| SUNDAY OF THE TRANSFIGURATION EPIPHANY VI February 11, 2024 “Love is Glue” “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, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (I Corinthians 13:4-8a) “And now faith, hope and love abide; these three; and the greatest of these is love.” (I Corinthians 13:13) It’s that Valentine time of year, and we’d have to unplug, turn off, and hibernate for a few weeks to avoid the relentless barrage of commercialism on how to have a perfect Valentine’s Day. It’s far from being a holiday on which people are encouraged to economize — jewelry, extravagant floral bouquets, dinners in elegant restaurants, all carry hefty price tags, with the message that you show your love for a person by spending a lot of money on them. Personally, I’m not very comfortable with that value. For a meaningful, faith-based perspective on love, our go-to source is the 13th chapter of First Corinthians. This letter to the believers in Corinth focuses on love in many forms, as the Apostle Paul is teaching Christians to replace social status and power with love, described in these verses. He disregards the privileges of the few and redefines leadership, emphasizing love as the foundation for church life. As we read the verses describing what love is or is not, we realize these plain-spoken words provide a template for how to interact with all people. From the intimacy of family and personal relationships to the public arenas of workplace, neighborhood, school, church – wherever we might be – these are the fundamentals of how to live and behave lovingly. The qualities of love hold a community together — when people are patient, kind, generous, and truthful, when problems arise, they don’t fall apart — love is the glue that keeps them from disintegrating. We’ve considered several of Paul’s letters to the new churches in recent weeks, and it’s been interesting to realize how the everyday lives of the new believers were changed because they were following Jesus’ teachings. Paul could be stern and opinionated, but his concern was for these new churches, teaching them how to be caring and supportive to one another as well as to witness to the faith in their communities. Chapter 13 concludes with the beautiful statement of faith, hope and love. These were, and still are, foundational elements for life in Christ, frequently mentioned in communications within and among believers. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) “Through our Lord Jesus we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” (Romans 6:2) Paul calls love “the greatest of these” and we can understand that, as faith and hope have their foundations in God’s boundless love for us, his children. Hoping in faith to share the love, Your friend in Christ, Mary Rogers |
Weekly Devotion – February 11, 2024
2024-02-12