FaithWorking

The Four Loves – Part 1 – 1Cor 13

Alan Burrow — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:17:54 +0000

Radio/podcast

The Four Loves – Part 1 – 1Cor 13.1-3 – FaithWorking radio/podcast 3

Jesus and the Law – Mat 5.17-20

Alan Burrow — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:27:16 +0000

Sermon podcast

Matthew Sermon 12 – Jesus and the Law – Mat 5.17-20

Discussion questions

Text — Mat 5.17-20

1. As discussed in the sermon, Scripture presents the story of gospel as the story of a husband who dies to pay the penalty for his wife’s adultery and to set her free from the marriage oath which condemns her, who then rises from the dead and marries her again, this time imparting to her his own Spirit of love and faithfulness. (See Rom 7.1-4; for background see Isa 54.5; Jer 2.2; 3.14; 31.31-33.) Does this story change your understanding of what Christ has done for us, and if so, how? Does this understanding of the gospel affect your gratitude toward Christ? Does it affect how you might communicate the gospel to another, and if so, how?

2. The law was a confusing and controversial topic in Jesus’ day, and it is still so today. What are some different views of the law you have held or been exposed to as a Christian?

3. One of the main reasons Christians have tended to view the law as a way of works salvation is Paul’s statement in Gal 3.12 that the “law is not of faith.” In the previous verse, Paul issues his famous declaration that “the just shall live by faith.” (Gal 3.11.) On the face of Paul’s language, it is easy to conclude that Paul is contrasting salvation by faith under the gospel with salvation by works under the law — thus contrasting believing versus doing. As was pointed out in the sermon, Paul’s famous statement that “the just shall live by faith” is a quote from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk (Hab 2.4). When Jesus or the apostles quoted the OT, they weren’t proof texting, but were calling to mind the entire context. Read Habakkuk 1.1-4 which provides the context for Paul’s famous quote. According to Habakkuk, what was the problem with the law? Now read the following sections of Paul’s longest treatment of the law — Rom 7.10-14 and Rom 8.3-4. According to Paul, what was the problem with the law? If, as Paul says, the law is not only “holy and righteous and good,” but also “spiritual,” can it really be an anti-gospel road of works salvation? (Rom 7.12, 14.) According to Jer 31.33, what does the new covenant do with the law?

4. As discussed in the sermon, Scripture presents the law as a marriage oath between the preincarnate Christ and his people, an oath that was about love, loyalty, and faithfulness, an oath that was designed not for God’s people to try to earn their salvation, but for them to know how to love the God who had loved and saved them. (See verses listed in question 1.) Does this understanding put the law in a different light for you, and if so, how? Does this understanding help us avoid the trap of fearing that anything we do to please God is a form of works salvation? Does this understanding affect how you might use the law in your own life, both in your relationship with God and with others? If so, how?

5. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for replacing the law with their own standards, some of which added to the law and some of which took away from it (Mark 7.3-9). He also condemned them for focusing on the skinny branches of the law while ignoring the trunk (Mat 23.23). He said one of their main motivations was men’s praise (Mat 23.14; Luke 11.43; Luke 16.14). And two of the Gospels point out that it was because of envy that the Jewish leaders (including the Pharisees) had Jesus crucified (Mat 27.18; Mark 15.10). Keep in mind that the Pharisees were the evangelicals of the day. Are there any ways that we, the evangelicals of our day, might be guilty of some of the same sins the Pharisees were guilty of?

6. The sermon pointed out that, unlike the Old Testament, the New Testament says nothing about sins like pedophilia and beastiality. Do you think the NT authors were signaling that God had restricted his moral and societal concerns in the NT? Or do you think the NT authors were assuming God’s moral and societal concerns continued into the NT and therefore did not need to be exhaustively repeated?

7. Many Christians today believe God’s moral law applies only to the Church and not to the state or to society. These Christians typically point to “natural law,” which they say reflects the second table of the law prohibiting murder, adultery, theft, lying, and coveting, as the proper basis for societal morality and ethics. In our post-modern world, do you think “natural law” provides an adequate basis for societal law, morality, and ethics? Why or why not? If not, how do we as Christians advocate for God’s law in a way that is winsome and persuasive? Or to use Jesus’ words, how shall we be ”shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves”? (Mat 10.16.) As you consider this question, think about the recent events and media coverage concerning the Obama administration requirement for churches and Christian charities to pay for healthcare that includes contraceptive services, as well as the media treatment of candidate Rick Santorum’s personal support of the Roman Catholic Church’s stance against contraception.

A Lord’s Day prayer

Alan Burrow — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:10:51 +0000

How lovely is your tabernacle, O LORD of host.

Our souls long for your courts, and our hearts cry out for you, O living God. You are our King and our God.

How blessed are those who dwell in your house.

How blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.

They pass through the dessert and make it flow with springs of water.

They go from strength to strength, and each one appears before you in Zion.

Behold our shields, O God, and look upon the faces of your anointed ones.

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand.

We would rather be doorkeepers in your house than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For you are our sun and our shield. You give us grace and glory.

No good thing do you withhold from those who walk before you uprightly.

How blessed are all those who trust in you.

Receive our worship, God and Father,

for we worship you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit,

who live and reign with you above, world without end. Amen.

–Based on Psalm 84 as fulfilled in Christ.

President Obama speaks at National Prayer Breakfast

Alan Burrow — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:49:35 +0000

President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning. You can watch his speech here. A full transcript appears after the jump.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

February 02, 2012

________________________________________________________

Remarks by the President at the National Prayer Breakfast

Washington Hilton
Washington, D.C.

9:10 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please, please, everybody have a seat. Well, good morning, everybody. It is good to be with so many friends united in prayer. And I begin by giving all praise and honor to God for bringing us together here today.

I want to thank our co-chairs Mark and Jeff; to my dear friend, the guy who always has my back, Vice President Biden. (Applause.) All the members of Congress –- Joe deserves a hand –- all the members of Congress and my Cabinet who are here today; all the distinguished guests who’ve traveled a long way to be part of this. I’m not going to be as funny as Eric — (laughter) — but I’m grateful that he shared his message with us. Michelle and I feel truly blessed to be here.

This is my third year coming to this prayer breakfast as President. As Jeff mentioned, before that, I came as senator. I have to say, it’s easier coming as President. (Laughter.) I don’t have to get here quite as early. But it’s always been an opportunity that I’ve cherished. And it’s a chance to step back for a moment, for us to come together as brothers and sisters and seek God’s face together. At a time when it’s easy to lose ourselves in the rush and clamor of our own lives, or get caught up in the noise and rancor that too often passes as politics today, these moments of prayer slow us down. They humble us. They remind us that no matter how much responsibility we have, how fancy our titles, how much power we think we hold, we are imperfect vessels. We can all benefit from turning to our Creator, listening to Him. Avoiding phony religiosity, listening to Him.

This is especially important right now, when we’re facing some big challenges as a nation. Our economy is making progress as we recover from the worst crisis in three generations, but far too many families are still struggling to find work or make the mortgage, pay for college, or, in some cases, even buy food. Our men and women in uniform have made us safer and more secure, and we were eternally grateful to them, but war and suffering and hardship still remain in too many corners of the globe. And a lot of those men and women who we celebrate on Veterans Day and Memorial Day come back and find that, when it comes to finding a job or getting the kind of care that they need, we’re not always there the way we need to be.

It’s absolutely true that meeting these challenges requires sound decision-making, requires smart policies. We know that part of living in a pluralistic society means that our personal religious beliefs alone can’t dictate our response to every challenge we face.

But in my moments of prayer, I’m reminded that faith and values play an enormous role in motivating us to solve some of our most urgent problems, in keeping us going when we suffer setbacks, and opening our minds and our hearts to the needs of others.

We can’t leave our values at the door. If we leave our values at the door, we abandon much of the moral glue that has held our nation together for centuries, and allowed us to become somewhat more perfect a union. Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Jane Addams, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Abraham Heschel — the majority of great reformers in American history did their work not just because it was sound policy, or they had done good analysis, or understood how to exercise good politics, but because their faith and their values dictated it, and called for bold action — sometimes in the face of indifference, sometimes in the face of resistance.

This is no different today for millions of Americans, and it’s certainly not for me.

I wake up each morning and I say a brief prayer, and I spend a little time in scripture and devotion. And from time to time, friends of mine, some of who are here today, friends like Joel Hunter or T.D. Jakes, will come by the Oval Office or they’ll call on the phone or they’ll send me a email, and we’ll pray together, and they’ll pray for me and my family, and for our country.

But I don’t stop there. I’d be remiss if I stopped there; if my values were limited to personal moments of prayer or private conversations with pastors or friends. So instead, I must try — imperfectly, but I must try — to make sure those values motivate me as one leader of this great nation.

And so when I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on Main Street, when I talk about making sure insurance companies aren’t discriminating against those who are already sick, or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren’t taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy stronger for everybody. But I also do it because I know that far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years, and I believe in God’s command to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” I know the version of that Golden Rule is found in every major religion and every set of beliefs -– from Hinduism to Islam to Judaism to the writings of Plato.

And when I talk about shared responsibility, it’s because I genuinely believe that in a time when many folks are struggling, at a time when we have enormous deficits, it’s hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed income, or young people with student loans, or middle-class families who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone. And I think to myself, if I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense.

But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that “for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.” It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.

When I talk about giving every American a fair shot at opportunity, it’s because I believe that when a young person can afford a college education, or someone who’s been unemployed suddenly has a chance to retrain for a job and regain that sense of dignity and pride, and contributing to the community as well as supporting their families — that helps us all prosper.

It means maybe that research lab on the cusp of a lifesaving discovery, or the company looking for skilled workers is going to do a little bit better, and we’ll all do better as a consequence. It makes economic sense. But part of that belief comes from my faith in the idea that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper; that as a country, we rise and fall together. I’m not an island. I’m not alone in my success. I succeed because others succeed with me.

And when I decide to stand up for foreign aid, or prevent atrocities in places like Uganda, or take on issues like human trafficking, it’s not just about strengthening alliances, or promoting democratic values, or projecting American leadership around the world, although it does all those things and it will make us safer and more secure. It’s also about the biblical call to care for the least of these –- for the poor; for those at the margins of our society.

To answer the responsibility we’re given in Proverbs to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” And for others, it may reflect the Jewish belief that the highest form of charity is to do our part to help others stand on their own.

Treating others as you want to be treated. Requiring much from those who have been given so much. Living by the principle that we are our brother’s keeper. Caring for the poor and those in need. These values are old. They can be found in many denominations and many faiths, among many believers and among many non-believers. And they are values that have always made this country great — when we live up to them; when we don’t just give lip service to them; when we don’t just talk about them one day a year. And they’re the ones that have defined my own faith journey.

And today, with as many challenges as we face, these are the values I believe we’re going to have to return to in the hopes that God will buttress our efforts.

Now, we can earnestly seek to see these values lived out in our politics and our policies, and we can earnestly disagree on the best way to achieve these values. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “Christianity has not, and does not profess to have a detailed political program. It is meant for all men at all times, and the particular program which suited one place or time would not suit another.”

Our goal should not be to declare our policies as biblical. It is God who is infallible, not us. Michelle reminds me of this often. (Laughter.) So instead, it is our hope that people of goodwill can pursue their values and common ground and the common good as best they know how, with respect for each other. And I have to say that sometimes we talk about respect, but we don’t act with respect towards each other during the course of these debates.

But each and every day, for many in this room, the biblical injunctions are not just words, they are also deeds. Every single day, in different ways, so many of you are living out your faith in service to others.

Just last month, it was inspiring to see thousands of young Christians filling the Georgia Dome at the Passion Conference, to worship the God who sets the captives free and work to end modern slavery. Since we’ve expanded and strengthened the White House faith-based initiative, we’ve partnered with Catholic Charities to help Americans who are struggling with poverty; worked with organizations like World Vision and American Jewish World Service and Islamic Relief to bring hope to those suffering around the world.

Colleges across the country have answered our Interfaith Campus Challenge, and students are joined together across religious lines in service to others. From promoting responsible fatherhood to strengthening adoption, from helping people find jobs to serving our veterans, we’re linking arms with faith-based groups all across the country.

I think we all understand that these values cannot truly find voice in our politics and our policies unless they find a place in our hearts. The Bible teaches us to “be doers of the word and not merely hearers.” We’re required to have a living, breathing, active faith in our own lives. And each of us is called on to give something of ourselves for the betterment of others — and to live the truth of our faith not just with words, but with deeds.

So even as we join the great debates of our age — how we best put people back to work, how we ensure opportunity for every child, the role of government in protecting this extraordinary planet that God has made for us, how we lessen the occasions of war — even as we debate these great issues, we must be reminded of the difference that we can make each day in our small interactions, in our personal lives.

As a loving husband, or a supportive parent, or a good neighbor, or a helpful colleague — in each of these roles, we help bring His kingdom to Earth. And as important as government policy may be in shaping our world, we are reminded that it’s the cumulative acts of kindness and courage and charity and love, it’s the respect we show each other and the generosity that we share with each other that in our everyday lives will somehow sustain us during these challenging times. John tells us that, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

Mark read a letter from Billy Graham, and it took me back to one of the great honors of my life, which was visiting Reverend Graham at his mountaintop retreat in North Carolina, when I was on vacation with my family at a hotel not far away.

And I can still remember winding up the path up a mountain to his home. Ninety-one years old at the time, facing various health challenges, he welcomed me as he would welcome a family member or a close friend. This man who had prayed great prayers that inspired a nation, this man who seemed larger than life, greeted me and was as kind and as gentle as could be.

And we had a wonderful conversation. Before I left, Reverend Graham started praying for me, as he had prayed for so many Presidents before me. And when he finished praying, I felt the urge to pray for him. I didn’t really know what to say. What do you pray for when it comes to the man who has prayed for so many? But like that verse in Romans, the Holy Spirit interceded when I didn’t know quite what to say.

And so I prayed — briefly, but I prayed from the heart. I don’t have the intellectual capacity or the lung capacity of some of my great preacher friends here that have prayed for a long time. (Laughter.) But I prayed. And we ended with an embrace and a warm goodbye.

And I thought about that moment all the way down the mountain, and I’ve thought about it in the many days since. Because I thought about my own spiritual journey –- growing up in a household that wasn’t particularly religious; going through my own period of doubt and confusion; finding Christ when I wasn’t even looking for him so many years ago; possessing so many shortcomings that have been overcome by the simple grace of God. And the fact that I would ever be on top of a mountain, saying a prayer for Billy Graham –- a man whose faith had changed the world and that had sustained him through triumphs and tragedies, and movements and milestones –- that simple fact humbled me to my core.

I have fallen on my knees with great regularity since that moment — asking God for guidance not just in my personal life and my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong. I know that He will guide us. He always has, and He always will. And I pray his richest blessings on each of you in the days ahead.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

END
9:30 A.M. EST

Love, the Measure Part 2

Alan Burrow — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:24 +0000

1Cor 12.31 – 13.3

FaithWorking Radio Show and Podcast

What are the implications?

Paul has established that without love, superlative spiritual gift and heroic Christian service amount to nothing. Several profound implications flow from this.

First, love is indispensable. With love, all the these gifts and services would be a great blessing to all concerned. Without love, no one is benefited. Take out love and leave all the other stuff = no blessing. Leave in the love and take out the other stuff = blessing. Love is the indispensable ingredient.

Second, love is the goal. The reason why love is indispensable is that it is not just another element, it is the goal of all the elements. Love is not a gift or talent but a fruit – indeed, it is the chief of all the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5.22-23). And the chief end of a tree, according to Jesus, is to bear fruit (John 15.5, 8). Gifts, talents, and services are like stems, leaves, and flowers. They are good and desirable, even beautiful. But they are all means and not the ultimate goal. When we have no love, we are like a fruitless tree. Our stems, leaves, and flowers don’t matter.

Third, love is the measure. If love is the goal, then it is necessarily the measure as well. A business is measured by whether it achieves the goal for which it was created, and so are we. Jesus curses a tree with leaves and no fruit (Mat 21.19) and promises his Father will do the same (John 15.2, 6). Without fruit, our stems, leaves, and flowers only tell people what we should have but don’t. Our stems, leaves, and flowers are false advertising and bring us greater judgment. Jesus did not curse a tree with no leaves; he cursed a tree with leaves but no fruit.

Fourth, love is easily overlooked and left out. It is a scary thought, but one we need to face head on: It is perfectly possible to have great spiritual gifts and to do heroic Christian deeds apart from love.

Experience proves that a man, after opening his heart with faith to the joy of salvation, may soon cease to walk in the way of sanctification, shrink from complete self-surrender, and, while making progress in mystical feeling, become more full of self and devoid of love than he ever was.*

If this were not a very real possibility, the epistles to the Corinthians would never have been written. The Corinthian church is a monument to how easy it is to be spiritually “great” while being spiritually nothing.

Where should our emphasis be?

It is clear what our core emphasis should be – not gifts or ministries, but love. Our spiritual gifts and ministries are simply vehicles through which to express love and the other fruits of the Spirit. Spiritual gifts were given in love, for love. How then could they be exercised any other way? If we pursue gifts and ministries in their own right, there is nothing inherent in them that will lead us to love. On the other hand, if we pursue love, we will develop our gifts and find opportunities to serve, for love will compel us to do so.

_____________________________

* F.L. Godet, 1887, Commentary on the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, vol. 2: Chapters 9-16, p. 237, quoted in David E. Garland, 1Corinthians, p. 608.

On secularism and tyranny.

Alan Burrow — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:23:32 +0000

Secularists have successfully equated the thought of a Christian society with oppression. Yet in the Western struggle against tyranny, it was the assertion of Christ’s authority over all of life that effectively undermined the tyranny of kings, popes, and parliaments. The fortunes of individual liberty rose and fell with the degree to which Christ was owned as lord of all. Ironically, it was secularism with its claim that power originated in man that always trended toward tyranny. The divine right of kings became the divine right of the People. But of course, the people themselves never govern, but always some tyrant, be it an individual or an assembly, in the name of the People. The genius of locating all power in the People is that it flatters the tyrannized while exalting the tyrant. Even after tens of millions have died in the name of the People, secularism remains fixed in the Western mind as the wellspring of freedom. But the data paint a very different picture. The ascendency of man qua man has subjugated more men than all the kings, popes, and parliaments in history. It is undoubtedly the most successful form of tyranny the world has ever known.

Happy Epiphany

Alan Burrow — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:57:33 +0000

You may or may not know it, but today, January 6, is Epiphany. It is the day the Church from very early in its history has celebrated the appearance of Jesus as Immanuel, God With Us. In western Church tradition, the celebration came immediately after the twelve days of Christmas and focused particularly on the manifestation of Jesus to the Magi after their long journey to Bethlehem (Mat 2.1-12).

The Bible tells us little about the Magi. Tradition holds that they came from the Persian Empire to the east, and this appears to be the case. Persia had a governing body known as the Megistanes which was divided into two houses – the Magoi (“powerful ones”) and the Sophoi (“wise ones”). The Maggoi, the upper house, was comprised of the nobility, the kingmakers of the Persian Empire. There is a primitive painting of the Magi on the walls of one of the catacombs of Rome. If it is accurate, there were quite a few Magi, not just three, and they were accompanied by a large entourage of soldiers.* Whatever the case, the Magi were important enough that Herod, a master of the political game, granted them an audience and took seriously their claims of a newborn king (Mat 2.3-4, 7-8). The Magi stood in marked contrast to Herod. The Magi, Gentile rulers from so far away, wanted to worship Jesus. Herod, king of the Jews, from nearby Jerusalem, wanted to kill him (Mat 2.13, 16).

After the Magi met with Herod, the Star which beckoned them from Persia in the first place reappeared, led them down the road to Bethlehem, and hovered over the house where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph dwelt (Mat 2.9). The behavior of the Star indicates that it was not an astral body, as often supposed, but almost certainly the Shekinah glory cloud – the pillar of fire by which God manifested His presence to Israel in the Old Testament.* When the Tabernacle and later the Temple were constructed, God filled them with His glory cloud, thus indicating His house, His dwelling place among men (Exo 40.34; 1Kings 8.10). Thus the Temple was where heaven and earth met, where God and man met – it was truly the center of the world. But with the birth of Jesus, the glory cloud dwelt not over the Temple in Jerusalem, but over the house where Jesus was. The message is unmistakable – Jesus is the true Temple, he is where heaven and earth meet, he is where God and man meet, he is the center of the universe (John 1.14, 51; 1Tim 2.5; Rev 21.22-24). All who want to worship God must, like the Magi, come to Jesus.

In the Magi, we see the beginning of the fulfillment of the glorious Old Testament prophecies that foretell of the rulers of the earth coming to worship Jesus as King of kings. As Solomon prophesied:

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. . . . The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him. (Psalm 72.8, 10-11.)

In our modern secular age, it is hard to imagine the rulers of the nations streaming to the Church to worship Jesus as Lord. But was it any easier 2000 years ago to imagine Persian rulers traveling vast distances to worship an infant boy in Bethlehem? What is impossible with man is possible with God (Mark 10.25-27). It is not only possible, it is inevitable, for the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish it:

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9.6-7.)

Happy Epiphany!

________________________

* Duane Spencer, Word Keys which Unlock Christmas, Word of Grace, San Antonio, Texas.

photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/919004

The Book of the Generations of Jesus Christ – Mat 1.1-17

Alan Burrow — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:40:47 +0000

Sermon podcast

Matthew Sermon 1 – The Book of the Generations of Jesus Christ – Mat 1.1-17

Love, the Measure of All Things Part 1

Alan Burrow — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 22:38:10 +0000

1Cor 12.31 – 13.3

FaithWorking Radio Show and Podcast

Introduction.

Paul’s famous chapter on love comes smack in the middle of his three-chapters long treatment of spiritual gifts. Thus 1Cor 13 is often seen as a digression. If so, it is a digression which does not digress. Rather it progresses the discussion by revealing Paul’s real theme — love. “Spiritual gifts” is but the context in which the Corinthians’ real problem, a lack of love, has been displayed. “Spiritual gifts” is thus necessary to Paul’s discussion in ch. 12 and instructions in ch. 14, but the real subject is love.

We might even say that love is the chief subject of 1Corinthians. We might fairly say that what Paul has done up to this point is address the various contexts — of which spiritual gifts is just the latest — in which the Corinthians’ lack of love has been displayed. In addressing the Corinthians’ problems, love has always been near at hand to Paul. He has told them of God’s great love for them (1Cor 2.9-12). And Paul has warned the Corinthians that while “we all have knowledge . . . [, k]nowledge puffs up, but love edifies. [Therefore,] if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.” (1Cor 8.1-3.) Behind Paul’s discussion of the Corinthians’ divisions, their immorality on the one hand and asceticism on the other, their lawsuits against fellow Christians, their public eating of idol food, their selfishness during the Lord’s Supper — beneath the surface of all these discussions has been the need for love. But now love, which has peaked out from behind the clouds occasionally, breaks out into clear blue sky. Here, Paul, in a kind of elegy, points directly and steadily at love. This passage is like a fine Port or French Silk — it deserves to be savored.

A more excellent way (1Cor 12.31) .

Paul begins by telling the Corinthians he wants to show them a “more excellent way” (1Cor 12.31). A more excellent way than what? Here, as in 1Cor 12.1, we encounter an ambiguity in the Greek. The phrase may either be in the imperative (“Desire the greater gifts.”), or it may be in the indicative (“You are desiring [what you consider to be] the greater gifts.”). The key is Paul’s parallel statement in 1Cor 14.1 where he clearly uses the imperative: “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” Paul is telling the Corinthians to stop lusting after what they consider to be the best gifts — gifts such as tongues which the Corinthians were using to promote their individual status. When it comes to prayerfully desiring gifts, they should pray for the ones God esteems as best, and those are the ones which bring the most edification to the body. And here I think Paul is really only comparing two gifts — tongues and prophecy — for that is the comparison he draws in ch. 14 when he flatly tells the the Corinthians that “he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets so the church may receive edification” (1Cor 14.5). And shortly thereafter he says: “Since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.” (1Cor 14.12.) So, as between the speaking gifts, prophesy is to be desired above tongues. But above all the spiritual gifts is something that should be not only desired but pursued, and that is love (1Cor 14.1). You may prayerfully seek a gift like prophecy which edifies the body, but there is only one thing you should pursue — love. Love, not gifts, is to be the lifelong quest for every believer. Why? Because without love, nothing matters (1Cor 13.1-3).

Without love, nothing matters (1Cor 13.1-3).

That is a strong assertion, and to drive it home, Paul takes up three dreams of greatness — three dreams involving spiritually superlative gifts (1Cor 13.1-2) and spiritually heroic service (1Cor 13.3). Each of those gifts and services without love not only falls short of its billing, but ends up amounting to nothing. The one who speaks with the tongues of angels — without love it were better had he never spoken, for his words are worthless and obnoxious (1Cor 13.1). The one with all knowledge and all faith to remove mountains — without love he is a nobody (1Cor 13.2). The one who performs heroic spiritual service — without love he receives nothing from God (1Cor 13.3).

Why Christianity insists on holidays like Christmas.

Alan Burrow — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:07:52 +0000

[R]eligion always insists on special days like Christmas, while philosophy always tends to despise them. Religion is interested not in whether a man is happy, but whether he is still alive, whether he can still react in a normal way to new things, whether he blinks in a blinding light or laughs when he is tickled. That is the best of Christmas, that it is a startling and disturbing happiness; it is an uncomfortable comfort. The Christmas customs destroy the human habits. And while customs are generally unselfish, habits are nearly always selfish. The object of the religious festival is, as I have said, to find out if a man is still alive. A man can smile when he is dead. Composure, resignation, and the most exquisite good manners are, so to speak, the strong points of corpses. There is only one way in which you can test his real vitality, and that is by a special festival. Explode [fire]crackers in his ear, and see if he jumps. Prick him with holly, and see if he feels it. If not, he is dead, or, as he would put it, [he] is “living the higher life.”

G.K. Chesterton, The Illustrated London News (Amer. ed.), January 11, 1908, quoted in More Quotable Chesterton , pp. 412-13.