Fr Peter Helman

 Beloved of God,

Our reading from the epistles this morning is taken from that of St. Paul to the churches of Corinth, the Peloponnese region of southern Greece, where he journeyed on several occasions during his early missionary travels throughout the Mediterranean.

The reading begins with one of my favorite forewords from his many letters:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4).

Paul’s missionary travels to and from Corinth were fraught with persecutions. He and his companions counted the cost and hazarded life itself for the sake of others that they might come to know the reconciling love of God at work in all things.

Toward the end of our reading this morning, Paul writes, “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (1:8-9).

The second half of the latter verse is the hinge upon which everything turns for Paul.

He knew what it meant to take up the cross, as Jesus called his disciples to do, and knew by that not simply an acceptance of the ever-present prospect of death, but what is more the truth that the cost was worth the sacrifice.

I love what Paul writes elsewhere in the same letter, “We have this treasure in clay jars … we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies” (2:7a, 8-10).

He knew that one will either live for oneself alone and be lost or offer oneself for the sake of the lost, as Jesus did, and come to know the fullness of true life. He knew that to follow Jesus was to stand in the shadow of death, where Jesus stood, and to proclaim by word and deed the good news that in Jesus death has been vanquished and swallowed up by life.

I will admit that I know nothing of the prospect of death for being a follower of Jesus, but Bishop Smith's exhortation several weeks ago still rings in my ears: "There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for."

Saint Paul, pray for us that we may have the strength of grace to follow where Jesus leads and stand ready to give, whatever the cost, for the sake of his love and for the honor of his name. Amen.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Peter