A couple weeks ago I posted about how re-discovering the discipline of praying the Scriptures has re-invigorated my spiritual discipline life. Just this week I started reading 1 Corinthians, and chapter one has been rich. Thought I'd share a couple of things that have been forming me these past couple of days just from the first few verses of chapter one.
Paul asserts in v. 2 that the Corinthians are "called to be saints." If you know anything about Paul's relationship with the folks at Corinth, this must have been a labor for him to write. These people were really, really messed up.
But Paul insists that they're called to be saints--as Christians that is their new, true identity. And so two days ago, I prayed that I would lean into my calling to be a saint. That in my husbanding, parenting, in my relationships with students and friends and family that I would live out saint-li-ness.
This is something that our culture dismisses or mocks. But God delights to call messy people his saints. To become a saint is nothing more than to become fully human, fully alive. All un-saintly behavior is dehumanizing, devastating, destructive to our souls and our relationships. "Saint" is simply biblical short-hand for becoming a real human being. That's what I want to become.
That was my prayer on Monday.
On Tuesday, I got as far as v. 5: that in Christ "you [really: 'ya'll'] have been enriched in every way." Paul here is celebrating the richness of Christ's blessing on the community as each has different spiritual gifts. I prayed that I would recognize the gift of how enriched I've been by the community surrounding me. I prayed for my kids to be surrounded at every stage with a community enriched by Christ in every way, for their marriages to be marked by that same richness in Christ.
The next morning, I looked back on that and realized that the days before had been marked by several significant interactions with people older and wiser than me. I had been enriched, indeed, by the "Christ in ya'll"-ness of the body.
This morning, I got to verse 8: "he [Jesus] will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of the Lord. God is faithful..." Given that I have just under 75 days left of my time at UNC, I couldn't have hand-picked a more perfect verse to lean into. I also prayed God's faithfulness for my family, for myself.
This morning I wrote on the inside of my wrist in pen: "HSTE"--He will keep you Strong to the End. I tried to look at it and recite it throughout my day today on campus.
At this rate, I'll finish 1 Corinthians sometime in 2012...but man, it's been good stuff so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment