Abundance

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:1-7 NAS95

I have written about the verses that follow today's text several times for various and different purposes. Purposes such as talking about depression and suicide. Usually, I skip over the first few verses, but today as I started to read again 2 Corinthians I paused at these verses. Perhaps because I experienced my second round of Covid-19. To be honest, I have been sicker, but never have I been any more exhausted during and after being sick. (I could really use a nap right now.)

So what? Why am I telling you this? Because there is one part of this passage that disturbs me. Here it is:

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

It is that word “abundance” I am struggling over. According to some I have had an abundance of suffering in my life. While that may be true, I don’t really feel that way. When I look around me and listen, I hear people complain about the doom and gloom of their situation. Their problems are so big they can’t see any future. It is not everyone. Church people are the most optimistic people in our society, but the media and the public, in general, are stuck in the doom and gloom of problems.

Children are so overwhelmed by their problems they are taking guns to school as early as six years old to “kill” their problem, the teacher. Others are killing classmates. Gangs of students are attacking the “problem person” until they commit suicide. We are focused on the “sufferings” and not on comfort.

This morning I received a “phishing” text from a bank, where I am associated with a couple of accounts. When I reported it to the bank, the customer service person said, “I wish we could put a stop to this stuff.” My response was, “not until we have a shift in our society.” Without a major cultural shift toward the Bible and Christian living, we will not fix the theft problem that is behind phishing texts and emails, etc. Without a major cultural shift toward the Bible and Christian living we will not fix the problem of despair that is behind the rage that is killing our children whether by bullets or suicide.

In this life, we get an abundance of problems. In this life, with Christ in us, we get an abundance of comfort. Comfort from the One who suffered the greatest abundance of suffering, was victorious over death, hell, and the grave. Comfort from the Paraclete, (An intercessor, consoler, advocate, comforter. From the Greek text) the very Holy Spirit of God, our Comforter.

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; John 14:16 NAS95

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

John 14:16 KJV

Our world is so wrapped up in finding human solutions to our problems we have lost sight of the fact there is One who will comfort us and that we are to be a comfort to those who are suffering. Not with human wisdom but with God’s wisdom.

I remember speaking with a newly-minted psychologist years ago. He was studying for the Catholic Priesthood now that he had finished his Ph.D. He had a patient that was struggling with guilt over a sin he was trapped by in his life. This young doctor was considering telling him to never go to church or confession again so he could be free of the guilt. I was not much older than he was, and he knew I was a protestant, Pentecostal minister, yet we were friends, so he asked my advice on what to say to the patient. I suggested that telling him to avoid church was not going to resolve the guilt problem, and it might be better to suggest he stop sinning and help him overcome the sin in his life. You would have thought I had introduced a radical and new therapy by his reaction. He was overwhelmed by the very thought of taking such a bold and dramatic approach.

My point? We will never stop the world's suffering by offering the world's answers. If you want to make a difference for someone today, may I suggest you offer them the One who can Comfort their ills? His name is Jesus.

He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. Isaiah 53:3-5 NAS95