2 Corinthians 1

Befriending and Blessing

Posted on by Betsy

Last week I had a wonderful opportunity to speak to the women at Peachtree City United Methodist Church on the subject of “filling your cup with light.” I thought I would share a bit of my talk with you today. Yes, that is me being lazy!!

Henri Nouwen wrote a wonderful book called, “Life of the Beloved.” In it, we discover his two-fold approach to dealing with the everyday darkness in everybody’s lives. He counsels two things: one is to “befriend” it, and the other is to “bless it.”

In the first instance, he suggests we befriend our brokenness by embracing it, acknowledging it, and owning up to it. This is far preferable to running away from it. The first step to healing is not a step away from the pain of brokenness, but a step toward it. Attempting to avoid, repress, or escape the pain is like cutting off a limb that could be re-attached if it only had proper attention.

Nouwen asserts that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we desire, but instead it can become the means to it. But he cautions, we can’t do it alone. We need someone to stand with us in the darkness, to shine their light into our situation and remind us that there is peace beyond the anguish, life beyond death, and love beyond fear.

The second thing Nouwen suggests we should also “bless” the darkness that breaks us by bringing it under God’s blessing for our lives. We were reminded that God is the source of all of our blessings. Seeing our brokenness as another blessing of God changes our perspective. It forces us to look for what God is doing in our situation and look away from our pain.

So Nouwen invites us to consider how God can use our brokenness to bless others…in other words, to consider that surviving the darkness makes us ready to be “blessed to be a blessing.”

Nouwen wrote this:

“The powers of darkness around us are strong, and our world finds it easier to manipulate self-rejecting people than self-accepting people. But when we keep listening to the voice calling us the Beloved, it becomes possible to live our brokenness, not as a confirmation of our fear that we are worthless, but as an opportunity to purify and deepen the blessing that rests upon us. Physical, mental or emotional pain lived under the blessing is experienced in ways radically different from those things lived under a curse, which can be felt as a sign of our worthlessness and can lead us to a deep depression—-even suicide.”

By understanding our situation as part of everything that God allows rather than a curse upon us, we force ourselves to look at what God is doing, and how that might eventually turn out. We become self-accepting in that moment, seeing ourselves as he sees us: Beloved. Trying to find fault and blame turn into acceptance, which helps us heal. And when we do, we become blessed to be a blessing to others going through the same thing.

Paul teaches the church in Corinth about being blessed though their troubles so that they may be a blessing to others:

2 Corinthians 1 (Common English Bible )

3 May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort. 4 He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God. 5 That is because we receive so much comfort through Christ in the same way that we share so many of Christ’s sufferings. 6 So if we have trouble, it is to bring you comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is to bring you comfort from the experience of endurance while you go through the same sufferings that we also suffer. 7 Our hope for you is certain, because we know that as you are partners in suffering, so also you are partners in comfort.

Are you suffering or troubled today? Count your blessings.

For Charlie and Mano by Wende Pritchard

The Comfort of Comforting

Posted on by Betsy

It wasn’t a big deal. We were enjoying a lunch at a beachside bistro with friends when I spotted an older gentleman pushing his wife in a wheelchair up the ramp toward us. As he got to the door, he struggled to get it open and then hold it as he made a tight corner with the chair. I could see and feel his frustration as he attempted to get his wife inside the air-conditioning and out of the hot sun. My husband was at the end of the table, so I said to him, “That fellow needs help with the door.” My husband sprang into action and with holding the door and guiding the chair from the front, they made it inside. Our lunch companion observed this and said to me, “You’re always at work.” She is a wonderful friend and church member, and she was referring to the position a pastor accepts when they are assigned to a flock. Our job is to constantly look over and look out for our people and respond. Again, it wasn’t a big deal, but it brought back memories of watching my father struggle with my mother’s wheelchair and feeling gratitude for many strangers who held doors and lent a hand. People showing compassion to strangers is peopling at its best.

Human compassion is a reflection of the very heart of God. God comforts us so that we can comfort others. Troubles are thus understood as opportunities to bring comfort to the suffering. Think about it a moment. The joy of giving and receiving comfort is bound up with the pain of suffering. Without one we would never experience the other.

2 Corinthians 1 (Common English Bible)

3 May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort. 4 He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God. 5 That is because we receive so much comfort through Christ in the same way that we share so many of Christ’s sufferings. 

Paul used the Greek word paraklesis when he spoke of God offering comfort. It is more than just sympathy: paraklesis refers to the strengthening and help that a strong Paraclete of consolation can bring. When he spoke of receiving comfort through Christ, he reminded us that Christ was never far from Paul in all of his suffering. That helped Paul to understand that God had a larger purpose for his discomfort. Indeed, Paul used those experiences in his preaching and ministering to his churches. He helped the church at Corinth understand that their sufferings would produce the endurance they needed to survive. Through their trouble they would receive salvation.

6 So if we have trouble, it is to bring you comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is to bring you comfort from the experience of endurance while you go through the same sufferings that we also suffer. 7 Our hope for you is certain, because we know that as you are partners in suffering, so also you are partners in comfort.

Are you struggling today? Do you need a mighty Paraclete to come along side of you and give you strength? Do you know someone who is suffering? Can you offer comfort to them in the name of Jesus? Even just holding a door open to someone who is struggling can make a big difference.

Come on Through by Michelle Robertson