Post-feast of the Dormition; Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus (313-24)
2 Corinthians 4:1-6; Matthew 24:13-28
Read 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word.
What we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.
From the very beginning of the Church’s history, there has always been the temptation to tamper, twist, mould the Gospel of Jesus Christ to conform to earthly ideals and doctrines. There has always been the temptation to transform the Gospel instead of being transformed by the Gospel.
Today is no different. How often do we see the Gospel used abusive economic policy, sexual deviance, or even indifference towards the Gospel!
These may sound something like the following:
- “If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat” (2 Thess 3:10) may be used to justify not caring for those who are unable to provide for themselves
- Phrases such as “love is love” (not scripture), and “Don’t judge, lest you be judged” (scripture) are used to promote self-abusive sexual behaviour condemn those who call such behaviour into question
- “God is love” and other similar ideas are used to justify not really caring to follow the Gospel at all, because if God loves me, he won’t let me go to hell, so I have nothing to worry about. So why even bother with this church stuff?
One could go on but let this serve as a warning that we must not transform the Gospel into something that we feel good about. We must, instead, allow the Gospel to transform us. The unadulterated and complete Gospel preached and handed down by the Church from the time of the Apostles down to our present day.
If some element of the Church’s teaching makes you uneasy or uncomfortable, your reaction should not be to dismiss it or to change it to make it work for you. That’s what Paul so adamantly rejects in today’s epistle reading.
Instead, your reaction should be to investigate why it makes you feel uncomfortable. Ask yourself questions such as: What about this makes me uneasy? Is there a worldly doctrine or idea influencing me and conflicting with the Church’s doctrine? Where can I search for more information about the Church’s teaching? Am I willing to let the Gospel change me?
When we ask ourselves these questions honestly, we are on the path towards transformation and away from tampering with God’s word.