Deuteronomy
18:15-20
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
February 15, 2009
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Praise Be
to God for His Compassion!
I. He
comforts us
II. We
comfort one another.
Whenever
people need comfort they usually turn to the things, places, or people from
whom they can get it. Sometimes people turn to food for comfort. A good box of chocolates, a big bowl of ice
cream, or some of mom’s chocolate chip cookies can bring a sense of comfort. Sometimes people turn to a favorite place. A
comfortable recliner, a good book, or a hot fishing hole can help soothe the
aching. And sometimes we turn to people. How often don’t children go running to mom
who always seems to have the right band aid for our booboos and is able to kiss
the owies way. Yes, there are many places we turn to find comfort.
Did you ever think about how important to turn to God and our fellow believers
when we need comfort? This is the very
reason why Paul praises God in the verses we consider today. Our God is a God of compassion who can
comfort us in all our troubles. That’s why we also join Paul in PRAISING GOD
FOR HIS COMPASSION! I. He comforts us in
our trouble, II. We can comfort others with that same comfort God gives to us.
Speaking of having trouble and needing
comfort, Paul was it. That was true
regarding his public life as an apostle and his private life as an individual
child of God. What do I mean? Think of Paul’s life as an apostle. Although he has often been called “the
greatest missionary of the Christian church” that doesn’t mean things were easy
for him in the ministry. He had
troubles. He was put in prison, stoned,
flogged, beaten, and even suffered shipwrecked. Those are just a few of the
things he had suffered for Christ from enemies of the gospel. But sometimes his trouble came from the very
congregations he served as a pastor.
Think of what was going on in the Corinthian congregation. Members had
become tolerant of open immoral behavior. There was quarreling among members
and some were even suing others in the court of law. Some were adopting
teachings and doctrines that were not true and others began to question basic
fundamental teachings like the resurrection. Cliques had formed and members
were arguing about who was the best pastor. Their worship had degenerated into
self gratification and entertainment rather than about worshipping God and
edifying hearers through Word and Sacrament. Some arrogantly thought that they
had more spiritual insight than Paul or even God’s Word. These were just a few
troubles that weighed heavy on Paul’s heart.
In addition to these problems in the ministry, there was also
other sorrows. Paul apparently
still felt the pangs of conscience about what he had once been and done. At one time, he had been a Pharisee who
thought that he could earn his way to heaven and was a sworn enemy of Christ
and his church. Recall that Paul was the
one who held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen to death. Paul also had a “thorn” in the flesh. He had some physical ailment that caused him
difficulty in his ministry. Three times
he asked God to take away. But God in
his infinite wisdom told him “No.” Isn’t it any wonder that Paul needed
comfort?
The comfort Paul needed, he found with God. That’s why he opens this second
letter to Corinthians with thanksgiving because God had been compassionate
toward him! What comfort had he received from God? Regarding his struggles in the ministry and
the things he suffered for Christ, God comforted Paul by reminding him that the
glory of the gospel ministry wasn’t about him and his suffering. He was only the jar of clay whom God used to
spread the gospel about what Jesus suffered for us. When discouraged about the ministry and those
who questioned his qualifications, God
comforted him with the reminder that his competency for the ministry came from
God and that his gospel work was not in vain.
Regarding the guilt from his past, God also provided comfort for Paul.
Paul wrote of that comfort this way: “I am the least of apostles and do not
even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of
God. But, by the grace of God I am what
I am, and this grace to me was not without effect.” Regarding his thorn in the flesh, God would
not remove it. But God comforted Paul with the assurance that his grace would
sustain him. “My grace is sufficient for
you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” And so you see, Paul who needed comfort
received it from the God who comforts us in all our troubles! Having received
that comfort Paul was able to endure troubles to God’s glory and for the good
of those he served with the Word.
II.
That comfort Paul received from God he then used to comfort others who were grieving
or troubled, yes even those in the Corinthian congregation Let’s take a look at
some of the examples. The man who was
living with his father’s wife was excommunicated. He then repented and he needed the comfort of
God’s forgiveness. Paul assure him of
that forgiveness and Paul encouraged the Corinthians to comfort that man with
their forgiveness too! When the
congregation settled down with some of the silly and sinful things they were
doing in worship, they needed assurance that the gospel message would have the
power to edify them. Paul offered that
comfort too. “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive
words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power so that your faith might
not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
And for those members who began to doubt that Jesus rose from the dead
and wondered about the benefit of Christian faith, Paul comforted them with the
good news that Jesus indeed had risen from the dead and that their Christian
faith was not futile. “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the
first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes
also through a man...the man Christ Jesus.”
All this comfort came from the God of all compassion, and Paul shared it
with his fellow believers, he praised God for it and he was confident that
God’s comfort would enable the Corinthians to bear patiently any trouble they
faced.
That comfort which Paul needed and received from God, and then shared with the
Corinthians is there for us too! When we fall into sin, God comforts us with
forgiveness, and we can comfort one another with that good news too! “God was
in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to him, not counting men’s sins against
them.” If we have any doubts about our
faith or the truthfulness of Scripture listen to this comfort that God shares
with us and we can share with each other:
“For what I received I passed onto you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures.” If we
struggle as a congregation and it seems like our work is all in vain, God’s
comfort is there for us reminding us that our work in the Lord is never in
vain. It’s all there for us to help us
when we hurt and it is all there for us to comfort others too! With such
comfort we can patiently bear any trouble we endure.
What would you say is the time when we need that
comfort the most? When all is said and
done, what our Christian faith is, what the Scriptures are all about, who Jesus
is and what Jesus has done for us all come together when we have to stand at
the casket of a loved one. At no time do
we need comfort more than when we are staring death in the face. And if you’ve had to do that, you know how
much it hurts. There isn’t just the
emotional pain when a loved one dies, sometimes your heart is so full of grief
that it actually hurts physically. That’s when we need comfort the most. And God gives it to us. Through the promises of salvation he comforts
with the assurance that those who believe in Jesus will live even after they
die. And do you know when we use that
comfort from God to comfort one another?
Take out your hymnal and turn to page 145. Let’s read together the opening paragraph of
the litany of resurrection comfort. And
now let’s read the rest of it as it is printed there.
This is what Paul was getting at when he says that God is a God of compassion
who comforts us in all our
troubles, and now we can comfort others with the same comfort we
have received from God! To this we say
with Paul “Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of compassion and the God of all comfort...”
Yes, chocolate chip cookies can be comfort food. And yes, a nice bubble bath
can help soak away some of the tensions of life. And yes, a comfortable recliner can help us
snooze away some of the aches and pains of the day. And yes, a hug from mommy
and a band aid can help the tears go away after a big "owie"! But none of those things can take away the
guilt of sin, the pain of suffering in life, or the sting of death. But God can.
He offers us the comfort we need in his Word through Jesus Christ, and
we have the privilege of sharing that comfort with one another. May it always
be said of us here at St. Paul of both pastor and member alike, “Those people
are comforted and they comfort one another.”
Amen.