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Thought for the Day –Love is the Christian’s ID Card

“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. Faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” (I Corinthians 13.1-3, and 13)

Monday Nov 20

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love…”

‘If’ is a big word. It makes all the difference. ‘If’ sets conditions for something to be true. Paul starts his great hymn on love by being very blunt. If we do not have love, nothing else matters much. Human eloquence with all our promises and clever words, and our spiritual sounding prayers however sincere they sound; if they don’t grow out of a heart given in love to God and to each other in Christ, then they fail the most basic quality test. “Lord, keep teaching us to speak with the accents of your love.”

Tuesday Nov 21

“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.” 

‘Only’ is another powerful word. It sets limits. Only a resounding cymbal means all the other instruments are silent, there’s no music, only noise. You can’t hear the music for the annoying din and lingering echoes of percussion instruments. Paul says, without the music and harmonies and rhythms of love, all our words, our well-meant prayers, and our worship efforts don’t have the ring of truth, sincerity or integrity.  “Lord, by the music of your love, silence the noise of our grievances and self-assertions.”

Wednesday Nov 22

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…but have not love…”

The truth is, none of us is clever enough, or pure in heart enough, to get to the bottom of the love and grace and mystery of the mercy of God. But even if we were, we would still never know enough. The purest and deepest way of knowing is through love. The way to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ is to know ourselves loved, and say yes to the call to live in the environment of Christ-like love. “Lord, help us to look on you with the eyes of the heart, and to love as we have been loved.”

 Thursday Nov 23

“And if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

Moving mountains is hard, but it can be done, usually with heavy machinery! It would be great if it could be done by faith. What a miracle! But then Paul goes and spoils our faith filled fun by saying mountain moving is worthless and useless if the mountain movers lack the fundamental qualification for service in the kingdom of God – love. By all means try to move mountains by faith, but unless your faith is governed, inspired and focused on loving others in the name of Christ it counts for precisely nothing. “Lord, ignite our faith with love, and energise our love with faith.”

Friday Nov 24

“If I give all I possess to the poor, and have not love I gain nothing.”

Just to be clear. Giving to the poor, and being generous with what God has given us, is always a good thing. Jesus said when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, pay up front for someone to be helped, we are serving him. Paul’s point is, no matter how much we give, our heart must be in it. Giving to the poor is not an occasional donation – it’s a habit of the heart, a way of seeing others, with love! ”Lord, when we open our hands to give, open our hearts first, to love others in whom we see your face.”

Saturday Nov 25

“If I give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

Following Jesus can sometimes be costly. Sacrifice is an experience we sign up for when we give our lives to Christ. But the blessings of a faithful life have a condition. That word ‘if’ again. If I do not have love, I gain nothing. All through these verses Paul insists that love for Christ must radiate outwards to love for other folk – the annoying and the lonely, the poor and the hurting, the stranger and the person we sometimes try to avoid. “Lord, show us how to love with a heart schooled in welcome.”

Sunday Nov 26 (Advent Sunday)

“Faith, hope and love remain, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”

Sometimes we know, but act as if we don’t know. Christians know fine well that the barcode of discipleship is that we love one another as Christ loves us. That’s Step One. Then Step Two, love for our neighbour by caring for them. Finally comes Step Three, love for our enemies by doing them good, and forgiving them. Faith is loving trust in Christ. Hope is love looking forward. Love, then, is the faithful and hope-filled life, opened up to the world by the Spirit of the love of God, in Christ.  “Lord, faith hope and love remain, give us such faith and hope that we too will always remain, in your love.”

Thought for the Day from Monday November 13 – Sunday November 19

These brief thoughts on peace are mainly based on the sayings of Jesus. The prayer at the end gathers these thoughts together, and can be used each day. 

Monday

Matthew 5. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

This is the starting point for every follower of Jesus. Written into Jesus’ manifesto for the Kingdom of God is this unusual compound word. Think about it. You have to use energy, imagination, skill, and know-how to make something. Peace doesn’t just happen. It has a cost in time and energy. To be a child of God is have a family resemblance. We are children of a Creator who makes things, including peace.

Tuesday

Mark 9.50 “Salt is good but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Preserve your saltiness! In Jesus’ time salt was a symbol of wisdom, for example, well-seasoned words that lead to forgiveness, or loving support. If we have salt (wisdom) inside, that will make us think, act and behave wisely. One of the most important outcomes will be living at peace with one another. This ties closely with, “You are the salt of the earth” – which brings us back to peace-making as who we are and what we do.

The colouring is by my friend Ben, whose pen work is vibrant and skilled

Wednesday

Luke 1.78-79 “Because of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven, to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

This is about the role of John the Baptist, who will point to “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Tender mercy, the rising sun, a shining light, guiding us into the path of peace. From start to finish, Jesus is the way of peace, God’s Son from heaven, the life giving light that illuminates a dark world and leads us back to God. Peace is God’s purpose, long before it becomes our project. Christ is the light that guides and impels us into the path of peace.

Thursday

Luke 2.14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all the peoples, on whom God’s favour rests.”

I know. It’s annoying when the Christmas carols start playing at the end of October. But peace on earth and goodwill amongst the people of the earth isn’t a message for one month only. Jesus has come as God’s peace-maker, the One whose life and death and resurrection, reconciles a world at enmity with itself, and with God.

Friday

John 14.27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not be afraid.”

The inner turmoil of anxiety, worry and fear – three of the great disturbers of our inner peace. At the very time Jesus is telling the disciples he will be crucified and be taken from them, he says, “Peace I leave with you.” We’re only human – of course we worry, and sometimes life is scary. But Jesus promises a durable peace, deep down somewhere in the core of where we live. We are in safe hands. Trust those hands, the nail prints are the proof of his love, and his promised presence.

Saturday

John 20.26 “Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

Sometimes we blame ourselves for not being people of faith, the best of disciples, and it all gets a bit too much. So we lock the doors, play safe, keep our heads down. But the promise of Jesus to be with us is not frustrated by our locked doors. “Though the doors were locked” – love unpicks the lock, passes through the barriers, comes within our hearing distance and says, “Peace be with you.”

Sunday

Colossians 1.19-20 “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross.”

The God of peace, the God who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, the God who in Christ “breaks down dividing walls of hostility, this is our God, the Servant-King:   “Come see His hands and His feet, the scars that speak of sacrifice; hands that flung stars into space to cruel nails surrendered.”

Prayer for Trainee Peacemakers

 Jesus, you came amongst us as the Prince of Peace; and your way of making peace is to make peace-makers out of trouble makers.

Restore the salt of wisdom in our words and actions, making us conduits of peace and channels of grace.

Break through the locked doors behind which we hide, and stand amongst us speaking into our lives the peace that makes new.

Jesus, you are God’s Peace-Maker – help us to follow you in the paths of peace, as peace-bringers and peace builders, children bearing the likeness of the Father.

Prayer written to be part of the Service of remembrance, in church this mornng:

May God lead us in the ways of peace – make us witnesses of reconciliation – give us a holy impatience with the short cuts and the political expediencies.

And yes, give us courage to question assumptions that conflict is inevitable in a globalised, polarised and destabilised world. God help us to see all those structures of violent power, of oppressive ideas, of instilled hostility, as part of that great song of the ruthless, and help us by God’s grace and strength to silence it –

by persistent, patient actions of peace,

by resilient, responsive acts of reconciliation,

by gentle, gracious words of goodness

by faith-filled, faithful prayers of friendship

by holy, hopeful gestures of  healing

 

Monday

Genesis 1.11-12 – “Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so….And God saw that it was good.”

The first mention of trees in the Bible, “bearing fruit and seed according to their kind.” Trees are good, and they are good for us, and for the whole planet. Shade from the sun, soil stability for the land in flood, fruit to eat, and as filters for our air. Early in our human story trees were amongst God’s good blessings. They still are.

Tuesday

Genesis 2.16-17 – “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” 

Innocence and guilt, right and wrong. We live with these inner judgements every day. But our all too human hearts claim the right to be free, and that freedom can be used for good or evil. The knowledge of good and evil is only possible when we know both, make choices, and have done both. And so sin is born. To turn away from God who is the source of life is fatal, a choice against life.

Wednesday

Psalm 1.2-3 –Blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”

To spend time enjoying God’s company, meditating on the love of God in Christ. We all know the importance of irrigation for plants and trees. Irrigate your soul, take time to be rooted near the river of life, with its various tributaries – the Scriptures, thanksgiving, worship. We’ve all seen plants dying for water, wilted and withering – fill the watering can, do some self-irrigation!

Thursday

Psalm 92.12-15 – The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

Just as in Psalm 1, the tree is a symbol of a life rightly lived, rooted in God and lived in glad obedience. One of the features of a tree is its rootedness and stability. The life lived rightly in Christ is anchored in the steadfast love and enduring faithfulness of God. Good fruit and green leaves just keep coming to those who are “planted in the house of the Lord.” The Lord is upright, and his word is Rock-solid!

Friday

Psalm 96.11-13 – “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.”

Judgement and justice lie at the heart of God’s purposes and ways in the world. When justice is done the whole creation rejoices. Think of a forest as a choir, the wind of God blowing through it, the trees moving in rhythm to the sounds of branches playing. Come on! Use your imagination – thank God for the promise of his presence now, and the promise of his coming in due time to make the world right.

Saturday

Isaiah 55.12 – “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

These are words to a people going home, free from exile, returning to the place of worship and thanksgiving. Singing mountains and hand-clapping trees – you need some imaginations to think that up! This is the applause of God’s creation, the joy of the redeemed singing songs of freedom. Sometimes, the praise we pray and sing to our Lord just needs a good dose of exuberance. Come on, says Isaiah, join hands with the trees, and dance to the music of the mountains! You’re part of God’s plan!

Sunday

Proverbs 11.30 – “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the wise gathers lives.”

A life well lived brings life and goodness to the whole community. When people act with mercy, justice, and kindness because they love and trust God, there is a ripple effect throughout a neighbourhood. Indeed, to have the reputation of someone well known for caring for others, is one of the best ways to witness to the love of God in Christ. People tend to want to be around those whose lives speak in actions, behaviour, attitudes and words that are encouraging, affirming and on the side of life. “Lord, root us deep in your love, as trees of life, bearing the fruits of compassion for others, and gathering the lives of others into the circle of your love.”