Tag: 2 Corinthians 3

Scripture Focus: 2 Corinthians 3.5-6
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Reflection: Only Through Christ :: Worldwide Prayer
By John Tillman

If we have confidence in our own competence, we are destined to accomplish only what is possible by human effort. 

May we approach God with the humility of Paul’s proclamation from 2 Corinthians 5, and with the humble faith of this prayer from Nigeria, which invokes God’s power to work through us as his instruments.

Only Through Christ
A Prayer of Invocation from Nigeria :: Worldwide Prayer

O God, our Father we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ through whom you have incorporated us into your divine life by virtue of which we can call you Abba, Father. How can we thank you enough for the unmerited promise that where two or three are gathered in your name, you will honor them with your presence?

In humility, we have come to you claiming this gracious promise of your presence. Grant us the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to worship you in Spirit and in truth, for our desire is to be acceptable to you.

Our Holy Father, we have come confessing our sins of commission and omission before you because if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Your promise is that if we confess our sins we will be cleansed by the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, in your grace, touch us now and purge us of all of our sins.

Quicken our spiritual sensitivity so we can be consciously tuned to your spiritual wave length. May our eyes, O God, be opened now by the Holy Spirit to enable us to see the Risen Lord seated on the Throne in all his glory, pleading for us.

Grant that we will be dedicated to the task of being your divine instruments of redemption in our homes, in our workplaces, in our communities, to the extent that people around us will be impacted by the empirical demonstration of your transforming power working in us.

O Eternal Father, this is our earnest desire, this is why we have come before you. Grant this our humble desire, O God, not because we merit it but only because we ask for it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ , your Son and our Savior.

*Prayer from Hallowed be Your Name: A collection of prayers from around the world, Dr. Tony Cupit, Editor.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful, for I have taken refuge in you; in the shadow of your wings will I take refuge until this time of trouble has gone by… — Psalm 57.1

Today’s Readings
Job 33 (Listen -3:00)
2 Corinthians 3 (Listen -2:25)

Read more about Christ, Our “If Only…”
Christ comes, applying for Job’s job posting. He would be our mediator if we let him.

Christ, Our “If Only…”

Read more about Faith Requires Humility
One reason faith is so difficult for today’s culture is that we devalue humility. And faith cannot exist without humility.

Faith Requires Humility

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Reflection: Inattentiveness in Worship
By John Tillman

As stodgy as C.S. Lewis sounds in his letter on Liturgiology (which we read together in two excerpts, here and here) one might mistakenly assume that he is campaigning for unilateral and unchanging homogeneity in worship style and liturgy. However, that is not the case. Lewis seems to appreciate variety, as long as the attention of the worshipers is drawn to God rather than the creativity of the celebrants.

Lewis chides his readers (Malcolm is a fictitious friend, standing in for Lewis’s reading audience) for casting judgment on the worship practices of others, making an appeal to variety within the community of the church.

Broaden your mind, Malcolm, broaden your mind! It takes all sorts to make a world; or a church. This may be even truer of a church. If grace perfects nature it must expand all our natures into the full richness of the diversity which God intended when He made them, and Heaven will display far more variety than Hell. “One fold” doesn’t mean “one pool.” Cultivated roses and daffodils are no more alike than wild roses and daffodils.

In a consumer society and culture, our identity is tied up in our tastes, and our tastes are broadcast through our criticism. The superiority of the role of worship critic is more attractive to us than the supplicative posture of a worshiper.

What pleased me most about a Greek Orthodox mass I once attended was that there seemed to be no prescribed behavior for the congregation. Some stood, some knelt, some sat, some walked; one crawled about the floor like a caterpillar. And the beauty of it was that nobody took the slightest notice of what anyone else was doing. I wish we Anglicans would follow their example. One meets people who are perturbed because someone in the next pew does, or does not, cross himself. They oughtn’t even to have seen, let alone censured. “Who art thou that judgest Another’s servant?”

We must cultivate in worship a certain kind of inattentiveness toward other worshipers and even toward the leaders—maintaining our attention on God as the focus of all our joined efforts.

*Excerpts from Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, C.S. Lewis.

The Prayer Appointed for the Week
Grant me, O Lord, to trust in you with all my heart; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Full prayer available online and in print.

Today’s Readings
2 Samuel 10 (Listen – 3:19)
2 Corinthians 3 (Listen – 2:25)