And The Greatest Of These Is …
Rev. Jeff Wood, First Presbyterian Church of Sebastian
WeLoveFirst.org & Facebook.com/welovefirstsebastian
One of the most famous chapters of the Bible is found in Hallmark shops on anniversary cards. It is routinely read at weddings. We find done nicely in calligraphy. But it has a context. Its context has to do with Corinth and Corinthians.
The town of Corinth is in a modest canal zone. Think Suez or Panama. Of course, that means ships, merchants, sailors, bars, and bordellos. The Apostle Paul established a church there. I think of it as a cowlick church. You put Christian instruction on it but the old way keeps popping up. The old patterns of thinking and behaving don’t just necessarily change overnight because of deciding for Jesus Christ. The Corinthian letter is Paul giving them a bunch of correctives and teaching.
The basic problem among the Corinthians is they are competitive and selfish regarding what it means to be spiritual. We all can get confused here. “Being spiritual — Oh, it’s praying a lot.” “Oh, it’s working at the church a lot.” “Oh, it’s being really smart about the Bible.” All those things are good. But they in themselves do not define spirituality.
To all of this Paul says the inner mechanism of spirituality is love. Do miracles, read the Bible, go to church a lot … empty, and not at all spiritual, unless Jesus-like love is in it?
Rev. Jeff Wood,
First Presbyterian, 1405 Louisiana Ave, Sebastian, FL 32958 (772-589-5656)
welovefirst.org and facebook.com/welovefirstsebastian Worship 10 am
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