Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, September 12, 2024)
Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.
The passage of the seasons is a reminder that most things in this world do not last forever. One thing, the apostle Paul tell us, lasts for all time—love.
In the message we look at his discourse on Christian love in his First Letter to the Corinthians, what it means, and how what he writes applies to us.
GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13: 13
Open this link in a new tab to hear Joseph Johnson’s “God Speaks to Us In Bird and Song.”
1 God speaks to us in bird and song,
In winds that drift the clouds along,
Above the din and toil of wrong,
A melody of love.
2 God speaks to us in far and near,
In peace of home and friends most dear,
From the dim past and present clear,
A melody of love.
3 God speaks to us in darkest night,
By quiet ways through mornings bright,
When shadows fall with evening light,
A melody of love.
4 God speaks to us in ev'ry land,
On wave-lapped shore and silent strand;
By kiss of child, and touch of hand,
A melody of love.
5 O Voice divine, speak Thou to me,
Beyond the earth, beyond the sea,
First let me hear, then sing to Thee,
A melody of love.
Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4: 16
Let us now confess our sins to almighty God.
Silence
God of all mercy,
we humbly admit that we need your help.
We have wandered from your ways.
We have sinned in thought, word, and deed,
and have failed to do what is right.
You alone can save us.
Have mercy on us,
wipe out our sins and teach us to forgive others.
Bring forth in us the fruit of your Spirit that
we may live the new life to your glory.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—
not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—
indeed, nothing in all creation
will ever be able to separate us from the love of God
that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39
Open this link in a new tab to hear James Quinn’s “This Is My Will, My New Command.”
This is my will, my new command,
that love should dwell among you all.
This is my will, that you should love
as I have shown that I love you.
There is no greater love than this:
to lay your life down for your friends.
You are my friends if you obey
what I commanded you to do.
I call you servants now no more;
no servants know their Lord’s full mind.
I call you friends for I’ve told you
all I have heard my Father say.
You did not choose me; I chose you,
appointed you and chose you all,
each one to go and bear much fruit,
fruit that will last beyond all time.
All that you ask the Father now
for my name’s sake you shall receive.
This is my will, my one command,
that love should dwell in each, in all..
Open this link in a new tab to hear Chris de Silva’s “Love, Burn Bright.”
Christ our Light, illuminate every path that leads to you.
Give us grace, Lord, guide our way: Love, burn bright.
In your light, Lord, every day, every way, we follow you.
Grant us peace to journey through: Love, burn bright.
1 From the shadows of the night, to your holiness and light:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
From the hatred born of fear, to your love that holds us near:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
Christ our Light, illuminate every path that leads to you.
Give us grace, Lord, guide our way: Love, burn bright.
In your light, Lord, every day, every way, we follow you.
Grant us peace to journey through: Love, burn bright.
2 In our words that tear apart, place a reconciling heart:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
In our wounds of war and strife, place your promise of new life:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
Christ our Light, illuminate every path that leads to you.
Give us grace, Lord, guide our way: Love, burn bright.
In your light, Lord, every day, every way, we follow you.
Grant us peace to journey through: Love, burn bright.
3 Where there’s doubt, uncertainty, let us witness faithfully:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
Where there’s sadness, poverty, let us reach out willingly:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
Christ our Light, illuminate every path that leads to you.
Give us grace, Lord, guide our way: Love, burn bright.
In your light, Lord, every day, every way, we follow you.
Grant us peace to journey through: Love, burn bright.
Love, burn bright. Love, burn bright.
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us pray
Silence
Almighty and everlasting God,
increase our faith, hope, and love,
and, that we may receive all you promise,
enable us to love and to obey what you command;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
A reading from the New Testament: 1 Corinthians 12:31b-14:1a
But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Let love be your highest goal!
Silence
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
What may be one of the most frequently quoted passages from the apostle Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians is his discourse on Christian love, the love which Jesus enjoined his disciples to show not only each other but all people, including their enemies. It was the kind of love that would guide their lives as his disciples and would set them apart from the rest of the world. It was the kind of love that Jesus himself displayed in his words and actions and which reflected God’s love for humankind.
Paul’s discourse on Christian love is often read at church weddings and frequently is the topic of wedding homilies or exhortations to the bride and the groom. While it is not inappropriate when the couple are Christians and even when one or both are not Christians, as we shall see, it is not about “romantic or physical love.”
Paul’s discourse on Christian love begins with the second half of the final verse of Chapter 12 and concludes with the first half of the beginning verse of Chapter 14. It is sandwiched between a discourse on the Body of Christ and one on prophesy and speaking in tongues. Paul begins by offering to show the church at Corinth a way of life that is best all and concludes by urging the Corinthian church to make Christian love their highest goal.
The chapters into which Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians are divided are not a part of the original letter nor are the passage headings. They are later additions to the text. They were added to make finding specific passages of Scripture easier.
The Greek word that Paul uses for Christian love in this discourse is agape. Sometimes translated as “charity,” agape, or Christian love, is a different kind of love from “brotherly love or warm affection” or “romantic or physical love.” It may be defined as “a selfless and enduring commitment to the well-being of others.”
When Paul wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians, he was writing to a divided church. This is evident in the opening passages of the letter. The purpose of the letter is to largely address these divisions and to correct a number of mistaken ideas that the members of the Corinthian church had about the Christian faith and way of life.
At the beginning of the discourse Paul, after he offers to show the Corinthian church a way of life that is best of all, lists several things that a believer might be expected to esteem highly—speaking in tongues, prophesy, knowledge, faith, and generosity to the poor, pointing out that these things were worthless if love for others is absent. He goes on to describe what Christian love is and what it is not.
Paul identifies several positive qualities that are characteristic of Christian love. It is patient and kind. As well as being able to accept or put up with delays, problems, and suffering without becoming angry or upset, it is generous, helpful, and caring of other people. It also gives thought to their feelings and is empathetic, able to imagine what other people are experiencing and how they are feeling. It rejoices when truth prevails. It perseveres. It is not deterred by the challenges or obstacles that it faces. It does not any time lose faith. It at all times not only has hope but also gives hope. Whatever the circumstances, it does not cease to exist.
Paul also identifies several negative qualities that are not characteristics associated with Christian love. They include feeling unhappy and angry because someone has something or someone that we want; praising ourselves and what we have done; feeling that we are better or more important than other people; and behaving in a way that hurts other people’s feelings such as saying cruel or unkind things to them. They also include being demanding and controlling in our interactions with other people and insisting that we have our way; becoming annoyed or angry very easily; harboring grudges against other people; and feeling or showing great happiness when someone is treated unfairly.
Paul goes on to point to the attention of the Corinthian church that the things that they now may value such as prophesy, speaking in tongues, and special knowledge will eventually become useless. However, love will last for all time.
Paul further points to the attention of the Corinthian church that what may not be clear and understandable in the present time will one day be perfectly clear and understandable. He uses the analogy of looking into a mirror and seeing only a distorted reflection to describe how things are seen in the present time.
Paul goes on to say that faith and hope as well as love will last for all time. As love is the greatest of these three things, he urges the members of the Corinthian church to make love their highest goal.
What Paul teaches about Christian love is clearly in line with what the Old Testament teaches about loving others and what Jesus himself taught. While the Old Testament contains far more passages about God’s love for his people, it also contains a number of key passages about loving others.
In the code of laws which the Old Testament tells us God gave to Moses, for the people of Israel, the Israelites are commanded:
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18
They are also commanded to treat foreigners in the same way.
Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:34
He [God] ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 10: 18-19
The Book of Proverbs contains several passages about loving others.
Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses. Proverbs 10:12
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Proverbs 17:9
Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. Proverbs 21:21
So do the Books of the Prophets.
I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6
So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him. Hosea 12:6
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
“To love mercy” in this last passage can also be translated as “to show constant love” or “to show kindness.” Compassion, kindness, mercy, and love are used interchangeably in different translations of all these passages.
As Pharisee and a student of the Old Testament Paul would have been familiar with these passages. Although they are few in number, they are significant. Jesus in his summary of the Law and the prophets describes Leviticus 19:18, “… love your neighbor as yourself,” as the second greatest commandment. On several occasions he cites or alludes to Hosea 6:6. In his own teaching, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, he identifies all people, not just Israelites, as the neighbors who must be loved as one loves oneself. In the Sermon on the Mount, he includes those who are unfriendly toward us and who may wish to harm us among those who are to be loved and to whom good is to be done.
Paul would have been familiar with Jesus’ teachings even before his conversion, from the testimony and witness of those whom he was persecuting. After his conversion, he spent time in Damascus and likely also received instruction in what Jesus had taught.
What Paul writes about Christian love in his First Letter to the Corinthians, we may also discern the influence of the numerous passages about God’s love of his people in the Old Testament. The following passages are just a sampling of what the Old Testament teaches.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love… For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. Psalm 103:8;11
The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Psalm 145:8
Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. Joel 2:13
So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Jonah 4:2
The Old Testament further testifies that God’s love is not confined to the people of Israel.
I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. Isaiah 56:6
The Holy Spirit would also have influenced Paul’s thinking.
Paul is not the only apostle who writes about Christian love. So do the other apostles whose writings are collected in the New Testament. Practicing Christian love is an integral part of the Christian faith and way of life. A number of the positive qualities associated with Christian love are positive qualities associated with God’s own character, They are qualities which Christians as disciples of Jesus are instructed to emulate. (On the other hand, a number of the negative qualities that do not characterize Christian love and which Paul identifies in his First Letter to the Corinthians are associated with the wicked in the Bible.)
Two pitfalls that we will wish to avoid, if we seek to be faithful to Jesus’ teachings, are to dismiss Jesus’ love commands as wrong-headed for the times, a view expressed by some who profess to be Christians but who follow a Christ of their own creation, or to redefine Christian love in such a way that the individual becomes the sole arbiter of what constitutes their wellbeing. This view, while compatible with “the West’ self-obsessed culture,” is not what Jesus had in mind. Whether we realize it, Jesus’ first coming was an intervention, an “intentional action to change a situation, with the aim of improving it or preventing it from getting worse.” If God had intended that we are to be the sole judge of what is best for us, God would have left us to our own devices. Christian love includes taking responsibility for the well-being of others by doing what they need to grow and not what they want and protecting them from harming themselves and/or others when circumstances warrant it. Christian love is not turning a blind eye to everything someone does or indulging them in everything that they want to do.
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear Bernadette Farrell's "Love Goes On."
1 Love is patient, love is kind,
never ending, never ending;
slow to anger, rich in mercy,
love goes on beyond all time.
2 Love is faithful, love is true,
ever joyful and forgiving;
love endures when life is over,
love is old and love is new.
3 Love alone has shaped our soul,
and our hearts are always restless
until love becomes our purpose,
new creation to unfold.
4 Love our journey, love our goal.
Though our faith may move mountains,
love alone can heal the broken;
only love will make us whole.
5 Love, our Savior’s one command:
“Love the way
that I have loved you,”
with a towel and a basin,
washing feet with servant hands.
There are three gifts that remain
when all other things have perished.
Only faith, hope, love enduring,
and the greatest gift is love.
Let us confess our faith, as we say:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER
During the course of the silence after each petition, those present may offer their own prayers silently or aloud.
Let us join in prayer with God’s faithful people throughout the
world, saying “God of Love: hear our prayer.”
We pray for the unity of your church, that our life may reflect the
love you have shown us.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We ask your grace for N our pastor and for all who
minister in word and in action, that we may bear faithful witness
to your good news.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We seek your peace and justice in our world, our country, and our
community, that the needy may never be forgotten.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We ask your blessing on our homes, our friends and family, and
on those who live alone, that we may know your presence ever
near us.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We name before you all whom you have given us to pray for
[especially….], knowing that you are doing for them better things
than we can ask or imagine.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We commend to you all who have died [especially….], that our
trust in you may deepen as you keep them safe in your care.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We offer our thanks and praise for all you have done for us,
rejoicing in the knowledge that you are with us always.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We look for your purposes to be accomplished and ask you to fill
us with the strength and vision to further your reign.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
Accept our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Christy Nockels’ “By Our Love.”
Verse 1
Brothers, let us come together
Walking in the Spirit, there's much to be done
We will come reaching, out from our comforts
And they will know us by our love
Verse 2
Sisters, we were made for kindness
We can pierce the darkness as He shines through us
We will come reaching, with a song of healing
And they will know us by our love
Chorus
The time is now
Come Church arise
Love with His hands
See with His eyes
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love
Verse 3
Children, You are hope for justice,
Stand firm in the Truth now, set your hearts above
You will be reaching, long after we're gone,
And they will know you by your love
Chorus
The time is now
Come Church arise
Love with His hands
See with His eyes
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love
The time is now
Come Church arise
Love with His hands
See with His eyes
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love
THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE
In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Those present may extend their palms toward each other in a gesture of blessing.
May God, Creator, bless us and keep us,
may Christ be ever light for our lives,
may the Spirit of Love be our guide and path,
for all our days. Amen.
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Those present may exchange a gesture of peace with these or similar words:
Peace be with you.
appointed you and chose you all,
each one to go and bear much fruit,
fruit that will last beyond all time.
All that you ask the Father now
for my name’s sake you shall receive.
This is my will, my one command,
that love should dwell in each, in all..
Open this link in a new tab to hear Chris de Silva’s “Love, Burn Bright.”
Christ our Light, illuminate every path that leads to you.
Give us grace, Lord, guide our way: Love, burn bright.
In your light, Lord, every day, every way, we follow you.
Grant us peace to journey through: Love, burn bright.
1 From the shadows of the night, to your holiness and light:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
From the hatred born of fear, to your love that holds us near:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
Christ our Light, illuminate every path that leads to you.
Give us grace, Lord, guide our way: Love, burn bright.
In your light, Lord, every day, every way, we follow you.
Grant us peace to journey through: Love, burn bright.
2 In our words that tear apart, place a reconciling heart:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
In our wounds of war and strife, place your promise of new life:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
Christ our Light, illuminate every path that leads to you.
Give us grace, Lord, guide our way: Love, burn bright.
In your light, Lord, every day, every way, we follow you.
Grant us peace to journey through: Love, burn bright.
3 Where there’s doubt, uncertainty, let us witness faithfully:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
Where there’s sadness, poverty, let us reach out willingly:
May your love burn bright within our heart.
Christ our Light, illuminate every path that leads to you.
Give us grace, Lord, guide our way: Love, burn bright.
In your light, Lord, every day, every way, we follow you.
Grant us peace to journey through: Love, burn bright.
Love, burn bright. Love, burn bright.
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us pray
Silence
Almighty and everlasting God,
increase our faith, hope, and love,
and, that we may receive all you promise,
enable us to love and to obey what you command;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
A reading from the New Testament: 1 Corinthians 12:31b-14:1a
But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Let love be your highest goal!
Silence
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
Christian Love
What may be one of the most frequently quoted passages from the apostle Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians is his discourse on Christian love, the love which Jesus enjoined his disciples to show not only each other but all people, including their enemies. It was the kind of love that would guide their lives as his disciples and would set them apart from the rest of the world. It was the kind of love that Jesus himself displayed in his words and actions and which reflected God’s love for humankind.
Paul’s discourse on Christian love is often read at church weddings and frequently is the topic of wedding homilies or exhortations to the bride and the groom. While it is not inappropriate when the couple are Christians and even when one or both are not Christians, as we shall see, it is not about “romantic or physical love.”
Paul’s discourse on Christian love begins with the second half of the final verse of Chapter 12 and concludes with the first half of the beginning verse of Chapter 14. It is sandwiched between a discourse on the Body of Christ and one on prophesy and speaking in tongues. Paul begins by offering to show the church at Corinth a way of life that is best all and concludes by urging the Corinthian church to make Christian love their highest goal.
The chapters into which Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians are divided are not a part of the original letter nor are the passage headings. They are later additions to the text. They were added to make finding specific passages of Scripture easier.
The Greek word that Paul uses for Christian love in this discourse is agape. Sometimes translated as “charity,” agape, or Christian love, is a different kind of love from “brotherly love or warm affection” or “romantic or physical love.” It may be defined as “a selfless and enduring commitment to the well-being of others.”
When Paul wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians, he was writing to a divided church. This is evident in the opening passages of the letter. The purpose of the letter is to largely address these divisions and to correct a number of mistaken ideas that the members of the Corinthian church had about the Christian faith and way of life.
At the beginning of the discourse Paul, after he offers to show the Corinthian church a way of life that is best of all, lists several things that a believer might be expected to esteem highly—speaking in tongues, prophesy, knowledge, faith, and generosity to the poor, pointing out that these things were worthless if love for others is absent. He goes on to describe what Christian love is and what it is not.
Paul identifies several positive qualities that are characteristic of Christian love. It is patient and kind. As well as being able to accept or put up with delays, problems, and suffering without becoming angry or upset, it is generous, helpful, and caring of other people. It also gives thought to their feelings and is empathetic, able to imagine what other people are experiencing and how they are feeling. It rejoices when truth prevails. It perseveres. It is not deterred by the challenges or obstacles that it faces. It does not any time lose faith. It at all times not only has hope but also gives hope. Whatever the circumstances, it does not cease to exist.
Paul also identifies several negative qualities that are not characteristics associated with Christian love. They include feeling unhappy and angry because someone has something or someone that we want; praising ourselves and what we have done; feeling that we are better or more important than other people; and behaving in a way that hurts other people’s feelings such as saying cruel or unkind things to them. They also include being demanding and controlling in our interactions with other people and insisting that we have our way; becoming annoyed or angry very easily; harboring grudges against other people; and feeling or showing great happiness when someone is treated unfairly.
Paul goes on to point to the attention of the Corinthian church that the things that they now may value such as prophesy, speaking in tongues, and special knowledge will eventually become useless. However, love will last for all time.
Paul further points to the attention of the Corinthian church that what may not be clear and understandable in the present time will one day be perfectly clear and understandable. He uses the analogy of looking into a mirror and seeing only a distorted reflection to describe how things are seen in the present time.
Paul goes on to say that faith and hope as well as love will last for all time. As love is the greatest of these three things, he urges the members of the Corinthian church to make love their highest goal.
What Paul teaches about Christian love is clearly in line with what the Old Testament teaches about loving others and what Jesus himself taught. While the Old Testament contains far more passages about God’s love for his people, it also contains a number of key passages about loving others.
In the code of laws which the Old Testament tells us God gave to Moses, for the people of Israel, the Israelites are commanded:
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18
They are also commanded to treat foreigners in the same way.
Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:34
He [God] ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 10: 18-19
The Book of Proverbs contains several passages about loving others.
Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses. Proverbs 10:12
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Proverbs 17:9
Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. Proverbs 21:21
So do the Books of the Prophets.
I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6
So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him. Hosea 12:6
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
“To love mercy” in this last passage can also be translated as “to show constant love” or “to show kindness.” Compassion, kindness, mercy, and love are used interchangeably in different translations of all these passages.
As Pharisee and a student of the Old Testament Paul would have been familiar with these passages. Although they are few in number, they are significant. Jesus in his summary of the Law and the prophets describes Leviticus 19:18, “… love your neighbor as yourself,” as the second greatest commandment. On several occasions he cites or alludes to Hosea 6:6. In his own teaching, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, he identifies all people, not just Israelites, as the neighbors who must be loved as one loves oneself. In the Sermon on the Mount, he includes those who are unfriendly toward us and who may wish to harm us among those who are to be loved and to whom good is to be done.
Paul would have been familiar with Jesus’ teachings even before his conversion, from the testimony and witness of those whom he was persecuting. After his conversion, he spent time in Damascus and likely also received instruction in what Jesus had taught.
What Paul writes about Christian love in his First Letter to the Corinthians, we may also discern the influence of the numerous passages about God’s love of his people in the Old Testament. The following passages are just a sampling of what the Old Testament teaches.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love… For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. Psalm 103:8;11
The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Psalm 145:8
Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. Joel 2:13
So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Jonah 4:2
The Old Testament further testifies that God’s love is not confined to the people of Israel.
I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. Isaiah 56:6
The Holy Spirit would also have influenced Paul’s thinking.
Paul is not the only apostle who writes about Christian love. So do the other apostles whose writings are collected in the New Testament. Practicing Christian love is an integral part of the Christian faith and way of life. A number of the positive qualities associated with Christian love are positive qualities associated with God’s own character, They are qualities which Christians as disciples of Jesus are instructed to emulate. (On the other hand, a number of the negative qualities that do not characterize Christian love and which Paul identifies in his First Letter to the Corinthians are associated with the wicked in the Bible.)
Two pitfalls that we will wish to avoid, if we seek to be faithful to Jesus’ teachings, are to dismiss Jesus’ love commands as wrong-headed for the times, a view expressed by some who profess to be Christians but who follow a Christ of their own creation, or to redefine Christian love in such a way that the individual becomes the sole arbiter of what constitutes their wellbeing. This view, while compatible with “the West’ self-obsessed culture,” is not what Jesus had in mind. Whether we realize it, Jesus’ first coming was an intervention, an “intentional action to change a situation, with the aim of improving it or preventing it from getting worse.” If God had intended that we are to be the sole judge of what is best for us, God would have left us to our own devices. Christian love includes taking responsibility for the well-being of others by doing what they need to grow and not what they want and protecting them from harming themselves and/or others when circumstances warrant it. Christian love is not turning a blind eye to everything someone does or indulging them in everything that they want to do.
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear Bernadette Farrell's "Love Goes On."
1 Love is patient, love is kind,
never ending, never ending;
slow to anger, rich in mercy,
love goes on beyond all time.
2 Love is faithful, love is true,
ever joyful and forgiving;
love endures when life is over,
love is old and love is new.
3 Love alone has shaped our soul,
and our hearts are always restless
until love becomes our purpose,
new creation to unfold.
4 Love our journey, love our goal.
Though our faith may move mountains,
love alone can heal the broken;
only love will make us whole.
5 Love, our Savior’s one command:
“Love the way
that I have loved you,”
with a towel and a basin,
washing feet with servant hands.
There are three gifts that remain
when all other things have perished.
Only faith, hope, love enduring,
and the greatest gift is love.
Let us confess our faith, as we say:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER
During the course of the silence after each petition, those present may offer their own prayers silently or aloud.
Let us join in prayer with God’s faithful people throughout the
world, saying “God of Love: hear our prayer.”
We pray for the unity of your church, that our life may reflect the
love you have shown us.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We ask your grace for N our pastor and for all who
minister in word and in action, that we may bear faithful witness
to your good news.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We seek your peace and justice in our world, our country, and our
community, that the needy may never be forgotten.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We ask your blessing on our homes, our friends and family, and
on those who live alone, that we may know your presence ever
near us.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We name before you all whom you have given us to pray for
[especially….], knowing that you are doing for them better things
than we can ask or imagine.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We commend to you all who have died [especially….], that our
trust in you may deepen as you keep them safe in your care.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We offer our thanks and praise for all you have done for us,
rejoicing in the knowledge that you are with us always.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
We look for your purposes to be accomplished and ask you to fill
us with the strength and vision to further your reign.
Silence
God of love: Hear our prayer.
Accept our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Christy Nockels’ “By Our Love.”
Verse 1
Brothers, let us come together
Walking in the Spirit, there's much to be done
We will come reaching, out from our comforts
And they will know us by our love
Verse 2
Sisters, we were made for kindness
We can pierce the darkness as He shines through us
We will come reaching, with a song of healing
And they will know us by our love
Chorus
The time is now
Come Church arise
Love with His hands
See with His eyes
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love
Verse 3
Children, You are hope for justice,
Stand firm in the Truth now, set your hearts above
You will be reaching, long after we're gone,
And they will know you by your love
Chorus
The time is now
Come Church arise
Love with His hands
See with His eyes
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love
The time is now
Come Church arise
Love with His hands
See with His eyes
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love
THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE
In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Those present may extend their palms toward each other in a gesture of blessing.
May God, Creator, bless us and keep us,
may Christ be ever light for our lives,
may the Spirit of Love be our guide and path,
for all our days. Amen.
The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Those present may exchange a gesture of peace with these or similar words:
Peace be with you.
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