SWALLOWED UP
2 Corinthians 2:7-8 NKJV
7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.
Paul was referring to the man who had stolen his father’s wife. Paul wrote the church in his first letter to the Corinthians, instructing them to withdraw from this man until he repented and made the situation right. Evidently, the man complied and now Paul is once again instructing the church on how to respond. Paul is concerned that isolating this man further will cause him to be swallowed up with too much sorrow.
Too much sorrow has the ability to cause problems in a person’s life. Too much sorrow can be a result of a broken relationship or the loss of a loved one. Too much sorrow can also be the result of rejection or a failure. In the world, there are plenty of reasons for sorrow to exist. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul states that godly sorrow works repentance, and that is a good thing. But the sorrow of the world works death. Not death, as in physically leaving your body, but the decay that is in this fallen world.
Evidently, the man who was in sin had repented with a godly sorrow. But now, being on the outside, the sorrow of rejection or loneliness was working the worldly sorrow in him. Paul wanted this to stop so he offered the following remedy.
Paul instructed the church to forgive and comfort him. We spoke about comfort yesterday: God is the God of comfort and wants us to be His agents of comfort in the world. Two powerful forces were to be employed towards this man. First, that he be forgiven. Even with an egregious sin, forgiveness is called for. We don’t have the right to choose what sins we can forgive and what sins we simply can not. Forgiveness has been extended to us so we can extend forgiveness to others. Comfort is the second powerful force that the believers were to use. Instead of forgiving and then washing their hands of the offender, the church was to forgive and offer help, strength and encouragement. This brother still had the opportunity to live for God and make a difference, and the church was to accommodate that restoration.
Oh, and there was one more thing. Paul urged the church to reaffirm their love for him. In essence, this man was to be treated as a fully restored member of the body. Paul wanted him to walk away not swallowed up with sorrow but strengthened with forgiveness, comfort, and love.
APPLICATION
All of us have heard people say, I forgive them, but I will never forget what they did. Depending on the offense, I understand that sentiment. Some people will have to regain trust, and some never put themselves in the position to do that. But that’s on them. Our part is to offer forgiveness and, where there is repentance and change, comfort and reaffirmed love. Far too often, people who have made mistakes are treated as second-class believers, and this can cause them to be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Since we have been forgiven, comforted, and loved by God, that’s the business we are in. When we do this correctly the church becomes a place where people are able to get back on their feet and thrive. There should always be a difference in God’s people and the angry resentful world that causes sorrow.
PRAYER
Lord, help me become a difference-maker in the lives of those who have been swallowed up with too much sorrow.