Letter versus Spirit
- davidwperk
- Mar 20, 2024
- 7 min read
Daily Office Devotional, Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Wednesday of the week of the fifth Sunday in Lent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; 3and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God,
6 who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 957)
AM Psalm 119:145-176; PM Psalm 128, 129, 130
Exod. 7:8-24; 2 Cor. 2:14-3:6; Mark 10:1-16
Today we celebrate the Feast of Cuthbert. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
Paul’s final lines in this reading, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,” have a vibrating, resonating ring. You can nod in agreement from experience, even if the historical context remains unknown to you. Somehow, we just “know” what he meant and know that it is true.
He has just observed that the Corinthian converts are a writing of the Spirit; the transformation of their lives he compares to inscriptions done by the Spirit as a result of Paul’s missionary efforts and the power of the Gospel wrought by the Spirit. With that form of writing he contrasts letters made by people with pen and ink. That gives us a clue to the sense of “letter” versus “Spirit.” “Letter” has to do with human striving, whereas “Spirit” labels the action of God in Christ.
Paul believed that missionary labor and preaching done with faith in God’s presence was on the order of “Spirit,” a taking part in God’s missionary labor in the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. His opponents, who were troubling the converts with another form of teaching, were being divisive and were working at cross purposes with God’s efforts to transform people and unite them in community. They were doing this by creating division and conflict within the church, by disparaging Paul and his message, and by preaching an understanding of Christ and the Christian message that Paul viewed as off the mark and dangerous to the welfare of the hearers. That expression of religion for Paul was “letter.”
Some within the Christian community tend toward “letter.” You’ve known people who could terrorize a class or a one-on-one conversation with rigid, authoritarian interpretations of biblical texts. The truth of that interpretation, for them, has been engraved in stone. Fearful that others will deny the basic truths of Christianity, their energy goes into defending the truth as they see it and convincing others of the veracity of their viewpoint.
Some truths of the faith have been settled for me, for example the basic affirmations of the Apostles’ Creed. However, even those statements can become “letter.” First, if one assumes that because he or she agrees with them and embraces them that they have accomplished an intellectual feat that others have failed to equal, their theology then becomes a means of self-elevation. That perspective deadens and divides, it converts “Spirit” into “letter.”
Something within all of us tends toward “letter.” Energies exist within us that can take even the most beautiful gifts of God and utilize them in ways that kill and deaden and divide. We can best avoid degenerating into “letter” by keeping watch on those energies within that push us toward self sufficiency and self elevation. We must keep entrusting ourselves to the Spirit and keep living in the dialogue of the Christian community to maintain effective vigil in our own destructive tendencies. Hence the need for the general confession in Sunday worship, for an ongoing rigorous self watch, and for feedback of others.
I identify with the musing of the poet, theologian, and song writer Miriam Therese Winter:
Myths crumble, boxes break,
Mystery bursts
beyond our boundaries,
refuses to fit
our frames of reference,
refuses to leave us,
even as structures no longer serve us,
oldtime religion no longer saves us.*
Collect of the Day, The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 219)
Collect for Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Lent
Almighty God our heavenly Father, renew in us the gifts of your mercy; increase our faith, strengthen our hope, enlighten our understanding, widen our charity, and make us ready to serve you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, p. 62)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Cuthbert, bishop and missionary (died 20 Mar 687 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Cuthbert
Merciful God, who called Cuthbert from following the flock to be a shepherd of your people: Mercifully grant that we also may go without fear to dangerous and remote places, to seek the indifferent and the lost; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Grace
Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)
Disturb Us, Lord
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess we have lost our thirst for the water of life.
Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery, where in losing sight of land we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hope, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen.
(Attributed to Sir Frances Drake upon departing to sail to the New World, 1577. Cited by The Right Rev. Clay Matthews, Clergy Retreat, Diocese of So. Virginia, 2004.)
In the Order of Worship for Evening
Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, creator of the changes of day and night, giving rest to the weary, renewing the strength of those who are spent, bestowing upon us occasions of song in the evening. As you have protected us in the day that is past, so be with us in the coming night; keep us from every sin, every evil, and every fear; for you are our light and salvation, and the strength of our life. To you be glory for endless ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)
A Collect for Mission
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (BCP, 101)
Daily Office Epistle, 2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6
14But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. 15For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.
3:1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; 3and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God,
6 who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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