Daily Devotion – June 15, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
6:1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
6:2 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!
6:3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,
6:4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
6:5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;
6:6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,
6:7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
6:8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
6:9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see–we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed;
6:10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
6:11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you.
6:12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours.
6:13 In return–I speak as to children–open wide your hearts also.
Have you ever tried to deal with someone who presents herself as knowing way more than you do, but who you can tell has been lying deliberately about you to hold you back? It is not a happy place to be when you know someone is placing obstacles in your way to doing what you know you are called to do.
It happens to people who have divorced but are still trying to raise a child together, when one parent lies about the other, who is innocent of the lies and is just trying to do his best as a parent, which is his calling. It happens to people who have spoken truly about a situation, who have brought injustice to the light of day but who are then maligned by someone more powerful who calls their experience untrue and implies that the injustice is imagined by the truth teller.
Paul is telling his story to a group of believers. Many of these folks know Paul’s story to be true, yet some contest the truth of it and so are lying about Paul’s character and mission. And he makes a point of saying that, even though some have lied about him, he bears no ill will. He asks them to open their hearts to him also, and bear no ill will, whipped up as the lies may have been by people who want obstacles placed between new believers and the faith they have been called to.
We wouldn’t want to think of ourselves as the lying divorced parent, or the societal leader who blames the victim when called to view rightly an injustice. But how might we, quietly (silently) following Jesus and opting to keep our congregations free from any messy engagement with a world that needs our witness, how might we be throwing obstacles up to people who might be trying to respond to God’s call to a life of faith? By staying quiet and comfortable, are we not speed bumps on their faith road? Are we not actually preventing them from engaging in God’s vocation for them by refusing to move ourselves?
When people look to Lutheran Christians to help them live out a calling from God, what do they see?
Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Give us ears to hear your calling for us. Give us courage to leave the comfort of our beautiful building and worship services and fellowship where we talk only to those we already know and like, where we can be still instead of being active. Give us a chance to encounter those you are sending us to and sending to us. Help us not to be stumbling blocks. Amen.
