Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. [1 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV)]
1 Corinthians is actually Paul’s second letter to the young church at Corinth; the first letter does not remain. What we consider the first letter is actually Paul’s reply to the Corinthians’ response to his first one. While much of his letter is spent confronting the Corinthians about their sins and correcting their behavior, this rebuke to a troubled church has one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13. Paul, however, is actually writing about the Corinthians’ abuse of their spiritual gifts. By only associating this chapter with weddings and anniversaries, we may miss some of its original meaning.
The “tongues of men” probably refers to the Sanhedrin, the supreme judicial and administrative council of the Jews. Having jurisdiction over religious matters, the high priest acted as its president and its members consisted of the chief priests, scribes and elders. They were to be men of distinction and wisdom conversant in all seventy languages of mankind so interpreters weren’t needed in court. It’s likely that the tongues of men to which Paul referred were the supposedly wise and multilingual tongues of the Sanhedrin. Being ministering spirits, angels have no need for tongues. Nevertheless, there were times they took on flesh and appeared to man and, when acting as God’s messengers, they were inspiring and eloquent in their speech.
Personally, I like brass quartets and the sound of those tinkling cymbals worn on the fingers of Middle Eastern dancers, but those are not what Paul meant. Paul actually was referring to sounding (or echoing) brass which were large cast urns placed around the back of a theater. This primitive sound system served to amplify the actors’ voices and Corinth had a famed set of them. The “sounding brass” could no more create their own sound than could a Bose speaker; having no voice of their own, they only could reproduce sound. As for tinkling cymbals, the two kinds of cymbals used during Jewish worship were percussion instruments. Only played during interludes in the vocal music, they didn’t produce a light tinkle. One was more of a shaker with small cymbals attached to a handle that was shaken. The other cymbals were smaller and heavier than today’s orchestral ones. Rather than the pleasant ringing of wind chimes, they were said to penetrate “as far as Jericho.”
In their cultural context, Paul’s words make far more sense. Even if he could speak with great wisdom, in every language known to man and as magnificently and eloquently as an angel, if his words didn’t come from his heart, they would have no meaning. If he just thoughtlessly echoed words, his voice simply would be an irritating loud sound.
We worry so much about what to say and how to say it when an opportunity to share our faith arises that we usually fail to share God’s message at all. Paul’s words should reassure us that it’s not the words or eloquence that matter; it’s the love behind those words. If we love God and love people, then the words we speak will be filled with love. Without love, however, no matter how articulate, self-assured and knowledgeable we are, our message will be meaningless noise.
All they did was sin even more, rebel in the desert against the High God. They tried to get their own way with God, clamored for favors, for special attention. They whined like spoiled children, “Why can’t God give us a decent meal in this desert? Sure, he struck the rock and the water flowed, creeks cascaded from the rock. But how about some fresh-baked bread? How about a nice cut of meat?” [Psalm 78:17-20 (MSG)]
Penn Jillette is the larger and vocal half of the extraordinary magician duo of Penn and Teller. Famed as an entertainer, Penn is also an outspoken atheist. Several years ago, an audience member politely approached the entertainer after his show and gave him a pocket-sized copy of the New Testament and Psalms. Although the gesture did not cause the magician to change his point of view, it did impress him enough to cause him to make a video about the encounter.With great respect for the man who had given him the Bible, Penn asked, “How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?” Penn can’t understand why so few Christians, people who claim to have the answer to eternal life, are so unwilling to share it.
Although an acolyte usually lights the altar candles at our northern church, our pastor did it yesterday. He came out of the sacristy with an unlit brass candle lighter in his hand, reached up to the sanctuary lamp, removed its red glass globe and took it out of the holder. Using the sanctuary candle, he lit the candle lighter before using it to light the altar candles. After returning the sanctuary lamp to its rightful place on the wall, he explained that, although there had been several books of matches in the sacristy, they all were empty. No one seems to smoke anymore and, being new to our parish, he had no idea where matches might be stored. A resourceful man, he solved the problem perfectly.
After their recent visit to the oncologist, a friend asked me to pray for her father. His cancer is terminal and she asked me to pray that he will come to know God. He’s been sitting on the fence for quite some time and his time for fence sitting is rapidly running out. As I added him to my prayer list, I wondered, “Can we pray someone to God?”
As I went through my prayer list this morning, I noticed that my prayers are very specific. I pray for those I know who are mourning, but they’re not the only ones dealing with loss. I pray for those I know who are sick and for my friends who are sitting at their loved one’s bedside, but they are not alone. Although I pray for a friend experiencing problems at work, another having financial difficulty, and a family in crisis, I know others must have the same problems. I pray for those I know who are struggling with addictions but can’t come close to naming all who need that prayer. I pray for my pastors and friends in the ministry but pastors (and congregations) everywhere need those same prayers. Unless I hear sirens, I don’t pray for first responders, but those firefighters and paramedics need my prayers more often than that. Some mornings I have enough trouble getting through my long prayer list, how can I add more to it? We’re told to offer prayers of intercession for all of God’s people, yet how can we do His work (or ours) if we spend all day in prayer? We’d be so heavenly minded that we’d be of no earthly use to anyone. Nevertheless, it’s not just my list of people who need my prayers. I suppose I could cover everyone else with a quick “God bless the world and everyone in it,” but that doesn’t seem heartfelt to me.
Devotions of the Heart 