Reading: 2 Corinthians 1-2, Psalm 149

In our Bibles, we generally come to the second letter to the Corinthians right on the heels of the first. This makes a good deal of sense for the sake of organization, but it does do what might be a disservice to the content of the letters themselves. Unlike the divided books in the Hebrew Scriptures, the numbered letters of the New Testament really are separate works. While they are written to the same church, it is clear that some time has passed between them, and that at least one but perhaps several intervening letters had been sent by Paul in the interim. This letter deals with a few of the same issues that the first one does, but also introduces a bunch of new stuff.

Reading letters is different than reading the narrative gospel books or the great history of Israel in the Hebrew Scriptures. In both the first and second letters to the Corinthians, Paul makes reference to previous letters he had written to them and their reactions to them. If we want to understand the whole context of what is being written about, we would have to somehow reconstruct the entire situation in Corinth at the time of the writing. This is, of course, not possible. Not that this has stopped some scholars from trying, but it is really not much better than a guess. While we know a good deal about the culture of the city of Corinth at the time, we know little about the population of the church there that we do not get from the text of the letters to the Corinthians themselves.

These letters indicate one trait with which many of us are familiar: stubbornness. Both of Paul’s extant letters deal with similar matters of selfishness versus selflessness. Interestingly, so does the first epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, written from Rome by the leader of the church there not long after Paul was executed, which contains some of the very same themes once again. It seems that the Corinthians had a hard time getting away from popular, shiny, convincing leaders who told them that they could all have their best life now. Funny. It seems I’ve heard that somewhere before.

Okay, so the opening chapters of this second letter is largely a greeting from Paul, explaining why he did not visit as planned on his way to Macedonia. He says that part of the reason he did not come was to spare them all pain, because they were all bent out of shape after his correction of their behavior in his earlier letter, which he calls the painful letter or letter of tears. He did not wish to exacerbate the situation through his personal presence, and he has had news of their reaction. While it is not entirely clear if this letter is the one we just read, it seems clear it deals with some of the same subjects, and particularly calls out one person whose persistent sin required he be disciplined by the church. This is hardly surprising since every extant letter to this church deals with the same subject. Now though, Paul makes what might have been a surprising correction to the Corinthian’s behavior: he instructs them to turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. He instructs them to love the sinner, in order to avoid the designs of Satan. Well, that is a worthwhile reminder. Right at the start of one of Paul’s most demanding letters, written to a church with a reputation for libertine behaviors, the subject is forgiveness and love for those who have repented. Paul will have much more to say, some of it really difficult to swallow, but it begins with this. Forgiveness, love, and restoration for the repentant. Discipline is for the sake of restoration, not gaining power. It is in this context that the rest of this letter will unfold.