We all want to live easier lives, don’t we? Lives free of pain and suffering, free of struggle and hardship, free of fear and worry, free of conflict altogether. I think if you and I were completely honest, we’d say this is what we want for this life. These are the things we tend to pursue, and the things we tend to pray for earnestly. As I pointed out in last Sunday’s sermon, we don’t often pray for God to add to our faith virtue and knowledge and self-control and steadfastness and godliness and brotherly affection and love, even though 2 Peter 1 tells us to pursue these things. The truth is these are the sorts of things God pursues for our lives, even if we do not.

Our default assumptions are revealed in how we think about difficulties and pray about them. Most often we pray for God to remove the difficulty, to solve the problem we are facing. When you are facing a difficult and painful circumstance, by all means, pray! Pray with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Join us on Sunday mornings at 9:00 and take it to the Lord! Of course! First Peter 5 says we humble ourselves by, in part, casting all our anxieties on the Lord. We should go to the Lord with our concerns. How often, though, do we react to a problem with eagerness to learn and grow? The truth is when the Lord allows hardship to come our way, he usually has a specific purpose in mind, one that involves our growth.

Consider the Israelites in Egypt. They heard God’s promise to rescue them out of the land of slavery and to take them into the land of Canaan. They saw God spare them numerous times as he poured out the plagues on Egypt. For example, in the plague of flies, the flies were everywhere in Egypt—except in Goshen, where Israel was. The Egyptian livestock was struck by the fifth plague yet the Israelite livestock was spared. In the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, all were in danger. Only the blood of the Passover lambs would spare the people. After this final plague Israel was sent out of Egypt. God had finally answered their prayers for deliverance!

As they were leaving Egypt, Moses tells us the path they took—and did not take.

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”

Exodus 13:17 ESV

See the kindness of God! The most direct route from Egypt to the land of Canaan would take Israel past numerous forts filled with experienced warriors. Rather than take them into such battle, the Lord chose a different path for them.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

Exodus 14:1–4 ESV

Rather than go the most direct route into Canaan, the Lord instructs Moses to turn around and encamp at a place by the Red Sea. Notice that they are to camp there. They set up their tents and get out their cookware and prepare a meal and get their bed rolls ready. They are to appear as though they will be there for a while. God says why: this is so Pharaoh will think they’re lost and then he will pursue them and God “will get glory over Pharaoh” and his army. The end result will be the Egyptians will know that he is the Lord. In other words, God didn’t want to take Israel past the heavily armed forts so instead he put them in a place where they could not flee from the even more heavily-armed Egyptian army!

Oftentimes when we think of Pharaoh and his army pursuing them, we think of Israel on the run, high-tailing it as fast as they can. Remember, however, that they are encamped at Pi-hahiroth.

The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

Exodus 14:9 ESV

The truth is that Israel had not gotten very far. The Egyptian army had horses and chariots, and battle-hardened soldiers used to forced marches. When the text says they “overtook” the Israelites, it wasn’t difficult! They were encamped! Their tents weren’t exactly setting land speed records! God had led them out of one extreme difficulty, that of slavery in Egypt, prevented them from entering into another difficulty, that of walking past military forts, only to have them enter into an even greater difficulty: they are surrounded on three sides by a massive and angry army with a sea blocking any path for fleeing the other direction.

Israel’s immediate response to this difficulty was not faith. It was not to remember how the flies had not caused them harm. They didn’t say to each other, “Hey, don’t forget that when their cattle were killed, ours were spared!” They appear to have completely forgotten that while every single Egyptian household had lost its firstborn sons, including among their animals, not a single Israelite’s household had. So how do they respond to this new tough spot they find themselves in?

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Exodus 14:10–12 ESV

Their response was, essentially, “We’re all gonna die!” Rather than look to God’s history of faithfulness, they got angry at Moses for all the good things God had done for them. Like us, all they wanted was a life free of trouble, free of difficulty, free of obstacles. What God wanted was their faith, and if making them turn around in the wilderness in order to cause them to camp in a place that offered them no way of escape when Pharaoh would come after them—and he would; God made sure of that—if that would cause their faith in him to grow, then that’s what God would do.

It’s easy to look back on this last year—it’s still 2020, right?—and see all the difficult things we’ve faced. This coronavirus hasn’t slowed down. It has accelerated. The family problems that we had last year are still with us. The struggles we face with our own sin seem to be ever-present. That medical condition that we prayed against fervently still hasn’t magically resolved itself. That difficult person we thought would change hasn’t. Those resolutions we made so firmly a year ago have been anything but firm, because, well, life. (So maybe that difficult person we thought would change was us all this time.) And the icing on the cake? Life may be difficult currently, but at least the exhaustion and the frustration will continue! So there’s that.

What you and I need this coming year isn’t necessarily a change in our circumstances or a removal of our problems. It may not be that what we actually need is a reduction in the complexities of life. Maybe what we need for the coming year is a better memory, a memory that enables us to see again God’s continued faithfulness. Maybe what 2022 should bring is the ability for us to look back at all the difficulties we’ve faced, whether in the previous year or throughout our lifetimes, and see that God has been with us the entire time. Maybe what we need is to remember what the outcome of every trial and tribulation we face will be, whether in this life, or the life to come:

But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Exodus 14:29 ESV

The time is coming when our problems will be gone. One day the sea that traps us on one side with terrible enemies on the other side will be parted and you and I will walk through that sea, victorious once and for all. That day is coming, even if it doesn’t come in 2022. Faithfulness is not about remembering better times. It’s about remembering that God’s character will be as unchangeable in 2022 as it was in 2002 and as it will be in 2042. Because God’s character never changes, the time is coming when the ground will be dry. God promised.

Well, the next year—Jordan’s rookie year—they improved to 38-44. It was the following season he missed a ton of games and they dropped to 30-52. So, yes, winning like 55 games the next year without him did not happen.

One of my favorite books of the Bible is the prophet Haggai. In two brief chapters he records God’s words to the leaders of Judah and to the people of Judah, and I often find his words comforting.

Haggai offers very precise dates for his oracles. The book begins with a word from the Lord in the “second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month”. This word from the Lord marks the first prophetic word from him since the exile to Babylon. Many Jews had returned to Jerusalem and had begun the work of rebuilding the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed several decades earlier. To hear God speak once again would have been a huge morale boost—were it not for the nature of the words.

This first oracle was directed to Zerubbabel, who was appointed as governor over Judah, and to Joshua the high priest. The Lord is very pointed in his words:

Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”

Haggai 1:3–4 ESV

Paneled houses were expensive. The idea is that they—the leaders of the people as well as those with more than modest means—not only lived in homes they owned, they had upgraded them so that they were living luxuriously. Meanwhile, the temple was still unfinished and in ruins. Because of the precise dating, we know this was in August, 520BC—right before the harvest. The people in general were struggling. God tells them in verse 6 of that chapter that they sow a lot of seed, yet harvest very little, and they eat, but are never satisfied. They drink, but never until they’re full. The truth is that God has withheld blessings from them.

God tells them to consider their ways in verse 7, to think about the incongruence of the lifestyles of those with means and those with little, all in view of the current state of the temple. He instructs them to go and get wood and build the temple, which seems a bit odd as the temple would be constructed of cut stone. The wood wasn’t for the temple itself, but for the scaffolding and other tools necessary for the temple to be built. He’s telling them to prepare to build the temple, indicating how little actual work had been done since they had returned from exile. Not only is the temple not built, they don’t even have the tools to build it! God then repeats his withholding of blessings in verses 10–11, and tells them a drought is coming—a drought he himself has ordered.

In verse 12 he says Zerubbabel and all the people obeyed the voice of the Lord through Haggai and got to work “on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king”—just a few weeks after the first word from the Lord. It took them a few weeks as they had to harvest their crops, meager though they were. Now they are ready to work on the temple.

Then, nearly a month later, “in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month”, the Lord spoke again. This is October 17, 520BC. The people are tired and exhausted. They are discouraged. Just clearing away the rubble of the previous temple was difficult work, with no progress made at all on the actual temple they were to build. All they could see was broken stones and rubble. God’s word to them at this time is to be strong, and to work. They must not fear. They must not allow the enormity of the task to cause them to quit. The book of Ezra tells us the altar was built and being used at this time, even though nothing else was finished. The people are in the busiest month in the Jewish liturgical calendar. They had the Feast of Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, all of which involved sacrifices. Thus the new altar was being used a great deal, all in the midst of debris and rubble. It’s not hard to see why they were discouraged.

Part of the problem was a lack of resources. Harvests had been poor. There was little to sell, and therefore little to fund the building of the temple. God then made this promise:

“For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

Haggai 2:6–9 ESV

There had been quite a bit of chaos when the previous king had died and Darius was crowned. It took him some time to establish order in his vast empire, yet God promises to provide. Notice how many times he calls himself “the LORD of hosts” in just these four verses: five times, in case you didn’t count. That expression, “LORD of hosts”, is a reference to the vast power at God’s disposal. This is what the song “God of Angel Armies” is referring to. God commands armies—he’s the Lord of hosts. The power at his disposal is unimaginable, and without end. With this power he will shake all of creation and the result of this shaking is the treasures of the nations will come in. He means they will come to Jerusalem. As Darius consolidates his power, tax revenues from all these nations will begin pouring in, and God will direct some of those revenues toward the rebuilding of his temple. God isn’t limited to providing for his people from some local billionaire; he literally moves—shakes—entire nations to provide for them. This is how he can declare that all the silver and gold belongs to him.

A few months later, “On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius”, God spoke again, asking some obscure questions about unclean things (2:10–19). The point of that exchange in chapter 2 of Haggai is that ritual uncleanness is more contagious than holiness is. A person could become accidentally unclean, but no one becomes accidentally holy. Holiness must be intentional. They must choose to offer their lives and their work to the Lord as a gift of holiness. They must choose to continue the work. Then God offers them this incredible promise of hope:

Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider: Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.

Haggai 2:18–19 ESV

The foundation of the temple was now laid, yet God reminds them that they had done this without his overflowing blessing. If they could accomplish this much in their poverty, how much could they do with plenty? God has given them everything necessary to accomplish his will. They must choose to accomplish it. They must not be content with what he has already done. Yes, the altar is built and the sacrifices have restarted, but the temple is not finished. God is not satisfied with incomplete work. They must press on. For centuries the people of Judah had been receiving the covenant curses. Now God promises them blessings, and so they must use his blessings to do his work.

The tiny book of Haggai ends a paragraph later after a promise about Zerubbabel, the appointed governor of Judah. That’s it. Why is this tiny little prophetic book included in the Bible? The truth is that when we look around at our world, we see a whole lot of unfinished work. It’s never finished, and oftentimes life feels a lot like first clearing away the rubble and debris of prior destruction. When we look at our own individual lives we see this unfinished work. I’m clearly not where I want to be; I’m still clearing away rubble and debris. I suspect you’d say the same about your life. When we look at this world and we see its brokenness, we see that God’s work of cosmic transformation is still a work in progress.

As Christmas nears we are reminded that Jesus came into the world to bring about that cosmic restoration that is promised. He lived and died and rose again, yet the work is still largely unfinished. Oh, it is completed! There is nothing more that Jesus must accomplish for our salvation, yet our salvation is not fully here. It’s…unfinished. We are still a work in progress. This world is still a work in progress. It is very easy to see all that needs to be done and to be discouraged. There’s too much work. There’s too little progress. There’s too much opposition to the work. People don’t respond to the truth of Jesus the way we want them to. We don’t respond to the truth of Jesus the way we want to.

Whether you’re dealing with your own mess, or your family’s mess, or you’re actively engaged in the mess of others, hang in there. Whether you’re facing illness personally or with someone close to you, hang in there. If you’re wrestling with the flesh and struggling to overcome sin in your life, hang in there. If you feel weighed down by the news or you’re full of fear of viruses or whatever it is, hang in there. The time is coming when the Lord Jesus will finish his work.

As of today we are halfway through the month of December. Many people love December in Michigan, and what other place can compare? Whether it’s waking up to a beautiful layer of clean, pristine snow or it’s enjoying an incredible day of sunshine, Michigan in December can be gorgeous. But it’s usually not. It is the month in which we have the fewest days of sunshine. February, with three fewer days than December, averages three more days of sunshine than December! It’s usually overcast and gloomy—but at least it’s cold. This is why many people experience “seasonal affective disorder”, also known as “the winter blues”. For many it’s not merely seasonal. Life can be harsh and brutal and often brings suffering our way. In this, however, God is at work in often unseen ways. Consider Paul’s words to the church in Corinth.

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 may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3–7 ESV

Paul’s words here to the church in Corinth are a bit tangled. He says that God is the God of all comfort. He is the one who is always comforting us when we are afflicted. The tenses Paul uses emphasize the ongoing nature of God’s comforting of his people. There isn’t a time when God is not actively comforting his people—even if we’re not aware of it when it’s happening. Paul says the outcome of receiving comfort from God is that Paul is able to comfort others with the same comfort he has received.

The reason we need comfort is because we share in Christ’s suffering—not sparingly, though! He says we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings. He’s not referring to the sufferings of Jesus on the cross, but to the suffering that we experience in relation to being his people. We suffer because of our association with him. Paul turns this around again and says that if he is afflicted with suffering, it is for the Corinthians’ comfort and salvation. The trials and tribulations that Paul experiences are, in part, designed to bring comfort and salvation to them. If he is comforted, it is for their comfort when they endure the same sufferings that Paul endures.

Paul is demonstrating here the unity and connectedness we feel as followers of Jesus. We are united in our confession that Jesus is Lord and so when one member rejoices, the others rejoice and when one member is hurting, the others hurt as well. He’s indicating that part of God’s purpose in allowing suffering is that we might comfort one another with the same comfort he gives us in our suffering. This is why Paul can then say that his hope for the church remains unshaken, for while they share in Paul’s sufferings, they also share in his comfort.

Paul is not offering a cheap-shot therapy session here. He’s not giving them a drive-by platitude designed to distract them from their suffering. Instead, he’s giving them a bit of perspective. Yes, this life is filled with suffering. Yes, that suffering is difficult. Here’s the real hope he has: that suffering is not sovereign. It is not all-consuming. It will not last forever. It will end. To show them how this is true he reveals to them the depth of his own suffering.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1:8–11 ESV

Paul isn’t sure if the Corinthians know the depth of his most recent experience of suffering. While in Asia he was burdened beyond his strength. His suffering was so great there was nothing he could do about it. So much for those who claim God will never give you more than you can handle! Paul had more than he could handle! He says things got so bad that he despaired of life itself. He would have welcomed death at that point, such was the grief and pain he was enduring. With time, however, he has gained a better perspective on his suffering. He says that it was allowed, at least in part, so that he would not rely on himself. That seems obvious given that he was burdened beyond his own strength. If you can’t handle your burdens, obviously you can’t rely on your own strength—except it’s not that obvious when you’re in the midst of it. With time, however, he has come to see his suffering differently, from God’s perspective. Notice what he says. It was to make him not rely on himself, “but on God who raises the dead”.

Paul points them to the good news of Jesus: he has defeated sin and death. The same God who raises the dead will give Paul—and the Corinthians—the necessary strength to carry on the midst of severe hardship. They will face things that are too great for them to handle, but the truth is they will never face anything that God cannot handle. How do we know? He raises the dead. If God can raise the dead, what is there that he cannot do? And the promise is sure: he will raise the dead. All suffering has an expiration date. It may not be the date that you and I want it to have, but it will expire. The day is coming when suffering simply ceases to be a thing. By pointing them to God who raises the dead, the apostle is reminding them of their real hope in Christ. He is coming again and when he does, he will end suffering for all time. When that day comes, never again will followers of Jesus face suffering and pain. The promise is that God will wipe away every tear. He will heal every wound.

Paul is not giving them the happy-clappy platitudes that we all despise, the shallow, superficial “don’t-worry-be-happy” mantra. He doesn’t point to God who raises the dead as a band-aid designed to make their booboos feel better. Those sorts of responses are actually designed to minimize your suffering, to make you think your suffering is not nearly as bad as it is. Such platitudes don’t come from faith; they come from optimism, the general disposition of seeing things from a positive light. Optimism isn’t a bad thing; it’s just not the same as faith in God. Paul acknowledges the very real suffering he and the Corinthians experience. He doesn’t minimize it but says that he even despaired of life! He didn’t wake up one day while in the midst of this despair and say to himself, “Bah. It could be worse, and it’ll get better.”—and suddenly it was better. Instead he acknowledges that God delivered him from his despair and did you catch what he says next?

He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

2 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

Paul fully expected to be in that situation again! God rescued him from despairing of life, and God will rescue him from despairing of life again! Isn’t that remarkable! The apostle, the very one appointed to his office by Jesus himself, the one who had seen the resurrected Jesus in his glory, would once again despair of life, and was trusting in God who raises the dead to deliver him once again. He is not saying that the next time he will have the strength to handle it. He expects the next round of suffering to once again be beyond his strength and to despair of life itself. He also expects the same God who raises the dead to give him the strength and the comfort necessary to endure. Paul knows he cannot do this alone, so he pleads with the Corinthians help him through prayer so that many will give thanks to God for getting him through.

You may be going through immense suffering right now. Keep trusting in the one who raises the dead. He will be faithful to uphold you, to give you the necessary strength to endure. Or you may soon go through immense suffering. Know that when it comes, God who raises the dead is right there with you, offering you comfort and the strength to carry on. Yes, it will get better. As DA Carson once said,

I’m not suffering from anything that a good resurrection can’t fix.

Don Carson

Whether your suffering is physical or emotional, God will be faithful to uphold you. How do I know? He delivered Paul from it. Multiple times. He’s delivered me from it, again, multiple times. He will be faithful to deliver you from it as well—multiple times.

It is no surprise that much of Scripture is foreign to us. The most recent part of the Bible is over 1,900 years old and was written in a language most of us don’t know and was written to people living in cultures very different from ours, people with a very distinct perspective on the world—both the unseen world and that which we can see. There are assumptions the original audiences held that we do not hold. When we approach Scripture we must be aware of our own assumptions and how these assumptions can distort our understanding of the text. We see this in the book of Joshua with the Ancient Near Eastern warfare rhetoric that is employed. A victory in battle is expressed in absolute terms: “we killed ’em all—every man, woman, and child”. It’s clear that this is hyperbole, however. Consider Joshua 10:20.

When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.

Joshua 10:20–21 ESV

Joshua says they wiped out the people and immediately mentions the remnant that remained. Well, which is it? Did they completely wipe them out or were there survivors? Yes. The hyperbolic language that was common in ANE literature simply means the victory was total. They ended all resistance. We see this in the statement that not a single man “moved his tongue” against the people of Israel, so total was Israel’s victory.

Recognizing these significant cultural differences can be difficult because we approach the text with very deeply rooted convictions about the world and how it is supposed to operate. One of the most difficult concepts for us as modern Americans is found in Joshua 7. The very first verse challenges a deeply held assumption we have.

But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.

Joshua 7:1 ESV

God is angry with the people of Israel because the people of Israel “broke faith”. How? A single man stole from the Lord. Because Achan, acting on his own, violated the command given to the entire nation, the anger of the Lord burned against the entire nation.

This is contrary to how you and I see the world. It is especially difficult for those of us in the majority in our nation to reconcile with how we perceive the world. We don’t like the concept of corporate responsibility, the idea that I should not be held responsible for what someone else has done. There is a sense in which this is true for God. In Ezekiel 18 he declares that the soul who sins shall die. In Deuteronomy 24 God says that fathers shall not be put to death for the sins of their children and children should not be put to death for the sins of their fathers. The truth is that God deals with us individually, but it’s also true that God deals with us corporately. It was the people of Israel who broke faith on account of one man taking the forbidden treasures from Jericho.

What is beneath the surface in Joshua 7 is that God knows everything. No sins are hidden sins. No sins are private and personal. The anger against Israel serves to warn them about sin in their midst. His anger burned against the entire nation and would continue to burn if they would not deal with that sin appropriately. It is not that each Israelite was guilty of the sin of Achan. It was that each Israelite bore the responsibility of Achan’s sin—especially in the sense of dealing with it and making the necessary corrections. They didn’t commit the sin, but they—all Israel—were responsible to make it right. God’s anger would burn against them unless and until they did so.

This is where the rub comes in for us. If I’m not personally guilty of committing a sin, they why should I be personally responsible for making it right? I don’t mean making it right in the sense of atoning for it; only Jesus can do that. Yet it is clear that God expected Israel to deal with the sin in the camp. This is why sin in the church must be addressed. This doesn’t mean that we go after those who struggle. It means that when there is unrepentant sin we must “make it right”—we must correct the individual or individuals engaged in the sin and we must call them to repentance and faithfulness. While we would never pick up stones to throw at a person, it is clear in the New Testament that the time comes when an unrepentant sinner must be cast out of the assembly—excommunicated.

In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul addresses the church concerning an individual engaged in a form of sexual immorality that he says not even the pagans tolerate: a man is sleeping with his step-mother, and won’t repent of his sin. This man was a member of the church, claiming to be a follower of Jesus even as he acted worse than a pagan. This is made clear in verses 9–13 of that same chapter. Here is Paul’s instruction to them for dealing with this “Achan” in their midst.

For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 5:3–5 ESV

This man was to be delivered to Satan. He is to be removed from the church’s protection. He is denied fellowship and encouragement, save for the continued call for him to repent. Paul makes this clear in verse 11.

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

1 Corinthians 5:11 ESV

The aim was the man’s salvation. Should he persist in acting like an unbeliever he will prove himself one. The church’s hope was for his return to faithfulness. He should not be encouraged in his unrepentant sin but called to repentance. If—when?—he acknowledges his sin and returns to faithfulness, he must be received back into the church, back into the church’s protection and fellowship. Paul had to instruct the church to do this very thing in his second letter.

Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

2 Corinthians 2:5–8 ESV

The church excommunicated this man and denied him fellowship and encouragement, but called him to repent. He finally did so, and Paul now instructs them to restore him to fellowship, to reaffirm their love for him. They are to encourage him again, reminding him of God’s love to him in Christ, of mercy and forgiveness, that his righteousness is found in Christ alone. What changed is that while he was unrepentant, they had no way of knowing whether he were actually in Christ alone! Now that he has repented and is bearing the fruit of faith in Christ, they are free to reassure him of God’s love.

The truth is that our culture insists we stand and fall on our own, that our responsibility is to mind our own business and deal with ourselves. “You do you, and I’ll do me.” This is not how God sees the world and is certainly not how God sees his church. While we may not be guilty of the sin committed by another, we are responsible for making it right, for calling the sinner to repentance and then executing God’s divine instructions for his church. Failure to correct the problem makes the entire church culpable.

The story of Achan demonstrates the importance of corporate responsibility. This is why church discipline is not primarily the responsibility of the Council of Elders, but belongs to the whole church. This why Paul told the Corinthians to take this final, drastic step “[w]hen you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus”. The church acts corporately to deal with unrepentant sin, just as Israel acted corporately to deal with unrepentant sin.

The aim isn’t to remove people we don’t like. It isn’t about a particular person’s sin that we just don’t like. It isn’t even about the nature of the sin itself, as if some sins are allowed to be indulged in while others are not tolerated. The issue is the unrepentant heart of the person engaged in the sin. As we saw last Sunday, even in Achan’s “confession” was the implication that God was holding out on him so he took some of what he had a right to take. Achan was not repentant.

There is no rugged individualism in the church or even in the broader world. No one is an island responsible only for his or herself. We all bear corporate responsibility on some level, even if we do not share guilt for a particular sin. It was Cain who asked whether he were his brother’s keeper and the Lord is clear that the answer is always yes.

Of course, there is a better way to all of this. We could remember that our confession is Jesus is Lord, and we could all choose to submit to his authority in our lives. It is far better to heed the warning of Joshua 7 and confess our sins and acknowledge the ways we have acted unfaithfully, trusting in the Lord and his mercy and in his promise to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is far better. Let’s commit ourselves—corporately—to faithfully follow the Lord.

In the ancient Roman world letter writing was quite common. People traveled much more than we generally think, though travel was by foot or by boat and, perhaps, by horseback. Travel was much slower than today, yet it was quite common. This made letter writing much more feasible as merchants traveled all over and would often carry and deliver mail, as would servants sent specifically for this task. The average personal letter was about 90 words in length while the average literary letter—a letter from an important individual that was published for public consumption—averaged about 200 words in length. The apostle Paul’s shortest letter has 335 words while his average letter was over 1,300 words in length! His letter to the Romans was a whopping 7,114 words long! That’s longer than my longest sermon!

Paul had never met the Roman Christians. He knew several of them from elsewhere, yet he had not planted the churches there, nor did the majority of them know him. Still, he was an apostle and was traveling to Rome and so he wrote a letter to them. Priscilla and Aquila were there and Paul had labored with them in ministry in various places. Surely they gave him the “inside scoop” as to the strengths and weaknesses of the churches in that large city.

There is a lot of scholarly debate over the purpose of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. A great many books are still being written about this. One thing is quite clear, however, and that is that the Christians in Rome were at odds with one another. They were divided along ethnic lines, with Jews and Gentiles assembling separately. The population of Rome in the first century was about a million people so it would have been impossible for all the Christians to assemble together every week, so various local churches were established all over the city. These tended to divide along the various lines we see today. One huge area of division was food, specifically, whether or not to eat meat. In a city such as Rome the vast majority of meat markets were connected to temples of various gods and the meat being sold was meat from animals that had been offered in sacrifice. Some Christians understood that nothing is unclean in itself (Romans 14:14) and so they had no problem purchasing and eating such meat while others could not, in good conscience, eat meat they knew had been offered to an idol. Paul clearly sides with those who ate meat yet he warned them to love their brothers and sisters more than food and to abstain from eating meat if it caused the other to stumble. His hope for the myriad Christians in Rome is expressed in chapter 15 of his letter:

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 15:5–7 ESV

In the great scholarly debate over the purpose of Romans are those who say this is the real reason Paul wrote this letter: to urge them to be united in spite of their ethnic and culinary and cultural differences. They have Jesus in common, therefore they should be able to assemble together—”with one voice”—and worship the Lord.

In this chapter he goes on to tell them this:

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Romans 15:14 ESV

He had received reports from various sources, include Priscilla and Aquila, and though he had never met most of them, he knew them quite well. He is emphatic in declaring their competence in the faith. They know their stuff! They have been taught well and they are even able to instruct one another in the faith. This is high praise from the apostle! Yet the very next thing he writes is this:

But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:15–16 ESV

This idea of reminding them carries the idea of reminding them again. They know it, but there is a real need for him to spell out these things they know in great detail for them again. What he is really doing is showing them the implications of what they already know. Theodore of Mopsuestia put it this way:

Paul is telling them that he has not received anything new or wonderful which he is writing to teach them. Rather, he is just reminding them of things they have already learned.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, “Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church”

In other words, he’s not really sharing something new with them—just some things they’ve either forgotten or have not yet worked through the practical implications for them. It is really interesting that these words come after a chapter in which he tells them to love one another even though some are carnivores and some are vegetarians. I know the theological issues behind eating meat and abstaining from meat offered to idols is more significant than mere dietary choices, yet Paul is writing this letter to remind them of the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done, and what it means for them on a very practical level.

He tells them that he has been given the “priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable”. What is this offering? It is the same offering that Jewish Christians offer to God. In chapter 12 he tells all of them to present their “bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”. Paul functions like a priest in this regard. A significant part of his ministry is helping Christians live as living sacrifices. He’s reminding them again of what they already know, that they might offer every square inch of their existence as a sacrifice to the Lord. How they think about food and how they put others before themselves are directly impacted by the gospel. While Paul has spent considerable time writing about the gospel in this letter—the first eleven chapters!—this is no mere mental or academic exercise, and the gospel is not simply the message that “if you believe this, you go to heaven when you die”.

Paul’s point throughout this letter is that the gospel is the very power of God, and this power of God is used to completely and utterly change us, and that no part of our lives is to be separated from the implications of this truth. After spending eleven chapters explaining the gospel, here is his very first point of application:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

The very first thing Paul says after explaining the gospel in great detail is this: live as if it were true! Let the gospel of Jesus permeate every fiber of your being. Let the truth of Jesus transform your thinking. This renewing of the mind requires that we think of life and this world from the lens that God in Christ through his Spirit is victorious over sin and death. It requires that we see the world and ourselves from God’s perspective, and God isn’t about to let meat and vegetables be a thing that divides the very people for whom Christ died (Romans 14:15)!

It is true that we are both physical and spiritual beings. We have physical bodies with physical needs and we have spirits with spiritual needs, but if we separate these two by thinking that the physical and spiritual needs are not actually intertwined, we miss the importance of the letter to the Romans. We cannot separate the two. We are physical beings united with our spiritual selves, and every last bit of our lives ought to be brought into conformity to the truth of Christ. At the very least, this means how we love one another ought to flow out of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our thinking is what controls our actions. If I understand that God is for me, not against me, that God desires my highest good in any situation, and I can know this because Paul says earlier in Romans that God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us, then I know that there is nothing good God will withhold from me. If I understand this then I know that whatever obstacles I face in this life, however painful, even if the source of pain is a fellow believer in Jesus, God is working for my highest good. If I truly comprehend the enormity of the good news of Jesus, there is no area of my life that will not be transformed. This will be seen especially in my relationships with others.

The gospel is about God working to completely and utterly transform everything that is, and this transformation begins with you and with me and is seen in how we love one another. It is good to be reminded of this. Again.