March 13, 2006 - Kevin Murphy, St. Matthew Lutheran (Walnut Creek)

March 13, 2006

2 Corinthians 3:4-18
Kevin Murphy, St. Matthew Lutheran (Walnut Creek)

Read the passage and respond to these questions:

1. For what have we been called? where can we find the confidence to do what we are called to do?
2. Is there a ministry for which you have felt inadequate but still sense that god is calling you to do? What word of encouragement do you find in this passage?
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17, nrsv). How do we adequately represent the New Covenant that is only found in Jesus Christ, Paul asks?
• by recognizing that “apart from Him we can do nothing” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6; cf. John 15:5);
• by preaching 90% less Law and 90% more Good News (2 Corinthians 3:7-11);
• by not feigning some false spirituality (like Moses did, 2 Corinthians 3:12-14); and
• by daring to be people who live lives of Christian freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
What will this Christian freedom look like? It will be transparent. We must be transparent in the places where we are weak and inadequate, which will allow us also to reflect transparently the Lord’s power and glory in our lives.
We can’t do this by pretending or “play acting” (literally “hypocrisy’). It is the work of God’s Spirit in our lives. Paul warns the Galatian Christians that they cannot complete by human will power what God has begun in their lives by the Spirit (Galatians 3:1-5). It is by “believing in God” that the Spirit is able to make the necessary difference in our lives (Galatians 3:6-9).
Prayer
Gracious God, teach us to so trust in your love and mercy that we can live transparently before You and one another. In Jesus’ name and through the Spirit’s power we pray. Amen.