Therefore, my beloved, be firm and constant, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your work is not in vain.
~1 Corinthians 15:58 (NRSV).
The greatest hope is what remains indelibly before us in our future. And keeping these thoughts firmly in mind strengthens our hope until that day: the end.
But we can’t get there without a battle. Beyond this, we thank our Lord that we are even able to endure the path with all hope, with constancy, unshakable in the joy that is only known through true faith. True faith is good faith.
reserved firmness
If we go back to the beginning of First Corinthians chapter 15, we find almost the same fervor in Paul’s message as before: he says, if you really believe, “hold fast the message that I have told you” (verse 2). .
This is a moral word here that supports Paul’s teaching regarding the resurrection – of Christ (15:1-11); of the dead (15:12-34); and, of the risen body (15:35-56)-as he prepares to close this theologically divergent letter.
excelling at work
The work referred to here is the work of the Church, or more appropriately the work for and in the Church. Blessed are all faithful ministers, paid and unpaid, official and unofficial, esteemed and unesteemed. It is the work that remains to be done and the faithfulness of the intention to do what needs to be done that is blessed.
Work done for the sake of doing it is a simplistic virtue; it’s one that’s never more powerful in the sense of human holiness (if that’s not an oxymoron).
Our labor is not in vain
When we begin to realize that the work we do, without awareness of reward, is rewarded for its own sake without the presence or recourse of discontent, we quickly understand that the point of rewards is not the reward itself.
It was the known peace during the trip. We only see it when we look back. That peace sown and cultivated by faith is a retrospective reality. That is faith – the expression of confidence in a good hope.
This is a paradigm shift for us, as God provides the perfect distraction, and therein lies peace.
Copyright (c) 2010 SJ Wickham.
Other reading: David E Garland, 1 Corinthians – Baker’s Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2003), pp. 746-48.