships he went through as follows: "Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked” (11:24-27).

The worst thing was that some people in the Corinthian congregation, where he founded, were against him. They compared him to the disciples who followed Jesus during his lifetime, the so-called "super-apostles" (11:5; 12:11), and criticized his teaching. They even took issue with his physical illness and his poor speaking skills (10:10). Because of the difficulties he faced, Paul even said like this, "The burdens laid upon us were so great and so heavy that we gave up all hope of staying alive. We felt that the death sentence had been passed on us" (1:8-9).

However, despite such discouraging circumstances, Paul never gave up his faith and mission. This was because he no longer saw God and the world from a 'human point of view (σάρξ, body or flesh)'. As he explained, most people generally begin to believe in God as the one who fulfills their physical desires and needs. Before Paul encountered Christ's presence, he also saw God as the one who would bless him if he obeyed the Law. This is like seeing God as a vending machine: if you do the right things, pray hard, and keep the commandments, you will automatically receive blessings from God like health, wealth, and other benefits.

This idea of God makes people believe that those who are wealthy and healthy are blessed by God, while those who suffer are cursed by God. It also strengthens the belief that they can be saved by work. False religions exploit this concept of God to require constant devotion and sacrifices to their institutions or leaders.

But God cannot be limited to a human perspective. God is not a machine that operates automatically based on cause and effect. God is not the one who can be controlled by religious elites. Like the wind blows wherever it wants to blow, God, the Ultimate Mystery, sometimes works beyond human understanding and knowledge.

The book of Job provides a great example of this aspect of God. Job is a righteous and faithful man, yet he experiences severe suffering: his children die, he loses all his wealth, and he is covered with painful boils. In his distress, his three friends visit him and assert that his calamities are punishment from God for his sins. The Book of Job emphasizes that their understanding of God is totally mistaken. Instead, it affirms that God is the Creator who has absolute freedom and boundless love to fulfill His dream in creation.

After encountering the mystery of Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul was able to move beyond his limited understanding of God. Because of this, he said, "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (5:17). For Paul, God is no longer confined by the Law because he recognized God as the Creator who expresses unconditional love through absolute freedom. In this regard, Paul pointed out that everything in heaven and earth is interconnected, and in Christ all are one. In particular, he emphasized the importance of reconciliation as a Christian mission. He said, "All of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them. He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation” (5:18-19 / CEB).

Those who limit God to a human perspective make the world divided and broken as they see everything as a tool to judge people. Consider clothing as an example: For them, those who wear high-quality and expensive clothes are seen as blessed by God, while others are not. This belief separates people into categories of holy and secular, blessed and cursed, clean and unclean, superior and inferior. A bigger problem is that the latter can be seen as ones to be improved religiously or morally by the former, which justifies discrimination and hatred. As more people try to show off by buying fancy clothes, the environment is also at risk. According to a 2023 study by researchers at the University of Waterloo and Seneca College, Canadians dump 500 million kilograms of textiles annually.

However, as new creations in Christ, we Christians no longer see things through human desires. We believe in God the Creator, which means we look at the world through the lens of God. Therefore, we no longer use our clothing to judge whether God has blessed or cursed us. Rather, we see in our clothing the countless blessings of people and creatures who made it possible to bring it to us: the hands that plant the cotton seeds, the earth that nurtures those seeds, the rain and clouds that provide water, the sun and wind that help the cotton grow, the people who spin the cotton into thread, weave it into the fabric, dye it, and sew the clothes, the workers who transport and sell them, and many others. So, we value all the clothes we have, regardless of the price, and we never judge people by what they wear.

As Christians, our greatest blessing is that when we accept God's absolute freedom and infinite love, we become confident and courageous to overcome any hardship. We can find the light of Christ more intensely in the darkness, as Paul says: "I am most happy to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ's power over me. I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (12:9-10 / GNT). 

We do have confidence that God, who cared for us in the good times of our lives, will never abandon us in our times of suffering. By participating in Christ's ministry of reconciliation, we look beyond what can be seen. We do not offer simple theological answers to those who struggle. Instead, we silently pray and act so their lonely and distressed hearts may reconnect with God of reconciliation, our Creator.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Rev. Min Hwang

South Stormont Pastoral Charge

(Ingleside-Newington United Church & St. Andrew's- St. Mark's United Church)