Ambassadors
Christian discipleship is one of utter humility and, at the same time, startling audacity.
Paul in this text uses the image of being an ambassador for himself and his co-workers but, also by extension, of us. Ambassadors are nothing in and of themselves. Yes, they have work to do, and might even work hard at it, but they do not have their own authority; they do not have their own message; they are not independent or self-sufficient agents. Their very identity is subsumed under the one (or ones) commissioning them. They serve, and are not served. Christian disciples are such ambassadors.
And yet… God has entrusted such servant ambassadors with everything, with the Word of God, with the gospel – good news – of reconciliation. Those who are nothing in and of themselves are entrusted with witnessing to and proclaiming and announcing the very salvation of all peoples! Those who have nothing to give have been commissioned to witness to the astonishing new life God offers through Christ. They are even to “urge” and “implore” others to receive God’s abundant grace. There is urgency in the commission, for the time is short; now is the time to receive God’s favor; now is the day of salvation.
Paul has great confidence in God’s Word and offer of reconciliation. Yes, he will “urge”; yes, he will “implore”; but perhaps more than anything he is determined not to be a “stumbling block.” He wants to get out of the way of the power of God’s Word. He doesn’t want to be a distraction from the One and the message that has commissioned him. If he is to be “commended”, it is only in that all he does and says, and all he does not say and does not do, does not somehow mute or discredit God’s gracious work of reconciliation.
Somehow Christian disciples live in that life-shaping paradox (or, perhaps more technically, that “dialectic”): “having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
We, who have nothing, possess everything… everything that gives life, everything that offers life, everything that brings life to the world. May we be ambassadors of Christ. May we be true witnesses who do not detract by our words or actions or egos, but in purity, understanding, patience and kindness, in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love, in truthful speech and in the power of God, point to your amazing grace and reconciliation of all to You, through Jesus Christ. Amen
Doug Goodwin