The Verdict
On Sunday, April 8, 1945, in a schoolhouse where he was held prisoner, the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer led his fellow captives in worship. He had barely finished when the guards arrived and said, "Prisoner Bonhoeffer, get ready to come with us." He knew their summons meant execution. Before they took him away, he turned to another prisoner and said, "This is the end. For me, the beginning of life."
2 Corinthians 1:3-11
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father and God of every comfort. In all our distress he comforts us, so that we are able to comfort others in any distress at all. We comfort them with the same comfort we ourselves keep receiving from God. Here is why: Christ's sufferings overflow to us; through Christ, our comfort overflows just the same. Now whether we are distressed or comforted, it is for you: our distress, for your comfort and salvation; our comfort, for yours. And that comfort does its work as you endure the same sufferings that we too suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know this: as you share in the sufferings, so also in the comfort. For we want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the distress that came on us in Asia. We were weighed down beyond measure, past our strength, so that we were driven to sheer despair, even of life itself. In fact, for our part we have carried the verdict of death in ourselves. This was so that our confidence would rest not on ourselves but on God, the one who raises the dead. He rescued us from such a great danger of death, and he will rescue us. Our hope has come to rest on him: he will rescue us yet again. You are also working alongside us with your prayers—so that, for the gracious gift granted to us through the prayers of many, thanksgiving may rise from many people on our behalf.
When things go bad for me, my first instinct is to ask, "Why me?" My second is to ask, "Does anyone care?" Richard Dawkins famously said, "Nature is not cruel, only pitilessly indifferent. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous—indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose." It sounds novel, but the same cosmic bleakness pervaded the pagan world of Paul's day. Dr. Instone-Brewer explains that, "Comfort was not regarded as a divine function, and no pagan deity was associated with it. Indeed, the biblical concept of a God who comforts was otherwise virtually unknown in the ancient world." But what lasting comfort is there in an indifferent universe? The confidence that God will comfort us is unique to the Biblical witness. Before Paul talks about his own near-death experience, he tells the Corinthians who God is. Worship is how we make sense of our difficulties. God's comfort is not sentimental. Rather, Paul understands that not only did Christ suffer for us on the cross, but he suffers with us, because he has united himself to us, and us to himself. When a Christian is persecuted, Christ is attacked (see Acts 9:4). So his comfort overflows to us, and as we receive his comfort, we share it with others. God doesn't promise to take away suffering, but neither does he leave us to suffer alone. To a church that resisted him, Paul admits that he was crushed by the weight of nearly dying. He lost all confidence in himself. But only by confessing this can he make the more important point: God raises the dead. Even if he had died, God would still be his rescuer and hope. His hope is not in circumstances but in God's character. Because his hope is in God, his desire is to see God thanked. So he credits the Corinthians as participating in God's work. I would have thanked them for keeping me alive! But Paul celebrates their prayers because it means that more people will thank God for what he alone can do. Paul was (temporarily) rescued from death. Bonhoeffer wasn't. Both of them placed their confidence in the God who raises the dead.
What difference does it make if there is a God who comforts us?
When have you been comforted by someone who has seen God deliver them? What did they do?
How do difficult circumstances make it hard for you to trust that God cares for you?
Today, reach out to someone who is going through a hard time. Ask them, "How can I pray for you?" Before you get off the phone, pray out loud for them.