What Do You Want to Learn at Church?

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1 Corinthians 13:1-13

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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 perseveres."

 

 

1

As you guess, I would like to begin this time with the same question I always ask you. Do you remember what we learned last Sunday? Your answer would be: “Nothing. I did not learn anything last Sunday.” It is 50 percent right but 50 percent wrong. Last Sunday we worshiped in the main sanctuary where your parents worship God because we had graduation ceremony in that place. In the midst of the worship, I shared my thought on graduation with you, based on 1 Corinthians 13:11-13. So, today I would like to teach you once again what I taught you last Sunday – more specifically. Let us begin with reading the Bible – 1 Corinthians 13.

 

2

At school, not at church, when you read a reading assignment, the first question your teacher would ask you is: what is the theme of it? Am I right? Then, let me ask you the same question. What is the theme of 1 Corinthians 13? Yes, it is love. Normally people call 1 Corinthians 13 the love chapter. Now you read the love chapter. Then, let me ask you some specifics about love. What do you think love is? When you hear love, what springs to your mind? What is love? Please say your own definition.

 

3

When it comes to love, we normally think of some sort of sacrifice like giving everything we have or we can have to the person we love. But, today I want to cast doubt on it. Let me give you some examples. After dinner, my second son Minu usually asks me or his mom one question: Can I have ice-cream? Our regular answer is “Yes.” because he ate his dinner and he deserves a snack. Then, when he asks the same question before dinner, our regular answer is “No, you can eat ice-cream after dinner.” Our first son Jinu asks one question regularly when he comes back from Judo dojo, I mean Judo dojang. Because our dojo does not have a class for kids, Jinu practices Judo with me and other adults from 8 to 10 pm twice a week. So, when we come back home, it is about 10:20 or 10:30 pm.

 

4

Jinu’s regular question is: “Daddy, can I read some book before I go to bed?” My answer is “No, take a shower and go to bed to prepare tomorrow” Sometimes Jinu tries to make a deal with me to skip Judo practice, saying, “Daddy, I am so tired. Can I skip tonight’s practice?” For the most part, my answer is “No, you must practice Judo tonight. That is not for fun. That is for self-discipline. If you don’t want to practice Judo, I believe that you do not want to practice soccer this week either, right?” “Alright, fine!” Jinu moves to change his clothing. When I practice Judo with my sons, I throw them hard, sometimes intentionally with violence, causing a lot of pain. Right after being thrown onto the floor, they couldn’t move for a couple of seconds. Then, do I run to them and check on them? No, I just wait, keeping distance, until they stand up by themselves. Because I strongly believe that standing up by themselves when they fail is one of the most valuable lessons they could get in practicing sports. Sometimes I force them to stand up, saying, “Hey, it is nothing! Why are you lying on the floor? Stand up and do your work! It is not done yet.”

 

5

Do you know why I am doing these horrible things to my sons? I can say with certainty, “Because I love them, because I want them to grow up well, because I want them to lead their own life with as little regrets as possible.” So, my point to tell you today is that love can be sacrifice, but sacrifice is not equal to love. Sacrifice is just part of love. In 1 Corinthians 13, Apostle Paul explains that love is expressed in many different ways. Love can be expressed through patience. Love can also be expressed through kindness. While generosity, humbleness, and acceptance can be love, hating wrongdoings and holding on to what is right also can be love.

 

6

At school, you will learn a lot of things to improve your brain. School education aims to make you smarter humans than ever before. Church education, however, unfortunately, does not aim to improve your brain. If you want to improve your brain here doing worship, maybe you are in a wrong place. Church education aims to make you have good and open heart to love others as yourself and to be loved by others as themselves. So, from now on, when someone asks you, “Why do you go to church?” I hope that you can say, “Because church education teaches me how to love and how to be loved.” Love is the purpose of Christian education. And, love is not all about self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice is one of Love’s aspects. Can you remember this?

 

 

Prayer

God, thank you for teaching us today the purpose of your education! God, we are here to improve our heart for ourselves and for others. We will remember that church education is all about how to love others and how to be loved by others. We pray in your name Jesus Christ. Amen.