Sunday Stretch: Vol. 111

Start off your week with a grounded take on Bible, prayer, the world, and your life ...

Hi Readers,

This Sunday’s lectionary passages could not have come at a better time. I don’t think the lectionary writers care too much about the holiday of Valentine’s Day — but nonetheless as we start the month of February, we get to read some beautiful passages about God’s love, including the entirety of 1 Corinthians 13, one of the most meaningful passages to me in all of the Bible.

There’s much to say about our world, about fear, about loneliness and competition and anger and hatred. Take a deep breath - and then let it go for a moment, as we find ways to invite God’s deep love and truth into our lives, communities, and vocation for justice.

Let’s get to the texts!

Bible Stories

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Jer. 1:4 Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

⁶ Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” ⁷ But the LORD said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’;

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you,

⁸ Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.”

⁹ Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me,

“Now I have put my words in your mouth.

¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.”

Jeremiah is one of the angriest and most honest books of the Bible - firmly planted in a time of difficulty and deceit for God’s people, who are in the midst of exile, rule by a powerful and capricious empire, whose own leaders have betrayed God and their people. But we begin this book to pause for a moment at the prophet’s call story. The opening verses of this passage have become a favorite of anti-abortion activists, saying they support the scientific idea that life begins at conception. They focus on when God’s love begins, instead of reading more deeply into what this passage says about the weight and depth of God’s love: the how and the why rather than the when.

Questions to Ponder

What do you make of the idea that God might have intentions for people before we are born?

You will notice a theme in today’s passages of God’s understanding and knowledge of us: of the difference between being known by God and being misunderstood by people. Can you relate to this idea?

Why does God call Jeremiah to such extremes: to pull down, destroy, overthrow, build, and plant?

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1Cor. 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,^a but do not have love, I gain nothing.

1Cor. 13:4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1Cor. 13:8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. ⁹ For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; ¹⁰ but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly,^a but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³ And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

I insisted (and Ben agreed to!) having all 13 of these verses read at our wedding almost 14 years ago. Most people are most familiar with the middle: verses 4-7. But I thought we needed all of it. The first three verses show the singular value of love: that’s it’s not weak or vulnerable but powerful beyond measure. And then the last verses, 8-13, which form so much of the base of my own theological understanding of grace. I appreciate that these passages acknowledge our need for mystery, for doubt, for lack of understanding of ourselves and God - and for growth in our faith and love throughout our lives.

In lieu of questions for this one, I’m going to recommend something I occasionally do: find a quiet and peaceful place, by yourself or with others, to read this passage aloud three times to yourself. Then, sit silently and receive whatever revelation and messages God intends for you upon this reading. Notice how it makes you feel, what questions it brings to you, and what connections you have. Maybe it brings up memories or scenes from the past. Let the words move you.

Luke 4:21-30

Luke 4:21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” ²³ He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. ²⁵ But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶ yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many lepers^a in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

I recently preached on this text at Lake Nokomis Lutheran, in conjunction with MLK Sunday (the day before MLK Day). You can watch that message here if you’re interested.

These passages take us on a journey that many of us can probably relate to throughout our