Epiphany
February 5, 2016

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. –2 Corinthians 4:1-2

How do we falsify God’s word? Does this simply mean that we turn God’s word into a sham by not following it? Does it mean we twist God’s word to our own purposes by shrewdly taking it out of context or not viewing it across the full spectrum of its teachings? How do we know what is God’s word? Paul dealt with the same issues as he attempted to make plain the message of Jesus to the Corinthians who were hearing differing interpretations from others who came with letters of recommendation.

We live in a similar age, ours of instant information about which many have become cynical. We do not know who to believe or what to believe as spin doctors attempt to tell us their designer truth. People cherry pick a verse here, a chapter there from the Bible and build whole philosophies of faith around them.

Paul takes about the Spirit of God as the source of knowing in 2 Corinthians, a book written 50 years or so before the Gospel of John. I think Paul’s language about the Spirit of God and John’s first sentence In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God are very much alike. Truth is not in the dictionary or the spin but in the living, breathing life of Christ and his Spirit that dwells among us today. The ability to recognize truth is tied to our ability to related to the Living God. Jesus quoted liberally from the Hebrew scriptures. He learned them, loved them, and applied them in the context of his day and time. Wisdom lies in viewing our understanding of God’s through the light of the love of Jesus Christ, the word made flesh.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Prayer: Lord, let Your Word be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Amen.

*Based on Psalm 119:105

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.