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1 Corinthians 16:5-9
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.
New International Version (NIV)
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Do you still write letters? If you do, or when you used to, how did you end your letters. “Love, . . .” or “Sincerely, . . .” “Cordially . . .” or “Warmly . . .”
It would be interesting to study the ending of Paul’s letters in the New Testament. Paul has gone after some serious issues in the church at Corinth. Yet when he started the letter, he expressed confidence in their calling to salvation (1:9).
Do you suppose that Paul comprehended that through the work of the Spirit, his words would be preserved and read by people for thousands of years? Could Paul have imagined the part of the letter we call the thirteenth chapter being read at weddings all over the world as a treatise to nuptial love?
It is good to remember that this passage of scripture was written by a real person inspired by the Spirit to address specific needs in a congregation of real people. We would not typically take a letter between people and equate it to a list of rules to follow. Letters between people reveal relationships more than they codify rules of behavior. We do well to pay attention to the genres of literature in the scriptures. The ten commandments are not poetry and the Psalms are not commandments.
Paul writes about a collection he is taking for the believers in Jerusalem asking them to give regularly, proportionally and intentionally. Then he expresses his desire to be with them. So Paul has not given up on them. He still wants to see them. So why doesn’t he just go and see them? God is working in Ephesus and he has to stay until Pentecost. God has opened a door and many people oppose him. Wait: if he is facing opposition, why doesn’t he just go? God has opened a door to stay until Pentecost.
In this time of facing illness and death in our world, we remember the people we love. Pastors still pastor, even if we are not allowed to go into the hospitals. Our hearts break with those who lose loved ones. We awaken thinking about those who are ill. Eight or ten have come to mind today. But I wonder if this time of great suffering is also an open door to share God’s love with others. I have run into old and new friends in the park. We talk, at a distance. I have no list of rules to hand out to those who pass by. But I do know the Lord and I want them to know the Lord.
How to end a letter? Paul writes in his own hand. He offers, “The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” That is not all, “My love to all of you in Christ, Jesus. Amen.”
Paul leaves them with a prayer for the blessing of grace and a promise of his love. We can do no better today. Grace to you. We love you.
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Pray with me:
Father, today we thank you for friends in the faith. With gratitude for our families, the kinship we feel with fellow believers sustains us in days like these. We need you. We need each other. We long to gather, but we can’t. Help us to walk through the doors you open today. Let us not abandon the relationships which are hard. Give us grace, Father, through the Lord Jesus. And teach us to love as Christ loves. In his name we pray. Amen.
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Join us in memorizing the Word. Scripture for this week:
Matthew 5:31-32
It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
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| Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan. Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week. In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year. Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter (also found at REPLICATE.ORG). Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.
Joyfully,
Duane
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