Resounding Gong.

Pinterest tree.  Perfected decor.  Matching outfit.  Sparkling candle.  Toasted wine.  Braised Ham.  Fluffed potatoes.  Golden Turkey...

Obedient children.  Spotless house.  Romanced husband.  Warm dinner.  Folded laundry.  Curled hair.  Lipsticked lips.  Jeweled ears...

"....{____} but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."  I Corinthians 13:1

I was talking with a friend last week, speaking through the holiday commotion of relationships, intersecting with meals to be made and schedules to be coordinated, when she landed on this verse, speaking, "I am a gong!" She had murmured all her efforts for relational energy, abundant generosity, billowing hospitality, and then still stepping back to feel falling short.

... but have not love! Paul writes this cutting wisdom.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angles, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

The Scripture is a still a searing, double edge sword, isn't it?!

If I am generous... If I am hospitable... If I quieted my tongue... If I served selflessly... If I quoted verses...  If I {_fill-in-the-blank_}...

... but have not love!...

I am nothing.  (vs.2)

Wow.  Ouch.  Pause.  Stop.  Breathe.

The Truth of Scripture serves as a bleeding filter to all our sinful work, motives, and energies.

... but have not love!...

So, then, Paul concerns himself with following up his calling-out with definition of what love is:

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking., it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preservers."

Ironically, this week in Bible Study, this is what we focused on.  This famous passage from I Corinthians 13.  So known, so recited.  So hard.  We took apart each piece of the definition and filtered it through the lens of our families and applied the sections of description through our interactions with our children, our spouses, our relatives, our people.

That magnifying lens causes a step back, revealing wide-eyes and piercing hearts.

... but have not love!...

Our efforts to complete tasks or perform duty can often be weighed on by the angst of envy, years of bitterness, fallible toil.  Record of wrongs tics as slander falls off lips.  What appears done in solitude and constraint is the actually product of a critical spirit or cynical heart.  Moreover, the labors done bear little resemblance to the fruit of the Spirit, as motives contradict the heart.

If I bought the groceries...  If I paid for private school...  If I traveled the distance... If I switched my holiday plans... If I played the game... If I made the craft...  If I washed the sheets... If I bought the toy...

If I decorated the tree... If I sent the Christmas card... If I sung the carole... If I hosted the party...

...but have not love!...

I am nothing.  I gain nothing.

I am a resounding gong, a clanging cymbal.