C - Confidentiality - February 15, 2009
Sermon Notes for 2 Corinthians 12:19-20
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:20b—I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.
Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth lacks the focus of the first letter preserved in our New Testament. Some scholars suggest that the letter combines at least two letters, one of which is referred to in 2 Corinthians 7:8 (Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it--I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while--). If so, the editor, who may have also been Paul, seems to have had three themes in mind: (1) reconciliation between Paul and the Corinthian church (see 2 Cor. 1:12-2:13 and 2 Cor. 7-5-16); (2) directions for taking a collection for the church in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:1-9:15); and (3) defense of Paul’s place as an apostle/leader in the church (2 Cor. 2:14-7:4 and 2 Cor. 10.1-13:10).
Three representative passages stand out to me in this letter/compilation of letters. 2 Cor. 4:5-18 poetically speaks of weakness and divine potential in humanity as a “treasure in clay jars”. 2 Cor. 5:16-21 places the letter and the practice of Christianity in the context of a divine mission to reconcile the world to God. And 2 Cor. 12:8-10 (a few verses before our passage today) celebrates God’s “power made perfect in our weakness.”
What seems clear from the second letter is that developments in the Corinthian church have troubled Paul since his initial visit to the city. He writes to them of his struggle to correct them in letters and through emissaries without burdening them with shame—to speak the truth in love—and worries that he may have been over-zealous in calling them to account for their actions. He also vigorously defends his role as a leader in the church of the Mediterranean world, apparently against accusations made by those Paul calls “super Apostles” who have been attacking and questioning Paul’s authority.
In the short passage we are focusing on today, Paul begins by explaining that he is defending his apostleship in order to strengthen the church in Corinth. Then he frankly acknowledges the unrealistic expectations the members of the Corinthian church and Paul have of each other — a conflict they will have to navigate carefully when Paul returns to Corinth. In our key verse, Paul lists a series of behaviors that run counter to his hopes for the Corinthian church. At first, this seems like so many of the other laundry lists of sins you stumble across in Paul’s letters.
But look closer, and you find a kind of progression that explains not only the inevitability of one sinful behavior following after another, but also the key to finding the root cause of the sinful progression. It begins with discord in the community. The Greek word is “eris” and Paul uses it in several of his lists of the sins that destroy community (Romans 1:29, 1 Corinthians 3:3, Galatians 5:20, Philippians 1:15, and Titus 3:9). It leads to jealousy, anger, and division in the community. And in the warring camps formed by this discord, two kinds of malicious talk work to prevent the healing reconciliation of God: slander and gossip. The natural result of this petrifaction of division is pride (the chief among all sins) and chaos.
According to Paul, by the time we are breaking confidences, whispering behind each others’ backs, and spreading malicious gossip, the break in relationship has followed a course that leads from discord to chaos. This kind of breech can only be remedied by the reconciling love of Jesus Christ, who died to make a way for us to be whole. Gossip is a sign, not only of our sinfulness but of a great need in the community of faith for the reconciling love of Christ. And if the church composed of his followers cannot avail ourselves of Jesus’ healing love, who can?
Questions for Reflection
- How does the progression Paul describes in verse 20b (above) shed light on an instance where you have broken a confidence, spread gossip about a perceived enemy or slandered someone? How was your intention to spread gossip connected to a break in the relationship?
- How has your faithfulness to a friend (in keeping a confidence sacred) taught you something about the importance of that relationship in your life?
- How do you think pride is connected to breaking a confidence—and humility is connected to keeping one? What does Paul’s letter of (sometimes harsh) honesty tell you about his relationship to the members of the church in Corinth?
- How did the Holy Spirit minister to you in worship today?
