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Sunday, October 9, 2005
Rev. Dr. Harold E Kidd
1 Corinthians 11:1
2 Corinthians 3: 1 - 12
A LIVING
LETTER
"Follow
my example, as I follow the example of Christ."
1 Corinthians
11:1
"You show
that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with
ink but with the Spirit of the living God
"
2 Corinthians
3:3
This morning the Lord wants
us to consider our spirituality, our relationship with Him as it relates to how
He can use us to reach others in the name of Jesus Christ. In these passages
Paul is writing to Corinthian believers who are yet new to the faith. They did
not know much about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Paul could not tell
them to imitate Jesus, because 1 & 2 Corinthians were written before the
gospels were written.
It is estimated that these
letters were written between 55-57A.D., which would place them a few decades
after the ascension of our Lord. All of the gospels were written between 55A.D.
and 90 A.D. So these believers would have very little written information
concerning the life of our Lord.
We know that Paul had been
in
Paul encouraged them to
follow him as he followed Christ, based upon his relationship to Jesus. So the
essence of this invitation to follow him as he followed Christ has to do with
Paul's ongoing growth in spirituality as a result of his relationship to Jesus
and as a prerequisite for anyone following his leadership. When we consider who
might be influenced by our life, our faith, our witness, it really does come
down to the question of our own spirituality.
In other words, the closer
one walks with Jesus the more the Holy Spirit will bless their life but, as well,
the more the Holy Spirit has to work with in reaching others. There is a
relationship between our walk with the Master and the effect that a growing
relationship we have with Jesus empowers our testimony in a non-believing
world.
It has often been said, that
most people would rather see a sermon than hear one any day. And there is a
great truth to this familiar expression in that, for the many who have not yet
come into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and for the many who are in the
Lord but estranged from active participation within a community of faith, the
primary way that God reaches them is through us. Amen. Through our day-to-day
life witness.
And its not so much about
what we say, but what we do. Jesus was the living example of God's love for all
humanity. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us," writes John,
"full of grace and truth. And we beheld His glory as the only begotten of
the Father." I would add, And we
beheld his love as of the Father. For God is love. That's what the Bible
declares. God is love. So love came incarnate in the personhood of Jesus. And
isn't that what we have been called to do, become in our own way God's living
love letter in this cold, cruel world? Jesus was love incarnate.
In 1 Corinthians 4:9ff Paul
talks about what it means to follow Christ in a non-believing world:
"For it seems to me that God has put us
apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in
the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as
well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are
weak, but you are strong! You are honored; we are dishonored! To this very hour
we go hungry, and thirsty; we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are
homeless. We work hard with our own hands, When we are cursed, we bless; when
we are persecuted, we endure it, when we are slandered, we answer kindly."
Paul wanted these Corinthian
believers to understand that he had suffered for Jesus, He had made
life-changing sacrifices in order to do his Master's will; he had gone without,
he had been cursed, persecuted, and slandered; his life was put on display by
God
God's open letter, if you will, in order that some might believe through
the testimony of Paul's life. Amen.
Persons could see in the
letter of Paul's life and example what it meant to follow Jesus, to be his
disciple. They could see how God in Christ works through human instruments for
the liberation of his people from the bondage of sin.
But it gets
even better. As we continue reading in
this chapter, picking up with verse 15 he writes:
"Even though you have ten thousand guardians in
Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father
through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me."
Again, we have to understand
the context of 1 Corinthians. Paul is writing to a church whose only example of
Christ has been
communicated through the
life of Paul, Peter, and Apollos. The gospels have not yet been written. Paul's life then became the letter of God to
them.
Wouldn't you know that even
when we do not consider that we're being watched
there are always some eyes
on us. To use Paul's comment, God has put us on display. We are being examined
by curious seekers of truth like Nicodemus who came to the Lord by night
wanting to know how he could experience the New Birth.
We are God's living message. We have become God's living letter. Paul declares in 2
Corinthians 3:2, You yourselves are our
letter written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you
are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but
with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of
human hearts.
And what Paul was saying to
the church is that each of us is a letter from God to the world. Ink fades, but
the testimony of a life lives. Our very lives speak to the power of God unto
salvation unto everyone that will believe. Our lives have become a living letter of what God can do. Our
lives are a living letter to the
goodness and mercy of the Lord. Our lives speak of God's faithfulness even when
we have fallen into some horrible pits. In fact we have to say very little, for
the letter of our life itself will do
the talking.
Witnessing to the saving
love of God is not just through the words of our mouth, but even more
demonstrably, it is through the testimony of our living. Amen. We are God's living love letters to the world. Amen.
That some would come to accept Jesus Christ through having read the letter of
our lives. Amen. God making his appeal through us. Yes, we are on display, a
spectacle to many, that they might see the life and love of Christ in us.
So when someone reads the letter
of our life it raises several questions. What will be the content of our
letter? What will people discover about Jesus by reading the content of our
lives? How well will my living letter, my life, accurately bear witness to the
life of Jesus? How well will the story of my life's letter tell the story of
Jesus' love?
Here we have a sobering
truth and a blessed inspiration -- that everyone is an open advertisement for Jesus Christ. We
are God's living brochure. We are
God's living advertisement. We are
God's living Web site. Yes, we are
the living letter which God
circulates throughout the world. The love of God for all humanity will be read
from the pages of our letter. Does the letter of my life speak of a loving God?
Does it speak of a God who looks beyond faults and sees needs? Does it speak to
the love of God who gave his all for our redemption? A living letter.
The honor of Jesus has been
placed on the pages of our lives. People will come to know more about Jesus by
what they read in us. People will come to judge the reality of Jesus by reading
the testimony of our lives.
People will learn of his
compassion and ministry by what is recorded on the parchment of our hearts. A living letter.
So our lives have become, in
the purposes of God, living letters, read
of all people. On every page of our life there ought to be something which
will help the reader know more about Jesus. Amen.
What makes you smile when
you should be sad? Jesus. What gives you strength after all that you've been
through? Jesus. What makes you so positive, in a world of so much uncertainty?
Jesus. Where do you find the strength to keep on keeping on with such
determination? Jesus. How can you be so calm in the midst of such a serious
situation? Jesus.
Yes, we are
God's living letter. Others are looking at us to
see if our walk is consistent with our talk. Some may know us to be Christians.
In other cases some might consider us with curiosity because they are
fascinated with how we are able to navigate through the challenges of life. We
seem to have a smile on our face when some difficult life experience suggests
we should be wearing a frown. They find us to be God's thankful people even
when life has become like bitter lemons. But we've turned bitter experiences
through our faith in the Lord into the sweet lemonade of testimony.
What good is it to declare
in words, "I thank God for what the Lord has done for me", but to
live as though one is bitter about life? What testimony does it give to declare
with one's words that God is love but to treat others with disdain and
disrespect? I once had some deacons who were called to be God's love letter of
compassion to those who came to our church in crisis. But evidently, some of
them had gotten the wrong message. Because they would meet with people for
almost an hour, grill them on every aspect of their life, ask them all about
their business, and then do nothing to help them. But 1 Corinthians 13 is a
reminder that
"If I
give all that I have to the poor, but have not love, I am nothing."
God has not called the
church to be Dick Tracy, but to be his love letter to a broken and hurting
world. God has not called the church to beat people down before it lifts them
up, but be a love letter that binds up the wounds of the broken hearted.
A Living
Letter. In a world in which much of
what we read contains bad news, Paul encourages the believers in Ephesians 5,
"Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart unto the Lord."
And in Philippians he writes, I have learned in whatsoever state I am to be
content
for I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:11 - 13)
In other words be a letter
that carries some joy, some hope, some melody for life, some appreciation of
what God has already done.
That's why it is important
for us to be thankful in all things.
Not just because this is pleasing to God but as well so that in this
non-believing world people can read the letter of our lives and see in us a
thankful people, with a thankful spirit. That even when things go bad, we
demonstrate our joy in the Lord, for God is yet able to give to the human
heart, mind, and spirit the joy of Salvation. Yes, a non-believing world has need
of understanding that the Joy of the Lord is our Strength, that someone might
come to the Rock of Salvation, who is Jesus. A Living Letter.