2:7 Part 3

2 Corinthians 2:7c

My message today is an example of why we do not read the Bible the way that we read other books. We can read the Bible over and over again and pass over a whole section or chapter or verse or word and never think much of it. And then, according to God’s timing we can read a verse that we’ve read a hundred times before and suddenly it explodes with new light and context and meaning with implications that impact our meditations and exhortations and applications with new clarity and life.

2 Corinthians 2:7 is like that for me. I can’t tell you how many times I have passed by this obscure little verse without so much as a pause. I originally planned one sermon for the first twelve verses and now I am in my third week on this one sentence from Paul:
…so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow

I am reading the English Standard Version because, as I explained last week, it adds one little word- “turn” when it says you should rather (or on the contrary- NKJV) turn and forgive the man who had wronged Paul.

I pulled out three elements of forgiveness: they were turn (or repent); comfort and restore love. Last week I exhorted us (me first and then you) that forgiveness is not a simple thing- some people have been so wronged, their emotions have been so wrought with the pain abuse and their ability to trust has been so mangled by injustice that to simply command and expect people to forgive just by making a simple decision is like telling someone to choose to be a different height, or eye color and it completely undermines and devalues the entire concept of forgiveness to present it as something so petty and easily attained. Forgiveness takes work, it’s a lifelong labour.

And So last week we looked at the first element of the process of forgiveness which is repent- put simply, we must repent that we have withheld forgiveness even though Christ has commanded it and exemplified it by forgiving our sins. And in the eyes of God our sins against him are like the Himalayas compared to grains of sand which are the sins committed against us.

So the process of being set free from the bondage and disease of unforgiveness begins with repentance. And I joked last week that forgiveness is such an important subject that I was willing to spend a year on the topic. I actually only planned two more weeks but as I spent time on this text and meditated on the wording and the syntax and the flow I debated passing this word by, but I felt drawn back to it and I could not move on to the next element until I dealt with this word: “Forgive”.

So think of today’s sermon as an extended aside on Paul’s use of the word forgive.

I think that placing this message as an aside between the first and second element is providential because the first element of forgiveness (repentance) is a human effort, but the other two elements are spirit empowered and the transition hangs on the word which is translated forgiveness: χαρίσασθαι (Charisastai).

This is not the usual word for forgive used in the New Testament. In fact, only Paul uses it in this sense and it is only translated as ‘forgive’ about six times and most of them are in this letter.

Paul chooses his words carefully in this letter. So the question is: “Why does he choose (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) an obscure word for his Corinthian readers?”

I asked myself that question this week and this message is the product of my attempt to make sense of that. You can judge for yourselves if this is helpful or is Pastor Rick just blowing hot air. Two interpretative tools (Think of them as lenses on a pair of eye glasses) that helped me bring clarity to this word are 1) grammar and 2) audience (Paul’s original readers)- what do we know about them? Let’s look at the grammar first because that lends itself to the second tool:

I. Grammar
First, Charizomai (the word translated forgive) has a range of meaning that includes “to bestow”: “as many as were blind he bestowed sight” (Luke 7:21); it is also translated “graciously” as in Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also (graciously or) freely give us all things?” So it has the implications of meaning gracious giving.

The root of the word Charizomai is charis. We have friends who named their daughter Charis. Charis is also the origins of our word charity. It’s used in Greek words like Chairo: to rejoice; Chara: joy; eucharistos: thanksgiving; and charisma: grace gift.

The funny thing about words is that so many disputes, so many relationship breakdowns, so many divorces, so much violence, so many wars can be attributed to the use, or misuse, or words. Words can be confused, they change, they have regional variations. Just look at what is happening with the word “Pride” in our day. A few years ago, when I heard that word I interpreted it as to be satisfied in one’s self. But today, when it is used, I need to clarify whether it means satisfaction, or if it means the gay rights movement.

If I say to an English man “I want to play soccer” and he says, “I want to play football” are we having a disagreement? John Piper writes,
…the same words can have different meanings. And different words can have the same meanings. This is true in the Bible as well as in all other books and conversations. Jonathan Edwards came to the end of one of his journal entries… [wrote] "O, how is the world darkened, clouded, distracted, and torn to pieces by those dreadful enemies of mankind called words!" (Miscellany #4).

One word in the Evangelical world that has inspired arguments, heresy, bizarre behaviour and church splits has been the word “Charisma”. It has come to mean something that it was never intended to mean in the New Testament. The word only appears in only one place in the Greek language and only in a few places in the New Testament. It’s as if Paul invented the word himself. It appears in- surprise, surprise- Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

The meaning of Charisma is very clear; it means grace gift; it is a Spirit endued ability to perform services and activities for the edification of the church. It means… grace… gift. The same meaning as charizomai- grace gift- something given by God according to his grace.

The Problem is that the word Charisma has been taken over by the fringes. There will always be a fringe group among Christians of people who view worship and the Christian life as an extension or Christian version of the sensual, experiential, mystical behaviour that is found in other religions and in non religious behaviour. This group is regularly inventing new and bizarre activities which they attribute as the work of the Holy Spirit. While their passion in worship is enviable, we have many things about which we are concerned with this group. Sometimes its only silly little things like claiming gold fillings (which makes all Christians look silly in the eyes of an unbelieving and cynical world) and sometimes it can be down right dangerous behaviour like telling Christians they are demon possessed when what they really need is medication.

And so we throw out the baby with the bath water and we call them Charismatics when the truth is that all Christians are and must be Charismatics. We have all received grace gifts. Salvation is a grace gift. The word of God is a grace gift. Fellowship is a grace gift. Forgiveness is a grace gift So let’s not give this word up so easily.

Audience
So the Corinthians were accustomed to Paul’s use of the word Charis. He uses it everywhere. It was the cause of a great deal of controversy before Paul clarified its meaning in the first letter and so I don’t not believe that Paul would not use it (especially if were an obscure synonym of forgiveness) knowing it was controversial unless he had a reason. He would not use this word haphazardly in such a way to ignite a new controversy, much less to enflame an old one.

Application
So here’s what I am arguing… and I believe that when we look at the next two elements of forgiveness- comfort and restoration of love- which are both Spirit endued- Spirit empowered- Spirit originated- Spirit completed… we will see that this interpretation of Charizomai (forgiveness) makes the best sense at helping us to understand what Paul is telling the Corinthians to do: Which is: “Turn (repent of your unforgiveness) and forgive charismatically (that is, Spirit giftedly by grace).”

If I am right about this interpretation, it should be a huge relief to us because what it means that if we are to forgive so much evil and injustice that has happened against us the way that Paul commands the Corinthians to forgive, then we are not left to do it in our own strength and power, but according to God’s gracious empowering.

Doesn’t that give you hope and encouragement this morning if you have been struggling, some of you for decades, to forgive someone in your own strength? And instead of forgiveness, all you’ve been able to produce so far is guilt for having failed and possibly greater resentment towards the person your supposed to forgive.

Conclusion:

If you want the gift… if you want the grace of spirit forgiveness… if you want to be a real charismatic by being released from the bondage of unforgiveness which has kept you in a constant state of guilt and spiritual feebleness (for we are not unaware of Satan’s schemes- v.11), I’m going to close to by pointing you back to last week’s exhortation: it begins with repentance. And then, like any spiritual gifts, eagerly desire the greater gift of charizomai- forgiveness.

Prayer

Benediction:
May the God of Spirits, from whom every good and perfect gift originates, graciously grant you the good and perfect gift of forgiveness through his Holy Spirit and according to the power revealed by Christ Jesus at his resurrection. Amen