1. The letter begins with a reminder that the scattered Christian community is joined, both in its suffering and in the comfort it receives from God through Jesus
2. Paul writes that he's sad not to have visited Corinth again, but that he felt it was important to let the dust settle on the dispute that happened within the community, so that their time together could be fruitful and affirming for all of them
3. Paul continues; our ministry comes directly from God's Spirit speaking within us, so unlike when God spoke to Moses (then God's presence shone out from him for a time before fading away) God's glory will continue to grow and show in us
4. So we don't get discouraged when things don't go well for us, we continue to speak of the life giving power of Christ even when it seems that the world is not listening
5. Yes, life can be hard and we feel at times that we want to hurry away to the place God is preparing for us, but the Spirit has equipped us to share a message of reconciliation with the whole world - it's why Christ came, and then died
6. So we beg you not to abandon your calling, but to follow our example of serving with love, and not to bond yourselves to worldly concerns that have nothing to do with God
7. I am sorry that you felt criticized by me in my last letter to you, but so glad to hear about how you have responded to the situation
8. For the sake of equity we urge you to be generous in your giving; we are doing our best to use and share the money wisely, and one of the commitments we're making is to send Titus and another brother to see you soon
9. The brothers will collect the gift you've already promised, and I just know we're all going to be impressed by what you send, because your generosity and commitment are well established
10. I know it sometimes seems that I push you too hard, but I'm just trying to be obedient to the call on my life and asking you to do the same
11. I'm just going to keep on doing what I've been doing, even if some find me embarrassing, I've come too far and been through too much to give up now
12. Sometimes I can seem impressive and sometimes I look like an idiot - I'm just a man trying to serve God and to do right by you
13. I know that you sometimes doubt me, but I ask you to examine your own hearts, because all I want for you is for you know God better.
Grace to you my sisters and brothers, with love, Paul
There's something incredibly sad about this letter. Paul seems to be flailing around trying to find the words to encourage the Corinthian community; he clearly feels hurt by them but doesn't want to respond in kind. The issue assailing the community seems to be the one that all Christian communities struggle with at some point - authority. Who do we trust? Ultimately, of course, the answer is God, but what are the sources we trust speak to us of God? The Corinthian community was made up of a mishmash of people from different streams of Judaism and paganism, but the one thing they probably would have shared would have been some kind of temple worship. Whether it's was a semi-annual pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem or local worship in a grand Roman edifice, temple worship would have been well organised, impressive and awe inspiring. To replace this with worship in someone's home or another civic space, to have to organise everything yourself, using written guidance from an absent leader would have been incredibly challenging. No doubt it was exciting at first, in the fresh flush after conversion, but to keep going requires a deep trust, which is hard to sustain in such circumstances. As a minister myself, who has seen people I wanted to encourage drift inevitably further and further from faith, my heart really aches to read about Paul's struggles, especially after the joy and enthusiasm found in the first letter to the Corinthians
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