Living in the Spirit

June 18, 2021

Scripture Reading:
2 Corinthians 6:1-13

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
   and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.

When I read the quote in the first verse of the above scripture, I heard Jesus speaking. I stopped and considered that assumption, realizing Paul’s writings were published before any of the Gospels. I am sure that other sources of Jesus’s sayings existed that are now lost to us, but Paul’s Bible was the Hebrew one. Looking up the reference, I found the quote came from Isaiah 49:8. The full selection is:
Thus says the Lord:
In a time of favor I have answered you,
   on a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you
   as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
   to apportion the desolate heritages;

Isaiah charges his readers in the same manner that Paul addressed his followers, and both speak to us today. There is a time and place for God’s intervention, and that is God’s decision to make. We are called to work together toward God’s vision set forth by Jesus, the Christ, knowing that when God needs to intercede, God will. Thus, all God’s children must maintain a constant open line of communication with God.

Paul spent much time studying and meditating to discover the truth of the Messiah and the teachings from the scrolls of the Hebrew scriptures. Jesus quoted them also. Our challenge is to discern God’s ways as they are described among very human time-dated stories. God helped us in doing just that when 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*.

Prayer: Lord, make us whole, make us one enabling us to do justice in the formation of your Kingdom. Amen.

*John 1:14

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.