Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever found yourself GREATLY encouraged to a point of overflowing JOY, by the visit of a friend who brings you much anticipated news about people you have not seen in a long time? I love such reunions, how about you? So, let’s watch one of those today.
For quite some time we’ve been traveling with the apostle Paul, following the chronology, found in the Bible, which tells us the story of Paul’s missionary journeys and the remarkable things God did in many cities and towns throughout what are today the countries of Turkey, Macedonia and Greece. Yesterday we watched Paul leave the great city of Ephesus, run out of town by a riot! (Acts 20:1)
Paul himself reports that after fleeing Ephesus, “I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me. I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.” (2 Corinthians 2:12,13) This event was in Paul’s third journey, about the spring of 56ad.
That fascinates me. Paul always loved a receptive audience. Especially in a town where he was welcomed and people responded to his preaching the Gospel of Jesus. But on this occasion, even though Troas seemed delighted to have Paul, Paul was unsettled, do you see why? Paul had sent Titus to Corinth, in response to another troubling report about discord, division and even some confusion about what they thought Paul had meant by THREE letters they had received from Paul. Remember our discussion about that yesterday?
Two of those letters have been lost over the centuries, but we still have 1 Corinthians which we’ve looked at closely. While Paul was hoping the spiritual discord in Corinth might be resolved by his letters, I suspect Paul was anxious that Titus would bring yet another disturbing report. How long Paul waited in Troas, I don’t know, but evidently the Holy Spirit urged Paul to keep heading north toward the Macedonian towns he loved so much and where the Gospel had taken root in such wonderful ways.
I presume Paul stopped first in the coastal city of Neapolis, where he had spent time with Silas on his second missionary journey a few years before, remember? Sadly, it appears Paul encountered some opposition in Macedonia which deeply disappointed him, for Paul wrote: “When we came into Macedonia we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn – conflicts on the outside, fears within.” (2 Cor. 7:5)
Oh my, does that sound like a familiar, painful place for you? Have you found yourself in a place where you felt like an intruder at your job or your neighborhood or even your own extended family? Did that opposition turn into conflict and was that aggravated by deep personal anxiety you had in your soul about other situations or people in other places? Did you want to run and hide somewhere, far away from people? Life gets ugly sometimes like that, doesn’t it?
Paul was in painful turmoil. I wonder if he was feeling like a failure? Maybe Paul even contemplated quitting the missionary enterprise and simply finding a town to settle down and make tents quietly for the rest of his life? You’ll remember that was a skill Paul had used in Corinth when he first arrived there and needed both some credibility and evidently some finances. (Acts 18:1-3) Many Bible scholars believe discouraged
Paul headed on to Philippi, a town so very special to Paul. Remember Paul and Silas had been brutally beaten and imprisoned in that town several years before but the Gospel had taken root and I presume a wonderful group of loving Christians welcomed Paul back to Philippi. Did Paul perhaps find lodging at Lydia’s home, where the church first was meeting several years before? (Acts 16:11-15)
Evidently one day, unexpectedly, there was a knock at the door and to Paul’s delight, his dear friend Titus was standing there. Paul describes it this way: “But God who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus!” (2 Cor. 7:6) Oh can you imagine the joyful embrace, and the very enthusiastic flow of questions and explanation pouring out from both of these men as they described the weeks or months since they’d seen each other last? They both knew, however, that the main point of interest was the spiritual condition of the Corinthian Christians.
I imagine Paul simply said: “Tell me Titus, tell me about them, my brothers and sisters in Corinth”. And with great joy Titus poured out his delightful description of how the Corinthian Christians had been at first offended, but then convicted by Paul’s letter, and the Holy Spirit had led them to repentance.
Paul describes that he was encouraged by the report from Titus and how the Corinthians had received Titus with: “the comfort you [Corinthian Christians] had given him. Titus told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever…In addition to my own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.” (2 Cor. 7:7,13) Oh my, how the tears must have flowed as Titus shared his experience in Corinth, and Paul probably simply kept saying, ‘thank you Jesus, thank you. thank you Jesus.’
Can you remember a time, my dear friends, when you’ve received a visitor and their news brought you such overflowing joy? I wonder what you did in response to that visit and the joy it gave you? I imagine Paul wanted to jump on a ship and sail to Corinth, to hug those people and have a joy festival with them. But it appears the Holy Spirit led him to remain where he was, perhaps Philippi, at least for the time being.
But within days, it appears Paul’s overflowing joy needed expression and so Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to pick up his stylus and begin writing another letter, this time a joyful and loving letter to these Corinthian Christians. My guess is these 13 chapters required much, much less time to write because it’s such a joyful letter.
By God’s grace, even though written 2000 years ago, we have that letter in our Bible and it’s known as 2 Corinthians, and tomorrow, with great joy, let’s begin a several day journey through the words the Holy Spirit led Paul to write. They will be greatly encouraging to both you and me my friends.
For today, the ‘lessons learned’ study notes below will be very helpful to you, as will this joyful song celebrating the refreshing call of Jesus. And I’m already preparing to meet with you tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:5-13.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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