Narrative Lectionary Summer Series – 2 Corinthians Series, “Consolation”
2 Cor. 1:1-11
Free Additional Resources for Study & Sermon Preparation
Furthering the Power of God’s Story – Narrative Lectionary Commentary
by Pastor Ron Valadez
As of the writing of this commentary, our nation and world is in turmoil due to pandemic, protests, and riots. I pray that the world has found some peace by the time you read this. These are difficult times to mine for gospel. The pickaxe grows heavier each day, but we keep swinging it in hopes of finding a nugget of good news. Thank you for digging with me dear preacher.
2 Corinthians might take some power tools! But there will be a lot here over the next few weeks for us to chew on. My epistles seminary professor said that of all the undisputed letters of Paul’s, this one was the hardest to crack. As a quick reminder, Paul wrote and visited this church many times. There was a letter before 1 Corinthians, and there may have been a letter in between 1st and 2nd Corinthians, though some say that 2 Cor 10-13 is that in-between letter. Regardless, Paul continued his work to get this church back on track, and let’s just say it was a roller coaster of a ride to get there.
At this point in his relationship with them, they seem to be back on good grounds. It’s not until chapter ten that things turn sour again but we don’t have to worry about those final chapters with this series. In fact, things are so good between them right now, that he’s able to ask them for money on behalf of Jerusalem by the time we get to chapter eight! But Paul knows that they have had a rough go of it lately and so he brings them the one thing they need the most right now, and that’s comfort. We can say with confidence that this is the overriding premise in these opening verses because Paul uses the word parakaleō (comfort/consolation) ten times in the first seven verses alone! As tough as Paul can be sometimes, his pastoral heart is always there.
Verse 8 is where things get interesting though, and quite timely. Paul urges them to remain aware of past pain. Our modern society often urges us to move forward, to leave the past in the past. The reality is however, the past shapes our present and future, even our pain. Sometimes in negative ways, but sometimes in very fruitful ways. As a pastor of color, I often hear people tell me that they are colorblind, that the color of my skin makes no difference to them. I understand their good intentions here but that’s not what I need from them. I need them to see my color, because in that color are a lot of painful experiences over the course of my lifetime, experiences that have shaped the person I am today, for good and bad. And maybe the most important thing a white ally can do for me is recognize that, just acknowledge it.
Paul uses this remembrance of pain to bring hope and comfort. Only Paul right!? In our past pains, Paul also recognized God’s grace. The simple fact that those pains are now in the past means that God has journeyed with you through it, and with that Paul brings us a word of comfort, and hopefully the courage and strength to not only move forward, but to help prevent those same painful experiences in others—or to help rescue them from current painful experiences.
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The following links and resources are not produced or maintained by Clergy Stuff. However, at the time of this posting, the links were active and considered to be good source material for proclamation for the text for this week. Please scroll down or click on the quick jump menu you find below. For more free worship resources & planning materials, please visit our links for RCL Worship Resources.
Contemporary Resources
Encouragement/Comfort, by Dale A. Brueggemann
Colorblindness: the New Racism?, by Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs
The Psychology of Emotional and Cognitive Empathy, Lesley University
A Good Read
The Myth of Racial Color Blindness: Manifestations, Dynamics, and Impact
by Helen A. Neville, Miguel Gallardo, Dr. Derald Wing Sue
Is the United States today a “post-racial” society? Some might point to the election and re-election of a Black president as conclusive evidence of the progress made in race relations, but others are not so sanguine. In this volume, top scholars in psychology, education, sociology, and related fields dissect the concept of color-blind racial ideology (CBRI), the widely-held belief that skin color does not affect interpersonal interactions, and that interpersonal and institutional racism therefore no longer exists in American society.
Contributors survey the theoretical and empirical literature on racial color-blindness; discuss novel ways of assessing and measuring color-blind racial beliefs; examine related characteristics such as lack of empathy (among Whites) and internalized racism (among people of color); and assess the impact of CBRI in education, the workplace, and health care – as well as the racial disparities that such beliefs help foster. Finally, they recommend ways to counter color-blind racial beliefs by advocating for and implementing race-conscious policies and practices that aim to create equal access and opportunities for all.
Video Resources
Pop Culture
Great scene from Star Trek V The Undiscovered Country about past pain and it’s use in our present lives.
Daily Devotional Feed
Free Dramatic Reading For This Text (NRSV)
Readers: Paul 1, Paul 2
Paul 1: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul 2: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering.
Paul 1: Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation. We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.