2 Corinthians 6:14-18: Call to Holiness
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Yesterday we reflected on Christ’s call to us as Living Stones in the New Temple we find in the unity of Christ’s corporate body. Today we remember Paul’s words to the Corinthians – and to us – about the importance of our answering that call. Today’s Noontime is a Favorite from April 18, 2008 in which we considered how we might replace the old Temple of stone in Jerusalem, with the New Temple of Christ’s heart that we see and we become . . . when we come together in Christ with all of creation.
Paul wrote this message to the people in Corinth where this fledgling church was dealing with a series of crises. This letter is a call to reflect on how we interact in community. At first glance, today’s selection may appear to call us to a life of separation and apartness; but when we look further, we see that Paul was calling the readers of this letter away from paganism, idol worship, and self-serving behaviors that lead to temporary satisfaction and eventual destruction. Footnotes point out that Paul speaks to the fact that God alone can lay claim to us. We are created by God, we live in God through Christ, we come together in peace – even with our enemies – in the Spirit. And in so living, we return to God to find union with all of God’s creation. These verses assure us that God will always be among us, and that together we maintain a covenant with God as God’s faithful.
As we have reflected often in our Noontimes, Jesus wades among the unwashed, those afflicted with leprosy, the outcast and the marginalized. As Christ’s apostles, we are called to continue this mission; we are called to become one in Christ so that we might follow Christ as we take this New Temple of our collective selves into the world. We are called to bring Christ’s Hope to the World. We are called to bring the Spirit’s Love to the World.
From today’s MAGNIFICAT morning intercessions.
God dwells among us in the Church. Let us turn to him and pray: Remember your people, Lord.
You are in our midst; your name we bear: make us a fit dwelling-place for your love. Remember your people, Lord.
You have made us temples of your Spirit: cleanse our hearts and make of them a house of prayer. Remember your people, Lord.
You have chosen us as your resting-place forever: grant us peace in your presence. Remember your people, Lord.
God of Glory, you dwell in our midst through Jesus Christ, the new and eternal temple of your Presence. Turn our hearts to worship you in the midst of our daily lives, that we may come one day to dwell with you in light, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Morning.” MAGNIFICAT. 22.5(2008). Print.
Images from: http://blessedtimothy.blogspot.com/2012/10/living-stones-in-temple-of-god.html and http://www.swordofthespirit.net/bulwark/august2014p2.htm
The Noontimes 