“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

How do you do the impossible?  Here I am, a communicator, a teacher, and my goal is to explain, to clarify, to describe the indescribable.  Hmmm…  This will take some work.  Why is God’s gift, Jesus himself, indescribable?  Didn’t he come down from heaven to reveal God to us, not keep us in mystery?  Of course.  He said so plenty of times.  But that shouldn’t dull us to what Paul is saying here in 2 Corinthians 9.  So let’s see if we can wrap our minds around this description…at least a little.

Paul wrote 2 Corinthians as something of a follow-up to his first letter to them (chapter 1) where he took them to task about certain issues.  Not content that the former letter was sufficient, he wanted to write them again to insure their continued fellowship (1:23-2:11).  Additionally he wanted to cover other outstanding issues.

One of those issues was financial giving (chapters 8-9).  Paul opens by calling it “grace” (8:1).  He closes by pointing to the one who models sacrificial giving and makes it possible — Jesus: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” So what is it about Jesus that is indescribable?

Let’s cut away for a brief but purposeful detour.  John began his gospel with a bold declaration: “In the beginning was the Word!”  Word, as opposed to image, icon or picture.  There are many reasons for this.  First, God was extremely deliberate in the commands of the moral law given to Moses.  Each one spoke of his character.  The second command prohibited making any graven image of him largely because it would always be inaccurate, since God is not a physical being that can be replicated, and because it will reduce God to a mere physical object that would sooner or later become an idol.

Second, words are formed by the breath of life passing over the vocal chords in conjunction with intelligence supplied by the mind.  Here we see the activity of God and the image of God working in mankind.  Words give a framework to ideas.  Both are non-material, or “spiritual” in that sense, likewise representing God.

Third, it is through the sound of speaking and hearing (Romans 10:14) — communication with words — that the gospel is conveyed.  Even the five-colored “Wordless Book” is communicated through words!  All of these reasons demonstrate why in the beginning the Word, not the icon, “was God.”

Paul’s point is that even words have their limits.  As the tools of human communication, they fall to the ground as mere piles of letters or sounds wholly inadequate to describe many spiritual realities.  So much of God, his Son, heaven, the riches of salvation, simply cannot be expressed (2 Corinthians 12:3-4). Are there words, for example, to describe overwhelming joy, the atmosphere of heaven, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7), “perfect peace” (Isaiah 26:3), or many other of God’s blessings apart from sin and a fallen world?  I think not.  When that happens, what do we do?

We follow the example of the anonymous woman whom Christ forgave, recorded in Luke 7:36-50.  If you remember the story, Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus over for a lunch with his friends.  It was a “good-ol’-boy” gathering where Jesus was treated shamefully.  Being the guest of honor as a traveling speaker, he should have received preferential treatment.  He didn’t even receive the usual treatment, which was a deliberate slight, not an oversight.  In the midst of this testy situation, a sinful woman, whom Jesus had forgiven earlier, interrupts the meal to anoint and kiss his feet.  Her weeping and service tell her story —  without words.  Jesus clarified it for Simon (and for us): “her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much” (v. 47).  She did what any believer should do when words have run their course: “Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of our lips that confess his name.  And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:15-16).

In other words, good deeds and praises are the tools of communication when descriptive words fail.  Can others see God’s indescribable gift in what you do and say?