Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 20

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 9 (NRSV)

"Don't muzzle the ox that treads the grain."

This bit of wisdom from Paul that actually comes from Deuteronomy 25:4 is something my mom would always say with a gleam in her eye while she was sampling food that she was preparing in the kitchen!

Paul may have been in some of these
but they would have been colored
for him by his faith in Christ.

Paul uses this as an example that we should treat with hospitality those who are working for us.  This chapter was evidently an answer to rumors that had been spread about Paul as a kind of leech on the church at Corinth.  Paul explains that he was providing for them spiritually and had the right to ask for wages from them.  However, he goes the extra mile to be beyond reproach by sharing with them that he has not taken advantage of these rights.

He shows that the gospel message is his priority and he doesn't want even the unclaimed wages he's earned to be a stumbling block for those seeking faith.

He shows this through one of my favorite passages from 1 Corinthians:

19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Paul could be seen as having no identity.  He stands for nothing.  His beliefs are so fluid, you might say he doesn't believe anything.  He's a waffler!

But I think what this really shows is that all of these things are subservient to the gospel message.  Relationally, we can identify with a great variety of people.  Who we are in Christ doesn't discount some of the same categories with which we identify with others.  But it does oversee them in a way where they are not as important.  Fundamentally, we are Christian.

What categories do we claim today?  What are our various identities, memberships, clubs and affiliations?  How does our Christianity influence these?

Does the gospel hold sway in our priorities or is it merely another group?

As we move through Lent to the cross, we may need to hold these things in prayer.

Prayer for the day:

God of all Mystery, we find that when we stop to consider you, all else pales in comparison.   It may be that we fail to take stock in this consideration very often.  Forgive us and help us to re-prioritize our lives so that who we are in Christ not only touches everything else, but that it also lovingly transforms our relationships.  We pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Photo by puuikibeach via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.