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11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All God’s people here send their greetings. (2 Corinthians 13:11-13 NIV)
Happy and blessed Tuesday to you, dear Reader! May time with God bring blessings to you to renew and revive your faith. Pray for one another. Pray for the needs of those who asked prayers of you and your church. Pray for the world. Pray that we might become better people of love! Seek to serve. Seek God's favor in your life.
Bishop John Wesley Hardt was an amazing man. He was a bishop-in-residence at Perkins School of Theology-SMU for many years. He arrived after I had graduated and every time I saw him when attending a meeting, or Ministers Week or other visits to the campus. Bishop Hardt had been blessed with an amazing memory. The first time I "met" him, he already knew my name and more incredibly where I was serving. Through the years, he would greet me with "Eradio, how are things in campus ministry, San Antonio, San Marcos..." I was blessed to remember his name! He was truly a man of encouragement, a man of love, and a man of peace. His mere presence was a blessing to me always.
The Apostle Paul as he closes this his second letter to the church in Corinth ends it with his blessings and hope for the Church. He wants believers to be people of joy; to hear this apostle say, "Rejoice!" means his interest in them was sincere and genuine. He knew of their struggles and yet speaks of theirneed to move forward towards "full restoration." No church is perfect, but the need for constant reflection and renewal should be part of our commitment to be the best we can be for Jesus. We should naturally strive for continuing education so that we can continually grow. Ours should be a constant thirst for all we can about God, God's Church and each other. The more we strive to know about one another, the better our chances of growing closer to each others and we become more open to knowing others, even those we may have once thought we had no need for.
Paul says the church should encouarge one another, and that should be a key of why we meet. And this is a task for all members, not just pastors; ours should be to greet every person within our fellowship with genuine love and interest. We should learn not only names of all fellow worshipers, but to know of their stories and how they came to faith. and more importantly how we can better serve them.
"Be of one mind." The mind we should have is that of Christ. "Having the mind of Christ means that we understand God's plan in the world to bring glory to himself, restore creation to its original splendor, and provide salvation for sinful mankind. Having the mind of Christ means that we agree with: * Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” The Church cannot forget this, though som have. We, as the Church, are THE place where all this can take place.
"Live in peace." I've often joked that Jesus meant to say, "Where two or three are gathered, there will be trouble." Of course He did not say that, but He knew it. We have a tendency to not always agree with everyone, but here the Apostle is urging our attempts to be peaceful towards one another be a top priority. Paul believes and truly knows, that if we do all these things, "The God of love and peace will be with us." Again, for the second day, we hear that promise of God being with us to bless us, protect us, and use us.
"Greet one another with a holy kiss." The Internet shared this: "The Holy Kiss Implied Full Acceptance. In New Testament times, a kiss on the cheek was used for greeting and implied friendship and acceptance. A kiss of greeting between Christians implied that no elite groups existed and that all were equally loved and accepted—not only by God—but by one other." Full acceptance. We know, of course, because of Covid, the holy kiss may have joined the holy do-do bird, but we still can have ways of showing full acceptance to others.
The Trinity Sunday passage is strong, if coupled with our working together with each other for the good of God's kingdom. We can and will do great things for God, our churches, and our own wellbeing.
PRAYER: God of love, make us more loving and more holy as we strive to bring Your kingdom to the earth. Guide us and bless us; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Love others with full acceptance.
Receive my blessings of hope and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
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