these remain

1corinthians13_13-fIf I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13, NRSV)

This chapter is probably the most read bible passage at weddings because it is all about love.

Just do a search of 1 Corinthians 13 and you will get all images of love.

But is that really what this passage is about. Yes, I will give you Paul uses the word love and talks about what love is, but is love the emotion here?

Because after he describes what love is, he talks about being a child and reasoning as a child, and putting away childish ways, and seeing in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. When will we see face to face? When we will know fully and be fully known.

At the coming of the new kingdom, we will see things clearly, and at that time we will fully know and understand all God is leading us to.

And in all of this, faith, hope, and love remain. When everything else will be done away with. When all is destroyed and the new heaven and the new earth are here, faith, hope, and love will still remain.

These remain, but why?

When the new heaven and earth are here, why do we need faith, the belief in things unseen, as we will be seeing.

When the new heaven and earth are here why do we need hope, the understanding that something is going to happen or is true.

And won’t we be love at that point?

passed through their midst

Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”  And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. (Luke 4:21-30, NRSV)

No prophet is accepted in their hometown.

Elijah healed those who were not Jews. Those who were not a part of God’s chosen people.

And because Jesus brought up these stories the people were enraged.

They wanted to throw Him off a cliff, but He passed through their midst…

How many times are we upset because of what someone else gets?

The healing that eludes us or our loved ones, but sets someone else free.

The promotion we get passed over for while our friend gets a new great job.

Is Jesus passing through our midst, trying to elude our attempts to throw Him off a cliff?

Your word

Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to observe your righteous ordinances.
I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O LORD, according to your word.
Accept my offerings of praise, O LORD,
and teach me your ordinances.
I hold my life in my hand continually,
but I do not forget your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but I do not stray from your precepts.
Your decrees are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.
I incline my heart to perform your statutes
forever, to the end.
(Psalm 119:105-112, NRSV)

I will accept the path that God has placed before me and know that if I follow that path He will always be with me and guide my steps.

I do not have to worry about the wicked having any power over me, as He will guide me and watch over me and hold my life in His hand.

allow His word to be a lamp for your feet and a light for your path.

Persistant

persistentBut as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, NRSV)

Proclaim the message of Christ Jesus and the life He has given to all of us.

If the time is favorable proclaim it, if the time is not favorable still proclaim the message.

We are to be persistent in our proclamation of the message.

Always living our lives and speaking forth about the message of hope, grace and mercy and life eternal we can all have in Jesus Christ.

stirring the pot

The same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through them. But the residents of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. And when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, the apostles learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country; and there they continued proclaiming the good news. (Acts 14:1-7, NRSV)

Both sides were looking to mistreat Paul and Barnabas, those that agreed with them and others who didn’t.

But even before this, the Jews stirred the pot and set in motion schemes to keep others from believing what Paul and Barnabas were telling them.

How many times has someone done this to us?

How many times has someone set a scheme in motion to keep us from believing what God is leading us to do?

How many times have we been the one stirring the pot?

Because all of them wanted to harm Paul and Barnabas at the end…

Are we stirring?

is it lawful

On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:6-11, NRSV)

Is it lawful to do good or to harm on the sabbath?

Can you save or destroy on the sabbath?

Funny Jesus didn’t wait for an answer. He seemed to know what He was going to do before He asked the questions.

Because rules are good to keep order, but if they are rules that hold someone in captivity when they could be free, they are not what God has taught us.

God through Jesus came to show us love and an abundant life. So the rules take a back seat.

So is it lawful, or is it what God wants you to do?

cast out

He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm. They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, “What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!” And a report about him began to reach every place in the region. After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. Demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah. At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.(Luke 4:31-44, NRSV)

Jesus freed the man of the unclean spirit by calling it out of him. Then he heals Peter mother-in-law. And He healed many of diseases and cast out demons.

And when He had done all of this, He cast Himself out. He went away to a deserted place to be with God. And then rather than stay there, He went on to other places to do what He had done there.

We are called to go and take the message with of, of people healed and demons cast out. God is moving in and through us, and He will use us to do even greater things than Jesus did!

interconnected

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:12-31, NRSV)

So what did the eye say to the ear?

“Did you see that?”

And the ear replied, “no, did you hear that?”

And just how did the eye hear what the ear had to say anyhow?

And how did the eye say anything at all?

No part of the body is any more important than another. We are all interconnected and rely on each other to make this whole thing work, just as our bodies rely on all the parts to make it work.

fulfilled

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:14-21, NRSV)

Have you ever known someone that left town, your hometown, and then many years later they came back and started acting differently or saying things that you couldn’t believe?

Imagine how those in the temple at Nazareth felt about Jesus that day. He read the passage from the prophet Isaiah, about bringing good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and that the blind will receive their sight. That the Lord’s favor has come, and it has come through me!

They knew Jesus and had grown up with him. how could this be?

We have a hard time allowing God to be God if we keep trying to fit Him into our box. Which means He can change people and use them to do His will. Even those we think it isn’t possible for Him to use.

I mean really for every person that you think God can’t use, there is one person who thinks you are the one God can’t use.

Allow God to fulfill His promises as He chooses and don’t try to put Him in your box.

life is light

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
(Psalm 36:5-9, NRSV)

God has prepared a wonderful feast and rich drink for all of us who find shelter under His wings.

We will have life abundantly and through His light, we will see light.

He has given us abundant life and set us apart.

So live in the life of His light and in the light of His love!