Yes! Yes! Yes!

In today’s first reading (2 Cor. 1:18-22), Saint Paul speaks of “yea and nay” in a way that may be confusing for some.

An understanding of the context lessens the confusion: Paul had had a mind to come to Corinth, but something changed and he did not come. This might have caused some to have doubts about Paul: that he was not serious or that he says one thing (“yes, yes”) when he intends sometimes else (“no, no”). Paul indicates this just before this passage (in verse 17ff):

When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?

But as God is true,
our word toward you was not yea and nay.
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us,
even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus,
was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
For all the promises of God in him are yea.
and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

God is faithful and true and so Paul, wishing always to be godly, aims to be faithful and true.

Paul also knows that doubts about his credibility and integrity could be stumbling blocks for hearers of his message. This also motivates him to be faithful and true.


There are a number of lessons for us in this passage.


The first is that we need to be very careful about our own integrity and honesty, so that we may be godly and that no such failure on our part may become a stumbling block to others.

Of course, we are imperfect human beings (O God, be merciful to me, a sinner): we fall short, we sin, we fail, and repenting we receive forgiveness and grace through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, the credibility of the Gospel rests in God, even as God works through imperfect instruments such as ourselves.

For all the promises of God in him are yea,
and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ,
and hath anointed us,
is God;
Who hath also sealed us,
and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Thus, while each of us need to do everything we can to preserve our integrity and honesty, human failures (bad as they may be - our own failures or the failures of others) ultimately do not diminish the truth and the power of the Gospel.

We must always strive to be godly, but we ultimately rely on God.


Another lesson is found in this:

But in him (Christ) was yea.
For all the promises of God in him are yea

This sounds like “bumper sticker theology” – “God is always ‘Yes!’”

There are, of course, deeper meanings. One is ontological: there is no “no” or “not” in God, for God simply is.

But this verse also reminds us that everything revealed by God is – fundamentally - something positive and that we always do well to present God’s truth that way to others.

It is often simplest - and often necessary - to explain things negatively (e.g., “Thou shalt not kill”, “the Church’s teaching on abortion: ‘No!’”, etc.) but the underlying truth is always something positive (e.g., God’s gift of life): it is always a “Yes.”

The world is full of people unconcerned with integrity and honesty, who are quick to accuse others of hypocrisy, who spin, and who play games with “yes” and “no.”

We are called to be people of “yes” – aspiring to, relying on, and proclaiming always the fidelity and truth of God in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.