1 Corinthians 7.25-31
5Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 26Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. 27Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. 28But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
29What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
On first reading, this passage gives me great comfort. I don’t have to worry about getting married after six decades of singleness. Paul tells me to remain as I am, and that is a comfort.
I wish it were that easy. However, I realize that Paul is writing to the Corinthians in the full expectations that the end times were at hand. Certainly, if Christ is returning soon, there is no need to complicate the lives we are already living.
I wish it were that easy. Paul’s statements, however, still carry weight, even as we wait for the Second Coming. During Lent we are called to remember how counter-cultural our faith truly is, or perhaps should be. Those things in our world that cause mourning and rejoicing do not have that effect upon us in our community of hope. That hope and the remembrance of all that God has already done for us mean that we see the world through different lenses. The world is indeed turned upside down. We buy but should never count our possessions. We may have to deal with the world in which we find ourselves, but we see those dealings as temporary and superficial.
To be free from the world’s expectations is the great gift of liberation offered to us by the cross. But we can only know it in our lives if we practice it. And we practice this freedom not through Lenten denials, but by the embracing of a life-long life style of freedom through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
Dear Lord, thank you for this great gift. Help us to appreciate its freedom.
Written by a PC Faculty
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