Come Follow Me LDS- 2 Corinthians 8-13 Part 1

'Jesus Christ, Giving & Baseball'
- The name Jesus Christ
- How we should give in the church and generally
- How equality is properly pursued
- Forced equality is catastrophic
- A baseball story

 

 

Come Follow Me

LDS Mormon New Testament 2 Corinthians Bible

 

in this episode we talk about Jesus

Christ giving and baseball here we go

this episode we're going to cover second

Corinthians chapters 8 9 and 10 and

throughout these three chapters Paul

really focuses on giving to other

members of the church it's kind of the

grass roots of a church welfare system

and he gathers these funds from the

different churches in the different city

states so he has at least a couple of

these trips that he makes to Jerusalem

to deliver these funds that come from

these different areas of the church it

also seems that with especially the

Gentile converts that it becomes a much

more of kind of a rite of passage for

them maybe unfairly maybe not but since

you have Jewish converts that already

are within the tradition of let's call

it now the Judeo-Christian tradition the

pagan converts the Gentile converts kind

of need to maybe show themselves a

little bit more as committed to the

gospel and committed to the legacy of

the scriptures and the prophets etc

that's kind of the sense one could get

by reading these letters and so he

starts off by talking about a great

contribution through even a trial of

affliction that the churches of

Macedonia went through in verse 2 it

says how that in a great trial of

affliction the abundance of their joy

and their deep poverty abounded unto the

riches of their liberality

so here liberality would be probably

giving liberally so to speak so this

becomes kind of a theme for Paul as he

writes to the Saints at Corinth that

even in poverty and putting themselves

into a lower position by giving funds to

the Saints the poor Saints in Jerusalem

that they are blessed with great riches

may be spiritual riches and so this is

something that we can take practically

as a lesson for us for example in the

church welfare system that when we give

more we receive more it may not be

necessarily monetarily that we receive

but we receive more in life we have more

fulfillment we have more spirituality

and perhaps spiritual gifts and maybe

temporal gifts and that goes along with

our tithing as well it goes along with

our service and our sacrifice for others

and this applies directly to that phase

four of the four phases of the

priesthood and he qualifies this

donation by these Saints by saying the

following in verse five and this they

did not as we hoped or in other words as

we had required them to do or expected

them to do but first gave their own

selves to the Lord and unto us by the

will of God this is a very very

important point and I think it's

something that we need to learn and that

society should learn that governments

should learn about how we provide for

the poor and how we try to create better

equality out there because there's two

competing ways to do this one is by

force right he's saying we didn't

require them to do this they did it of

themselves because they wanted to do it

for the Lord it's because of their

relationship with the Lord and it's out

of charity and out of humility and out

of obedience but it's their decision to

do this they do not skip through the

four phases of the priesthood up to

phase four they start at phase 1 which

is agency

and you have to do that the other way is

just that it is through friendly

persuasion and through the spirit and

having people make the choice for

themselves that they are going to give

and help those that may be in not quite

as good of a circumstance as they are we

can see this playing out in governments

throughout the globe how do they create

equality what works and what doesn't

work or nothing works great but what

works better and what creates

catastrophe and force of equality

creates catastrophe that is not the way

that Paul is going about this and then

he goes to an example here to the Savior

in verse 9 and he says for ye know the

grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that

though he was rich yet for your sakes he

became poor that G through his poverty

may be rich so he's setting up this

example again just like he did it with

the Saints of at Macedonia or using them

as an example he's saying that Christ

was rich how is he rich well he's rich

with authority he's rich with the

abundance of the Spirit

he's rich with intelligence he's rich

with charity and all of the spiritual

gifts

he's rich with perfection he's rich with

love and the ability to sacrifice he's

rich with all of that abundance that he

has received because of who he is

through his agency and deciding to be

who he became and yet being the greatest

among all of us as our eldest brother he

lowers himself below all of us so he is

in a sense the richest of all of us in

the true sense of eternal richness and

yet he becomes the poorest of all of us

so spiritually even right he becomes the

poorest of us all so that he can give us

the abundance of the Spirit and

potential and growth and the richness of

the gospel and the eternal plan of

salvation it's also interesting here

all uses the term the Lord Jesus Christ

this really if you're looking at three

different words here Lord Jesus Christ

he's really talking about Jehovah Jesus

and Christ he's the god of the Old

Testament he that is Jesus who came down

into mortality and died and went through

Gethsemane and was resurrected and he is

Christ that is met the HaMashiach the

Messiah and into the Christ what does

that mean again it's the Anointed One

and sometimes maybe a good exercise to

do is as you read the scriptures and

here in the New Testament as you read

the word Christ just say in your mind or

out loud

anoint it or the Anointed One because we

Louie we use that term so often that we

forget really what we're saying and what

it means there are so much richness to

the meaning of Jesus Christ we are

coupling two things together this man in

mortality that was perfect and the

Anointed One and bringing them together

and that's an important thing for this

focus that we've had this renewed focus

that we've had on the name of the church

the Church of Jesus Christ we are using

that term to say exactly who he is and

who we claim him to be and implying that

this is his church proclaiming that this

is his church oftentimes Paul uses the

term Christ Jesus which seems to be more

of a title that he uses instead of

distinguishing who Jesus is and in fact

he says Christ Jesus more throughout his

letters than he does in Jesus Christ as

in verse 9 here but it is if we read it

and really wanted to look at the literal

translation here in verse night is for

ye know the grace of our Lord perhaps

even saying Jehovah here our Lord Jesus

The Anointed One that would have a lot

more power - especially the Jews that

are being preached - and converting to

Christianity here and what they have in

their mind as the Messiah and even

though it's different than what they had

in mind they understand that the

prophets of old have all preached about

Christ a messiah and that this was Jesus

and then Paul goes a little bit deeper

into this giving for others this idea

again this is kind of part of covenant

right it is I have more of this so I'm

gonna give to somebody who has less of

it and in this instance it is money it

works the same way with spiritual gifts

that we try to give to others that may

be lacking in those things or receive

these things where we are lacking in

these things and he says here in verse

13 for I mean not that other men be

eased and ye burdened that's a really

important distinction here he's saying

look I'm not trying to make it so that

it's really easy for somebody else and

really hard for you that's not what this

is about

verse 14 but by an equality it's

important word by an equality that now

at this time your abundance may be a

supply for their want so they have this

need right they have this need and here

there is an abundance so we want to help

them out

this is covenant that there may be

equality okay equality is used in a very

different form today and not in a way

that Paul is using this at all again we

go back to the very very crucial point

here with Paul that this is about agency

this is how we come together as people

this is how we come together in the

church this is how we help others it is

not through force but it is through love

and charity and humility then he says

down here in verse 21 that you should be

providing for honest things not only in

the sight of the Lord but also in the

sight of men so he talks later about not

being boastful for yourself so that's

not what he's talking about like hey

look at me that's kind of how Jesus

talked about the Jews and he

time in Jerusalem right that they were

praying in front of everybody in

boasting about their righteousness and

their tasks that they were fulfilling in

the law of Moses but he's saying look we

need to have a positive example to the

rest of the world into those we have we

come in contact with and this gives us

an opportunity to show that love and

concern that we have for each other in

the church and again he really nails

this down to us and tries to emphasize

to the Saints at Corinth what this

giving is about in the terms of it he

says here in verse 5 of chapter 9

therefore I thought it necessary to

exhort the Brethren that they would go

before unto you and make up beforehand

your bounty right in other words do the

collection before I come there to

Corinth where of ye had noticed before

that the same might be ready so the

funds could be ready as a matter of

bounty and not as of covetousness now

waymond in his translation here says

that that it that it may be ready as a

gift and not an obligation

again it's not force Paul makes it

abundantly clear you cannot do this

through force that is how many

governments have thought that it needs

to be done and they go over and beyond

this to those that may have more of

something and force it to those that

have less there has to be a better way

to do that because that creates nothing

but catastrophe over and over and over

again especially as we saw in the 20th

century and we still see it in pockets

today of the globe and this mirrors by

the way I believe very directly the war

in heaven and what that was about and he

says again here in verse 7 every man

according as he purposeth in his heart

so you think about it you think about a

brother you think about his sister and

see how you

about this and you do this according to

how you feel so let him so let him give

not grudgingly so if you're gonna do it

grudgingly we don't even want it we're

not gonna do it this way or try to get

yourself into a position where this is

not done with a grudge

not grudgingly or of necessity it's a

wrong way to do it taking away the whole

purpose of this for God loveth a

cheerful Giver in other words the right

way to look at this the ideal way of

this is to have people give who want to

give and give according to how they feel

about it and Paul says if you do this in

verse 11 being enriched in everything to

all bountifulness which causeth through

us thanksgiving to God so even then

after we've done this and we've given

this we still want to give gratitude to

God for the many blessings that we

receive we are always in debt to the

Lord that's the way it should be that's

the way it has to be that is part of our

relationship with him and then in verse

10 Paul says the following for though we

walk in the flesh or in our mortal

bodies here we do not war after the

flesh in other words we don't do things

by force we don't do things with the

sword through brutality that's something

that goes along with that forced

equality right it always does it's the

only way that works is through tyranny

and violence and the threat of violence

and there is always not a little of

violence with that but a massive amount

of violence because you are trying to

force the 4/4 honestly we like the way I

see it you're trying to force going

through the four phases of the

priesthood and their purposes all the

way up to number four by eliminating one

through three go to that episode to see

what I mean by that in verse 4 for the

weapons of our warfare are not carnal

but mighty through God to the pulling

down of strongholds so there's other

ways to battle than by force this kind

of goes along with the idea of what is

stronger the sword or the pen right it's

there are ways to change the world

through persuasion through charity not

through force one of the best ways to do

that as I see it is to give an example

to those around you by trying to do your

best and following the principles of the

gospel how important is it for you to

build a family or be the best individual

that you can be and influence those

around you to do better and what kind of

a change does that make throughout your

family throughout your neighborhood

throughout your workplace by simply

following spiritual principles and being

an influencer of good and then Paul

gives an example about appearance right

again he always splits between these two

kind of a spiritual and the temporal or

the spiritual and the carnal and the

physical so this is what he says and

this is about himself in verse 7 do you

look on things after the outward

appearance this is kind of like about

King David right you look at the outward

appearance when David was young and

small when he was chosen and

anointed to be the king over all of his

brothers or is it that the Lord looks on

the heart it so Paul kind of refers to

himself here because Paul is very small

very very small and weak and sickly and

so he's saying are you gonna look on the

outward appearance and he's kind of

prepping what he's gonna go over here

what we'll go over in the next episode

about false apostles or false prophets

that are coming to the people of Corinth

he's kind of defending himself against

some of the things that have happened in

Corinth that we're gonna go over in the

next episode and these false apostles

had said things about how rough these

letters are to the Corinthians and Paul

says the following here in verse 10 for

his letters say they are weighty and

power

but his bodily presence is weak and his

speech contemptible and his response to

that is in verse 12 for we dare not make

ourselves of the number or compare

ourselves with some that commend

themselves you're saying look these

other guys that are coming to Corinth

they're saying how great they are we're

not going to compare ourselves to them

so here these false prophets are

comparing themselves to each other and

then to Paul and saying look he's

writing some pretty harsh things to you

and yet he's this really small weak

sickly guy how can he be so bold in what

he's saying

and yet it's Paul that has been given

the authority to preach he has studied

this he has done everything he can in

his own mind and through reason he's a

very reasonable person but he's been

given the authority and he's a direct

witness to Jesus Christ he's seen him

and he has the calling of the priesthood

to go out and do this so just as he's

talking about things that are given to

others where they may not have as much

here Paul is given something else he

does not have the physical stature or

perhaps even the ability to speak

properly and in a way that nurtures

those in Corinth I don't know but he

does have the witness of Christ he does

have the charity toward these

individuals in Corinth where he's

willing to sacrifice and do anything

he's been stoned he's been beaten he's

been put in jail because of the love

that he has for the Lord and the love

that he has for everyone here that he is

teaching excluding those that are here

in Corinth I have a little story that

kind of brings these two things together

and just like Paul is saying here I'm

not both to give myself because I am in

the story here but I love baseball

absolutely love baseball and one of my

great joys was managing Little League

and a club team that I did well when I

was in Little League in the majors in

Little League

that's the 11 and 12 year olds it's

where you have the widest gap typically

of people that

really good at the high-end usually

older and bigger and stronger and

they've developed a little bit more

physically and those that are still kind

of small and have not developed much at

all

and so you can get a little bit of a

disparity in physical presence right and

we had a good team and we were playing

the best team in the league and I had

this kid on the team that was very very

small and he had never played baseball

before we're now going through about

midway through the season and this kid

who could barely catch the ball before

had learned to play baseball and he

loved it he loved coming to the games

and his parents were really proud of him

but one of the reasons that this other

team was so good is because they had

this huge powerful pitcher and nobody

could hit him and I think we got one or

two hits ever playing him two or three

times through the year and he threw the

ball very hard and so this kid is about

to get up and what you have to do in

Little League by the rules is the

next batter up is instead of being on

deck as you see in baseball where

they're out in the circle taking some

practice swings ready to get up to the

plate you have to stay inside of the

dugout behind the fence and I'm managing

third base so I'm over there by third

base and our dugout is on the third base

side and I look over as our previous

batter has just struck an out I look

over and here's the kid the small kid

and he looks over at me behind the fence

and he just starts shaking his head like

no I am NOT going up there I'm not going

up there

and so I walk over to him and kind of

bend down and talk to him and say look

you can do this I know you can do this

and just think of just think of when

that ball is thrown you just swing that

bat I don't care if you get a hit it

doesn't matter to me all I want to do is

see you swing that bat when he throws

the ball and I just tried to encourage

him not just to say get up there and do

it but hey you can do this I know you

can do it and this is a big deal this is

a big

thing for you and I really believe that

for him to be able to go up there and

conquer this fear and have some success

and success I would have defined for him

as simply going up there and facing him

even if he didn't do anything else but

swing that bat anywhere and so I kind of

got him to calm him down a little bit

told the umpire to hold off he stopped

crying and he got up and went up to bat

the other thing I had to tell him was

don't move your feet that's all I care

about you swing and you don't move your

feet because what would typically happen

right this is a an 11 year old kid what

is typically gonna happen against a

pitcher like that is he's gonna start

backing out of the batter's box and with

a pitcher like this what you oftentimes

see is the kid starts backing out before

the balls even thrown and so my deal

with him was look this is success this

all that met this is all that matters

keep your feet in the box don't even

step anywhere and just swing the bat and

so he did and he got up there in the

first pitch and he swung and he missed

it

but he didn't move his feet and I think

that gave him a little bit of confidence

it's like okay that was my goal so I had

success and so then on the next pitch he

keeps his feet in place in the batter's

box and he swings and he hits the ball

and he drove it right past the pitcher

it went up toward the middle the second

baseman got it the kid ran to first and

he was thrown out just by a step he

almost got a hit off this kid nobody on

my team had gotten a hit that entire day

and he came within a step of doing it

and I can't tell you the look on this

kids face when he came running across

that field to me toward third-base and

he was so excited that he had done this

that he had been able to accomplish this

because he knew it didn't matter if he

was out it really didn't matter at all

he had had a great success and who knows

how that might have changed him what he

had added to himself by overcoming

that fear and so I am NOT boasting of

myself this kid did it himself he made

the change a lot of kids would not have

done that even if I spoke to them but I

was able to give him something that I

had I had the confidence in him and so

there was covenant there between me and

this kid he lacked it I tried to give

him some of that and he was small of

stature compared to this big powerful

kid on the mound but in a sense he had

been given the authority to just go out

and try and he did and so I don't know

why but that's the story or what that's

what came to mind when I thought about

this idea of equality and in covenant

and giving to those that have less than

we have and the size difference that

these false apostles are talking about

with Paul here and I just thought of

some DUP some of these things pretty

well I love Paul's letters because he

brings in so many of these principles he

talks so much about this fluid hierarchy

he talks about the four phases of the

priesthood as I see it he talks about

the temporal and the spiritual or the

kernel and the spiritual heaven and

earth he talks about covenant constantly

and of course faith hope and charity

that is required in the idea of covenant

and spiritual gifts equality as he very

specifically defines here is not about

force it's not about making us the same

it's about keeping our differences

and trying to help each other out

through the love that we have for one

another

Paul goes to great lengths to make sure

we understand I'll talk to you next time