Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 39

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 12

Heaven may be about perspective.
Shoe Heaven for me would
mean I don't have to shop for them!

Here we have this fascinating reference to one experiencing a vision or revelation of Christ.  The phrase "caught up to the third heaven" is assuming a spiritual enlightenment but we have no reference to this type of language in any of Paul's other letters or in the rest of scripture for that matter.  

Most scholars believe that he is speaking of himself as verse seven indicates "to keep me from being too elated..." and I tend to agree.  I wonder if this might refer to his Damascus conversion but since Luke wrote about this quite a while after Paul's death, it lacks the detail we would like to make a definitive connection.  

William James, in his landmark work, The Varieties of Religious Experience, shares that one of the hallmarks of a mystical experience is that it is ineffable or hard to describe.  This certainly fits as Paul is not even sure if this displacement was physical or immaterial.

James also states that a mystical experience has a noetic quality where the recipient gains special knowledge or insight.  Paul certainly finds this as he states he "heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat."

Paul sees his thorn in the flesh as a consequence from this vision that will keep him humble and grounded.  It is difficult to know whether this was a physical malady or if it was an actual person who Paul saw as a particularly difficult opponent.

We could probably relate to either one.  If we have a physical ailment that pesters or plagues us, we might pray for relief and still find it persistent.  If we have a person that seems to be adept at getting under our skin, we might also pray for refuge from this person and yet find our orbits continuing to pass too close for comfort.  

Can we re-tell the story in a new way?  Is there something positive that can come from this - possibly a little humility when dealing with life?  Maybe a little perspective?

As we look at this on Good Friday, it may be that re-imagining our own suffering can be done without as much complaint on our part!

Prayer for the Day:

Gracious God, we would seek to know you more readily.  We may long for a special experience that is powerful and distinct.  Yet, we also know that consistency in our prayer life is probably more important and likely has more impact on us in the long run.  Help us to find meaning in things that may be mundane or even troubling.  We pray these things in the name of the Crucified One.  Amen.

Photo by Jeff Brooks 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.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 33

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 6

Paul is pushing on toward salvation in Christ for the Corinthians.  He quotes from Isaiah 49:8 which reads in its entirety:

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;

The idea of God giving Israel as a covenant to the people is a strong theme in Isaiah and also becomes the narrative for the people following Christ.

I've always found going uphill 
is easier with friends.

Paul holds onto this mission as he lists all of the things he has endured through verses 4 and 5.  Many of that day might look at all of these things and ask, "Are you sure that you are doing God's will?"  

Paul's faith is an optimism that allows for suffering in the world and may even expect it.  But Paul's faith transforms suffering.  Paul sees hardships through the lens of faith in Christ as opportunities to show others how they too can overcome suffering.  

The challenge for us comes when Paul speaks of his love being wide open without restriction for the Corinthians.  But he also acknowledges that this affection may not be reciprocated.  

Have you ever loved a child that was angry with you?  In our most immature moments, we may yell back if they have hurt our feelings with a particularly effective barb.   But at our finest, we don't regress to that level and continue to remain calm and offer love and guidance.  Paul references this image as he states, "I speak as to children" and implores them to "open wide your hearts also."

It is important for us to remain open hearted to those who may not be at the same place.  This is a characteristic of Christians and our interactions may give us our own list of hardships and endurances!  

Paul's letter takes a turn here to speak of marriage with a non-Christian through 7:1.  Then it picks back up where verse 13 left off in 7:2.  Some scholars think that this was a fragment from another letter that was inserted here.  It seems to refute what he said to them earlier in 1 Corinthians 7:14: 

For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband.

Paul finishes with words from the Hebrew Bible.  The material seems to be a mashup of Leviticus 26:12, Ezekiel 37:27, Isaiah 52:11 and 2 Samuel 7:14.  

Why the seeming switch in thought?  Possibly, the community during his earlier letter was not large enough for marrying within the congregation.  As the church began to branch out, it also might be difficult for a fledgling faith to hold onto its identity if there was a lot of pagan thought influencing the church through multiple spouses that believed otherwise.

Today, we do not prohibit marriage with non-Christians.  For this we tend to rely on the earlier thought of Paul rather than the latter!  Maybe this is the way that we are opening wide our hearts today!

Prayer for the day:

Blessed God, we give thanks that you live in us and walk among us.  You are our God and we are your people.  Help us to remain faithful to you no matter the hardship.  May our suffering be transformed so as to remove any obstacles that would cause someone to stumble.  Amen.

Photo by Gordon Bell 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.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 31

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4

Some things we encounter
are more permanent than others.

How do we understand ourselves in the midst of trouble and turmoil?

As Christians, how do we define ourselves and how do we understand God at work among us?

During every age, we may redefine our identity depending upon the circumstance.  Certainly in the midst of the pandemic, we have faced the greatest pause in the life of faith within our lifetimes.   Those rural areas have not quite faced the same kind of pause that urban congregations have faced simply because the caseloads in these places have been so dissimilar.  But even in these places where worship has continued fairly untouched, there have been members who have refused to attend in person and so the gathering has been diminished.

Within Paul's day, he sees his own afflictions as serving the greater good.  Their purpose becomes to glorify God and so it allows the one who is suffering to come to terms with the pain.  Paul writes of our bodies being as clay jars containing treasure.  The vessel containing the treasure is temporary and wears out but that which it holds is eternal.  

The pandemic has reminded us of our own mortality.  It has served our world almost like a prolonged Ash Wednesday service telling us, "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return."  But even as we understand our mortal nature, we also hear the words of Paul telling us, 

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

As we go through physical affliction, we are reminded of the suffering of our Lord.  We see that God has solidarity with humanity in Jesus Christ.  This allows our "inner nature" to be "renewed day by day." 

Even as we mourn those we have lost, we take heart in their "eternal weight of glory beyond all measure."  

We take heart because while things will not return to exactly to how they were prior to the pandemic, the important pieces of our lives will surely endure.  Our faith will strengthen because of what we have endured.  I believe that this is what Paul is celebrating in today's reading.

Prayer for the day:

Eternal God, we grow tired of our lessened public life.  We are weary of conflicting views about it.   We long for relationships without second guessing either their safety or their anxiety in gathering.  Yet, we give thanks that in all of this change, you walk with us.  Help us to see one another as gifts once more.  And as we take heart, may we find that as we are uplifted, this renewal gives you glory.  Amen.

Photo by Christine Warner 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.