“Now faith, hope, and love
remain—these three things—and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13,
CEB)
Today in worship, I invite our congregation to read together in unison a re-write
of the famous “love chapter” from the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 that
I wrote. Here are its words in case you want
to re-read it or share it with others…
“If I
worship God in a certain style that I know to be the ‘appropriate’ one, but
look down my nose at others who worship differently, or have different skin
color, politics, or cultural heritage, then I’m nothing more than a loud,
ringing, obnoxious cell phone in a quiet, romantic restaurant.
If while at
church, I speak to all my closest friends each and every week, but fail to go
out of my way to welcome the stranger and the guest, then I’m like a tourist at
the Grand Canyon who’s only concern is that there’s no WiFi in my hotel room.
If I do
things ‘by the book’ in my church committee or ministry meeting, but ignore the
spirit of love that that book represents, then I’m no better than a freight
train intentionally running over an innocent bystander.
If I’m
convinced that I’m theologically ‘correct’ about what the Bible says, but don’t
manifest those beliefs through my respect and love for others with whom I
disagree, then in the eyes of God all my ‘correct’ beliefs count for precisely
nothing.
The heart of
Christianity is love and humility in all things. Acting in love is more important than being
‘right.’ Sharing Christ’s love is more
important than whether or not we always get our way. Love will never fail -- it’s to be the
primary motivation for all we say and do in God’s church.
In the past,
when we were young Christians and a young church, we took pride in being
gatekeepers of tradition; in not allowing new ideas, new ways of thinking, and
new, different people from affecting us too much. But now that we’re growing up and maturing in
our faith, we know we can’t continue to act the way we used to. Love requires that we give up our old,
immature ways.
So now these
three remain: FAITH to trust God through changes and new things and new people;
HOPE that we don’t have to be who we used to be; and LOVE which enables us to
live and act more Christlike along our life's journeys. But the greatest of these is self-giving,
self-sacrificing, God-like LOVE.”
Always remember that God loves you and I do, too!
