4th Sunday of Epiphany 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 January 31st, 2010
On any given Saturday across the country it is not uncommon to find a gathering of family and friends circled around a man and woman intending to join their hearts as one in the celebration of marriage. It is also not uncommon that one of the scripture readings we heard this morning would be read. Can you guess which one?
If you chose the reading from 1 Corinthians chapter 13 you would be right. I would wager to guess that this particular reading, often referred to as the "Love Chapter", is the most widely read scripture verse when it comes to weddings. I mean why not, it just reeks of poetic and romantic themes of love.
The irony is, if you know any thing about the Apostle Paul and the Christian community in Corinth at that time—romantic and marital bliss was the farthest thing from it's original intent. Especially when you consider that Paul considered celibacy to be a greater gift than the gift of marriage! Perhaps this is yet another example of how we have a tendency to take scripture out of context and bend it to our own use and preference.
So, what is going on in this text? What did Paul really have in mind? The truth is Paul was writing to a Christian community in crisis, a community that had overlooked the core of the faith they professed to claim—that being love. Not romantic love, or erotic love, or even brotherly love, but rather: a selfless, sacrificial love on the behalf of the other. A love that looks out for the neighbor in need and those who are on the margins—much like the Gentiles that Jesus spoke of in the Gospel reading.
In order to wrap our heads around all this, let's step back for a moment and look at the big picture. If you were to open your Bibles, or even the Bibles in front of you to the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians you would note that most of the believers in Corinth were extremely excited about their faith. You would gather that there were people with a great many gifts in the community:
+ There were teachers and healers and those who could speak in tongues,
+ There were those who could and would lead in worship and there were preachers,
+ There were people willing to offer help to those in need,
+ There even people who could prophesy,
+ And on top of all that, the word of the Lord was proclaimed each and every day.
The bottom line was that everything you needed for a vital church was happening in their midst—but something was lacking, some thing every important was lacking—that being love—that same selfless, sacrificial love I spoke of earlier. In Greek it is referred to as "agape". The kind of love Christ has demonstrated on our behalf, the kind of love that involves a dying on a cross. This was the missing ingredient.
Despite all the wonderful things that were going on in their midst—
Despite all the spiritual wisdom that seemed to be around the place—
Despite all the faith that folks claimed to have—
The most important thing was missing: love.
And as a result of this missing component, some rather unfortunate events were taking place. There was the man who was sleeping with his stepmother; there were the two elders of the church who could not find common ground so they dragged each other off to court instead of making peace with one another.
When they gathered as a community for meals there were some who were gluttons and ate more than they should have, thereby causing some to go hungry, there were some who drank too much wine and became quarrelsome. And there were some who had an overwhelming sense of entitlement and considered their point of view to be of greater importance than that of others. In short the people in Corinth were, at times rude to one another, impatient, arrogant, greedy, selfish, egoistical, and unkind. As you might imagine it was a mess and rather embarrassing especially when you consider all of the other wise valuable and wonderful gifts they held in their midst.
This was the setting and situation—and Paul had had enough. Much like the words that Jesus spoke in front of the hometown crowd of Nazareth, Paul cut to the chase calling things as he saw them. And I suspect that like Jesus prophetic words, there were most likely a few in the community who chaffed at what he had to say.
But you know what, some times you need to speak a prophetic word, a word that causes us to take a closer look at our behavior, a word that will hopefully be corrective even if it causes a bit of discomfort. And that is exactly what Jesus was doing in Nazareth in reminding his Jewish community that God loves the Gentiles, just as much he loves his chosen people. And for some of the Jews this was offensive, to say the least, in fact for some it was an abomination and it went against every thing they had been taught about how God functioned.
Sadly, the need to control and establish clearly defined lines as to who is welcome and who is not has been seen throughout scripture and in our world. Due to our sinfulness we are often far too ready to look out for ourselves and our own, to place our own concerns and opinions over and above those of others, to neglect those who are standing on the fringes. And that is what Paul is trying to communicate to the Corinthians—that unless the love of Christ is not at the heart and center of our lives and our community—we are missing the boat.
Let me put it this way. Imagine a funeral setting, the visitation, the service itself, and that time when family and friends are gathered for a hotdish lunch, followed by an assortment of cakes and of course coffee. Imagine this is YOUR funeral and the people who know you best are standing around and they are talking about your life—what will they say about your capacity to love?
They may speak of impressive achievements—diplomas earned, money accumulated, and trophies on the mantle piece. Maybe they'll talk about healthy, happy children raised to adulthood, or volunteer hours given to the community. They may recall the businesses you founded, or the way you advanced through the ranks of your profession, or your many artistic gifts, or athletic talents—but if they never mention love, Paul says, all these accomplishments are as nothing!
When you reach the end of your life, will love be the truly defining quality, the guiding principle in your life, the thing that comes to mind when folks think back? When they share memories or eulogize you—will your tendency to love at all cost be a reoccurring theme?
Let's stretch this question a bit further. Let's take a moment and reflect upon our community of faith here at Zion. As you take time to look at the Annual Report for today's meeting, it is easy to see that there are some wonderful things going on here.
Gradually we continue to grow in membership. We are attempting to be faithful to the calling and responsibility of passing on the faith to the next generation and the next through our educational ministries. We are being mindful of those who live with hunger through our support of ministries that address those hunger related concerns.
We are blessed with a great many musical talents and continue to explore ways to enhance our worship time together. Granted there is room for more intentional efforts to be better stewards, but that is a work in progress in every congregation. All in all we are a healthy congregation. But, here is the only question that really matters—is love at the heart and center of all that we say and do? Despite all the good and wonderful things we have going on inside these walls and beyond—does the love of Christ define us and guide us?
Consider if you will this paraphrased version of 1 Corinthians 13…
"What if I could stand up here and say the most wonderful things,
And sound impressive and answer everybody's questions,
But I didn't love anyone—what's the point?
What if we were the most incredible church?
Where very pew was filled.
The preaching was always inspirational.
We had a choir that always sang perfectly and during fellowship we served the best coffee in town…
But no one felt love—what would be the point?
And if as a community we teach our children,
Lots of information and knowledge,
And they can recite all the books of the Bible,
And know all the right answers.
But they don't know how to love--we've failed them.
If we claim that we are marked with the cross of Christ,
That we are claimed and gathered and sent for the sake of the world—but do so only out of obligation, or out of lip service--what's the point?
If we raise money for the hungry in places like Haiti or Honduras, if we support missionaries like John in India and send our youth off to Milwaukee—and yet fail to care for the poor and marginalize here in Milaca—where's the honesty in that?
If we don't love—what's the point?
If we lack compassion and mercy—we missed the boat.
Love is kindness in action, offered simply and humbly.
Love is not meant to make me look good, score brownie points with God, or draw attention to our congregation or ourselves.
Love is cooperative; there are all kinds of ways of doing good and God is happy to use every way there is.
Love only cares that what's needed is done.
Love always has the best interest of others in mind—no matter who or where they are on their faith journey, whether we like them or not, or whether we agree with them or not, or approve of them or not.
Love is bi-partisan and is colorblind.
Sometimes we grow weary and give up—we can‘t think of what else can be done.
But God never gives up;
God's love continues and new possibilities are always appearing.
What we know now is never the whole picture.
What we do now is never the whole story.
In some ways we're like children;
We do what we can and what we know to this point.
But there's still more for us to learn,
To grow into,
To accept.
Some day we'll look back on where we are now,
And wonder how we could ever have wondered and doubted and refused to accept what was happening.
In some ways, it's like looking in an imperfect mirror.
There's a reflection there,
But it's not quite right,
Not totally true.
We are the body of Christ, the image of God—
But not perfectly,
Not completely,
Not totally true…and yet.
God loves us; God claims each and every one of us as beloved and desires to abide with us.
God is patient with us.
God is forgiving of us—even when we struggle to forgive.
The day will come when we will see.
The day will come when we will know.
Until the, we live in faith, trusting God's love.
Until then, we live in hope, hoping for God's love.
Until then, we live in love, showing God's love as best we can, because love is the point of it all.
And God's love endures and abides in us in spite of ourselves.
And this--my friends is the best news we are going to hear all day!
Amen
(Paraphrased version of 1 Corinthians 13 adapted from a Loaves and Fishes sheet, Wood Lake Books 1998)
Pastor Stephen Blenkush
Zion Lutheran
Milaca, MN
www.ZionMilaca.org(Sermon Archive)
