Dearest e-votees-
Grace and peace to you. This Sunday is the second Sunday after Epiphany. It is the church season where we are particularly focused on God and God’s plans being revealed.
Our appointed epistle text comes from the introduction of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth.
May you be blessed and may you be a blessing.
Peace,
Karl
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1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
This letter is addressed to the saints in Corinth. It is directed towards those who being made holy by God—being sanctified. It is penned for those who are called to be saints. Paul then includes in the “CC:” line all those who in every place call upon Jesus the Christ as Lord. That means us too. Paul, carried along by the Holy Spirit, writes to us.
Scripture is like that. It is written to particular people of particular places and times into particular circumstances. It is also written to all people of all places and times to a wide variety of circumstances. God’s word is: “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12b) The ability of God’s word to get into us and to reveal us as we truly are transcends time and circumstance.
Paul goes on to assure the Corinthians and us that God has enriched us with grace and with testimony about Jesus. We have been equipped with what we need in terms of the life-sustaining truth as well as spiritual gifts to grow into the truth and to share it with others. We have what we need to sustain us as we wait until the second coming (the Great Epiphany, if you will). God has provided for us.
Beyond spiritual gifts and testimony, God will provide us with strength, courage and stamina so that we can run the race that is laid out before us well. God is faithful and has not called us to a task beyond God’s ability to work through us.
As you keep reading the letter to the church of Corinth you realize that there are some who certainly did not abide as faithfully or as regularly with God as intended according to the glorious call placed on their lives. Truth be told that might be true for us too. We forget the high calling. We trust in our own strength. We try to eke out a living on our own neglecting God’s gracious provisions. We slip; we fail; we sin. But God will not give us on the Corinthians nor us that easily. There is good news to be found in Jesus Christ and God is relentless in pouring that good news into our lives. Revealing it through big and little epiphanies. Thanks be to God.
God, thank you for calling us to be saints. Thank you for your provisions of grace and revelations and epiphanies. Draw us more deeply into your grace particularly when we shirk your high and holy callings. Help us know you and be agents of revealing you in this world you have created and that you love. Amen.
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