3 You show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, 6 who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 12 Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
THOUGHTS:
"You may be the only Bible that some people will ever read." This phrase gets thrown around sometimes within Christianity. I think it's true even in subversive ways we might not like. As a Christian, if I snub people, then I am telling them that God doesn't want anything to do with them. If I take the time to listen to people and value people, then I am telling them that God cares about them.
As Lost and Found, one of my favorite bands, once said, "The Good News is always good news. If someone tries to tell you the Good News and it doesn't sound like good news, then it's not the Good News, because the Good News is always good news." (Gospel is the theological word for "Good News".)
To me, this says the same thing as the verses above, which is that the Gospel is life-giving. It isn't about tearing people down, but rather about connecting people to God, who loves all people! We have freedom in the Spirit, but it comes with a great responsibility: sharing that freedom of the Spirit with others!
We are all ministers (see day #14) of a new covenant that gives life and brings freedom. God's "Law" in scripture isn't abolished, but we aren't to focus on using the "letter of the Law" to condemn others. Instead, we are charged with boldly sharing the life-giving good news of the Good News with our world!
As Martin Luther wrote in "The Freedom of a Christian" (1520):
"Just as our neighbor is in need and lacks that in which we abound, so we were in need before God and lacked his mercy. Hence, as our heavenly Father has in Christ freely come to our aid, we also ought freely to help our neighbor through our body and its works and each one should become as it were a Christ to the other that we may be Christs to one another and Christ may be the same in all, that is, that we may be truly Christians."
How do you act as a Christ to...
... your roommate?
... the person who serves you lunch?
... the LGBTQ community?
... your co-workers?
... those who don't "look like you"?
... others you meet each day?
Take a moment to read all of 2 Corinthians 3.
PRAYER:
Lord, help us to boldly act as your body to all those we meet. Give us the strength to love freely. Give us the courage to step outside our comfort zones to be Christ to those we meet today, and every day. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
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JOIN US for worship TONIGHT (Wed 4/1) at 7:47pm in the BISTRO as we celebrate PRIDE WEEK, exploring how we can all identify with living in exile or on the margins ... and how God's love reaches us wherever we are. http://GMU747.org
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LCM at GMU has been recognized as a Reconciling in Christ organization for taking a stand as being opening and affirming of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, as well as ... pretty mucheveryone (see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran/affirmation.html). We invite you to stand up for the LGBTQ community this week during Pride Week at GMU.
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These devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University. Please feel free to share them with your friends! For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran
You can subscribe to these devotions by RSS or email from http://lentendevotions.blogspot.comThese devotions are provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry at George Mason University. Please feel free to share them with your friends! For more information on our ministry and events, see http://gmu.edu/org/lutheran
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