WHO WRITES YOUR
STORY?
Introduction:
"Shepherding
the Shepherd," written by retired pastor Lee was a compilation of weekly
letters he wrote during the height of the Pandemic in 2020 to encourage
discouraged pastors. I was comforted by reading these caring letters of a
pastor with 40 years of experience.
Since then, I have had several Zoom calls with him and
exchanged views on various matters. In Lee's book, he shares the story of a pastor
friend who was taking a Doctoral Ministry class on conflict. His professor
asked him, "Who writes your story?" "They do," he replied.
"No," his prof replied. He tried again, "I do?" "Nope."
Having no options left, he said, "God?" "Right," replied
his professor. "God writes your story."[1]
We all have personal stories to tell
others. They are unique and special to us, but who writes them? For my sermon
title on II Corinthians 3:1-5, I borrow this question who writes your
story? Last time we saw in the 2nd chapter how the Apostle
Paul described believers as the prisoners of Christ who spread the fragrance of
Christ by preaching the good news.
He clarified how he was different than the false
teachers who corrupted God's word for personal profit. On the contrary, he and
other apostles preached God's word honestly and with Christ's authority.
Chapter three begins with Paul's refutation of the false prophets. Let's begin.
I.
Letters of Recommendation? (II Cor 3:1)
Vs.1, "Are we beginning to praise ourselves
again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or
who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not!" In the
corporate world, we are familiar with letters of recommendation. We have either
given one or asked for one. A letter of recommendation is a letter written on
behalf of an applicant by someone who can vouch for that person's educational
or professional performance.
Like the Pharisees of Jesus' time, false teachers
constantly attacked Paul's competency and authenticity of his ministry. They
demanded letters of recommendation for his ministry among the Corinthians as if
he was new to them. Paul challenged them with these questions.
Do we need to commend or introduce ourselves all over
again? Do we have to show letters of recommendation as though we were starting
the ministry afresh? We know by reading the beginnings of the Corinthian Church
that Paul was the founder of it and did the hard labor of service for eighteen
months among them. (Acts 18). Therefore he needed no introduction.
On the
contrary, certain false prophets arrived in Corinth with letters of
recommendation that they may have forged (Acts 15:1) or obtained by pretense
from prominent members of the Jerusalem church. Paul wrote letters of
recommendation for Phoebe (Rom 16:3) and Timothy ( I Cor 16:10). These letters
helped them find a welcome in various churches. Paul's point is that he needed
no secondhand testimony when the Corinthian believers themselves are his proof.
II.
The Living Epistles (Vs.2)
Vs. 2, "The only letter of recommendation we need
is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can
read it and recognize our good work among you." Paul's only proof of
evidence is not the letters but the changed lives by God through his ministry.
Paul humbly acknowledges that though God used him to
change lives, ultimately it is God's work. II Cor 3:5-6, "It is not that
we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes
from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant."
People take great pride in their achievements in this
world, as though they did it on their own. We rarely hear winning athletes or
sports stars saying, God enabled me to win, and I give glory to Him. When it
comes to Christian ministry, none of us are qualified to serve God but thank
God he qualifies us and enables us to become the ministers of his new covenant.
The Corinthian believers became the living epistles or
letters of recommendation due to God's work through His humble servant Paul.
They are living proof that God changes lives. Similarly, all those whose lives
have been changed by God's work become the living Epistles.
In a powerful old Hymn, "Blessed assurance, Jesus
is mine!" we sing a Chorus: This is my story, this is my song, Praising my
Savior all the day long; This is my story, this is my song,
Praising
my Savior all the day long." Who writes the story of our lives?
III.
Who Writes Your Story?
Vs. 3, "Clearly, you are a letter
from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter"
is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is
carved not on tablets of stone but on human hearts." Paul expands his
letter imagery in this verse.
Paul answers the question of who writes your story by
saying, "you are a letter from Christ." Our lives are letters from
Christ that are not written by pen and ink that can fade. They are alive,
written by Christ through the supernatural transforming work of the Holy
Spirit. In a way, the Holy Spirit uses a Super Permanent Marker
when writing our stories.
Paul uses a powerful imager from famous Old Testament
passages predicting the promised day of new hearts and new beginnings for God's
people. Jeremiah 31:33, "But this is the new covenant I will
make with the people of Israel after those days," says the Lord. "I
will put my instructions deep within them, and I will
write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will
be my people."
Ezekiel 36:26-27, "And I will give
you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will
take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And
I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my
decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. These two
prophecies indicate that God transforms lives and writes his story in our
hearts.
Unlike the old covenant, now God makes a new covenant
with his people (we will talk more about it next week). For now, let's
recognize it is all the work of God and not ours. The instructions of that
covenant are not on stone tablets that can break or on paper with ink that can
be burned or faded, but deep within people's hearts. God will make us his people
and give us a tender and responsive heart by His Spirit so that we can obey his
instructions.
What does all this mean for us today? It means I have
nothing to boast about my salvation. I am saved by His grace and not by my
works. God is writing my life's story. He composed several chapters and will
complete the final chapter when I die.
Mother Theressa humbly acknowledged, "I am a
little pencil in God's hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He
does everything, and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil,
and He has to sharpen it a little more." Let us acknowledge that we are
just little broken pencils. God is sharpening us a little more to write His
powerful story in our hearts.
The evidence of God's work through me is the lives I
impact through the power of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, God is at work in you
and all those whose lives are constantly being transformed through the love of
Christ. How do we know God is at work in Hope Church?
Look at the lives that are being changed through the
Holy Spirit. We don't need to carry a letter to let people know how and when we
got saved. As Paul noted, we are the living epistles that people can read and
learn. Perhaps you are the only living letter of Christ in your workplace,
neighborhood, or family. You are an open letter of Christ. As a letter can be
read, so are you.
What can people see and read in you? Do they see God's
love, mercy, grace, kindness, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, or something else?
God has not finished with us yet. We are a work in progress, but to the extent
we received change, let us live it out. By seeing our good works, people will
glorify God. Not what we do changes people but what God does through us. Amen!
