12-09 – Funeral for Kenneth James Engelhardt
December 9, 2019
First Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
I may speak in the languages of humans and of angels, but if I don’t have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing cymbal. I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains, but if I don’t have love, I am nothing. I may even give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned, but if I don’t have love, none of these things will help me.
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up.
Love never comes to an end. There is the gift of speaking what God has revealed, but it will no longer be used. There is the gift of speaking in other languages, but it will stop by itself. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will no longer be used. Our knowledge is incomplete and our ability to speak what God has revealed is incomplete, but when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will no longer be used.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used childish ways. Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledge as God has complete knowledge of me. So these three things remain: faith, hope, and love, but the best one of these is love.
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
The Lord will come from heaven with a command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the dead who believed in Christ will come back to life. Then, together with them, we who are still alive will be taken in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In this way we will always be with the Lord. So then, comfort each other with these words!
Gospel reading: Matthew 6:25-34
[Jesus said]: I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat, drink, or wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they?
Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying? Why worry about clothes? Notice how the flowers grow in the field. They never work or spin yarn for clothes, but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his majesty was dressed like one of these. That is the way God clothes the grass in the field. Today it’s alive, and tomorrow it’s thrown into an incinerator. How much more will he clothe you people who have so little faith?
Don’t ever worry and say, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ Everyone is concerned about these things, and your heavenly Father certainly knows you need all of them. First, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you. Don’t ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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