Sunday 31st January - 4th of Epiphany (white)
Theme: A Temple Visit
Readings: Ezekiel 43:27 - 44:4 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Luke 2:22-40 Ps 48
Theme: A Temple Visit
Readings: Ezekiel 43:27 - 44:4 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Luke 2:22-40 Ps 48
Collect:
God of heaven,
you send the gospel to the ends of the earth
and your messengers to every nation:
send your Holy Spirit to transform us
by the good news of everlasting life
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Comment
A temple visit without love is worth nothing. Mary and Joseph loved their new baby, we can be sure. We can also be sure that they loved God, which is why they were so careful to keep all the requirements of the law. Simeon and Anna also loved God, as the story in Luke shows; they loved God’s people as well, and were delighted to see the coming of the long-expected Messiah.
Whatever we do, without love it is worth nothing – that’s the teaching of 1 Corinthians 13. We can be gifted speakers, we can be people of amazing faith, we can be willing to make the greatest sacrifices; but without love none of these things is worth a fig. But what exactly is this love Paul talks about?
Love is more than sacrifices. It is possible to be sacrificial without being loving. (It is not possible to be loving without being sacrificial.) Nor is the love Paul is speaking of an emotion or feeling. It is possible to feel attracted to someone and be totally self regarding – that is not love. What Paul is talking about is an attitude which wants the best for the other person and is prepared to put up with and overlook their faults (love is patient, it keeps no record of wrongs). Such love decides to protect and trust and hope, even when it seems foolish to do so. The result of that love is persevering, unselfconscious, kindness. No gifts, however spiritual, can make up for a lack of these things.
God’s love for us has this quality. Our love for him needs the same – the same attitude of wanting the best for God, of trusting him even when it seems foolish to do so, and of unself-conscious service – even in worship!
This is the love we are commanded to have for one another.
Questions
1) What is the place of love in worship?
2) How can our love become more like the love Paul talks about?