Our
Favorite Verses-All You Need is Love
A Psalm for giving thanks.
100 Make
a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know
that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter
his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For
the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
1 Corinthians 13 (NRSV)
The Gift of Love
13 If I
speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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. 3 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.
4 Love
is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not
irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 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. 9
For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but
when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 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. 12 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, as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and
love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Our
passage today is a favorite of B.. It was a favorite of her
grandmother, who passed her love onto her family. It's a beautiful
passage, one that we often hear at weddings! For a wedding is when we
really celebrate love. Weddings and Valentine's day...which is this
week....Gentlemen? Valentine's Day is FRIDAY...you have now been
reminded :)
I
paired the Corinthians text with Psalm 100, because this (and many
other) psalms remind us of the steadfast nature of God's love. That
God is eternal and eternally loving. That is why we worship, why we
come to sing and praise God.
Our
NT lesson from 1 Corinthians...the Apostle Paul wrote to many
churches, the church in Corinth was sort of “his wild child”.
Corinth was a large port city, with all the troubles that a large
port city can develop in a society in which there is a lot of variety
of people, ideas and disciplines...or lack thereof. (sound familiar?)
So Paul wrote this and another letter to the church there to remind
them of the basics, to help them get back on track.
This
is chapter 13. the chapter immediately preceding is about how we are
one Body in Christ and we have different gifts, each gift is valuable
to serve the body. Then here in Ch. 13, Paul talks about Love.
This
is a description of perfect love, of Divine Love. This is the love of
God. We, humans, can aspire to this sort of love. This is part of how
we follow Our Lord Jesus better...by aspiring to His love.
The
intro in one study bible says that this letter “is marked by 3
outstanding segments, the absense of any one of which would leave us
remarkably poorer. The first has to do with the Lord's Supper..(ch11,
“for I share with you as it was given to me...”) ...the second is
the great hymn of love in which Paul states that all of the gifts of
the {Corinthian} church shink into insignificance if love is missing.
… No matter what we do, if we are doing it for any reason that is
not love, we are nothing without the love of God.
I
was reading about some of the Olympic athletes. One is a hockey
player named Anne Schleper-- From St. Cloud, MN
Anne
has been stalwart in her hockey career
at U-Minn.. she played a record setting 158 games, often battling
thru injuries in order to never miss a game. She not only is
extremely talented athlete, but mentors less experienced players as
well, knowing from her own experience how important that can be.
Schleper
points to her experience with a group called Athletes in Action as
the time when the religion of her childhood became a personal faith.
Schleper now leads a Bible study at Team USA training camps. "Any
time you get in the athletic environment, it's challenging as a
Christian. It's easy to have an 'it's about me' attitude," she
says. "That's why it's important to be
around other Christians who can lift you up and pray for you. It's
good to stay connected, and that's where I've seen those Bible
studies at camps be so huge...”
yes,
it's good to stay connected! To be with others., that's what a life
of faith is all about. That;s what living in the Love of Christ is
about...staying connected, forming new connections, reaching out in
love, to check on others, to care for others. That's how we spread
the Light of Christ.
That
is why THIS church is called into being. 1st Pres and 2nd
Cong are both 'daughter' churches of the very first church in Beloit,
1st Cong. The people who formed that church, back in the
1830s when the new community of Beloit was forming, consisted of
Congregationalists and Presbyterians. There was a paragraph in the
charter of that first church that the Presbyterian members could, at
any time form a new Presbyterian church. (sort of a “no fault”
clause)
They
chose to do so in 1849. the catalyst for that decision was the issue
of the abolition of slavery. Second Cong was founded 10 years later
when there was development on the west side of Rock river. A nice
wooden bridge had been constructed about where Grand avenue is now,
and businesses and homes were springing up. The Second Cong. charter
was signed in mid-February 1859. I suspect that folks were tired of
slip-sliding across a snowy, icy bridge on Sunday mornings.
Our
individual churches were founded in love and practicality. To
maintain a beloved denominational identity and take action for a
cause; and to have a church home closer to work and home.
We
came together because of love and practicality. One group realized
their building was in too much disrepair, yet a commitment was made
to stay together as a church, as the body of Christ. that is
remarkable. As we explored options together, spent time together, we
realized that both our churches have that 'family feeling' and we
enjoy each other's company. The merger was a LOT of work. And we find
ourselves working hard again now to find a new Sr Minister, and some
of us are feeling a bit lost. But our core values are intact. When
there is a need in the neighborhood or the community, you all step up
so fast, I can hardly keep up! A few weeks ago we had ribbons for MLK
Day, the ribbons were a fundraiser for a scholarship. $1 got you a
nice ribbon to wear sunday and monday. I ordered 30 ribbons, and when
I turned them back in, there were a few left in the envelope. But
there was also $70!! SEVENTY dollars, for about 25 ribbons. That's
the love of Our Lord at work right here. I have a dozen stories like
that, our Book Bag Bash, Hands of Faith, we average 45-50 volunteers
every session that we host. And we will have even more opportunities
this coming year, with a new pastor, with a bigger Book Bag Bash,
with Vacation Bible School, more chances to reach out love.
The
intro in my study bible says that this letter “is marked by 3
outstanding segments, ... The first has to do with the Lord's
Supper..the second is the great hymn of love --
The
third is the magnificent defense for the bodily resurrection of Jesus
Christ. (chap 15).
Jesus
lived out God's Love. Jesus, born to a working class family in a
non-descript town, lived and loved and taught. He told stories,
healed people, sometimes showed a bit of frustration, “how much
longer do I have to put up with you?” but I suspect it was said
with a twinkle in his eyes!! Jesus is the embodiment of this perfect
love described in our passage! Jesus, purely out of love, went to the
cross for each of us, and was raised from the dead...to show the
power of love is greater than any other power on earth!
Years
ago, a Johns Hopkins professor gave a group of graduate students this
assignment: Go to the {inner city} Take 200 boys, between the ages of
12 and 16, and investigate their background and environment. Then
predict their chances for the future.
The students, after consulting social statistics, talking to the boys and compiling much data, concluded that 90 percent of the boys would spend some time in jail.
Twenty-five years later, another group of graduate students was given the job of testing the prediction. They went back to the same area. Some of the boys - by then men - were still there, a few had died, some had moved away, but they got in touch with 180 of the original 200. They found that only four of the group had ever been sent to jail.
Why was it that these men, who had lived in a breeding place of crime, had such a surprisingly good record? The researchers were continually told: "Well, there was a teacher ..."
They pressed further and found that in 75 percent of the cases it was the same woman. The researchers went to this teacher, now living in a home for retired teachers. How had she exerted this remarkable influence over that group of children? Could she give them any reason why these boys should have remembered her?
"No," she said, "no, I really couldn't." And then, thinking back
over the years, she said musingly, more to herself than to the researchers: "I loved those boys. ..."
The students, after consulting social statistics, talking to the boys and compiling much data, concluded that 90 percent of the boys would spend some time in jail.
Twenty-five years later, another group of graduate students was given the job of testing the prediction. They went back to the same area. Some of the boys - by then men - were still there, a few had died, some had moved away, but they got in touch with 180 of the original 200. They found that only four of the group had ever been sent to jail.
Why was it that these men, who had lived in a breeding place of crime, had such a surprisingly good record? The researchers were continually told: "Well, there was a teacher ..."
They pressed further and found that in 75 percent of the cases it was the same woman. The researchers went to this teacher, now living in a home for retired teachers. How had she exerted this remarkable influence over that group of children? Could she give them any reason why these boys should have remembered her?
"No," she said, "no, I really couldn't." And then, thinking back
over the years, she said musingly, more to herself than to the researchers: "I loved those boys. ..."
there
has never been a time when LOVE is needed like now. The LOVE of God,
expressed in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
is all you need. When we are loved so well, when we comprehend that
love, we have no choice but to reach out and share it. That is our
calling as individuals, and as a church. Let's live that love today!!
THIS is the love to live and celebrate! The Love of our Lord.
