“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…And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:8, 13
One of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. Phil Baker (this morning’s “Jammies with Jesus Devotion found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jEOlf1kNKw) often played off the Greek word “telos” and asked “To what end?” Our thoughts, our actions, where do they lead? To what end? As an ambassador for Christ, am I sharing God’s good news of life, love and wholeness through Christ?
Dr. Baker quickly became a Professor I looked up to and turned to for wisdom, input and guidance. He is a fully human follower of Jesus who modeled confession and repentance, boldness and deep care for others. “To what end?” Well, love never ends. We get to practice here on earth what we claim we want in the fullness of God’s kin-dom: love for all. Unfortunately I’ve already forgotten the person’s name who said “this is not a squishy kind of love, but Christ’s love” that serves others. That calls us to pray for our persecutors and to love our enemies. To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, to let the oppressed go free.
We have only one Messiah, and that is Jesus. We have only one Lord who we follow with our heart, mind, soul and strength. “To what end?” So that others may know God’s love as we too grow in sharing God’s love.
God’s peace, justice and hope,
Pastor Jon
P.S. I took this picture at the Sea of Galilee beach at Tabgha where Jesus had a post resurrection breakfast with the disciples. John 21:4ff