B, Lent 3 Midweek - 2 Corinthians 6:9b,c "Dying, but Living; Beaten, but not Killed"
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:20-21,6:3-5, 8c-9 NIV
We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. …3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; …8c genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed.
Sermon
Tonight is the third sermon in the Lenten series written from the Ash Wednesday Epistle text: 2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:10. Since Ash Wednesday we have examined ourselves as we walk with Jesus – these 40 days to the cross of
Even as we walk in remembrance to the bitterly sad circumstances of Jesus’ death on Good Friday, this walk is one of eternal joy for us too. Jesus has already walked the way of the cross, has been wrongly accused, has been deserted by the disciples, and has been put to death. However, he has been raised and has been seen by many witnesses – even by
Tonight we look at two phrases from the text: We are dying, and yet we live on; beaten (or punished [NRSV]), and yet not killed. Halfway through Lent we focus on the core issue for every person who will ever live on earth. And that is: We are dying and we will die. Death is not an option but a guarantee to us all; living causes death. It is fitting that in the middle of Lent we look at life and death, because at the middle of everyone’s existence is this issues. In fact this is the reason any of us come to church. If death was not an issue, if we didn’t die, none of us would be here. If sin and death were not an issue then Jesus would never have had to come and die on the cross. And now that he has died, sin and death are still an issue; however, the eternal sting has been removed for those who do not take God’s grace in vain.
There’s a huge irony in humanity where death is concerned. In fact not much needs to be said about death. Everyone at some time in there life will hear the voice within preach about death, and every one of us will squirm uncomfortably about the thought our lives here on earth will end in death. But with something so substantial, humanity is hell bent on ignoring or suppressing this reality. In the church, in these days, death too is pushed to the outer and Christians find themselves busying themselves with glory, and happiness, and what we might do for God. And all the while death is approaching; we live with the reality of suffering, troubles, hardship, distresses, and at the end of it all – death.
It’s no wonder that the bible speaks over and over again about death, and its cause - sin. So too the church, which grounded in the reality of this sinful world must address death if it is to be an effective saving mouthpiece of God. Once death is placed in front of us, all the other peripheral issues, some of which just lead us away from God, disappear into nothing, so it seems. Then the one true reality can take our attention; God the Father, Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the bestowal of faith through the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent to open our eyes to his hidden risen presence.
The church community exists so in it we might be sustained by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit between our first death in baptism and the second death. So we might come to the second death having been corrected and forgiven and pass through it into eternal glory and not into eternal pain suffering and death. We exist as a community so that others might be drawn into it too, so that they might be saved by Christ from a death that leads to eternal damnation. We exist as a community to hold each other up in prayer before God, to encourage each other not to take the grace of God in vain, so we might not lose hope and wander away in despair or proud arrogance and lose God’s gift of righteousness.
On Ash Wednesday we heard the phrase, “You are dust and to dust you shall return”. This is not a politically correct statement, because it doesn’t encourage us but appears to belittle us. However, as torturous as it seems, it is true. Similar words are spoken in the funeral rite as the coffin quietly slips into the earth, “We commit this body to the ground: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Dust we are and to dust we shall return.” The person is buried carrying all the marks of sin in this life; people die because of sin. The sinful nature causes us much suffering, struggle, distresses, hardships and then finally death. Even in the midst of life we are in death.
However, this is not the end. It is only the beginning. Even in the midst of death we are in life. Even as we and fellow Christians are lowered into the grave, we have died, and yet we live on; we are beaten, punished, and disciplined because of sin, and yet not killed. The greatest but most beautiful irony occurs in the death of a Christian; the sin that kills us in this life has no power to keep us away from God in the next. The devil, the world, and our sinful selves are foiled forever, as the grace of God given to us, in earthly and practical means, saves us. We know that as Christ was the first to rise from the dead, he will raise up our mortal bodies to be like his in glory too. When we are commended to the ground we have already been commended to the Lord; having trusted in his infinite mercy; having believed forgiveness comes to us through baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection; having heard and believed his Word to be the life giving Word of God; having believed we have eaten his body and drunk his blood when we eat the bread and drink the wine.
We are dying, but behold we live on; we are punished and disciplined, and yet not killed. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.
Glory to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who has created, redeemed, and will eternally sanctify us, body and soul. Amen!
