The passage this morning is 39 verses long, and Paul concludes the section in 12:6 with these words: 12:6—I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message. This lengthy passage is about influence—Paul’s influence—based on how he lived and what he preached. We’re not going to handle the text verse-by-verse; there’s a lot to unpack and you don’t want to be here til 1:30. Instead, I’m going to do flyovers that help to summarize Paul’s influence and what it means for you and me using these three words: father, fool, and servant.
Father
11:2a—I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. Paul begins his address making it clear that he sees himself as the father of the Corinthian churches. Now, jealousy is not envy (we sometimes use the words interchangeably, but they’re quite different; opposites really).
• Envy is when I desire that which belongs to you.
• Jealousy is when I desire that which rightly belongs to me, though it may be in the possession of or at risk being possessed by you.
Paul had invested in the spiritual birthing and maturing of these Christians, and so it was grieving him to think of them being pulled away from the gospel he had preached to them by a different gospel now being preached to them by false teachers. He was jealous for them. The Corinthian Christians were spiritual descendants of Paul’s. He was their father and they were his spiritual offspring.
You have heard of Ludwig van Beethoven, but you may not have heard of his student, the early 19th century Austrian pianist Carl Czerny unless you’ve studied piano. If so, then maybe you’re familiar with his technique books such as, “The Art of Finger Dexterity” or “The School of Velocity.”
The April 1927 issue of The Etude featured Czerny as the Forefather of Piano Technique, citing his impressive genealogy of world-renowned piano virtuosos and composers. Quite possibly the greatest musical family tree at the time, or of all time.
One of Czerny’s pupils was Franz Liszt;
List’s pupils included Alexander Siloti;
One of Siloti’s pupils was Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Another one of Czerny’s pupils was Theodor Leschetizky
And Leschetizky’s pupils included Ignacy Paderewski.
The mastery of piano technique was passed down from one generation of virtuosos to the next, all tracing back to Czerny, and so he’s rightly considered the father of piano technique.
Dr. Robert Webber was a leading voice in worship renewal who become prominent in the early 90’s, speaking theological and historical reflection into the worship context contemporary Evangelical. I intentionally exposed myself to Webber’s writings and attending his seminars.
In 1995, I attended such a conference in Joplin, MO at which Dr. Webber was the keynote speaker. In one session, he shared that he was going to start a graduate school for the sole purpose of education in worship studies. Just a couple years later, in 1998, he founded the Institute for Worship Studies, or IWS.
Sadly, Webber went on to be with the Lord in 2007 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. By the time I was able to begin pursuing my graduate education in 2008, it was no longer possible for me to study directly under him.
So the next best thing was to learn from someone who had learned from Dr. Webber, and so I sought out Dr. Dinelle Frankland at Lincoln Christian Seminary, one of Dr. Webber’s first doctoral recipients at IWS. And Dinelle now serves as the academic dean at IWS. I intentionally studied under Dr. Frankland to earn my MA at Lincoln and doctorate from IWS precisely because of her direct line to Dr. Webber.
In addition to worship pastors in churches like me in churches all around the world, the worship professors of most of our Restoration Movement bible colleges have studied and received advanced degrees under Dr. Frankland at either Lincoln or IWS.
You could say without any exaggeration, that Robert Webber is the father of worship renewal in the late 20th and early 21st century. His influence is evident in the field of worship studies.
Ever wonder why we make such a big deal about the Apostles? Or why some books are included in the NT while others are not? There are some complicated answers to those questions, I won’t pretend otherwise; nor try to tackle them here. But a big reason is because of influence; just like Czerny or Webber whose influence is passed along in schools of piano pedagogy or worship studies, Jesus’s direct descendants are the Apostles—those whom he directly discipled.
This question of apostolic influence is nothing new. Paul had his dissenters and challengers to his apostolic office. So it’s fair that we wrestle with it to understand it clearly today. Looking at the NT books is a great way to illustrate this:
Gospel of Matthew–written by the Jewish tax collector Matthew, one of the 12 Apostles personally called by Jesus, also called by the name Levi
Gospel of Mark–written by the fisherman Simon Peter, one of the 12 Apostles; transcribed by John Mark (son of Mary in whose house Jesus and his disciples had stayed on occasion & the nephew of Barnabas; he also travelled with Paul and Barnabas as missionaries)
Gospel of Luke & Acts–written by the physician Luke, a disciple of Paul the Apostle
Gospel of John, 1, 2 & 3 John, and Revelation–written by John, brother of James and together were called the Sons of Zebedee, one of the 12 Apostles, the one “whom Jesus loved”
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon–written by Paul the Apostle chosen by the resurrected Jesus
Hebrews–potentially written by Paul, or his missionary partner Barnabas, or Luke transcribing one of Paul’s sermons, or possibly Clement of Rome (a disciple of Peter); all of those have strong arguments and ties directly to Christ
James & Jude–written by Jesus’ biological brothers—sons of Joseph & Mary—and elders in the 1st century Jerusalem church; James was the oldest and Jude the youngest
We can have confidence in the apostolic record of the NT because of the relationship of the authors to Christ himself. And so Paul was able to assume such fatherly authority and concern for the Corinthians as a true Apostle of Christ. None of his naysayers could express the same concern of 11:2b—I have promised you in marriage to one husband—to present a pure virgin to Christ. These are the genuinely loving words spoken by a father to his betrothed daughter.
I mentioned Clement of Rome who was discipled by the Apostle Peter… and then there’s also Ignatius and Polycarp who were discipled by the Apostle John. These men, among the first of what we call the Church Fathers, were that next generation of leaders after the Apostles to apply their teachings to the life of the early church.
And this is the fatherly influence that Paul refers to… we often read it when we approach the Table in worship: 1 Corinthians 11:23a—I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you.
Incidentally, don’t miss this—we are the spiritual descendants of the fatherly influence as well… we’re further down the family tree, but included in the genealogy just the same. We don’t pass along anything to those whom we disciple that we didn’t first receive from those who discipled us.
Fool
2 Corinthians 11:1-12:3 is sometimes called Paul’s “Fool’s Speech,” and for good reason. Paul uses the word for fool or foolishness 7 times in our text. In a stroke of genius parody, he’s showing the methods of his opponents to be the utter foolishness in contrast to his genuine Apostolic authority.
He uses the word for boasting 12 times. Like his use of foolishness, Paul isn’t boasting as an exercise in prideful self-accomplishment, but as a means of dismantling the false teachers among them. He refers to them as “super-apostles.” There’s no small amount of sarcasm going on here. 11:5a—I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”
Here is Paul’s logic: “Boasting in my own human accomplishments and pedigree is foolishness, because how could that ever measure up to Christ?! But if I, Paul, must boast, then I will boast in my reliance upon Christ—in other words, boast in my own weakness—and show these so-called ‘super-apostles’ for what they are… false teachers and enemies of the gospel of Jesus.”
Make no mistake, Paul is not on the defensive. He is under no threat personally from his opponents; they aren’t after him per se; they are after the Corinthians. And as their father, he is going on the offensive for their sake. 11:12-13—I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want to be regarded as our equals in what they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
So to make it unmistakably clear for his readers, he rattles off his pedigree; he boasts just a little and risks being a fool for the sake of the believers and the church.
1. 11:22-23—Paul boasts of his identity: an ethnic Jew, an Israelite, and a descendant of Abraham. There is no question about Paul’s heritage. But of course, such boasting is foolishness.
2. 11:23, 27—Paul boasts—almost embarrassingly—of his sufferings as an Apostle. Not one of his opponents can match the extent of how he has suffered for the gospel.
3. 11:23-25—Paul boasts of his punishments: the Jewish practice of 39 lashes (Deut 25:1-3), the Gentile practice of beating with rods (usually reserved for noncitizens and slaves), and being stoned (the most common form of execution found in the Scriptures).
4. 11:25-26—Paul boasts of physical hardships and life-threatening experiences: shipwrecks and all sorts of natural dangers, attacks, and in particular false brothers (what Paul calls the Judiazers in Gal 2:4).
5. 11:28-29—Paul boasts of the burdens he carries for the believers and for the church—Paul’s greatest boast.
Oh how this differs from others who foolishly boast of their accomplishments! Paul “boasts” not in his own strength, but in his weakness: 11:30—If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weakness.
And why would Paul dare to boast at all? If we were to read a little further into chapter 12, we’d see Paul describe this thorn in his flesh and his pleading to have it removed. We don’t know what his “thorn” was, but he quotes Jesus’ response to his persistent prayers in 12:9—“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.
That place where Christ’s power is made known in us is called servanthood.
Servant
In 11:7-9, Paul highlights the lengths to which he went in order to serve the Corinthians for free. 11:7-9—Did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to minister to you. When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, since the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way.
Sometimes we look to figures in the NT such as Paul as prototypes for the modern role of the paid ministers in the church. But actually, Paul set himself up as a servant, working without pay, with his sustaining income coming from another source… What do we call that today? A volunteer.
It’s not that Paul required no means by which to live—food, shelter, clothing, discretionary expenses, etc. Of course he did. We all do. No matter what we do voluntarily, we all still labor for the needs we have today and tomorrow, trusting ultimately it’s the Lord who provides those means & opportunities.
But you can see the dangers of a volunteerism attitude as it sometimes manifests itself in the church…
Years ago, when we lived in FL, I was still young in ministry and not always as prepared as I should be. I had a men’s quartet rehearsal one Wednesday evening at 7pm with 3 other men plus myself lined up to sing a beautiful song that coming Sunday in worship. About 6:30 I went into the office workroom to make copies of the music for our rehearsal. As luck would have it, the copier jammed, and I spent the next 50 minutes performing an exorcism on the copy machine. By the time I finally got to the rehearsal room with the copies of music it was almost 7:30. I was of course stressed out and embarrassed, and thankfully 2 of the guys were gracious and kind. But there was that one… one of my singers took it as an opportunity to issue a harsh rebuke.
His words as I recall them: “This is unacceptable. If you want to work with me, you won’t ever make me wait again. I’m a professional and my time is too valuable for you to waste.” I apologized profusely and we awkwardly went ahead with our rehearsal.
Of course it was unacceptable. I should’ve allowed margin in my schedule for a potential encounter with a demon-possessed copier. But that’s not really the main take-away is it? The attitude of the volunteer stood in stark contrast to the lyric of the song we rehearsed that night:
Wonderful merciful Savior
Precious Redeemer and Friend
Who would have thought that a Lamb could
Rescue the souls of men
Oh You rescue the souls of men
You are the One that we praise
You are the One we adore
You give the healing and grace our
Hearts always hunger for
Oh our hearts always hunger for
As volunteers, we sometimes say things like, “They can’t fire me, I’m just a volunteer.” We make excuses for tardiness because we’re only volunteering. Or we hold tightly onto our time and talents if we get bent out of shape over something, even something trivial. But if we stop and consider such sentiments, it reveals something about how we understand serving Christ and his Bride, the Church.
Volunteering isn’t about staying just outside of accountability’s reach by not getting paid.
We serve gratefully because a price has already been paid.
Volunteering isn’t about earning merit in heaven or salvation.
We serve joyfully because of who he is and what he has done.
Volunteering isn’t about your status, value, or strengths.
We serve humbly because of our weakness and his strength.
What could our response be otherwise?
As servants we join Paul in saying 12:6—I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message.
To be sure, there is vast satisfaction and fulfillment to be found when we serve.
At Lakeside there is no shortage of opportunities to serve, all of them fulfilling. I can’t promise that it will always be easy, or that we won’t sometimes miscommunicate or in hindsight see that we’ve failed to prepare as we should have (though we strive to always excel in those things), but I can almost guarantee you will never be beaten, shipwrecked, or stoned (unless you volunteer in the children’s ministry!).
We’ve recently updated our Serve page on our website, and I’d like for you to join me as we walk through this brief tutorial video of how to use the page, then go home and on your device or computer, jump onto lakesidechristian.com/serve and consider volunteering, serving in one of the areas of opportunity. Let’s take a look.
Wonderful Merciful Savior
CCLI Song # 106879
Dawn Rodgers | Eric Wyse
© 1989 Curb Dayspring Music
CCLI License # 496493