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In 1st Corinthians, we went through a journey of about a one year in that book. So in a sense, this is not unfamiliar to us. It’s a letter written to the same group of people, the people in the church at ancient Corinth.

So, you will see some familiar themes like the hint of how they were rejecting Paul is now coming to full-blown measure here in 2nd Corinthians. But there are new things, for example, how Paul will emphasize and speak a lot about his own sufferings.

When I think about sufferings, I remember about two months ago, I received a text from Sister Benita. Ben, we call her, is a … is the head of admin in our church, some of you may not be so familiar, so I share with permission the photo. She’s here with Ee Kwang, and her kids, their kids.

And I received a text from her in July about two months back, that her father, Pastor Robert was not able to verbalize or articulate or express himself all of a sudden. In fact, whatever he read in the morning in the Bible, he forgot about it right away, and whenever he wanted to stand up, he would be on the verge of a blackout. She texted me and asked me, “What should she do?” I said, “I think this might be something serious, you should bring him to the A&E.”

Well, after some time, actually he didn’t want to go, but after some time, they eventually got there, went to the doctors, and it was found that he had an irregular heartbeat that resulted in insufficient blood flow to the brain. Added to that actually Pastor Robert had previous surgery and radiotherapy that causes the blood vessels to be thin or to be narrowed, and therefore, that exacerbated that condition, so he had a stroke.

Many of you were familiar, you prayed for him and I’m thankful that he’s well, but it was a harrowing time. But that was not all because on the same evening, she texted me, her son, Ethan, the eldest son was out walking with Ee Kwang, when suddenly he went into a seizure, an epileptic fit. He was, of course admitted to the hospital, and he was there for quite some time. Again, many of you were aware of the situation, you prayed along with the entire family.

Well, he was actually suffering from dengue round about that time, and right now on retrospect, he suffered from an auto-immune attack on the nervous system. So, he had an infection of the brain and the brain covering and … and so it was a particularly scary time, because imagine your son just go into a fit.

Ee Kwang, the father was with Ethan at that point of time wanted to prevent Ethan from biting on his tongue, so he stuck his fingers in, and his finger was of course, injured. He went to the A&E to seek treatment, thinking that it will be a rapid, a quick dressing and medication. But he was, I think really shocked and dismayed when they told him he might need to be admitted, because the mouth is where it’s very dirty with lots of bacteria and germs, and he will need to be observed and given intravenous antibiotics.

Well, just to make things worse, if you’re not already aware, Ben was having dengue at that point of time, and a few days later, Ee Kwang also got dengue. So, when I saw all that, heard all that, I realized, “Wow, it must be really difficult for the entire family, and I’m reminded when it rains, it pours.” That’s how afflictions come, sometimes not just one but wave after wave after wave, and all in such rapid succession.

What do we make of sufferings? Well, Paul was a man who was familiar with sufferings. He experienced suffering, next level kind, not like what we are familiar with. The Bible tells us, for example, he went through troubles, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights, hunger, he was dying, he was beaten, he was sorrowful. [2 Cor 6:4-10]

Just these few words alone tell us, next level sufferings, as if this is not enough, he tells us further in a later part of 2nd Corinthians, he was flogged, that’s whipped, he was exposed to death, 40 lashes beaten with rods, stoned, three times shipwrecked. He was in danger from rivers, from bandits, from countrymen, from Gentiles, danger in the city, in the country, at sea, facing danger from false brothers, he was without sleep, hunger, thirst without food, cold and naked. [1 Cor 11:23-28]

I don’t think I come to an even a tiny fraction of what he has gone through. But you see, when he went through these sufferings, the Corinthians knowing that he was a man acquainted with sufferings, began to doubt whether Paul was the real deal. Because they are thinking that, “The true servant of God, that true messenger of God shouldn’t be so!” If I may say, in Singapore language, suay. [unlucky in Hokkien]

“Where got so suay one! Where got someone who serve God go through so many problems! He must be a cursed man!” Probably that’s what they are thinking, doubting his apostleship amongst other things. And therefore, Paul had to write to them a letter to clarify, explain the theology of sufferings.

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