Don't be a Navel Gazer
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Light? Momentary? Where does Paul get off saying that? Paul doesn’t know the heartache I’ve experienced.
He doesn’t know the illness I’ve dealt with, the financial struggles I have. Paul doesn’t know my home situation, my work situation…he doesn’t know anything about my life...
How can he call afflictions light and momentary? They seem to heavy and enduring…What does Paul know about affliction anyway?
Honestly, we’d be tempted to think these thoughts. We’re tempted to think that Paul is trivializing and downplaying affliction and suffering.
We’re tempted to think that Paul is naive to various life circumstances…or maybe Paul was just a grumpy old man - and completely hardened to life.
Maybe even tempted to think that Paul didn’t know anything about suffering.
But none of the above statements are true. Paul isn’t downplaying affliction, he’s not naive to the human condition. He’s not hardened…he’s not a grumpy old man. Paul knew suffering.
Read …in that passage Paul details some of the afflictions he endured during his ministry.
He have to understand what Paul is doing. Remember Paul is building a case here. Here is showing the Corinthians - and subsequently us today, that suffering and affliction is not contrary to the Christian life.
Remember after Paul planted and pastored the church in Corinth, after he left to continue his missionary journey…false teachers infiltrated the church and began to teach the Corinthians a 1st century version of the health and wealth prosperity gospel.
They pointed to Paul’s suffering in order to discredit him as a ministry of God. But through the course of this letter, and especially here in chapter 4, Paul is revealing to the Corinthians that God actually uses affliction as a means to spread his message around the world.
Paul isn’t downplaying afflictions, he’s giving perspective.
And this really is a perspective-getting passage…showing us a perspective we need to have.
So often we’re navel gazers..staring at our belly buttons. Heads down, eyes down…and we have a “Woe is me” mentality.
But here Paul gives perspective - it helps us get our heads up, our eyes up…and see affliction for what it really is and what purpose it serves.
Beyond being a perspective getting passage - this is also a continuation of Paul defending his ministry. Why does Paul carry on in the face of mounting affliction?
Why does he keep on preaching? What does he keep on traveling? Why does he keep subjecting himself to death day after day?
These are questions we’ll be answering as we make our way through this passage.
Paul’s Continued Ministry - 4:13-15
Paul’s Continued Ministry - 4:13-15
So Paul starts out in - What we need to do first, is figure out who Paul is talking about. Who wrote “I believed and so i spoke.
13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,
Paul is quoting from .
Psalm 116
In , the Psalmist writes about God delivering him from a deadly situation…and Paul takes 116:10 and compares his deliverance…and his response to his deliverance to be the same as the Psalmist’s.
Remember back in chapter 1, we saw that Paul wrote about a life threatening situation he experienced in Asia.
Despite all that he had previously experienced, the situation in Asia caused him to fear for his life…but he was delivered.
And because he was delivered from that…and other situations…he believed in the surpassing power of God..and he continued to speak.
Why does Paul continue in his ministry? Because time and time again God delivered him.
Paul will continue to speak because time and again he’s experienced the surpassing power of God.
Have you had a similar situation? Has God delivered you from a perilous situation? Is this the conclusion you came to?
I have. God delivered me from cancer…twice. And I can firmly say I have the same spirit of faith as the Paul and the Psalmist - I can say, “I believe so I will speak!”
And in vv14-15, we really get into the reasons for Paul’s continued ministry. Why does he keep going? He believes, so he speaks.
He’s squeezed, stressed, pursued, knocked down…but he’s not squashed, stressed out, abandoned or knocked out…so he keeps going…why?
Look at .
14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
Paul keeps going because of his confidence in the resurrection.
He has a firm assurance of Jesus’ resurrection…he firmly believes that Christians will experience their own resurrection. Look at these verses and see what else Paul said about resurrection.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
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14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Paul is confident that since Jesus was raised form the dead, those who follow Jesus will also be raised. That is why he keeps going. No matter what is done to him on earth…even if he is killed because of his ministry, Paul knows that on the day of the Lord - he will be resurrected and brought into God’s glorious presence.
Why else does Paul keep pressing on in ministry? So that others may come to know Jesus the way Paul came to know him.
15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
He presses on so that more and more people will be saved.
So that grace can be extended to more and more.
He keeps preaching so that thanksgiving will increase, he keeps going so that more voices are added to the choir…voicing that will sing to the praising and honour of God.
Why does Paul press on in ministry? Because of his zeal and passion for God’s glory.
Paul’s Perspective - vv.16-18
Paul’s Perspective - vv.16-18
And as we move in to vv.16-18, Paul lays out his perspective on affliction and suffering. Paul restates what he wrote in
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
He’s squeezed, stressed, pursued, knocked down - but Paul has experienced the surpassing power of God…so Paul sees his afflictions in a differently light.
Paul isn’t a navel gazer - woe is me, my life is so hard - but Paul sees the purpose of his afflictions.
Paul sees his affliction through eyes of faith.
And in order to share his perspective on affliction, Paul makes a series of comparisons in vv.16-18.
He makes a comparison between: the outer self and the inner self, the momentary afflictions to eternal glory, and between things seen and things unseen.
First - Paul makes a comparison between the outer and inner self.
Paul writes that the outer self is wasting away. Who’s experienced or is experiencing that? Who can no longer do things you were once able to do?
Paul is referring to here is a progressive weakening of the body, faculties, stamina and mind.
What he might call…aging!
Take note of this…Paul writes in the present tense…is wasting away. And the present tense of a verb indicates that it is a continual and on going process.
But he also writes in the passive voice. The passive voice meaning that the action is happening to you. You aren’t actively making it happen - but it is happening to you. The process is inevitable…a foregone conclusion.
The human life is a strange thing. As soon as we are born, we start to die. Sure we grow, our bodies strengthen, we learn new skills, we mature…but as soon as we are born, the clock is ticking down to our inevitable death.
But in contrast to the aging and decaying outer self, Paul writes that the inner self is being renewed. Because of the surpassing power of God - the inner self experiences renewal. Far from wasting away, the inner self is being revitalized.
The progressive renewal of the inner self matches the process of decline of the outer.
In theological terms we call this progressive sanctification. The process of being sanctified - of being made holy, the process of being made into the likeness of Jesus.
This is a daily process - being renewed day by day. Ever notice that upon your conversion - you didn’t immediately become like Jesus?
it’s true, that when we come to Jesus, we aren’t immediately perfected, but we ARE sanctified - we are made holy.
And that sanctification continues in us as long as we live. Sanctification continues as our inner self is renewed daily.
And this inner renewal is a process that will culminate in complete transformation at Jesus’ return.
So how does this renewal happen? Automatically??? No - this daily renewal of the inner self happens as we dive into God’s Word and study it.
It happens through prayer, solitude, fasting - by practicing other spiritual disciplines. Inner renewal can happen as we join our brothers and sisters for public worship. Renewal can happen by joining together in fellowship.
Even though he’s a clay jar, even though we are clay jars...Paul doesn’t lose hope because he knows and neither can we!
For there is a regenerative overhaul that is happening inside of us.
Secondly - Paul compares the light momentary afflictions here on earth with the eternal weight of glory that is awaiting believers.
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
Again, remember that when Paul writes of the ‘light and momentary afflictions’ he’s not downplaying afflictions here on earth.
He’s not inexperienced when it comes to suffering - he’s giving perspective.
Paul is giving perspective on the duration of affliction here on earthly.
And he also fills us in on what afflictions can actually for us when we do experience them.
And what do afflictions do for us? Well, Paul says earthly afflictions are light and momentary compared to what they produce. They produce an eternal weight of glory beyond all compare.
the glory of the age to come is out of proportion in duration and substance to the troubles we now experienced.
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The glory of the age to come is eternal…and the weightiness of the glory is so heavy, that what we are experiencing now is light compared to the glory that is to come. Elsewhere Paul writes this.
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18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
But how? Do afflictions automatically produce an eternal weight of glory? Think of it this way…think of the word friction
As iron sharpens iron…what’s happen in that process? Friction…and the rough becomes smooth.
Or think of sandpaper. I like to build…and when you get to the end of a project - after the fun parts of measuring, cutting, assembling - inevitably you have to finish the project.
And finishing involves sanding. As you sand, the rough grain in smooth. As you progress up in grits, the smoother the wood becomes.
As you sand, the sharp corners are knocked down. Sanding produces friction - it produces heat…and through that process, through the friction, the wood is flattened and smoothed.
And much like sanding is essential to finishing off a woodworking project - affliction is a means God uses to the knock the high spots off in your life and character.
Affliction smooths over the rough edges of your character.
It refines you more into the image of Refiner…as Malachi says.
Hardships, afflictions - aren’t randomly and haphazardly thrown at you, but they are part of the refinement process, as you are made more and more into the image of Jesus.
The light momentary afflictions we experience here - are preparing us for a weight of glory beyond all comparison.
And then we come to .
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
And this verse answers the implicit ‘how’ question of v.17. How do light momentary afflictions prepare us for an eternal weight of glory?
It doesn’t happen automatically - but only when we do 2 things. Paul writes first negatively, what we shouldn’t do…then he writes positively - what we should be doing.
First, Paul writes that afflictions produce an eternal weight of glory when we DON’T look at the things we can see..and when we DO fix our eyes on that which we can’t see.
Does that seem odd to anyone else? Don’t look at what’s in front you, instead look to those things you can see…How can we look at something if we can’t see it???
Affliction doesn’t automatically produce or prepare for us an eternal weight of glory. The refining happens only when we look at afflictions through a certain lens.
Paul writes, don’t look through the eyes of this world. Don’t look at what’s there in front of you. Those things are here today and gone tomorrow. They are temporary and transient.
By comparison, the things we can’t see are eternal…and far outweigh what is right before us.
We must focus on…fix our eyes on the promises of God. I can’t help but be reminded of , which tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Affliction does its refining job, produces an eternal weight of glory when we look at them through the eyes of faith. When we get our eyes off of ourselves, off our circumstances, and when we lift our heads up, lift our eyes up and see the weight of glory that awaits us in the next life.
Application
Application
So, what are we to do in the meantime?
First - know the proper perspective.
Know that in comparison to eternity, what we are gong through now really is light and momentary.
It doesn’t compare to the weight of glory that awaits us in eternal life. Know the biblical perspective - not random and useless - but affliction is productive and preparatory.
It refines us into the image of Jesus - rounding over the sharp corners and smoothing out the rough spots.
Secondly - Don’t allow afflictions to harden you to life, allow them to refine you.
Don’t be a navel gazer…woe is me…but trace how God is moving and working in your life…even through hardships.
See how your character is being transformed and refined into the image of Jesus. See how the rough, sharp corners of your character are being worn down.
See how your inner self is being renewed day after day as you follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
And finally this morning…what should we do?
Like Paul - don’t lose heart. Life is hard sometimes. The Christian life can be hard sometimes…ministry life is hard.
And as long as we’re focused on the things right here in front of us…the things we can see…we will lose heart. We’ll get overwhelmed, you’ll put our heads down and you’re right back to staring at your belly button.
As long as we view our afflictions in a worldly way, we’ll get squashed, stressed out, feel abandoned and get knocked out.
However, when we see afflictions through the eyes of faith, through the perspective Paul laid out for us in this passage…we’ll see through the eyes of faith. We’ll see the lightness of what we’re going through, and we’ll begin to see what the afflictions are producing in us.
That will help us get our heads up, our eyes up, and put things into perspective.
What a wonderful perspective getting passage. We need this reminder. It reminds us of why we’re doing what we’re doing.
it reminds us not pay too much attention to the fragility of life, but to instead focus on the glory of God that God is bringing about in this world.