2 Corinthians 3:6-4:7

Today is Independence Day and our text for today is celebrating that we are free. All of us! Nothing between us and God. Isn’t God’s timing incredible!

The only model for leadership the people in Corinth knew was that of the pomp and circumstance of the Roman’s. Think about our President. The President never travels alone; he is surrounded by helpers; and everything around him is first class, quality, the best. Consider Paul. He often traveled alone. He bought his clothes at Good Will, did not stay in the best hotels and worked at manual labor to provide for his needs. The people of Corinthian church wanted their leaders to be more like the leaders in their cultural world.

Paul points out to the church that if they want to see glory they are looking in the wrong place. He uses the example of Moses and the people of Israel from Exodus 34 to make his point. While Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments (Old Testament; Old Covenant; law) the people turned from God to idolatry and made for themselves a golden calf to worship.

When Moses came down from the mountain he was outraged; but not nearly as much as God. God insisted that there must be accountability for their sin against Him. Moses returns up the mountain and in prayer intercedes for the people. God revealed His mercy to Moses and sent Moses back to the people. After being in the very presence of the glory of God, Moses’ face was shining like the sun. When the people saw Moses they were afraid. Just as when you turn on a light and the roaches run for cover, so the sinfulness of the people was revealed by the glory of God in Moses’ face. Moses put a veil over his face so the people would not turn away from him.

Paul is showing the church that as long as we try to earn our salvation, as long as we operate by performance based acceptance, it is as though we are covered by a veil preventing us from seeing the glory of God. The glory of God is Christ in you. Paul wants the church to know that living in the new way of the Holy Spirit; we have God’s glory within us and God’s glory outshines anything the world has ever known. Why would we want the pomp and circumstance of the world when,

“Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.” (2 Corinthians 3:16-18 The Message)

Today, on the 4^th of July we can celebrate that we are free. All of us! Nothing between us and God. WOW! Let the fireworks begin!!!!!

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?

2 Corinthians 2:1 – 3:5

A few weeks ago I spent quite a bit of money having the refrigerator in the parsonage repaired. A friend had recommended the service company I used. The repairman was friendly and efficient. However, we continued to have issues with the refrigerator and I called the company again. After inspecting the refrigerator the serviceman said WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get. He said the problem was not in the new component he installed, but with an older component that attached to it – which could be fixed for another couple of hundred dollars. He should have made that observation before the first repair. I thanked him for his time and showed him the door. We’ll make do with what we have.

The point of this story is the same one Paul is making in the first few verses of chapter three: the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Letters of recommendation were a big deal in Paul’s era. But, Paul was saying he didn’t need letters of recommendation because WYSIWYG. The people of the church in Corinth were his recommendation.

So it is with our church. We can have great advertising and great signs and brochures proclaiming the good qualities and good programs of our church. But, what really matters is what other people see when they encounter the people of our church. We can sing all day about the wonderful love of Jesus, but if people do not see Jesus in us, our singing would be like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (This might be a good time to re-read 1 Corinthians 13.)

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?

2 Corinthians 1

On June 12^th we began reading First Corinthians and I noted that ten times in the first ten verses Paul invoked the name of Jesus. In that letter Paul’s theme was about the person and work of Jesus Christ and Paul laid that foundation at the very beginning of the letter.

In Second Corinthians Paul uses the word comfort ten times in five verses. Again, Paul has laid a foundation for the theme of his letter. There are extraordinary qualities to this very special comfort of God that Paul is assuring the church God is providing for them.

First, the Comforter can identify with your pain and suffering. The Comforter has personal experience with similar pain and suffering.

Second, the Comforter brings the assurance that your life has meaning. Nothing is being wasted, or as we saw yesterday, your labors, even though they may result in pain and suffering, are not in vain.

Third, the very presence of the Comforter is strengthening to you. There is a quality to this comfort that allows you to see beyond the shadows of earth into the light of eternity where the ultimate truth of God is revealed to you. You learn that what is true of Jesus the Messiah becomes true for his people. The all-encompassing quality of Jesus’ life was that he rested in the sure knowledge that he was the beloved child of God. Paul teaches that this was true for Jesus, and it is true for the followers of Jesus. God’s people can rest today in the sure knowledge we are the beloved of God and that nothing can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.

What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?

Maran Atha. Most often we now see this Aramaic phrase written as Maranatha. It is translated, ‘Our Lord, Come.’ Isn’t it interesting that Paul would inject an Aramaic phrase into a letter written in Greek. This phrase is from the earliest Christian worship and relates to the line in The Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom Come.” The phrase summed up the hope of the church and was a means to bind all of the churches together in unity, regardless of where they were or their native language.

The phrase embodies the wonderful words in the opening verse of today’s passage: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

As Paul affirmed in the beginning of this letter some of our work for the Lord is to plant seeds of hope just as many churches do when they offer VBS. The church may never see how the Lord uses what they give the children. However, they can trust the Lord is using their labor of love and thus their labor is not in vain, it is for the Glory of the Lord.

Maran Atha. Amen

What does today's reading reveal to you about God?

What does it reveal to you about yourself?

Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?

Reading for July 2, 2011: 2 Corinthians 1