ON PASTOR SOE’S ORDINATION
For the Gateway Myanmar Baptist Church
June 22nd, 2008

Read 2 Corinthians 4:1-18
It’s a privilege and an honor for me to stand before you this morning and to charge you with the Word of God concerning the relationship between your pastor and the people he leads- the people of God. It is for that reason that I have chosen to read from 2 Corinthians, which, if it is anything, it is a book about the relationship between the pastor and his flock.

1. The Crushing
For instance, in his introduction, Paul underlines the interdependence between the pastor and the people when he writes in 1:6, “If we are afflicted, (that is if we suffer abuse and persecution of every kind) it is for your consolation and salvation”. “Afflicted” in Greek actually means to squash- it’s used in describing the pressing of grapes for the purposed of making wine.
Let me just say it now, the pastor suffers! This is not a job that anyone should covet or desire, unless they are truly called.

The pastors will be crushed one way or another. Maybe not always in the form of physical bruisings and punishment on the level of what Paul and other great men and women of the faith suffered, but for certain the pastor will suffer in the form of deep spiritual, emotional and psychological afflictions.

We all know that the saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is dead wrong. Words do far more lasting damage than and remain long after the wounds caused by sticks and stones have mended.

One of the reasons… the main reason that Paul wrote 2 Corinthians was to defend himself against the accusations of certain men in Corinth who were questioning his leadership accusing him of being double minded, breaking his promise to visit Corinth on his way to Macedonia; they said he was inferior to the other apostles, that he a poor public speaker and that his sufferings were proof that he was not an Apostle of God.

Likewise, some will question your pedigree, your credentials, your qualifications, your family relationships, every decision you make, your elocution, your spouses’ qualifications, your children’s behaviour, and your motives, the way you dress and comb you hair- they will remind you (and others!) of every failure, every disappointment, every mis-spoken word as though this were a job you chose rather than a calling you could not run away from nor resist because He who called is the hound dog of heaven and cannot… will not be resisted.

We do not do this job to please men, but God. And it is His approval we covet, not mens’!
Not only that, but the very fact that you are the pastor, means that Satan will concentrate his attack on you more intensely than he does upon most other people: “Strike the shepherd, scatter the sheep!”

Satan will throw every discouragement, every abuse, every self-doubt, every slander (He is the accuser), every temptation and any other type of stumbling block in order to neutralize and destroy your effectiveness in the ministry.

So we say with Paul, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2:16)!

Here is my first charge: it is for you Pastor Soe- remember that Christ suffered, Isaiah 53 says that he was crushed like a grape. Indeed, it pleased the Lord to crush Him. If Jesus’ affliction was within the self-pleasing will of God… then Paul’s affliction was also in the self-pleasing will of God (look at chapter 12:7),

…[so that I would not become proud] a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a
messenger of Satan to buffet me…. …I pleaded with the Lord three times
[to remove it] And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My
strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather
boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

If Jesus and Paul suffered according to the pleasure and will of God then why should you be spared? So when you feel like you are being crushed like a grape, remember that the effect is to produce wine which has the effect of purifying water and relieving the pain of others. Peter wrote,

…this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief,
suffering wrongfully. …when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently,
this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example….

2. The consolation
But the goal of your affliction is not your own comfort, but the comfort of your flock Not that God nor your flock take pleasure in your suffering- but they take pleasure in your example of endurance. What Paul is saying is that his endurance in suffering is consolation… that is it brings comfort to the flock because they will also endure the same afflictions (and sometimes even worse- slanders, beatings, betrayals, martyrdoms and the like).

That is why Paul wrote in chapter 4:1, “We (that is all of us- pastor and parishioner) have this ministry”. What ministry is it? The ministry of being crushed for the sake of the comfort of others:

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not
in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 
always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always
delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.
(4:8-12).

‘Consolation’ is the Greek word Paraklesis- it means exhortation, comfort, encouragement, solace, refreshment. It is the name that Jesus gives to the Holy Spirit when he calls him the comforter (Paraklete). Christian consolation (Parakelsis) is a spiritual consolation that the world cannot know because it implies the comforting work of the Holy Spirit (Paraklete) whom Jesus sent as a result of His being crushed. The Holy Spirit’s comforting consolation is stoked when we endure suffering.

Church: Your pastor’s endurance in suffering will encourage you to endure suffering. And your endurance in suffering will encourage others to endure suffering.

This is because if we give up when we endure the slightest opposition, then others will give up for even less affliction. But if we stand fast, than others will stand fast.

So here is my charge to the church. Support your pastor, don’t knock him when he’s down- lift him up, encourage him, refresh him, defer to his wisdom and knowledge and training (he might actually know a thing or two about leading people in the faith), if you ask him for advice, take it when he gives it, listen to his exhortations, honor his office and position. When you talk about him only say good things! No matter how much the temptation (and the temptation is strong) to point out his faults and weaknesses. Most importantly forgive him when he lets you down- how many times? 70x7! Just like you expect others to forgive you!

This is for your own good. (Though it is not likely, but…) If your pastor is a tyrant and you endure him because of your submission to God and respect for the office he represents, this is better to God than if your pastor is a humble servant of God and men and you reproach him because of your own pride and rebellion (not that those are the only two options). This is for your own spiritual profit:

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for
your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with
grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (Hebrews 13:17)

Conclusion
God makes this promise if we endure suffering and support those who have authority over us:

…knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus,
and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace,
having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of
God (4:14-15).

Us with you! That is, pastor and his flock will be presented together in the presence of God and at the time our thanksgiving will abound to the glory of God…. Or will we be ashamed?

Let’s be certain that we will not be ashamed on the day. Pastor, be steadfast! Church, hold him up. He with you! Raised up with Jesus! So that thanksgiving will abound to the glory of God!
16 Therefore we do not lose heart.

Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporary,

but the things which are not seen are eternal. (4:16ff)