Unfading Glory
The following is an exerpt from my latest sermon. The text is 2 Corinthians 3:7-18.
The Corinthians were into celebrity. They were a church of fans–some of the eloquent preacher, Apollos; some of Jesus’ first round draft choice, Peter; others of some guys who humbly called themselves “super-apostles.” Beside this lot, Paul looked like the red-haired stepchild. To some at Corinth, at least, Paul was a loser.
Would you say then that whatever glory Paul thought he had was diminished at Corinth? What should he do then? Moses put a veil over his head to hide the fading glory, the threat of his own impotence. Paul could’ve done something like that. He could’ve acted like a big shot. He could’ve slapped some people around. Since he was in competition with “super-apostles,” he could’ve performed a miracle–while wearing a suit complete with sewn-in muscles, a cape, and a big A on his chest!
But he didn’t do that. He did the exact opposite. In chapters 11 and 12, he tells these people about his weakness, not his power. A stroke of genius! He talked about being beaten and shipwrecked and let down a wall in a basket to escape some irate public official. Jack Bauer? More like jack rabbit! He talked about his “thorn in the flesh,” the illness he had that plagued him. Imagine the President of the United States opening an address to the nation with, “My fellow Americans, tonight I must share with you my own personal nightmare…diarrhea!” That’d reduce the aura of the Presidency, wouldn’t it? Yeah, that’d cut the glory in a hurry!
Yet Paul did pretty much the same thing with joy and abandon. He did it because he realized how impermanent human power is and how mighty the presence of God! He knew he belonged to God! He knew God as a God who was willing to suffer on a cross–humiliations galore in a sea of gore. And he knew that wasn’t the end of the story, for the God of glory raised Jesus from the dead. And Paul knew that, by his faith, he had entered that great Story; that he shared the glory of God in Jesus Christ—something no man could take away.
Nor can anyone take it from us believers today. Somebody say Amen.
