Sunday 13th April
Read Psalm 104
If you don’t have a bible at home you can find the readings on a website such as www.biblegateway.com or an app such as YouVersion
Psalm 104 is a Psalm that looks around at all the elements of creation. It starts with light, goes through water, winds and then earth but the waters are kept under control, not deluging the earth.
Water brings fruitfulness to the earth which provides food for the animals who find their homes on the earth but creation does not stop there for the Psalmist speaks of the sun, the moon and stars and the seasons they display.
When we go out of Church on a Sunday we should look around to give thanks for all we see, and do as the Psalmist say, “I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” (v33)
READINGS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
As you read the Bible Stop; Read; Ponder; and Pray.
Monday 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
These verses constitute the Institution of the Lords Supper as they are given us by St Paul and are often read at Communion Services. The taking of the sacraments “declare or proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”. Who is the recipient of the declaration? It could be to the world or it could be the Christian community, the Church, or it could be to the Angelic realm – “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” ( Ephesians 3:10), like the Cross erected on Churches or over the graves of believers.
When believers are gathered to partake of the sacraments they are to consider what they are engaged in and do so worthily. If the receiving of the elements is indeed a proclamation to the heavenly realms then to treat it lightly or carelessly is to sin against the body of the Lord. Paul says that the Corinthians in their lack-a-daisical way of meeting and eating together in what he can only see as a pretence of the Lord’s Supper is the reason some of them are weak and sickly and some have died. He sees this as a discipline from the Lord and so he tells them to consider carefully what they are doing when they come together. He will speak more when he comes.
Tuesday 1 Corinthians 12:1-31
Paul has said in Chapter 1 verse 7 that the Corinthian Church didn’t lack in any spiritual gift yet here in Chapter 12 he has quite a bit to say on the subject not wishing them to be “uninformed” (v1). He obviously feels they need some teaching on the subject and he begins by referring to their past life when they were worshippers of idols. He is going to refer to more supernatural things such as special words or wonders or tongues and warning them that such things could happen through spirits but not of God. Just because something seems to have come in a supernatural way doesn’t mean it is of God’s Spirit and he tells them that words about or ‘from’ Jesus need to be weighed or tested to check their authenticity (v3).
He tells them that there are different kinds of gifts in case some of them were inclined to only recognise some but that God is a God of variety through the Holy Spirit. He introduces the analogy of a body of one person but with different parts so the Church as the body of Christ has different parts. As he dwells on this, it sounds as though some in the Church were giving special attention only to certain gifts whilst ignoring others and tells them that all belong together like the eyes or hands of a body (v21-26). In concluding he gives a list of different gifts and tells them to seek the greater gifts.
Wednesday 1 Corinthians 13:1-7
A well known chapter this, oft quoted especially in weddings, but we should note its setting which is in the middle of the apostle’s teaching about spiritual gifts and wrangling in the Church at Corinth. He introduces what he is about to say as “the most excellent way” and that is love and he goes down a list of gifts all of which he says are of no point if love is absent. He places love above everything else.
Because it is such an ill-used word today we ought to highlight that the word in Greek agape is the word used of the love of God and that is described as selfless, sacrificial, unconditional, the highest form of love. It is not like other Greek words such as eros (romantic love) or philia (brotherly love, it is not based on emotions but is “an act of will characterised by a commitment to the well-being of others” (Strongs Greek Dictionary). It is not in juxtaposition to the truth but sits alongside it such that untruth can never be associated with it. Sadly it is the case that sometimes “Love trumps all” is set up to obscure the truth about something or some behaviour. The love of Jesus for the woman taken in adultery which protected her from those ready to stone her still told her to “go and sin no more”. Love and Truth sit together.
Verses 4-7 need no commentary but just careful listening and humble acceptance.
Thursday 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Paul now turns to the spiritual gifts of tongues, knowledge and prophecy and says that they are only temporary and they will pass away but love will not pass away. He will come to these gifts in the next chapter but here he is emphasising the partial nature of these gifts. We are all familiar when we have sent away for something of receiving an email that tells us the order has been received, the item has been dispatched, and sometimes with a time expected. That email is held as proof but when the parcel arrives the email can be discarded. It was a temporary assurance but it was the real thing that was what we wanted. Paul is saying that these gifts which the Church has are temporary signals but when the teleion (theend, the completion) has come they will no longer be required.
He gives the illustration of the difference between a child and an adult where talking, thinking and reasoning are different. He is really hinting that the young Corinthian Church is rather juvenile in how they are behaving; squabbling over who are top dogs, arguing with each other but missing out on the immorality within. They are big on gifts and Paul wants to tell them that it is love that they should be aiming for, on other words to grow up. He asks them to look in a mirror (glass) to see themselves but to remember that they are only seeing a faint reflection of reality but when the Lord comes and we see him, we will know what we should be .
Friday 1 Corinthians 14:1-20
In this chapter Paul turns his attention to speaking in the Church when they are met together and the two speaking gifts he mentions are prophecy and tongue speaking. The word prophecy, prophetueo in Greek , means to speak out by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it may involve prophesy in the sense of foretelling or what we might call inspired preaching. We can see examples of this in Acts where Paul is travelling to Jerusalem and various Churches warn him that he is going to be arrested, however the gift does not necessarily involve foretelling but does imply a speaking in the Church that would build up the congregations by passing on the Word of God in their current circumstance.
Speaking in tongues refers to the examples seen in the New Testament where, being so influenced by the Holy Spirit, Christians utter words of praise and prayer to God which bypass the normal mental pathways and general grammatical control of the mind. The expression wouldn’t be understood by others unless someone is given, by the Spirit, an understanding of the utterance so as to express it in ordinary language. Paul wants to highlight prophecy as being more beneficial to the Church than tongues (v4) because everyone can be edified rather than just one. He isn’t discouraging tongues but would rather speak intelligibly in Church so as to instruct others ( v18,19).
Saturday 1 Corinthians 14:21-25
In telling the Corinthians to think like adults rather than children he quotes from Isaiah (Is 28) who prophecies to the people of Israel telling them of their sinful disobedience to God and warning them that if they do not repent they will end up in a strange land amongst people whose languages they do not know (Assyrians) and that will be a judgement on them. Paul likens this to tongues which will baffle unbelievers coming into their gatherings, being a sign of judgement, but if unbelievers come into their gatherings and hear intelligible words of prophesying then they will find their lives coming under the judgement of God and be convicted because all the secrets of their hearts will be laid bare before God.
What he tells them makes sense if they think as spiritual adults and not children. He wants sensible order in the Church and will continue with some guidelines on their gatherings in the next verses.
