So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
I Corinthians 13:13
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.
I Corinthians 13:12
Children are often introduced to the concept of God with the words “God loves you,” or “God is good.” If a child asks “Who/what is God?” the answer would be a simple “God is good.” And if the question is “What does God do?” the answer is probably a simple “God loves you.” As children get older, the concepts advance to “God made us” and “Jesus died on the cross for us.”
Children are introduced to the concept of worship with the idea that church is a special place. My first memories of Holy Week were that we lit candles and got to stay up late. Christmas, for a child, is dominated by thoughts of gifts and belief in Santa Claus.
As children, we do not question the goodness of God. He is simply “good”. We don’t wonder about the meaning of worship or the role of the church. We know it is a special place and for children who have a hard time sitting still, we are told that it is a place we have to be quiet. For some, this description that a church is a place to be quiet actually becomes associated with something negative. The child who is continually scolded to be quiet associates the church as a place they can’t move around and make noise.
While childlike love and wonderment about God and the Church are good things, the problem is that as we grow out of childhood, if this is all we know of God and the Church, then we are not going to stick with either. A person who has gone through any kind of trauma or crisis is going to have a hard time accepting “God is good” without question. There will be natural questions, concern, even anger, in the face of hurt and setback. For the person who has low self-esteem or who suffers from guilt over sin, there will be a hard time accepting that “God loves you.” To the one who suffers from illness or who loses a parent or sibling at a young age, to say “God loves you,” would be met with an understandable “If God is so loving, why is there no healing?”
When a child goes to high school, or maybe even before, the Biblical account of creation is challenged by the theory of evolution. If a teen can only say “God made us,” he or she will not only feel foolish but may convinced that alternate theories are more believable, simply because they are being provided with more information. If all one knows is “Jesus died on the cross for us,” that message without proper context is almost meaningless.
If all a person knows is that “church is a special place,” as they get older and discover that more places are special, like the ballfield, or the beach, the church will inevitably lose the attention of the child, who now sees competition and fun as special. Staying up late gets replaced with staying out late, and lighting candles, again without context, is kind of pointless.
As children, love was probably more associated with a feeling. When my parents buy me something I want, I feel loved. When I’m sick and my mom holds me, I feel loved. And on the other side, when my parent refuses to buy me something or do what I want, I feel unloved. We don’t understand that being told no when our requests are unreasonable or dangerous is actually a sign of love. If a parent said yes to every request, that wouldn’t actually be loving at all.
St. Paul writes in today’s verse For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. (I Corinthians 13:12) Our knowledge of God as a child is like looking in a dimly lit mirror. We don’t know any better. As adults, we would not stand in front of a dimly lit mirror, we would want to have full light so that we can get the full benefit of the mirror. It’s the same thing with Christianity. We should be satisfied with a dim or small view of the magnitude of Jesus Christ, the crucifixion, the Resurrection, and so many other things. These are to be seen in the Light of the glory of God.
God is not just good. He is the Creator of all things, including our very life itself. And while it is true that God loves us, that is primarily what He does, this phrase is something we cling on to more deeply because we are assured of God’s love even in our times of failure when we return to Him in repentance. Yes, God made us, but it’s not just the version we read to five-year-olds. God made us in His image and likeness, we are icons of God. This comes with a privilege but also with a cost, and the cost is living a life that honors God.
Worship isn’t some experience of magic and wonderment but an experience of prayer for the whole world and a unity with Christ in the Eucharist. Holy Week isn’t just a bunch of services that keep us out late but rather a journey through all the we believe and a time to increase commitment to Christ through reliving the Passion, which contains everything we believe and reveals our purpose. Pascha is more than lighting a candle. It is renewing our commitment to Christ and celebrating a foretaste of what waits us after our time on earth is over.
Divine Liturgy is not supposed to just be some ritual that for many people is boring and because it is repetitive, people think that going once in a while is enough. It is supposed to be the Kingdom of Heaven revealed on earth.
Love is not a feeling but a choice that can be made in any circumstance. Love is not limited to only when we feel good, or when we feel confident. We can choose to love others when we are angry with them, and we can be assured of God’s love even when we are down on ourselves or have committed a wrong.
In the previous verse, we discussed how it is good to be childlike, and not childish, in some ways. However, when it comes to faith and knowledge, we can’t be content with the knowledge of a child. Yet at the same time, we should have the wonderment and curiosity of children, and the essential belief that God is good and that worship is special. For our own sake, and for the sake of defending our faith to others, it is necessary to have a deeper knowledge of faith and of Christ than we did as young children.
Lord, help me to always have the wonderment, joy and innocence I had as a child. Help me to always see You as good and loving. Give me the wisdom to understand You, Your will, and Your purpose for my life on a deeper level, so that I can think, speak, act and believe with conviction. Now, I can only see You as dimly in a mirror. Allow me to one day see You face to face. Amen.
It is essential that we strive to mature in our understanding and practice of faith, just as it is imperative that we mature in our understanding of what it means to love and our choice to love God and love others.
