Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)

Paul tells us the story of his life, and how it was changed. He pulls no punches, does not try to spin the facts, but lays it out in all its flaws and failings. I'm not fit to be doing what I am doing, he admits; because, I was once persecuting the very faith I now preach. The fact that he is living the life before him is because of grace. He is who he is because of God's grace.

We are all products of grace. Someone, somewhere gave us a hand up at a critical moment, those around us sacrificed for us, a stranger or a friend took a chance on us. This is grace. The person I am today is not my doing alone. My wife, my parents, my friends all granted me grace so I might be who I am. God's grace chose me for the paths I have walked, paths I would never have walked on my own.

Recognizing the role of grace in our lives is an act of humility. We are not self-made people, but those who have become who we are because of others and because of God. Acknowledging this gives us the freedom to admit where we've failed, to confess our shortcomings. This frees us from the fear of being found out, and releases us to be graceful to others. And in so doing we show that the grace we've received has not been given in vain.

May we live abundantly; so, the grace we receive might never be given in vain.

Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

Love is hard. Listen to all Paul tells us that love is: patient, kind, humble, nice, accommodating. It, somehow, isn't irritable or resentful. It puts up with things, is hopeful, and enduring. Those things are hard. Even with the one I love the most, I do not succeed in being all those things.

Paul expects us to embody these things with everyone. How are we supposed to do that? The way we are loved by God. The way we will love when all things have been redeemed. When, Paul says, we will know as we are known.

Think about it, what comes from knowing someone? What happens when we stop hearing ourselves and listen to them? We hear their story. We learn where their actions are born out of hurt, sorrow, and pain. We find out about their bad day, their sick children, their aging parents. And something happens. We understand, find ourselves being patient with them, forgiving them, and asking God to forgive us the irritability, resentment, and arrogance we were feeling.

Beloved, to love let us know one another. Let us listen to each other so we might search and know those around us as God knows us. Because, now we know only in part what we will learn listening face-to-face.

God of Love, you knew us before we were born, and know our story better than anyone. Help us to seek the story of one another; so, that we might understand and in understanding love as you have called us to love.