Epiphany 4 (Year C)

3-2-2013

Pastor Lester Priebbenow

Gifts used in Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

'Love' has been a favourite subject of philosophers,

spiritual leaders, poets, songwriters and novelists right down through the ages, and still is today. Most people also know that the Bible also contains a chapter sometimes called "The Love Chapter" – 1 Corinthians 13. It is the most commonly requested Scripture passage at weddings. In Christian bookshops you can buy posters and wall plaques with 1 Cor. 13:4-8, all colourfully decorated with hearts and flowers.

In order to properly understand this beautiful passage we have to look beyond the sentimentality and understand the context in which it was written. It is not a passage about romantic love; nor was it written in the context of marriage (although it does also apply there). 1 Cor. 13 is part of the wider context of Paul's teaching about spiritual gifts which began in chapter 12 and continues into chapter 14. His point is that, in order to serve Christ and his mission, any spiritual gift needs to be accompanied by the spiritual fruit of love. As such, 1 Cor. 13 contains both a word about gifts in the context of love and a word about love in the context of gifts.

A word about Gifts in the context of Love
In everyday life we know that a gift or talent is of little value if it is not used in a spirit of consideration and care for others. A gifted student who studies and practices medicine because of the financial incentives and who doesn't have care and compassion for people will never be an effective doctor. A gifted sportsperson who plays the game without sportsmanship or consideration for others is no good to the team or the sport, regardless of his gifts and talents.

In the same way, St. Paul teaches that a gifted Christian who uses his spiritual gifts without the spiritual quality of love is of little value in the ministry of Christ. First he teaches: The gifts without love are Trivial. He recalls some of the more spectacular gifts from chapter 12 and says, "If I could speak in a tongue I had never learned – be it of mortals or of angels – and did so without love, I'd just be a nuisance in the church. I'd be like 'a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal'. I'd be as little value to others as the noise of your former pagan festivals."

"If I had the gifts of prophecy, knowledge or even a faith to move mountains and didn't have love, I'd be a nothing as far as Christ's ministry was concerned. Even if I went to the most extreme level of self-sacrifice, giving away all that I have and even putting my own life on the line - for my own boast rather than for other peoples' benefit – I'd remain a nobody." The gifts without love are always trivial.
For the time being, let us skip over those verses about love (v. 4-8) in order to better understand their context. In verses 9-12 St. Paul reminds us that the gifts themselves are Transitory (even if used correctly). They are not the be-all-and-end-all of life in the church. They are there for a purpose and for a time ordained by God. Paul writes, "As for prophecies, they will come to an end." Direct revelations from God would not be so necessary once God's Word was available in its written form. "As for tongues, they will cease." The gift of speaking another language you haven't learned won't be so necessary once the Word of God becomes available in many languages. "As for knowledge, it will come to an end." The mysteries of God would also be made known to all through the written Word of God.

The gifts – even the very spectacular ones – are one step along God's journey for the church. They are only ever 'partial' in God's total revelation of himself in Jesus, but the 'complete' is coming. Paul writes, "When the complete comes, the partial will come to an end." They are connected with the infant church which will one day grow up into adulthood. In these gifts we have but poor reflection of Christ as in a mirror made of polished metal (as all mirrors were in Paul's day). They serve the purpose of making Christ known to us until the day when we shall see him face to face and know him as he really is.

Nevertheless, the gifts are Tremendous as long as they are serving a higher purpose; helping to produce the spiritual fruit of faith, hope and love. However, it is the fruit, not the gifts, that are the permanent thing, as St. Paul concludes, "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." Faith alone will bring us eternal salvation through Jesus; hope will help us cling to his promise amid the trials of this life, and love will reflect – in some small way now - the perfect love that God has for us in Jesus.

A word about Love in the context of Gifts
Now we are in a better place to talk about love. First we need to remember that love is Treasured eternally. According to verse 8, "love never ends." It is eternal. It never fails. According to verse 13, love is one of the three qualities that abide or remain, even when the gifts cease. In fact, love is the greatest of these three gifts.

How is love the greatest? Surely faith and hope are more crucial to my salvation than love? Yes they are, but faith will one day mature into sight; and hope – even certainty - will mature into experience. Love, however, will always remain love. In fact, faith and hope will also mature into perfect love when we see Christ face to face.
In the here and now, however, love is Tested by our attitudes and actions. That is the context into which the great 'hymn of love' (verses 4-8) is spoken. These verses are not about romantic love at all. Nor are they about what we might call 'brotherly love,' a general care and concern for others. If they were, St. Paul would have used one of the several other words that the Greek language has for love. Instead he uses the word 'agape' which means "a self-sacrificing love that is prepared to lay aside the self for the good of another." This is the same love that caused Jesus to lay aside his perfect life for us, to humble himself and become obedient unto death on a cross.

Just as the Holy Spirit alone leads us to confess Jesus as Lord (12:1,2), and just as His gifts are to bring glory to Jesus (12:3-11), so we are to exercise our spiritual gifts with the 'mind of Christ', which is the way of love. Love is a Spirit-prompted choice to behave in a Christ-like manner toward others, regardless of how we may feel about them.

There are two things that love is. Love that is patterned on Jesus is patient with those who are less gifted we are and with those who test our patience to the limit. Love is kind to others, even when kindness is not earned or returned.

There are seven things that love doesn't do (or isn't). Love doesn't envy the gifts that others have; and it doesn't boast about the ones that you have. Love isn't rude to others, or about others, when you talk about what they can or can't do. Love isn't self-seeking, but rather seeks the good of others. Love isn't easily angered, even when it seems that your gift is less appreciated than another. Love keeps no record of wrongs that others have done to you and takes no delight in evil - paying them back or seeing them fall.

There are five things that love always does. It always rejoices in the truth; it always protects others, their reputation and their honour; it always trusts their words and motives, always hopes for their good, and always endures, even when you feel like giving up on them.

This kind of love isn't easy, but if the Holy Spirit's gifts are to glorify Jesus they need to be used with the same love that Jesus has shown to each one of his people. Paul's advice about spiritual gifts and spiritual love are best summed up by the opening words of 1 Cor. 14: "Pursue love AND earnestly desire the spiritual gifts."

Let's all pray that God would help us use our spiritual gifts with the spiritual fruit of love, to the glory of Jesus. Amen!