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April 26/27, 2014
Jason Meyer | 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
So we are always of good courage. 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. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 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.—2 Corinthians 5:6–10
Introduction
“It’s 358 days until Easter.” That would be a weird way to talk, wouldn’t it? We don’t have to wait for a whole year to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. It is essential for our faith to remember that Christ the Lord is risen today. Some day, I would love to sing “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” the weekend after Easter. If you are a Christian and Christ the Lord is risen today and he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then we can say “Alleluia” today and “raise our joys and triumphs high” today.
The resurrection is the foundation of everything I am going to say today. Therefore, in this sermon on “pedal to the metal ministry,” I want to invite everyone to rest in the resurrection. That sounds odd, but gospel ministry should start with the ministers believing the gospel they proclaim. Rest in the good news of the gospel. Please don’t fixate on performance. We are always tempted to evaluate ourselves and keep a scorecard to see how we are doing. You are staring at the wrong scoreboard. Christianity is not good advice to help you be better. It is not good advice; it is good news. It is the announcement of Jesus’s victory over sin and death and hell. Rest! Rest in his victory!
We are resuming our series on 2 Corinthians today. Do some of you remember the illustration I used for resting in our victory in Jesus by checking the score? I told you the story of the last game of my high school basketball career. Remember the scene: It was the last part of the fourth quarter. We were playing defense. They had the ball down on their end, but then one of our guards stole the ball and passed it to me. I had one guy to beat to our basket. I outran him and scored my only career slam dunk. Our fans went wild. But the fans from the opposing team were smart. They only had to start one chant: “Check the score, check the score, check the score.” They were right. The trash talk hit the mark. We were still behind by sixteen points or something like that. It put everything into perspective. It was so deflating.
Satan’s time is short. He wants to keep you from checking the score. He knows how it will all end. The demons even say so when they saw Jesus in the Gospels. They asked him if he came to destroy them before the time (Mark 1:24). They do not want the good news of Christ’s victory to spread. They want everyone to have a fascination and a fixation with the here and now. So Satan pulls out all the stops with some show-stopping slam dunks. But when Christ comes, he destroys the rebellion with the breath of his mouth (2 Thessalonians 2:8). As Martin Luther said so well, “One little word will fell him.” We sing, “Check the score, Satan, check the score.” Where is the scoreboard? You see it in the resurrection. We see it by faith right now, not by physical sight. But one day the faith will be sight. It is so certain, we can live in the light of it now. Talk trash to death: “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? … Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55, 57). Let’s check the score—see that our victory is safe and secure—and celebrate. The celebration does not have to wait 358 days. This celebration is not seasonal—it is eternal—it is world without end. Amen.
So on that note, let’s go back to 2 Corinthians. I don’t assume that everyone has been with us for the whole series. We started 2 Corinthians the Sunday after Easter last year because Easter was John Piper’s last sermon. We stopped in November at 2 Corinthians 5:10 when we took a break from the series for Advent, our January topical sermons, our DNA series, and Palm Sunday and Easter.
Let’s take a refresher course on what we have seen in 2 Corinthians. First, let’s get the situation settled in our minds. Paul is writing to a church that has developed serious doubts about his authority as an apostle of Christ. What is an apostle? An apostle was an authorized spokesperson for Jesus. They had seen the risen Christ and they were appointed by the risen Christ to be his representatives to the churches. They were invested with the authority of Jesus because they spoke for Jesus.
That very apostleship is something Paul can no longer assume in his relationship with this church. He cannot assume it; he must argue for it. Paul is forced to take something of a defensive stance by answering some accusations against himself. Paul’s opponents have argued against apostleship and the Corinthians have some suspicions about his love and integrity. The opponents say that his sufferings argue against his apostleship. The Corinthians question his integrity because of a change in travel plans and suspicion about whether he is really for them.
Paul has a way of answering objections that takes the objection and then turns it on its head. The opponents say that his sufferings argue against his apostleship, but Paul shows that his sufferings actually argue for his apostleship. The Corinthians say Paul’s change in travel plans shows how little he cares for them. Paul argues that he changed his travel plans because of how much he cares for them. We could rehearse everything that Paul said in detail, but that would take way too much time and I just can’t talk fast enough to fit it into 40 minutes. In fact, when I told my wife the title of the sermon, she thought “pedal to the metal” meant we were going to fly through all 5 chapters of 2 Corinthians. Can’t you picture it? Put on your seat belt, we are going to roar through every verse and comment on it or try to summarize every sermon so far. I am not going to do that. An expository sermon takes the main point of the passage and makes it the main point of the message. The passage could be a verse, a paragraph, a chapter, or a whole book. My passage is five chapters (1:1–5:10). Let’s go right to the main point.
So we are always of good courage. 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. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 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.—2 Corinthians 5:6–10
The main point comes in this paragraph, and Paul even takes the time to repeat it. We are always of good courage. How can we always be of good courage? What about when circumstances seem to be challenging and overwhelming? The courage is not the sum total of what we see with physical sight. We walk by faith and not by sight. Sight can be deceiving. We look at those who reject us. We look at challenging circumstances. We look at sickness, suffering, and bodies that are wasting away. By sight we will always see reasons to lose heart, but the reasons to be of good courage are always better! But by faith we have to keep those reasons in full view of the eyes of our hearts. It is a little bit like the situation in 2 Kings 6. Elisha and his servant have been surrounded by the Syrian army. It looks like they have no chance. What are two people against a whole army? But physical sight was deceiving in this case.
When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.—2 Kings 6:15–17
Elisha’s servant thought he had good reasons to lose heart, but Elisha helped him see that there were better reasons to be of good courage. Paul is like Elisha and he is helping the Corinthians see the better reasons to have good courage with him in the Lord’s work. When you climb step by step up the argument of 2 Corinthians 1–5 and you reach the top of everything he is saying, you see and hear a familiar refrain: We are confident (3:4), we are very bold (3:12), we don’t lose heart (4:1), we believe and therefore we speak (4:13), we are always of good courage (5:6, 5:8).
Everything beneath the conclusion of courage represents reasons for why he is so bold and why he is so courageous and why he refuses to lose heart in spite of all the seeming reasons why he could lose heart. 2 Corinthians and its theology of ministry could almost be titled “Reasons for Not Losing Heart.”
Here is another way to say it with different imagery. Kids, have you ever heard the phrase, “pedal to the metal”? If you are driving a car, there are different ways to speed up. You can step on the gas a little, or a lot, or you can floor it. Pushing the gas pedal all the way to the floor has been called putting the “pedal to the metal” because you push in the gas pedal all the way down to the floor of the car (the bottom of the car is made of metal, underneath the carpet).
One would think that all the resistance and opposition that Paul faces would slow him down and wear him down. The winds of opposition are blowing against Paul. The opponents slander him. The Corinthians are suspicious of him. He faces suffering in all forms. I could see him just slowing to a crawl if all he thought about was what he was up against. Instead, he puts the pedal to the metal. He floors it. You can hear him saying, “I don’t lose heart. I don’t slow down. I won’t shut up. I am always of good courage. My resolve has not weakened. My confidence has not crumbled. The future seems brighter than ever. I press on in greater measure with greater resolve than ever.”
I want that kind of faith and perseverance, both personally and corporately. I want it for me and I want it for all of you. This whole sermon is going to be application of that point. Bethlehem, let’s not slow down in our mission to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. Let’s put the pedal to the metal in our mission.
But how will we do this? Let’s look at all the reasons we have to put the pedal to the metal. Here is the question: What does Paul want to help us see so that we will be of good courage in the Lord’s work? We need to see these truths and we need to see that they are better reasons than the reasons to lose heart.
Suffering looks like a good reason to lose heart. But affliction is only one part of the picture. God brings affliction in order to comfort Paul so that Paul could be a comforter. He is the God of all comfort.
Sometimes affliction is so great that it brings despair. Paul shows that this is only the first part of the story. God brings affliction so that they will despair of themselves and depend upon him, so that when he delivers them they will praise him. He is the God who raises the dead. His children are always part of a resurrection story. They either get deliverance as a picture of the resurrection or they get final deliverance and the reality of the resurrection.
Relational disappointments look like reasons to lose heart. Paul’s change of travel plans hurt the Corinthians. They can’t see that he loves them. They will see things rightly in heaven someday when they love each other so much that they will boast in one another. They should try to bring that future joy into the present. All of God’s promises are true for them all the time in Christ. Paul shows them that he changed his plans because he was working for their joy. Paul wanted to spare them pain and bring them joy. Joy is even the motive in doing hard things like church discipline so that restoration and forgiveness can happen.
Suffering looks like a good reason to lose heart, but it is what God uses to spread the gospel. We are not sufficient in and of ourselves for the gospel to spread. The Spirit is the sufficiency for ministry. We are the plunkers. We plunk, plunk, plunk on the piano and the Grand Piano master called the Holy Spirit takes our meager efforts and performs wonders.
Hard-hearted rejection of the gospel looks like a good reason to lose heart. However, the new covenant ministry of the gospel is more glorious than the ministry of Moses. Moses’s ministry of the law could not change the heart and so it only brought condemnation. The power of the Spirit changes the heart and removes the veil over the heart in conversion. Then with unveiled face, the greater glory of the gospel progressively changes us more into the image of Christ. Conversion is a power encounter in which God overcomes Satan’s power of darkness with the converting power of the new creation: Let there be light!
Looking at our weakness looks like a good reason to lose heart. We have to see God’s purpose for making us cracked pots. Don’t you see that we are cracked pots so that the light of his glory would shine through us? People see death and life when they see us. They see death and should see the death of Jesus; they see life and they should see the life of Jesus. It is his surpassing resurrection power of God that sustains us.
That is so important. I can say, “floor it,” but you feel like you don’t have any horsepower under the hood. Sometimes I don’t even feel like a four-cylinder. My brother used to have a Ford Fiesta. Sometimes I would floor it, and the car would actually slow down and lurch. I feel that way sometimes. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like horsepower—more like hamster power. Look under the hood and you see a hamster running on one of those wheels. But that is not the picture. Proud manpower and horsepower does not glorify God. We don’t trust in chariots and horses. It is not your power. We are weak so that we can show that the surpassing power comes from him, not us.
Here is another way to say it. Recently I read about an artist who won an art competition with just a pencil. Nothing fancy. No paint brush or elaborate color palette. Just a pencil. Now nobody would look at the picture that won the competition—the face of an old wrinkled man that looks as good or better than a photograph—no one would say, “Wow, what a pencil.” The whole point was to show how great the artist is by showing what she can do with an ordinary pencil. That is what God does. Everyone can see that the strength is his, not ours.
Dying looks like a reason to lose hope. But wasting away is only half of the story. We are being renewed every day by God’s strength. God is using our suffering to sculpt something beyond our wildest imaginations. Don’t you see the hope of glory? Light, momentary afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. It is great to be away from the body and at home with the Lord, but it is even better to have a new body with the Lord in eternal glory.
Conclusion
I smile when I think of the phrase “pedal to the metal”. Here is why. This expression always confused my Grandpa. These were some of the funniest discussions I ever had with him. Picture it: We would take a family trip to Colorado to Camp Red Cloud. My dad would be driving the Chevy Celebrity (like a Pontiac 6000). It was really stretching things to fit six adults in that small car. My dad was driving, my sister was in the front middle seat and my Grandpa was in the passenger seat. My older brother and I would be in the back with my Grandma in the middle. Our knees were on the seat in front of us because it was so scrunched.
There was both sorrow and rejoicing in the car. I have fun memories sitting with Grandma. She would be drinking pop and then with almost every drink, she would burp and say, “Excuse me, but I sure do feel better.” It was funny the first few times and then would get old. Music was okay for a while, because my dad had a cassette tape that I liked, but it was the only one he had so it would get old. If he used the radio, he put on the oldies station, which didn’t just get old, it started out old. Did you hear that kids? There were no portable DVD players and no iPods. We had air conditioning, but my dad didn’t want to use it because the gas mileage was better without it. There are few things worse than being crowded, sweaty, and bored. We would tell dad to put the pedal to the metal so we could get there faster.
I can still remember what happened next. My grandpa heard that phrase and corrected us: “No, you mean put the metal to the pedal.” I can still hear everyone protest. “What? No, Grandpa it is not metal to the pedal. You push the gas pedal all the way to the floor” (that is the metal). Grandpa: “No, I don’t see it that way. In my mind, I just think that the metal has to get to the pedal somehow.” O forget it, just step on it, Dad!
But I also remember why we had to step on it. We were driving up into the mountains. It was tough going for a little car with six adults and lots of suitcases. Sometimes we felt like the car wasn’t going to make it. But there was never a thought of giving up. We expected there to be mountains. We knew there would be no coasting. We expected it to be tough going. That is what this life is like. It is hard going. We are climbing up hill and it feels steep at times.
But we didn’t turn around just because it was hard and we had a little car. We just kept thinking about what was coming. The food, the trout fishing, early morning horseback riding, the rappelling down the rock face, the mountain climbing, the family fun. But what I loved most of all was the beauty and majesty. The first thing my brother and I did when we got out of the car was to run. We felt so free after being cooped up in that car. We just wanted to run. So we hiked up the nearest mountain and thought that we were going to the highest place. We got up to the top only to see how vast and wide and expansive the mountain range really was in the distance. There were peaks that went above the clouds and out of sight. We felt so amazing, not because we felt big. Quite the opposite. We felt so small. It felt so right. You don’t go to the mountains to improve your self-esteem. You go there to feel small and get swept up into things that are massive and towering and majestic and stunningly beautiful. That is where we are going, Bethlehem. Can you feel the hope of glory?
“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.”—John 16:33
The risen Overcomer now lives in us.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.—1 John 4:4
If God is for us, who can be against us? You may feel surrounded by things that make you feel defeated, but I call you to look again—by faith and not by sight. Take heart! Look to the victory of Christ! In this life, there are reasons to lose heart, but the reasons to be of good courage are always better. And one day, the Lord is going to remove even the reasons to lose heart. The reasons to be of good cheer will not only be better, they will be the only thing there is! Imagine how much more we will be of good courage when we are at home with the Lord and he removes all of the reasons we have for losing heart. So take heart and let his love lead us through the night until the day when we will reign with him in realms of endless light with no more night.
Closing Song: “Take Heart”