Skip to main content

Garbage Can Lids

             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. 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. 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. (I Corinthians 13:1-3)

             Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?”

             Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:21-23)

 

            With St. Valentine’s day coming up, this passage had to be shared. That’s not saying it’s not a good passage, just that it’s like going through Christmas without mentioning anything about the birth of Jesus to come to a day celebrating love without mentioning I Corinthians 13. So here we go and let’s begin with what you might call a secular update.

            If I speak with great eloquence, using words that make people want to listen and to quote me, but do not have love, I am only a pair of garbage can lids being slammed together. If I have multiple PhDs and can explain everything that happens in the universe, and if I can speak a word, and man and machine accomplish all I command, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all that I have to the poor and work tirelessly for their wellbeing so that I can prove I’m a good (or great) person, but do not have love, I gain nothing. It recalls the passage from Matthew 7.  Even if we do great deeds, proclaiming to all who will listen that we are doing it in Jesus’ name, if we are not motivated by love, we may as well not do the deeds. In fact, doing them may reveal us to be precisely what we don’t want to be considered.

                So often, it seems as if our response to everything is, “I can’t…” I’m too young, too old, too fat, too skinny, too poor, too rich, too female, too male, or whatever.  I can’t live up to the spectacular level of performance needed to love. But today’s passage makes it clear that the spectacular isn’t what’s needed. It’s not what God is looking for. The mediocre or even mundane is what is needed, as long as it’s done in love for the other person. So go do the little thing.

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more