Last Things

 

Read 2 Corinthians 13

Imagine only having received the end of this letter, and this was the only counsel that you had. OK, this part starts with the word “finally,” so you might think something was missing. Let’s say you woke up for the end and only heard this piece of counsel.

Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.  All God’s people here send their greetings.

OK, I could get something out of that. It does not mention the blood of Jesus, salvation, new creation, old self, pressing on towards the goal, but maybe we might get something from it. Maybe?

Such as:

Rejoice. Have joy again. Maintain this joyful condition.

Lean into restoration. It’s reconciliation and forgiveness. It’s restored relationships with each other. God restored us. Let us restore each other. Move from broken to restored. Go ahead and get there.

Encourage each other. It’s not a competition and if it is, we are on the same team. You win when I win and I win when you win. No nitpicking.

Be of one mind. That can’t be any individual mind. We must seek the mind of God. We must realize the mind of Christ that we have been given. Yes, this is give up yourself and your selfishness.

Live in peace. God grants us peace that we can’t understand. We should grant each other peace. We long to live in peace with our Lord and each other. The latter takes human, perhaps superhuman, effort at times. But peace should be what we want for all.

Great one another with a holy kiss. Great each other as you would your mother or sister, husband or brother, or the cutest little baby, for we are all family in Christ Jesus.

If this is all that you learned from Paul’s letters, then you missed a bunch. But if you have been studying Paul’s letters, keeping your nose in the rest of the Bible, praying and seeking God, then these last few items make a good wrap up.

It’s as if Paul is saying, we covered some tough stuff. Some of it might take a lot of effort. I will help with correction and encouragement when I get there, but for now…

As you await my coming…

In the meantime…

Continue in joy, be reconciled and restored to one another, be of one accord in the Lord, live in peace, and treat each other as valued family members, because you are.

In the next service, we will discuss seriously getting ready for Paul’s visit and the perfect tool for the job, but for now, Paul says, “Here are some bite-sized pieces to chew on. Go ahead, get started. You can do this for sure.”

For us, today, get along with each other while you work on yourself. Putting his words into practice may be painful, but there is joy in the people you do that with.

Amen.