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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion January 16, 2007 One |
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Frontline Devotion for Tuesday, January 16th, 2007 by Matt Pensinger
1 Corinthians 12:13
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (NRSV)
By means of (Christ’s) one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. (The Message)
I love the Eugene Peterson translation “The Message,” as I know many of you do. But when I saw this, I thought, there’s no way. That can’t possibly be accurate: all of those words out of one little verse! But then I read more carefully, and there’s something powerful that The Message picks up that I missed in just reading the translation.
The labels.
That’s what they are, right? Jew, Greek, slave, free? In Paul’s time, Jews, Greeks, and those who were free would have worn those labels proudly, as approved representations of who they were: I am a Jew. I am a Greek. I am free. But what about the other one: slave? Who in all of sad and broken human history has wanted to wear THIS label: I am a slave? No one would claim that label; it would only be forced on them from outside of themselves.
Self-assigned or affixed by others, worn proudly or borne in shame, labels separate people into categories, and we use them to tell who you and I and we and they are and what we are all worth relative to each other. We are good; they are evil. I am saved; you are lost. I am a Lutheran; you are a Methodist; you are a Catholic; you are an atheist. I am, or maybe you are, an American, a liberal, a conservative, a patriot, a traitor, a bigot, a fool. I am stupid. I am an intellectual. You are a Christian. I am a sinner. We are right. You are wrong.
And whether they’re positive or negative, whether they mark accomplishment or deficiency or opinion or random chance or nothing at all, labels don’t say anything about who we really are. Peterson claims that this is the sense of Paul’s writing, and I think I agree: labels are useless for telling us who we really are. They’re symbols of “partial and piecemeal lives.” The only thing that tells us who we really are is the one Spirit that unites us, no matter what our outward differences, no matter what labels we might like to wear or choose to wear or be forced to wear. Our essential nature has nothing to do with labels… it is shown through the one Spirit that works to guide our attitudes and actions. Speaking of attitudes, Paul makes me a liar when I said earlier that no one would claim the label of slave. The letter to the Romans begins, “I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment…” Look for the Spirit’s guiding in your life today; seek to live as a part of the one body.
Prayer: Lord God, draw us closer to each other and to you. Help us to love others in a way that reflects how you love us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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