2 Corinthians 3:2-3
Not long ago there were several “messages from God” on billboards around some of our cities. They had clever ways of attracting your attention and urging people to attend church. Some messages were things like “We need to talk. – God.” Or “Don’t make me come down there! – God.”
Most people would love to hear a direct message from God. Most people would probably change their ways and their way of thinking if they could simply hear the voice of God speaking directly to them.
Today’s passage is from Paul’s letter to the believers in the church at Corinth. To what does he compare the believers? How are they a letter?
Paul creates a wonderful image to describe those who follow the teachings of Jesus and do the work of God. They have become like letters or messages from God. No, it isn’t the very voice of God others might hear or want to hear, but in their actions of kindness and compassion, in the example they set by their way of life, these believers are living messages from God.
Through their behavior the people of the church of Corinth were showing non-believers what God is like. The people themselves were living messages.
We live in a hurting world and a world that so often seems confused as to which is the right direction to go spiritually. How do we teach them the ways of God? How do we show them what God is all about?
We do that by becoming living letters of God. We can be the voice of God to the lost and the marginalized, to those who need guidance and support. We can offer hope and direction through our own words of kindness and caring. We can express God’s love by sharing ourselves and our own love, by helping those in need and living a life of confidence in God’s kingdom.
Your ministry may not be one of preaching and teaching. Your ministry may not be to serve at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen. But all ministries should be seen as God being lived out in our attitudes and behaviors.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What does your “letter” say?
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