Joe Sherry turned up on our doorstep in Belfast in July 1970,
a weather beaten countryman from Co Tyrone,
a childhood friend of my father's from 50 years previously.
Joe showed us a letter from my grandfather who was a minister,
a letter lovingly preserved over 50 years
the sort of letter that ministers write as a reference
testifying to his good character and hard work and reliability.
Reading here in 2 Corinthians 3 about 'letters of recommendation'
I smile to remember Joe and that letter he treasured.
And then I wonder, did he really need a letter?
You only had to spend a short time in his company
to sense that he was the genuine article, a good friend, trustworthy.
Something like that would have been in Paul's mind.
He was stung by critics who alleged he was not a genuine apostle,
by suspicious people who demanded to check his letters of reference.
Almost in exasperation Paul cries to the Corinthian Christians:
'you yourselves are our letter'
He claimed their Christian lives as the proof of his authentic ministry
for they were people changed by the Holy Spirit, 
growing in faith, becoming more like Jesus.
What a testimonial to the Corinthian Church and to Paul's work among them!
3 'You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry,
written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, 
As Selwyn Hughes says: 'Their lives were as open books,
displaying the life and love of Christ for all to read.'
Greg Esldon puts it this way:
'You and God can co-author a story of life and freedom.
We are all in the process of writing a story;
the unique and fascinating story of our life.
Our book has an intriguing plot and is full of fascinating characters.
We are not sure where the story will lead us, 
nor do we always understand what influences the scripting.
Some of us have been writing for longer than others,
some have more highly developed writing skills - 
but we are all writing and we are all being read!

Lord, make me open to the writing of your life-giving Spirit on the pages of my life
so that others may read of your love and your grace.'
What do people read from your life and mine?
Is there a sense of Jesus, of life of love and joy and peace, of freedom?
Or is it of religion only, restrictive, lifeless?
How can we live lives like an open book which people would want to read?
How can we make a difference in a good way on the world around us?
Perhaps we want to keep our pages tight closed, we are so ashamed?
Paul gives us a clue as he moves on to describe how the Holy Spirit works
in him and his fellow workers to bring real authentic Christ like living
He says in v 6 that they are 
'ministers of a new covenant
--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.'
There was an old covenant in the Old Testament
an agreement between God and his people
summed up in the 10 Commandments
The commandments were and are good but the people couldn't keep them
They and we are killed/condemned by them: no life no freedom, no joy.

We are not to think here that the Bible text is dead
while any 'spiritual' thought we have is alive.
That kind of mystical thinking can be so deceitful.
No, what is meant that the truth of the Bible needs to come alive in our lives
It needs to leave the 'there and then' of the text on the page
to enter the 'here and now' of our lives, our minds and wills, all of us.
Frank was a friend of mine at college who committed his life to Jesus Christ.
He put a big bible on his shelf and a 'Jesus is alive' sticker on his door
but he delighted in leaving piles of dirty milk bottles
for the milk man to collect;
he thought this was a big joke although it drove the milk man wild.
And there were other things worse that were wrong in his life.
Perhaps we should have torn the sticker off his door
and shown him from the Bible what real Christianity means.

The truth of the Bible needs to change
from being an external requirement which is right and true
but unattainable and therefore condemning
to becoming an internal motivation which is achievable and liberating.
'To run and work the law commands, yet gives me neither feet nor hands.
But better news the gospel brings; it bids me fly and gives me wings.'

Is not this the fulfilment of the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:33
about the new covenant?
Jeremiah says that God will write his law in people's hearts
not as an external, restricting, condemning limitation of you must but you cannot
and you are trapped,
but as an internal, life giving liberation you may and you can and you shall
and you are free!

What stops us being free?
Paul describes how Moses when he came out from meeting with God in the tent
wore a veil because the shining glory of God was fading.
Is there a veil between us and the Lord?
Obviously 2 Corinthians 3 refers to the veil over the Jewish religion.
In v 15 Paul says 'when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.
but I believe we can interpret it more widely as a veil that hangs over
every kind of religious or moral effort to please God by our own efforts.
'I must say my prayers today or God will be cross' Veil.
God wants us to pray as a way of deepening friendship with him. Freedom!
'I suppose I should give some money to the church
that will quieten my conscience' Veil.
God doesn't want the odd cheque or fiver on the plate, he wants all of us: and when we give all we get Freedom!
'Look at how much I do for the church; that will cancel out my failings' Veil
It's not what we do for him that matters, it's what Jesus has done for us: Freedom!

16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 
Now the Lord is the Spirit 
and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. 
And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, 
are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, 
which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit

It's like my wife's calculator the with solar powered battery
the more exposure to the sun the brighter and longer it lasts
the less exposure, the weaker it gets.
In human relationships we know people who drain our spirits
we really don't want to spend time with them
it takes time to recover from their influence
and we fear we may become just like them, gloomy spiteful negative ...
but we know people who are a tonic to us, it's good to be with them
they reinvigorate us, we are sorry to see them go
and maybe we start to imitate
their good qualities, their positive outlook generosity their gentleness
Turn to that friend greater than any human friend.
Don't let a veil of self centred religious effort
keep you from the sunshine of Christ
Turn to him, enjoy his friendship
and as you spend time with him, you will be changed to be more like him
Your batteries will be recharged; your life will be renewed
in his invigorating brightness


Turn to the Lord, 
don't be satisfied with lifeless effort centred second hand religion
Enjoy the true freedom of the Spirit
Spend time marvelling at the wonder of God in Christ
Reflect his glory
As we gaze on your kingly brightness, 
so may our faces display your brightness
ever changing from glory to glory 
Mirrored here may our lives tell your story Shine Jesus shine

Lord, we wonder what kind of story the book of our lives tell;
may it be that your spirit writes a good story in our lives.
May your Spirit makes your word a living liberating reality in our lives.
As we to turn to the Lord Jesus
may there be no more veil, no more shadow, no more uncertainty
no more trying to do religion on our own

May you know Christ more and more 
and show Christ more and more
in the freedom of his love