Week of April 6

God guarantees that the greatest good will emerge from within your darkest experience. Paul knew this to be true when he wrote the opening words of 2 Corinthians. He had encountered severe suffering, a near-death experience, and it was through this circumstance that God intervened and delivered him. “God’s intervention seemed like a resurrection in his life” (HCBC). Notice, Paul concludes that God alone can provide comfort and shelter in such trials. Easter Sunday arrives soon. It is the greatest example of God’s sacrifice to offer healing for our extraordinary human sin and suffering. I pray that God will be the richest comfort in your life.

It hardly seems possible for a person to attend church and never encounter strife and factions. Our church communities, in this way, resemble those of the Corinthian believers. For example, all of us may identify with the church abuses and conflict that characterized their church. There were tense moments and even a terse corrective from Paul (2:3-9; 7:8-12). Paul, himself, encountered a serious affliction after he left Ephesus (1:8-11). Life goes on! What many of our churches fail to recognize is that the Gospel must advance, despite such upsets.

Keep the focus on advancing the Gospel, even amid conflict. The Corinthians were to rectify the problems they faced, so that they could continue to reach people for Christ. Paul continued with the wider goal to organize a collection in the Macedonian churches, all while these events were transpiring (2:13; 8:1-4). He concludes this effort only to discover that the new problems had surfaced at Corinth. He spends several months in the city providing leadership (Acts 20:2-3; HCBC). I write what we already know; namely, churches will face struggles, but there may be unity even in periods of trouble. 

Draw upon God’s comfort in the trial. It does not take a New Testament scholar to recognize that Paul’s focus is on comfort. The word appears ten times in verses 3-7 and several more times in chapters 2, 7, and 13. The meaning includes ideas such as: “consoling someone in sorrow” and “giving someone active help or encouragement.” The root for the word is the same as the one used for the Holy Spirit in John (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). We see here that the ultimate source for our comfort is the same God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has actively shown us His mercy, and He is the one who puts an end to the “sadness of people” (see Handbook). I say, “Put this truth in your Easter hymn and sing it!”

Keep ministering to others. Easter must translate into ministry, or we run the risk of turning it inward and hoarding it. Paul writes further that this God actively helps and consoles His people in their adversity (cf. “affliction”). The context does not tell us specifically what affliction Paul experienced, so we may interpret the word to mean anything that causes pain or distress, suffering, and calamity. Let me begin a list of adversities in which God actively ministers to us: church conflict, sickness, job loss, family discord, and natural calamities like destructive storms and brutal cold. So, Paul writes, because of being comforted by God, we can comfort others in their adversity too (1:4). The Gospel most often advances along the road of human suffering. This is good theology, and helpful for effective Christian practice. We do well when we invite God to pour His comfort into our lives so that we may, in turn, allow it to overflow into the lives of others.

A church I served as pastor experienced an off-and-on conflict that simmered just beneath the surface of all our activities. The heartbreak on the faces of people who needed comfort was evident in our worship gatherings. They longed for consolation, but too often only received rejection. They ached for sanctuary. This memory, along with today’s Bible passage, links to a childhood recollection about the term “sanctuary.” 

I recall overhearing two adults in my home church discussing whether to refer to our main gathering place as “the sanctuary” or “the auditorium.” They settled upon the former term because of its spiritual significance. A sanctuary is a place of refuge, very often a gathering point for God’s people who are seeking a safe place. Hurting folks, some of whom have been bruised by church strife, will attend Easter worship services to find sanctuary from all their afflictions—most importantly, from sin! Paul reminds us that we are God’s house, His church, and the walls of this spiritual edifice are to be covered with comfort for all who enter to experience Christ’s peace! This should be our year-round Easter witness.

1. Ask the Lord to write upon your heart the names of those you know who may need sanctuary. Ask God to use you to be a source of His comfort.

2. No matter what afflicts your church fellowship, this God can provide more than enough mercy and comfort to heal and to restore its unity. Ask for God’s Easter message of comfort to be spread throughout your fellowship.

3. For Families: This Easter, consider inviting someone who might need the comfort of Christ to your home for Family Lunch after Easter services. Maybe you know of a widow or widower for whom this will be the first Easter without their spouse. Maybe a family with foster children would love to come and fellowship and stay awhile to play. Maybe a single Mom needs comfort that older women friends and sisters can provide. Look around in the next couple of Sundays with your heart open wide, and ask the Lord to bring your family someone who needs His comfort. God has been our sanctuary. We can make our homes to be the same for others.

May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock