“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.” -1 Corinthians 13:4-6

This is what God’s love looks like, St. Paul writes. And this is what God’s love doesn’t look like. Familiar and beloved as this passage is, I had never before noticed how much more Paul tells us what love isn’t compared to what love is. But it makes sense. Paul was writing to a fractious church whose diversity was an excuse for negative community-wounding behavior.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the nations, all the peoples of the world, took this passage to heart and chose love? Of if we, in our little community of St. Paul’s, grew more and more into God’s love as Paul reveals it? And, not to miss the point, if the writer of this passage you are now reading learned finally to be authentically patient and kind? Can this child of God put aside all envy, boastfulness, arrogance, rudeness, insistence on my own way, resentment, rejoicing in wrongdoing? Can God’s love live without God’s truth?

I’ve got work to do. Holy work. Thanks, St. Paul!

Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love. We pray this in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
-Tom Worrell

“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” -1 Corinthians 13:1-3

This seems like a strange passage to be reading today, but we are looking at 1 Corinthians 13 this week, and we have to start somewhere.

Looking at today’s Gospel passage regarding the entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11, for those who are interested), the thing that is striking to me about today is how completely opposite Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem was from the triumphal entry of Caesar or any major general who is flaunting their power or coming in to conquer the occupying forces. They came in atop war horses with trumpeters and standard bearers. In contrast, Jesus comes in riding atop a donkey. Those crowds who entered ahead of him proclaimed his entrance like they would someone entering atop a warhorse, but what they were shouting aloud was completely different. “Hosanna” comes from a Hebrew word that means “rescue” or “save”, so they were effectively calling on Jesus to rescue them from something.

The generals atop their warhorses are the antithesis of those with agape in their hearts. Their conquests were all about glory or power for themselves or for their country. Their words are all about their own glory—quite like a “noisy gong” or “clanging cymbal” to the ears of those they were conquering. Jesus spoke words of agape, words that show care or concern for those he came to save. It is a remarkable difference.

Thank you, Lord, for speaking words that show love and concern for those you came to save—who happen to be us still today. Amen.
-Jen McCabe

“The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” -1 John 4:21

As a child, loving your brother and sisters isn’t too bad. I mean, I could do that. Sure, they can be obnoxious brats sometimes, but I still loved them. So, I’m cool with God, right? But then my Dad set me down one day and very seriously said, “Sandy, God says you must love your neighbor as yourself. Do you love your neighbor?” I had to think seriously about that. You see there was this big 2nd grade girl who hit me several times, knocked me down and broke my glasses and I sure didn’t love her. But she lived down the road a long way (probably 2-3 blocks) so I said, “how far down the road are they my neighbor?”

That is still the question isn’t it? Who are my sisters and brothers and how far down the road do we have to count them? Surely, God doesn’t count that jerk that cut me off in traffic. What about homeless people, or homosexuals, or foreigners, or Muslims, or people of color? Is God okay if we love them from afar without having to associate with them?

Those don’t bother me, but my test came when a man deliberately caused physical and lasting emotional pain to my daughter. I found I couldn’t even pray for him, much less love him. God, are you seriously asking this of me? How can I possibly be called to do this? It is just too painful. What I ended up doing was, I came to church and explained to several of my friends what had happened and asked them to pray for him since I could not.

On the surface, this commandment seems easy, but there are times when we are pulled up short and have to look deeply into our hearts or into our personal prejudices. Other times following this commandment means walking our talk and what you need to do is start making your actions match your beliefs. I know it is easier to love others when nothing is going wrong. But the commandment is clear, and it doesn’t list exceptions.

Dearest Lord God, I know the answer to my earlier question, “God are you seriously asking this of me?” Sometimes I forget that every person out there is a child of God. Help me Lord to always remember that the answer is YES. You have commanded that we love them all as you have loved each of us. Sometimes that is really hard. Help us, Lord. Amen.
-Sandy McDougall

“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” -1 John 4:20

From ancient times, God’s people have struggled with loving our brothers and sisters. In Leviticus 19:17-18, we are told: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Again and again, we hear similar words from Jesus that we are to love one another. And it’s still hard!!!

Raised in Oklahoma, I attended a segregated school until 1960, my junior year in high school. The little town I grew up in had a white school system and a “Negro” school system and there was little or no contact between the two. When, by court order, the two systems were integrated, the blacks bore the brunt of the change, as their school was closed and they were bused to “our” school. For a while there was fear, resentment, and very little real contact between blacks and whites. However, as we began to know one another on a one to one basis, mutual respect and friendships began to develop. Looking back, the lesson for me is that, unlike our omniscient God, we can’t really love our brothers and sisters en masse. Relationships have to develop one on one.

As Fr. Peter Scholtes so beautifully wrote:

“We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love.”

Dear God, help us to show our love for you by loving our brothers and sisters. Amen.
-Cathey Frederick