If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
If you have read the above verses and suddenly remembered the last wedding you attended, it is because this is commonly used to elevate the attribute of love to its rightful spot at the top of all the gifts of God. Specifically, Paul was elevating love above the certain gifts that were coveted in Corinth, which were tongues and prophecy. Once Paul finished his beautiful passage on love, he turned to the use and abuse of these two gifts. He called them clanging symbols and a whole lot of nothing, that is without love. The implication is clear in Corinth.
If love is missing from the church in Corinth or in Cape May, maybe they have lost their way and have ceased to know God because God is love. It is one of his attributes that shows up time after time in the Old Testament with the chosen people Israel and in the New Covenant with his chosen people, the church. If we worship without love, it is just clanging. If we preach without love, it is nothing. Love the Lord and your neighbor!
Dear Lord, thank you for the love you show to us and through us. May we recognize that you are love and share you with others today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church