•           change of plans – The epistle lesson requires an understanding of vs. 15-17.  Paul lays out a planned itinerary in which boulomai, “I wish / want / desire” appears four times.  He was supposed to have passed through Corinth twice.   Didn’t happen.  Why?  Chapter 1:15 – 2:4 will provide valuable clues: Since his 1^st Corinthians letter Paul had made a disastrous visit (“painful,” 2:1) to them, had written a “painful” letter instead of a visit (2:2-3), and had left himself open to the charge of being fickle, on again, off again toward them.[1]

•           no waffling – Paul seeks to put distance between his change of itinerary and the integrity of the message about Jesus.  Paul has not been flippant or glib with the proclamation—it was a clear, strong Yes.  God is always faithfully “Yes.”  Paul concludes with a long description of God, which in the Greek reads, “The confirming-us-with-you-in-Christ-and-who-sent-us God.”[2]

•           early church comments – When a spiritually minded person does not do what they had originally planned, it is because something more providential has emerged for the salvation of others’ souls . . . carnal thinking, by contrast, makes changes of plan in order to suit personal desires, not in order to do what is beneficial.[3]

[4]

•           Do you make an itinerary when you go on vacation or do you allow for some serendipity to enhance your vacation trip?

•           In the fight or flight reaction that people face during conflict, are you a fighter or flighter?   Do you hope it will go away or do you confront conflict?

•           How might our integrity be bound up with God’s integrity as we seek to live out our faith?

 

•           our yes and no –Think of a time when a yes—yours or another’s to you—turned into a no:  the tree falls and does damage, you have coverage, but no, the accident did not meet all the criteria for coverage, etc.

•           paul’s yes and no – Describe Paul’s yes and no experience; snoop between and behind the lines of writing to discover any reluctance Paul may have had in coming to Corinth; explore the change of itinerary.

•           god’s strong yes – Paul grounds his defense in the character of God: God is faithful.  In the offering of Christ to us, God is Yes.  Affirmative.  Yah sure.    Amen.  You betcha.   We may vacillate.  We may limp between two feet.  We may be yes-and-no, on-again, off-again wafflers.  But Great is Thy Faithfulness.  Recall the Jesus’ parable about the two sons who said yes and no.  One said yes but registered a no through inaction; the other said a no, but said yes through obedience.  God’s yes is always yes.  Placed in Christ—Yes!  Set apart as God’s treasure—Yes!  Marked for God—Yes!  Given the Holy Spirit—Yes! 

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[1] New Interpreter’s Bible XI (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), page 48.

[2] Ibid, page 49.

[3] Ambrosiaster in Commentary on Paul’s Epistles  (a pseudonym given by Erasmus to writer once thought to be Ambrose; fl 366-384); in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (InterVarsity Press, 1999), page 201.

[4] Serendipity Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1998), page 354.