How Do You Look?

“I know you're walkin' down a lonely street
I know you can't get out of the heat
Baby, it's alright,

Don't have a wasted life

“I know you have to feel a little used up
And no one can give you enough
Baby, hold on tight

“Don't have a wasted life
I love you too much
Don't have a wasted life
I love you too much

“They give it to you from the time you're born
You keep tryin' to make one more score

Baby, it’s alright,
You gotta stand and fight

“So when you're lonely and you feel let down
You can call me, I'll come around
And treat you nice
Don't have a wasted life”

Now I don’t know how much this girl believes her life to be wasted, but I doubt that Tom Petty coming around and treating her nice will help her avoid it.

Last week we were in Jonah 2 talking about Jonah’s gigantic discovery in the belly of the fish.  While the whole prayer is worthy of reading and rereading, it’s verse 8 that’s the most arresting.  “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the hesed, the loving kindness, the steadfast love of the Lord God Almighty.”  Indeed, that’s exactly what Jonah had done as he ran away from God’s clear direction in his life.

When you come to the New Testament, you find a number of others running from God and forfeiting His hesed.  The Christians at Corinth are a perfect example.  As some of you know, Paul writes them a letter about their indolence and license that has been lost.  We have no copy of this letter, but he refers to it in I Corinthians 5.  It’s a letter that appears to have caused them some pain and guilt.  Indeed, his second letter (I Corinthians) contains a good amount of material that would have the same effect.  But something happens between the receipt of Paul’s second letter and his third letter (II Corinthians).  When news of the condition of the church reaches the ears of Paul, through Titus, Paul is overcome with joy.  He’s thrilled that they’ve had a kind of “belly of the fish” experience.  They’ve let go of their worthless idols and are no longer forsaking God’s steadfast love, but are walking in it.

And Paul writes them another letter.  Now, chapter one of II Corinthians is one of my favorite chapters, but we’re not there this week, instead we’re in Chapters 2,3, & 4.  Here in several brief paragraphs Paul describes what the unwanted life begins to look like.

This week we are going to examine Paul’s description of the hesed-filled Christian life by zeroing in on four of the five similes he uses to convey deep spiritual truth.  Indeed, each simile is an excellent tool to measure how fully you’ve released your idols.

In preparation for Sunday you may wish to consider the following questions:

      1.      What can you discover is behind Paul’s words in II Corinthians 2:1-11?

2.      Can you find the first simile in II Corinthians 2:14,15?

3.      What does he mean in verse 16?

4.      Can you find the second one in II Corinthians 3:2?

5.      In what way does this simile imply a ministry to others?

6.      The third simile is in verse 18 of Chapter 3.  Note the textual variant in this verse where the words “beholding” and “reflecting” are used to describe the unfettered Christian life.

7.      How does Paul’s use of this simile fully describe the purpose of the Christian life?

8.      In II Corinthians 4:7 Paul uses a fourth simile.  How are we to understand this one?

9.      How did Jesus perfectly live out this simile?

10.  How are all these descriptors connected to the cross?

See you at His table this Sunday!