The Sunday of All Saints (NT)

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

² Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴ I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. ⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸ For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. ⁹ As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. ¹¹ For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. ¹² So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. ¹³ Therefore we are comforted.

And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴ For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. ¹⁵ And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶ I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

St Paul talks about different types of grief. There is grief that leads to death, which I am assuming is the grief over people who have went down to the pit of Sheol. There is also a grief of repentance, which I assume is the grief we face when we spend time staring at God’s Word. St Paul’s last Letter must have called these people to repentance.

But it is not just repentance that comforts St Paul. It is the way they treated Titus. Titus comes back to Paul reporting their grief, but also filled with Joy. These people welcomed a man who brought words that condemned them, but them to the heart. They listened to his words, wisdom, instruction, and correction. They gathered together around these words, and were changed. They even brought joy to Titus who brought these words.

How often do you come to church to hear words of condemnation? How often are you over joyed by being grieved to repentance? It is as we gather around the Word of God, which condemns our sinfulness, we sit in the presence of the most high. God is there bringing his words of comfort.

St Paul concluded his first letter with a great emphasis on Christ’s death and resurrection. Here he rejoices in their reception not only of what they did wrong, the their encouragement that it is not about their works, but Christ’s works for your salvation. Jesus died to set you free. He desires to give you rest and comfort, in all your times of grief.