Have you been to a wedding lately? There’s a one in three chance, that if there is a Bible reading, the couple will have asked 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13. (I’m told by those who conduct marriages, that this is a reliable statistic!). However, I heard three days ago, not at a wedding, but at a commemoration of those who lost their lives in defending our country, The logic is clear – the sacrifice shown by these soldiers was, in one way or another, an act of love to protect those who lived on. And it prompted me to read, afresh, the passage, and to pray over it, searching for what it was saying, in an everyday context, both for me as an individual, and for us as a community, living in the blessing of knowing personally, the impact Christ’s sacrificial act of love has had on our lives. Please join me in this reflection and prayer time.
1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
“God, where my cleverness, my insights, my sought after opinion, does not align with your will for me and my community, where my actions do not witness to a heart that serves those who cannot speak for themselves, who don’t have the power or the access to the things I take for granted, where my speech – in private, public, prayer, conversation – do not bring glory to your name, I ask for your forgiveness and thank you that Jesus made this possible, and has set me the perfect example to follow.”
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
“Lord, when I am impatient, intolerant, bigoted, fanatical, blinkered, aggravating, envious, unkind, jealous, resentful, covetous, irritating, infuriating, dishonouring, self-seeking, angered too quickly & unnecessarily, hold on to things that upset me, count up the times I have been wronged and keep them in mind when I next see these people, make a point of letting others know I have been wronged, have had a sense of relief or pleasure at the downfall of another, have not sought truth but have listened to gossip, accepted it without discernment or impartiality, when I have failed to protect and have chosen not to persevere in the calling you have made clear to me – it embarrasses me to think of all these things and all the times and examples where I know these shortcomings/sinful behaviours are ones I have done myself – I ask for your forgiveness; may I have the time and opportunity to put these right; I thank you that Jesus made this possible, and has set me the perfect example to follow.”
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
“Father God, I thank you that you reveal yourself to me, your will for me, the wisdom and insights, the challenges and opportunities, just as I need to be aware of them. I am aware that I miss some of these, too many of these, and need your help to be wiser, more discerning and open to maturing in my faith. Guide me, equip me, put people in my life, speak words – hard ones, gentle ones – as need be, so that I may fully know what it is you’d have me do and who you’d have me be. I ask for your forgiveness and thank you that Jesus made this possible, and has set me the perfect example to follow.”
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
“Our Lord in Heaven, prompted by your gracious and underserved love extended to each of us, made know in unique ways to each of us as we have understood and accepted the redemption and restoration you have for us, I pray that my community and I will be BEACONS of your love, that it will be because of the love we have for one another that you will be glorified, and others will come to know how perfect your love for each of us, and the world as a whole, is. In Christ’s name, Amen.”
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