2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Pastor Kornelia Schauf

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

"As God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no at the same time. 

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yes and no, but yes in him.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him; that is why we also say Amen through him, to the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us and sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge."

Dear congregation, 

what can we still rely on? I still remember how disappointed some South African visitors to Germany were when a train was late. "You can't rely on the German railways anymore!"

What can we rely on? It feels like there is less and less: the weather is unreliable. People are unreliable.

Today's sermon text must be read against the backdrop of disappointment. Paul, the great and important apostle Paul, had promised to visit the congregation in Corinth and had to postpone his visit.
This led to great disappointment for some, and others took the opportunity to condemn Paul. "Once you lie, no one believes you!" Yes, there were some members of the church in Corinth who badmouthed Paul. They wanted to convince the rest of the church that they had all been wrong about Paul. They didn't want to know why Paul had to postpone his trip. They were only interested in finding fault with him.

The dispute in Corinth had been going on for a while – it's terrible when this happens in a congregation and people no longer trust each other and the impression arises that they can no longer rely on each other.

May God protect us in our Johannesgemeinde from this.

Paul is certainly sorry that he had to postpone his trip. He takes the accusation of unreliability seriously, but he also puts it in a different context.

It is as if he were saying: We know that this world is unreliable. We know that ultimately there is nothing that is permanent and eternal. We live in a world where plans change. We are constantly confronted with changing situations. This can lead to great uncertainty.

And in the midst of the great uncertainty and unreliability of our worldly life, Paul reminds the Corinthians of God's faithfulness.

It is God's faithfulness that allows us to hope to find a way in this unreliable world.

God's faithfulness is God's attitude towards his unreliable people, who are always and over and again entangled in guilt because they do not keep their promises or perhaps cannot keep them at all.

This is not about moral guilt – it is not simply about a cancelled trip or a promise that could not be kept: Paul's thinking is much deeper than that: it is about the fundamental unreliability of human beings. It is, so to speak, part of being human – it is what distinguishes us humans from God: we humans are more like the trains in Germany: no matter how hard we try to be reliable, no matter how seriously we take our promises, we fail to keep them. We disappoint people. We are not what they hoped we would be. In this respect, we remain unreliable.

And at this point, it is important for Paul to remind us of God's faithfulness. God is reliable. God can be relied upon. Paul expresses this by saying: In Christ, God has said yes.

And because Paul preaches this yes of God in Christ, he cannot be accused of preaching yes and no.

He changes levels: yes, as a human being I am not reliable, but as a preacher I preach and proclaim the reliable, faithful God.

God's faithfulness is an ancient theme that runs through the entire Bible. God's reliability and constancy, his faithful accompaniment through the ups and downs, the yes and no of the history of our world. 

Paul sees in this the possibility of reconciliation with the Corinthians. Let us not use our human weaknesses, our unreliability, to divide congregations and fight against one another. 

I quote Paul:  But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us and sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

A few days before Christmas, we read these lines, and I see in them the very meaning of Christmas. In the midst of an uncertain, unreliable world, where there is hardly any room left for humanity, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ: God's yes and God's confirmation of his faithfulness.

We find this faithfulness in those who are touched by the Christmas story: the faithful Joseph is an important figure for me: he reflects something of God's faithfulness and reliability by remaining faithfully at Mary's side. Mary becomes a mother who reflects something of God's reliability by remaining faithfully at her son's side. Time and again, there is also mention of the faithfulness of the animals and the faithfulness of the shepherds.

If we free "being faithful" from moral captivity, then we are talking about a gift that is given to us by God. God's faithfulness resonates within us – God's faithfulness helps us to live in reconciliation in this world despite our fundamental unreliability.

Please, it is important to me to note that there are two different levels at play here in the text: On the one hand, there is Paul, who is perceived as unreliable and disappointing because he cancelled a trip: that is the moral level.

Paul goes one level deeper: and on the deeper level, God's faithfulness opens up the possibility of reconciliation for him: quite profanely, the moral transgression does not have to lead to permanent separation. We humans make mistakes and can get over them.
And deeper still: God's faithfulness also enables us to prove ourselves faithful again and again.

It does not have to remain the case that "once you lie, no one believes you!"

What does all this mean for the last few days before the feast? Perhaps there are still disappointments to overcome here and there in families – perhaps here and there we can consciously stop making accusations and prepare for a new encounter.
But perhaps it is also the fundamental joy of God's reliable faithfulness in an unreliable world that gives us stability and leads us to have hope.

That is what Christmas is all about: understanding the birth of Jesus in such a way that it gives us hope.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.