“Taking the credit”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, April 6, 2022

2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6 (Forward, p. 67) CEV p. 1206

Many scholars and commentators have commented, some negatively (as to impute that Paul profoundly distorted the original message of Christ), about the pivotal place of Paul in spreading and defining the earliest Christian message. And yet, Paul himself, takes little credit for this:

“No one really has what it takes to do this work” (chapter 2, verse 16b);

“By the power of Christ we speak our message with God as our witness” (chapter 2, verse 17b);

“We don’t have the right to claim that we have done anything on our own. God gives us what it takes to do all that we do. He makes us worthy to be the servants of his new agreement that comes from the Holy Spirit and not from a written Law” (verses 5-6a);

None of this stems from a false sense of modesty or misplaced humility. Paul knows fully well that, while there is much that it is attributable to himself and to his words and works, the credit must ultimately be given to God. God is the one who has called him, commissioned and empowered him to do this ‘piece of work.’ It has truly been a cooperative enterprise, a partnership, with God being the senior partner directing it and giving it its power and impact.

And so it is with us. We are co-workers with God, vital, important and necessary, but co-workers none the less. We need Him to direct our efforts and to make them effective. Amen.

Forward notes: “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all” (verse 2).

“My significant other loves writing letters. Many of the letters she has written are to children she has sponsored through various non-profits. We decided that as a part of our life together, we would jointly sponsor a child.

“We sponsor a young girl in Bangladesh and have written a few physical and virtual letters and received responses. The non-profit we use for the sponsorship is rooted in Christianity, but we are asked not to write about our faith. The organization recognizes that Christianity is not the dominant religion of the young girl’s culture and wants to be sensitive to the local traditions. So, we write our letters never saying ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ or directly speaking about our faith. And yet, I have faith that as this young girl reads our letters, she encounters what is on our hearts and the Spirit of the living God. And perhaps far more interestingly, when we read the letters she sends, I believe we encounter her heart and that very same Spirit.”

Moving Forward: “Write two letters today: one to a friend and one to someone you don’t know well but would like to encourage.”