By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
June, 30, 2024
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2 Corinthians 8:7–15 (ESV)
7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. 8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
Last week we spoke about grace. I mentioned that in the pagan world grace was seen as a blessing from the gods. Those that had wealth, power, or the things that hold value in this world we signs that you had grace. This is a common theme throughout most cultures. Various groups like focus on these seemingly blessed people as their leaders, chosen by the hands of the gods. Even within the church there are remnants of this philosophy.
It is a philosophy that runs deep within our human nature. We see that there are people that have more than others. We desire to be like them. We watch what they do how they act. We mimic them because we want what they have. This idolization of humanity that is at the core of this philosophy drives us to assume that the actions of the ruling, celebrity, academic, sporting, spiritual, what ever class of people we want to resemble, hold the key to divine blessing.
We need to be careful though. It is not inherently wrong to respect people. It is not a sin to recognize the skill or wisdom people have. It becomes a sin when we equate those people with God. When I was younger I loved the writings and the teachings of Ravi Zacharias. I thought he was a powerful man of God, he had an ability to speak, he was convincing, and could speak right into the very heart of the questions I had. A few years ago it was revealed that this man was not what he seemed. He spoke eloquently about faith, but it was revealed that his actions did not reflect the words that he spoke.
This shook my faith. I began to wonder if all I believed was some sort of manipulative lie. I questioned things because that is how he lived his life. He used the mask of faith to obtain his own desires. He manipulated people to do things contrary to the faith that he taught. He did this because within his mind because he was doing so much for God, he deserved it.
That grace is not the grace of which Christ grants. The grace of which Paul teaches is not to make our own lives better. It is not to give us power over people, or wealth. It is not even there to give us some secret knowledge or wisdom. Grace is life. Grace is the divine power to live within a community where there is mutual benefit to all involved. Grace is the strength to live a life loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the of Christ with others. Grace is loving God with everything that we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
This is what Paul taught. He challenged the teachings of the Hellenistic philosophies that were dominant within that culture, and he pointed out that he did not experience what the world would call grace. Instead he faced suffering. He faced hardship, and hunger. The world taught health and wealth, but Christ did not teach that. Christ instead said, love your enemies, do good to those that persecute you. He taught blessed are the poor, the meek, those that sorrow. They are blessed because they understand something that the world’s philosophies do not or cannot teach. Life goes on.
Life continues even if the blessing does not seem to manifest. Life continues even when the journey seem hard. Life continues. How do we live in this life? How can we live when for the vast majority of people the blessing or grace of the gods does not come near?
We live through repentance. This is an important theological concept. For most of my life I have been taught that repentance is merely a confession of faith in God, where we tell him our sins and ask for his forgiveness. This is part of repentance, but it is not the whole.
Repentance means to turn again, or return. The idea behind the theological concept of repentance is that we recognize that we have been traveling a path through life that is contrary to God, and we return to the proper life and lifestyle. Repentance is more than a spiritual confession of our wrong doing, it is a complete change, a turning of our mind, body, soul and spirit. Every aspect of our life should adjust away from what we did prior and return to a life with God.
Paul tells the people of Corinth, “but as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you – see that you excel in this act of grace also.”
I like excel. I have learned to use that program designed by Microsoft in a ways that have allowed me to advance in my career. I actually like that they named their software excel because it is a good word. Paul, of course, is not speaking of a program that was developed nearly two thousand years after he died. He is speaking of the ideal of excel.
The concept of excel is an overabundance, or a superabundance. It is something that exceeds the expectation. This is the life of grace of which Paul speaks of, a life that is overabundant. We hear a great deal about this type of life. But Paul does not tell us that the excelling grace within our life is the riches of this world. Instead he expresses that grace is a life and lifestyle where terrible pain and suffering can occur, and through it all those that have grace have joy, and become a blessing to those around them.
As you excel, he says, in everything. Paul then lists areas of life, in faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, and love. I want us to stop and consider these areas of life. He is encouraging us to live our lives sharing abundantly.
How do we excel in the area of faith? If we were to look up the definition of faith, it would say that faith is the trust and hope in things not yet realized. Faith, like grace, is often misunderstood. Some regard faith as blind. Some regard faith as superstition. Some even consider faith to have some psychic style of magical power. But what is faith? What is faith lived out where people can see?
As a pastor I am still fairly young, but I have seen many things in my life. When it comes to faith the first thing that comes to my mind is not what most people think of. When I am asked what is faith my mind goes to the hymn, “It is well with my soul”.
That hymn was written by Haratio Spafford. He was a successful lawyer in Chicago. As his success grew, he invested his profit in real estate. Just when he began to think everything was perfect in his life, the great fire of Chicago sparked and he ended up losing his investments, and his four year old son died from scarlet fever. For a couple of years he continued to work hard and was able to again invest, this time the Panic of 1873 wiped him out. His family faced unimaginable financial and personal losses, yet they did not despair, they continued to live the lifestyle of faith. After such losses he decided a change of scenery would do them all good. He planned a vacation, and his wife and their four daughters boarded a ship for Europe while he remained in for a while finish some business at home, with the plan to meet them in England soon. His family did not reached their destination. The ship had a collision at sea and sank. His wife was one of the few survivors, and she sent a telegram to her husband that said, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”
Five children lost in death and an ocean separated this husband and wife. Horatio immediately boarded a ship to join his grieving wife. The captain of the ship was aware of the loss Horatio had suffered and when they came to the place of the tragedy, he meet with the heartbroken father to let him know where his daughters died.
Horatio listened to the captain, he faced the loss, the suffering, the sorrow. And in that moment words filled his heart.
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll-
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
What is faith? It is hope when facing tragedy. It is moving forward into the hazy future, not knowing exactly what will happen but trusting that no matter what you will find, that you will remain in the grace of a loving God. Faith is not magic, it is not blind acceptance in something impossible either. Faith is an expression or attitude that no matter what happens, we will adapt and continue. I know that faith, I have experienced that grace.
And my family sang that song together as we said our final farewell to my little sister twenty-seven years ago. Life is not easy, and faith does not come easy either. But when we have it the grace that God extends to us is abundant.
Paul speaks of abundant faith, excelling faith and he continues, by saying we also excel in speech. We often have an almost fairy tale view of what the early church was like. We read through the Acts of the Apostles and we begin to think that everything within those pages were happening all the time in everyday life. I firmly believe that miracles happen, I believe that the words of scripture are true, I also know through the study of history that life in the early church was ordinary. When Paul writes about the excelling grace within our speech, he is not saying that we are speaking in tongues or uttering prophetic words every moment of the day. He is saying that the grace of God is seen or heard in how we converse with people. Words of hope and kindness. Words of encouragement and comfort. He is saying that the people with excelling grace in their lives are people that we trust to share our hopes and fears with because they will respond appropriately.
How does this look in life? I again draw from my own experiences. Twenty-six years ago I was a anxious young man that had just found out was going to be a father. I had to tell my parents. My father was the clerk of the meeting. And the clerk of the meeting among Friends is the person within the religious society that holds the most weight or respect within a meeting. Basically the clerk is equal to the pastor. I was scared. What would people think of me, and my parents. What will they do?
I told my mother what I had done. I knew that I had to tell her, because there was no hiding the reality. I expected yelling, screaming, and possibly a need to find a place of my own. But that was not what happened. My mom remained calm. She expressed her disappointment, but as she expressed this she assured me that I was loved. She then helped me develop a plan moving forward.
Her words and actions in that moment, provided assurance to my life. She let me know that I was loved, and forgiven, while at the same time not removing the reality that my actions had consequences. Her excelling speech contained grace, truth, and love. And her words were accompanied with action. The response of my dad and mom, compelled me to be honest with myself and the church, and the church responded the same way. They did not turn away but encouraged me to excel. I am a pastor today because a little church in the middle of nowhere excelled in speech.
Knowledge goes along with speech, but it goes deeper. We need to continue to learn and grow. We need to continue to understand the world around us, so that we can speak truth into ever changing situations. And we need to know when we should not speak. My educational background prior to entering into ministry was based primarily in science. In my mind the way God was calling me to minister in the world was to help make crops that would feed the hungry. It never occurred to me that I would eventually become a pastor.
It is important have knowledge, to be curious and to study. Scripture urges us to reason with God. It tells us to observe and discern. These are all areas of life that speak of using and developing our mental capacities. We should grow in knowledge and as we grow we should inspire those around us. This is what the people that started this church did. The early Friends believed that knowledge was important, and that it should be available to everyone. They started schools for indigenous people, and they would often send their own children to learn along side them. They started schools as they moved west. And most of the meetings or areas within our Yearly Meeting had a school.
The availability of an education for all has been part of who we are as Friends even though we do not believe that God can only use the educated in ministry. Although this focus has dwindled over the years access to education remains important and is why Barclay College sought a grant to offer free tuition to students living on campus. We encourage the excelling of knowledge, but we also encourage ethics within our pursuit of knowledge.
This is where earnestness come in. Earnestness speaks of eagerness as well as goodwill. Grace, as Paul teaches, is not for personal gain. Grace is instead focused on life with God and with our neighbors. Excelling faith gives hope even in the darkest hours. Excelling speech provides truth with love. Excelling knowledge encourages curiosity and a growth of understanding of nature and everything within it. But earnestness speaks of a drive to make our communities better for all. We should be active. We should participate. If we see injustice we should use the knowledge we have to effect change. We do this not because it will bring us personal gain but because it is the right thing to do.
Excelling earnestness, I think can be seen in the life of a man named Johns. Johns was born in 1795 and raised in the Society of Friends. He was a successful man of business and eventually began to lend his excess wealth to others. As a banker he gained even more wealth and influence within the community. This influence allowed him to become a director of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, you might know it as the B&O railway from the game monopoly. During the financial panics of 1857 and 1873 Johns bailed the railroad out of financial ruin to help avert panic in the businesses in Baltimore.
You might say that he was just a regular rich man but Johns was different. Unlike most bankers Johns would offer better rates to young men starting in business and higher rates for those that we wealthier. This practice many would see as upside down but this is the earnestness of which Paul teaches. Johns gave the better rates to encourage the younger generation with the hopes that they would succeed and in turn encourage others. This angered established businesses but Johns continued. He invested most of his wealth to help his community succeed.
Johns tried to figure out ways to encourage others, and since he did not have a wife or children to leave his wealth to, he made different plans. Johns’s family were Quakers and early abolitionists, but they we not perfect. They participated in slavery, but as their understanding began to shift they did what they could to provide reparations for their wrongdoing. Johns left some of his wealth to his surviving relatives, and to three servants that had lived in his household. Johns’s life to this point is impressive, but the reason I bring him up is for something else.
He wrote this to the trustees of his estate. “The indigent sick of this city and its environs, without regard to sex, age, or color, who may require surgical or medical treatment, and who can be received into the hospital without peril to the other inmates, and the poor of this city and state, of all races, who are stricken down by any casualty, shall be received into the hospital, without charge.”
Johns Hopkins, used his wealth to start a hospital and university where people within his community would have access to medical training and healthcare. Johns died of pneumonia on Christmas eve, 1873. Some of his critics said the died because he was too cheap to buy himself a winter overcoat. He was cheap because he gave to his community. And his legacy continues to influence the world today. That is excelling earnestness. It is doing what is good for others even it it costs you. It is putting the good of others, the good of your community, before yourself.
Paul then speaks of love. He says he does not command that we love, but prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. I want us to stop for a moment. And just reflect on the things I have described. Faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness and love. Each of these things are aspects of our life and lifestyle that require a relational participation. We do, or share, these things with others. This is grace.
Grace is more than a gift. Grace is life with God and with others. Grace is more than something we experience in the here after, it is something we live in today. Grace is life. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you…so now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.”
We all want the abundant life. We tend to think if I do the right things, say the right words, get to know the right people I will have all I need. We idolize people in the world, and sometimes we do not fully know who those people are. Do our words and our actions resemble each other?
Paul shows us that grace is more. Grace is life with God and life with those in our community. If we want excelling grace if we want the over and super abundance, we need to stop looking at ourselves and instead take on the life and lifestyle of Jesus. Everything we have in this life is a gift from God, given to us through our relationship with others and should be invested back into those relationships. We might work and earn what we have, but it is still a gift. Work, is done in relationship. How are we living? Are we excelling? Can people see God in how you respond to difficulties, in how you speak, in your application of knowledge? Do we earnestly participate in bringing those within our communities into a better position in life? Are we showing the love of Christ in all we do?
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 10, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 3:13–22 (ESV) 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
June 23, 2024
Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship
2 Corinthians 6:1–13 (ESV)
1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13 In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.
When studying scripture I often get caught in what my brother and I fondly call squirrel tracks. I will be reading along and something will catch my eye so I will stop to look it up. Then after about five hours of this I realize I do not have a clue where I initially started. This week was one of those weeks. Which I find interesting because this passage does not really seem to be that “squirrel-ly”. I do not really know how or why I got so off track but I did. And it began right at the beginning. I spent a good hour just reading about the word we translate as working.
I know it seems odd and I am sure there were better ways to spend time, but as I have said often context is important. It is necessary to understand what is going on within a passage, what words they use, how those words are used in many different areas, and why the author might have used that particular word in this place. It is also important to understand the history surrounding a passage, along with the manners and customs of the culture to whom the passage was written. All of these things play into why particular words and references were used.
I have been reprimanded at times for not just looking at the plain reading of scripture. To this I often respond that if we attempt to utilize the plain reading of scripture, we will often take the words inspired by the Spirit out of context. We risk reading the context of our world into the words instead of reading those words in the context of the author. This is a risk. Scripture does speak to us today. It continues to inspire and it can speak into our contemporary context, but we need to be careful and recognize the moments this is happening. That is not necessarily the full meaning, instead that is a glimmer of inspiration for a singular moment.
I will freely admit that this week many of the squirrel tracks I traversed were in light of our contemporary context. There were conversations that I had with my sister that kept playing in my mind. Discussions with my mother, father, and brother that all echoed in the back of my mind. Reports on the news and older article I looked up to share with people that had questions. I found myself looking at this passage, seeing something contemporary within the words, and I had to wrestle with context, because I wanted it to speak to my current condition. I wanted to be able to speak using the scripture to make my point.
This is why the very first word took me along a journey. Working. I would make an attempt to tell you what the word is in Greek but I butcher the English language so I think those that speak Greek would prefer that I just explain the meaning. Working means to collaborate.
Last week I got into some of the grammar that Paul uses as he wrote this letter. We often neglect this as we attempt to plainly read, because often the authors will use a word that seems important in our language but how they used it in their context may be different. For us in this culture the verb working is important. Our culture takes pride in our work ethic, so when we see a word like working we immediately are drawn to it. We may not even be conscientiously doing it, but we look for these words to justify our life, our lifestyles, and our own context.
Is Paul justifying the American work ethic? No. This is a participle verb, and as much as I hate grammar, over the years I have found it important when I am studying scripture. I use software to assist in studying and every time a verb is a participle it automatically highlights that word light blue to help me to remember the context. What this is telling us is that this verb is active, but it is actively describing something. We are to be working, this is clear, but is it my work?
If the word we translate as working means collaboration it is not mine. The focus should not be on what I or in this case Paul does but it is with those the collaborating with us. And in the case of this first verse of the sixth chapter, Paul and his companions are collaborating with God.
We often get caught in the idea that my work is my work. But all work is a collaboration. We work for someone, even those that own their own business work for someone. Our family, our boss, our customers there is always someone else involved. Work is collaboration. Work is relational. We are never self made men or women, we never build a business by ourselves. We work with others.
I work as a pastor, yes, but this is not my church. It is ours and it is God’s. We work together and we work with him. But working is not the main verb in this verse. Working merely describes that Paul and his fellow companions with whom he collaborates with are participating in and with someone greater than themselves. We collaborate with Him.
As they collaborate with God, they appeal. This word appeal is the main verb within this verse. All the work that Paul describes focuses on this, he appeals, he makes an earnest request. He really wants us to know this. He really wants you to understand grace.
What is grace? We speak so much about this one thing that it become vague in our minds. Simply put it is a gift. Paul speaks a great deal about grace, his letters are filled with grace so much so that we often miss the point Paul is attempting to make. Grace often becomes the focus of the Christian life, but do we understand grace?
There is a reason Paul speaks of grace, and why he appeals to us not to receive the grace of God in vain. Grace is not exclusive to Christianity. The Stoics and Platonist often speak of grace. They say that grace comes from God, this vague unknowable force in the spiritual realm. We often forget that the religions we often regard as pagan, use similar language. To receive grace from God is a blessing, to accept the grace from God is a way of saying expressing gratitude to the divine. This is the belief in Stoicism and Christianity. But then things change.
Stoics believe that grace comes from God, but ire or anger does not. They believe that the good things come as blessing from God, but nothing bad can happen to those under grace. Those that have grace have power. They are the chosen ones. It is their divine right because God has entrusted these good things to them. Paul says not to receive the grace of God in vain.
Paul is speaking to people that have been influenced by the philosophical teachings of the Hellenistic worldview. He is using their current understanding and building upon them. This stoic teaching of grace runs deep within history and the church. We understand much of our world through a philosophical worldview that promotes stoicism to a greater degree than the gospel of Christ. This is why Bonhoeffer spoke passionately about the dangers of cheap grace, being taught in the churches throughout the modern era of his day.
But what is Christian grace? It is a gift yes. It is a gift that we cannot earn, but it is freely given. As the writings of the Hebrew people was translated into Greek there were many concepts of Hebrew translated as grace. Love, faithfulness, forgiveness, mercy, righteousness, kindness. These are all relational words. Words that express life with others and what is necessary for that relationship to be mutually beneficial to all involved. The Hebraic and Christian concept of grace is relational. Yes the idea of favor still remains, yes there is still gift and blessing, but for the writers of the New Testament grace is more than what we get from God, it is life with God.
“We appeal to you,” Paul says, “not to receive the grace of God in vain.” The verb receive like is an infinitive verb, which means it is ongoing or repeating. It is active and remains active. We continually receive it is not something that happens at one moment in time and that is it but it continues. We continually receive grace from God. God continually extends love, faithfulness, forgiveness. mercy, kindness and everything else. God continually offers life with him, and if we receive it we continually have that relationship.
Paul does not stop with the relationship, he does not say receive grace. He says, “we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” This word translated as vain outside of scripture means empty or without content. Giving the sense that a vain person is hollow. But Biblical Greek adds more nuance, not only is the person hollow, but also useless, careless, and frivolous. This goes back to the ten commandments, “Do not take the name of God in vain” or more accurately, “do not bear the name of God in vain.” This teaching speaks to more than just misusing or speaking the name of God with carelessness. It speaks of life with God. Do not live or take on the name of God upon yourself carelessly.
When we bear God’s name, we are in relational communion with God. This is not something to be taken lightly. Every aspect of our life should reflect God and his nature. The grace of God is not what I can gain from God. It is not about the blessings, it is not about a Christian worldview or nation, it is not about having power or influence over illness or demonic spirits. It is life with God. It is life, the good the bad and the ugly. Are we reflecting God in our life or are we hollow, careless, and useless?
Paul continues by quoting from Isaiah. “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” In Isaiah the Greek word translated as listened is translated as answered from the Hebrew. The idea surrounding the word is that we are speaking and being heard. Paul and Isaiah are describing of prayer. They allude to the conversational aspect of prayer, that God hears us when we speak and he responds. His response is that he helps. This word speaks of running to answer the call for help, to hasten to the aid of the oppressed or to simply help. Often when this word is used it refers to the actions of a physician but only in the Isaiah passage does it speak of God as being the one to provide the aid.
It is interesting that Paul quotes this verse at this time. He is explaining to the people of Corinth that grace is more than what their philosophical teachers tell them. It is more than a divine gift that gives us power to rule in this world. He does not deny that often grace does result in some supernatural gift, but it is not focused on the gift. Grace is access. Grace is the availability and opportunity to have a real relationship with God. A relationship where we can speak openly with God and God listens and where God answers. Grace is a relationship where we work or collaborate with God as he provides help and aid to the oppressed and hurting in this world.
“Behold,” Paul says, “now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” There are only two commanding verbs in this passage. Behold is the first. This command is urging or prompting us to direct our attention toward something. Behold, look, see, do not miss it. Now is that time of which Isaiah spoke about. This is the day where God answers and responds to the cries of the oppressed and he is asking us to join him in that work.
Paul uses this word six times in this letter, and three of those uses are in today’s reading. Behold, look and see. He then says, “We put no obstacle in anyone’s way so that no fault may be found in our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way.”
He is saying, look and see if God is at work, look and see it all around you, look at it in our life. See how we live the truth of this reality in front of you. He is telling them we have given or granted to you nothing that would hinder your belief.
This is where the squirrels came to visit again. I sat considering this one verse for a moment attempting to understand what it might mean in Paul’s context, and in our own. The plain reading might be that he is doing nothing offensive. Meaning he has done nothing that would trigger anyone. That is not what Paul is saying and that is not remotely possible in the world. Everyone has something that annoys them. Everyone has some pet project that they think is the most important thing in the entire world, and if you do or say anything that contradicts their stance you are canceled in their eyes.
I know this personally, I have experienced it in many different contexts. But this is not what Paul is speaking about. Your ideologies are not as important as you think in the larger scope of life. There are many different ways to accomplish similar tasks. Paul is not speaking of cancel culture, he is commending them to look at his life. He is asking them to examine his own life. He is hiding nothing from them. He is telling them to weigh his words in comparison to his actions. Is he living the life he claims? Is he living in the grace that God has given him?
Paul then lists what he has endured and how he has responded to it. He suffered beatings and imprisonments, does he lash out to strike out against those that cause him harm? He experienced hunger and sleepless nights, does he demand or steal the things to fulfill his personal needs? His response is purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; truthful speech and the the power of God.
This is not what the Greek culture would see as the grace filled life. To the people of Corinth, God would not allow bad things to happen to good people. Those that have grace would have treasure and power. They would not suffer because suffering is ire not grace. In their view if Paul truly possessed the grace of God he should lash out at those that opposed him because they are opposing the anointed. That is not the gospel of Christ. That is not the life the children of God are called to participate in.
We are called to a different life and lifestyle. We are called to love our enemies. We are called to turn the other cheek, bless those that curse you, to do good to those that treat us with injustice. Paul lived the words of Jesus and he is urging us to do the same. He is telling us to look at his life and lifestyle. He is challenging them to compare his life and lifestyle against the words of Jesus. Would we be so bold?
“We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians:” Paul says, “our heart is wide open.” He is not withholding information. He is not twisting his words. And his heart is wide open, meaning he has become vulnerable before them. He has stuck his neck out and invited them to offer criticism. Paul became transparent before them. And then he answers their criticism of him. “you are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.”
This is an awkward verse. To restrict is to be cool emotionally, or to be narrowed or squeezed. The sense of this is judgment. He is saying I am not the one doing the squeezing, but you are. Paul is not judging but the coolness they feel, the rejection or ire or lack of grace they feel is not because of Paul, but their own affections. This word that is translated here as affection means bowels or guts. In ancient writings this is how they would describe our seat of emotions, or our heart. Paul is saying that we are the ones that restrict, we are the ones that condemn ourselves.
We judge ourselves. We are ourselves are our greatest enemy. We are the ones that reject the grace God offers. We look at the blessing in our life and we assume that God has given us a gift, but how do we respond when blessing seems to pass us by, or how are we using the blessing when we have them? To those that live according to Greek philosophy you are at fault. You failed to honor God adequately. This is not the teaching that Paul passes on. The grace of God is available. Life with God is at hand.
It is not restricted to only the blessed. It is not available only to those that a chosen by God for special blessing. It is available to all. The only thing that restricts us is our own emotions, our own desires for control, power, and lusts. We keep ourselves from God’s grace, not God or the people within the church. We keep ourselves from grace.
“All sins and blasphemies are forgiven,” Jesus told the religious leaders. All sins are forgiven except grieving the Spirit. I have thought about this over the past few years. I wanted to know what that one unforgivable sin would be so I could steer clear of it.
Where is the restriction? Where is the sin? It is our rejection of life with God through Jesus that grieves the Spirit. The seeking of blessing on our terms instead of living with God through whatever life throws our way. It is the seeking of power and influence instead of encouraging the people where we and they are. It is the desire of having the things of this world instead of being content with what we already have. Paul endured every hardship we could imagine and he sang praises to God. How are we responding? How are we living?
This brings us to the last commanding verb of today’s passage. “Widen your hearts also.” Open your heart. Enlarge your heart. This does not necessarily mean be open minded in our contemporary sense, but Paul is encouraging the people of Corinth to examine his life and lifestyle in the light of their own. They live bound by grace or ire. In their worldview they are either blessed by God or forgotten. Paul encourages them to question their understanding of life. Are the things of this world really and indication of the blessing of God or is there an alternative way of life? He endured everything that would signify a life lived in ire according to the philosophies of this world. He was oppressed instead of wielding power. He was hungry instead of having abundance. Yet he was not dwelling in sorrows, but joy. Open yourself to the possibility, Open yourself to life with God and experience true grace.
Paul is asking us to see, he is pleading with us to recognize the truth before us. I is urging us to widen or open our hearts. Paul is encouraging us to move beyond our own desires and live within God’s grace so that we can join in the collaborative work of restoring life with God.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 19, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV) 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 12, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:3–9 (ESV) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 05, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili John 20:1–18 (ESV) 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the…
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
June 16, 2024
Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship
2 Corinthians 5:6–17 (ESV)
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
“We are always of good courage.” There are days I wish this was true. There are days that I pray for this to be true. There are days I plea to God that this was true. Have you been there?
This one word struck me as I first read through this passage. It struck me first because it is used twice within a few verses. When I first began studying scripture, or when I first learned methods to study scripture, I was encouraged to look for words like this. Words that are repeated within a passage.
I remember those days fondly. I remember sitting on the top of a cliff overlooking the Black Sea in Odessa, Ukraine looking at the pages of scripture, underlining words with different colored highlighters. I remember later near the end of two months immersed in ministry among the students of Ukraine when I first prepared a lesson to share with others.
Some have told me that my emotional response to the conflict, the war, in Ukraine is ill placed. But when I watch the news, when I see the places that Russian gliding bombs have hit. I remember walking on those streets. I remember the people I spoke to. I remember watching faces of the students I spoke to light up as they began to understand something inspiring, even if they had already professed faith. I remember, that it was on a boat in the Black Sea with the wind blowing in my face, I stood praying to God telling him that I was willing to do whatever he called me to do. And as I stood there with the wind blowing and rain coming down on me I reached into my pocket and I threw a coin into the churning, chaotic waters. I do not know why I threw that coin in the water but I think it was my way of saying that I give what I have placed my hope in back to God.
It was in Ukraine where I first heard the whispers. It was on those cobblestone streets where God first showed me what could be possible, if I was willing to trust him. It was on those streets in a city twice this size, in a country on the other side of the world, where God visited with a shy farm kid and called him to preach his Gospel.
Courage. That was the one thing a shy guy from the farm being called to a city needs, and something I do not feel as if I have. Courage. This word is not used often in scripture. This word we translate as courage, is used six times in scripture. You might gasp as I say this but it is true. Five of the uses of this particular word is used in 2 Corinthians, and the final time it is used is in the letter to the Hebrews. This word is used to tell us to dare, to be bold, to be cheerful, confident and unafraid. About now you are probably wondering how it can only be used six times when that theme is used throughout scripture. They use a different word that has a similar meaning. Jesus uses a word that has a similar root to this throughout the Gospels but in those accounts instead of it being translated as courage, it is often translated as take heart.
He says this to the woman that had been bleeding for eleven years. In that story Jesus is met by a ruler of the synagogue and this man pleas with Jesus to come to his home because his daughter is sick. The crowds are surrounding Jesus, pressing in on him. As this crowd is crushing in on him, this woman thinks to herself, “if I could only touch the hem of his garment I could be healed.” She works her way through the crowd, she reaches out her hand, and her figures just graze the fringe of Jesus’s robe.
I love this story because there is so much going on in it. There is the father, a religious leader within the community that looks to Jesus for help. He looks to Jesus even though that very act could cause him to lose his position within the community because the teachings of Jesus were increasingly causing division within the religious establishment. Yet this man was willing to give up everything for his child. He was willing to give up everything, not for his first born son in a patriarchal society, but his daughter. I do not often think we fully recognize or appreciate the weight of that story.
As this is going on there is this woman. This woman that society has deemed unclean. She is unable to worship with the community because of her physical health. Even though the state of being unclean has nothing to do with sin, she being in a constant state of uncleanness was shunned by her community. Everything she touched according to Torah was unclean, every cushion she sat on could not be touched another without transferring her corruption to them. For eleven years she could not even hug a child or spouse because if she did they would be required to spend a week quarantined from the community.
We are still cross about COVID quarantines that lasted a couple of weeks, this woman had potentially spent eleven years without physical human contact. Yet she pushed her way through a crowd. Each person she bumped into, each person she brushed up against as she reached out toward Jesus, was ritualistically unclean. She moved forward with the hope that Jesus could deliver her from that life of bound isolation. And a moment after her finger connected with the fringe of Jesus’s robe, something happened and she stood still as the crowd pressed on.
She stood there in hope filled shock, as Jesus began to cry out, “Who touched me?”
The crowd stopped as Jesus stopped. They stood in confusion because each of them had touched him, but Jesus made his way back to this woman. And she stood there likely with tears rolling down her face as she confessed that she had indeed touched him. She confessed that she without his permission seemingly stole his holy power. The gasps that likely came from the crowd as they realized who it was, the scandal that began to take hold within the community as each began to realize that they had come into contact with that unclean woman. But that is not Jesus’s response. He looks at her, he sees her, and he tells her “take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well.”
Eight times Jesus uses a form of this word, to be confident, be unashamed, and accepted. Usually it surrounds a story similar to this, it occurred on the boat when the disciples cried out in fear as Jesus approached them walking on water, and it occurred when Jesus appeared to Paul in Acts as he was told to preach the gospel in Rome.
Take heart, be confident, be bold, and unafraid.
Some might look at these words and how they are used and come to the conclusion that this is a call or command to go out into the world to boldly proclaim healing over the sick and the injured. Be courageous. We might think that, but grammatically that is not what is being said. The word translated as courage is a verb, but in this case, and in the case of Jesus’s usage it is not imperative, which is a commandment. In this case it is a participle which is where a verb is used as an adjective. So both Jesus and Paul are not commanding us to be courageous, but they like Jesus in the story with the woman that had been bleeding for eleven years. They are looking us in the eyes, they are seeing into our very hearts and they see the fear, the sorrow. They can hear the echos of our psyche telling us, “I can’t, I’m not good enough, I’m unclean.” They hear and see those feeling and they are countering them, “Take heart, be confident, be brave.” They are seeing our fear, our weakness and instead of telling us, commanding us to get a move on, they are saying yes I am here with you.
He is with us. I want each of us to just let that soak into our very soul. He is with us.
We do not have to be strong. You do not have to have everything together. It is alright if you have made a mistake. He is with us. You are accepted and loved by God. Not because you are good enough. Not because you are smart enough. Not because you are powerful, beautiful, healthy, or wise. You are loved because you were created in His image. We were created to live in community with God.
The paralyzed man brought to Jesus on the mat. The first thing Jesus said was take heart, your sins are forgiven. This man lived his life thinking he was cursed by God. He believed that was why he had the debilitating disorder, and his community allowed those thoughts to take root. They did not see him as God saw him. Jesus looked at the man. Before anything else: before he healed him, before he restored him into the community, Jesus looked him in the eyes and said “Take heart, the things everyone says about you is not who you are, you are forgiven, accepted, and loved.”
The blind man on the side of the road crying out, “Son of David have mercy on me!” Jesus stops and tell those around him to bring the man to him. And the crowd tell him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”
And as Jesus closed out his teaching that night of the last supper he looked at his disciples and he said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Take heart. Be confident because He is with us.
“We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.” Paul says. “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Over the past few weeks I mentioned how Paul is using the various teachings within this unique area within Greece to illustrate the gospel. Corinth is this unique place half way between Athens and Sparta. On an thin span of land between two large bodies of water that people would carry boats across as they make their way to Delphi to receive some oracle of inspiration from the vaping prophetesses. This place which was one of the sites within ancient Greece that the cities would come to compete in athletic games to prevent warring among them. Paul does not condemn their current understanding of the world, but he uses what they currently know and builds on it.
He knows that they believe that the spirit will live on in some afterlife, but their understanding of the spirit and body are not full. He reminds them that we are always of good courage. We have hope he is saying because we know that while we do not see Jesus in bodily form he is with us. And though we walk in our bodies and are not with our lord, we still have hope because there is more.
To the Greeks this life in our bodies was of little or no value because the body is corrupt and only the spirit mattered. Paul is saying, yes it is true that we want to be with our Lord, but we have hope even now as we walk this earth, because our lives here right now have meaning and are just as important. “Whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.” Our lives matter.
This past week I spent time thinking about life with God. As many of you know we have talking Tuesdays every Tuesday. During these talks we discuss Friends history and theology, we practice silence together, and I hope to allow space to ask questions and to find answers together. This past Tuesday we discussed the various Friends beliefs surrounding salvation. I confess, I did not come close to answering the question, and probably raised a few more questions in my attempt. But that is good because I firmly believe that God wants us to ask questions and to find answers together. I think that is part of our human nature to seek out knowledge. Unfortunately we often seek answers in places that can cause harm.
It is no secret that there are differences of belief within Friends. As I looked through the writings of various Quakers, I found it interesting. We may have various understandings and views, but across all there is some similarity. We all recognize that there is wickedness within this world. Knowledge and actions that help others and those that can cause harm. And we recognize that often we in our best intentions can contribute to harm. Although the various branches of Friends may have different views as to how we overcome the wickedness most do recognize that the source or the hope is found outside of ourselves, or with God however we understand God to be.
This gives me hope, as I look out at the world surrounding us. Many are scared. Many wonder if we are in the last days. Many feel as if everything we have lived for is coming to an abrupt end. But I do not see it that way. We live in a time where cultures are clashing, yes, but that does not necessarily mean the end is upon us. It might just as much mean that God is about to do something amazing that we can participate in. Some of us might look out in fear and beg Jesus come today. Paul is telling us, “be of good courage.” Although we might want to be present with the lord there is still something to do here and now.
He says, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.” Since we know that there is hope in the life beyond just as the Greeks believed, just as most every religion that has ever existed on the face of the earth. Many believe in some sort of life after what we currently experience. Since we know that there is something to look forward to, we also know that God put us here at this time, in this place. We are here not because our bodies are corrupt vessels carrying our spirits but we are Adam, men and women created in the Image of God, placed in this world for a reason. That mission has not changed. Even though our first parents sought forbidden knowledge, God did not give up on humanity.
He created us, we fell. He showed us a better life, we fell. He redeemed us on a boat, and we fell again. We tried to make a name for ourselves and he scattered the nations, but chose one nation as his inheritance through whom he would redeem the whole world. They followed God, and they fell into bondage as they put their hope in themselves instead of God. God redeemed them from bondage and restored them to the land promised. And again they fell.
We continue this process over and over again. But God never stops loving humanity and he never stops drawing us back. Then in the fullness of time, God so loved the world that he sent his one unique son to live among us. To live with us. That whoever believes in him should not perish but will have life with him.
Jesus come not to condemn the world, but to save it. We can condemn the world just fine ourselves. But can we save it? This is what Paul is speaking about when he says, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the lord, we persuade others.”
When he speaks of fear it is not being afraid, but reverence or respect. We understand that we as humanity do not know everything and often in our greatest attempts at saving things we push things into deeper condemnation. How do we stop it? How do find redemption?
It is interesting that the word Paul uses for courage is used six times in scripture. Five times in 2 Corinthians, and the sixth time it is used by the author of Hebrews. The letter to the Hebrews is one that I have often wrestled with. It quotes strange Psalms that I never quite understood like, “What is man, that you are mindful of him. Or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” And then it says, “So we can confidently say (or courageously say), “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Humanity in our vain attempt of gaining knowledge on our own, we turned away from God. We separated ourselves from the source and creator of life. We fall and we continue to fall. We continue to turn away from God seeking our own truth using our own source of strength and hope. Humanity was not created to be alone. We need community with others and we need communion with God. When we turn and continue to turn away from God, we are left with only ourselves, our weaknesses, our anxieties. “I am not enough, I am unclean, unfit.”
Or we dwell in our own empty arrogance and pride. “I made this company. I became president. I won the championship.” When the reality is that we would not have a company if we did not have customers, we would not be president without the votes of others, and we would not have won the championship without our team and fans. We are not created to be alone. But we are created to be in community. We are created to bear the image of God in the world, and as we bear that image we are to create Eden around us.
“What we are is known to God, and I hope it is know also to your conscience.” We are God’s creation, loved by our maker. Loved so much that he came to live among us, to show us true life with God, and to provide a way to that life through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this; that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Have courage, be bold, be confident, or assured. Take heart because you are seen and known, you are loved. The things the world might see is not the whole story of who you are. You are more. You are an image bearer of God, you carry his name into a world caught in bondage and distraction. Let us not bear his name in vain. Let us not corrupt his image by praising ourselves, nature, or governments made by human hands. And let us be courageous, unafraid to share the hope that we have in Christ. Because the same power that raised Christ from the grave is here with us at this moment in our lives. And we are renewed in him. Let us men and women, fathers and mothers and friend, take this hope and let us become people, “Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and Living the love of Christ with others.”
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 29, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 3: Do you attend regularly the services of your church and participate in them actively? Do you prayerfully endeavor to minister, under the guidance of the Holy…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church March 15, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Ephesians 5:8–14 (ESV) 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church February 22, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 5:12–19 (ESV) 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all…
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