A Sermon
Presented to
St. Charles
Avenue Baptist Church
February 2,
2013
On
this most testosterone-filled of Sundays, I felt it only appropriate to bring
balance into the day by reflecting on I Corinthians 13, entitled in some Bibles
as “The Gift of Love.”
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. 2And
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. 3If 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 5or
rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it
does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, 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. 9For we know
only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete
comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When 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. 12For 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. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide,
these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Sometimes, a preacher takes on the
role of a teacher, presenting a congregation with historical and textual
insight, giving a fresh perspective, or enlightening the mystery behind a
passage.
Other times, a preacher’s role is just
to remind the church of truth that has already been established. I believe that in this 13th
chapter of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he wanted to do just that—he
wanted to remind the church in Corinth of the truth that already was.
Paul’s letter until now is full of
direction, insight, and even admonition for the church. He talks about immorality and divisions
within the Corinthian church and he reminds them of expectations established
long ago.
In the 12th chapter,
presented to us last Sunday, Paul discusses the variety of gifts within the
body of the church—all necessary and all important. But at the end of the 12th
chapter, Paul sets us up for a return to the beginning, the beginning of our
faith, before the establishment of the church and before the telling of prophecies. Paul says, “before we discuss further how
this body of believers will specifically run, let me remind you of your
foundation. ‘I will show you a still
more excellent way’ to be a body of believers.
Let me remind you of we already know, of what you already know.”
What do we already know? Let’s start
at the end of chapter 13: “Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the
greatest of these is love.”
Our foundation is not rooted by our
faith or our hope. Surely, these are a
part of our solid ground—even essential pieces—but love is the firmament, the
very beginning, the root of creation.
Paul sends us back to Genesis so that we might remember this: we are
created because of love.
God is
patient: God is kind. God does not
rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth.
God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things. God never ends.
We
are created in God’s image. We know
this too from Genesis and Paul reminds us in verse 12: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, [that
which] we will see face to face.” When
we look in a mirror now, in the present, we all have the possibility to see God
in our reflection.
What do we see in ourselves that is
God-like? If God is Love and we are
created in the image of God, then we are love.
We are creations that are capable of reflecting the image of love back
to God and back to humanity. Be reminded
of the truth of which you are capable:
You are
patient; you are kind; you are not envious or boastful or arrogant or
rude. You do not insist on your own way;
you are not irritable or resentful; you do not rejoice in wrongdoing, but you
do rejoice in truth.
Isn’t this freeing? Say it over and over, again and again: I am patient, I am kind. Let love win in you and let love be your
reflection. Love frees us all from fear, from sin, from the burden of being
un-loving.
When we look in the mirror and we
stare at ourselves, it is easy to get lost in our un-holiness and our
un-godliness or to get caught up in our human nature and beauty. The things we so easily see in ourselves make
it therefore hard to see God in our own image.
But our humanness is not something to be ashamed of—we carry the image
of love, dim though it may be, with us every day. And when we grab onto this image, when we choose
to be of love and when we act in a spirit of love, we truly reflect the image
of God to others.
It’s also easy to get lost in the
discussion of spiritual gifts. It’s easy
to get stuck in chapter 12. No, we are
not all apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, interpreters;
but, if not one of us is all, then what is each of us? When we look in the mirror, we want to see a
specific calling. We want to know our
role and we want to be known for our role.
This definition of roles extends beyond the roles that are within the
church. We want to know that we will be either
great architects or teachers or lawyers and we want others to know that we are
great in the roles that we play.
This is why chapter 13 has to be
included in this letter. If we speak, if
we prophesy, if we teach, and if we heal, but we do not have love, we may be
noisy but we have no substance. If we do
not first answer our call to love—and to
love is our calling—then we have failed to firm our foundation. What is the line from the hymn? “They will know we are Christians by our
love.”
A story from the news this past week
was about a man who went into a pizza restaurant and demanded money of another
man whose role was cook. The potential
robber broke down crying, saying that he just wanted to feed his family. Instead of acting out of fear, the cook told
the man to wait while he prepared him a meal to take home to his family. This is love, personified and reflected in
the role of cook.
Today, on this Sunday, a meal is
prepared for us too. The communion table
is here before us because fear has been conquered, death has been conquered,
and because love has won. Prepare your
hearts, not with a sense of obligation, but instead with a sense of
freedom. Be reminded of the truth that
was, is, and is to come. Be not afraid,
be not proud, but be faithful, be hopeful, be filled with the gift of love.
Amen.
Pastoral
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Oh
Lord of all Lords,
In
our conversations with you, we often confess to you our sins and our
desires. But allow us to confess our
fears to you this morning, recognizing that those fears are often as disruptive
and impeding to living full lives as our disobedience and our greed.
We
confess to you our fear of loneliness and pray that you remind us that we are
never alone.
We
confess to you our fear of inadequacy and pray that you remind us that your
call brings with it sufficiency.
We
confess to you our fear that we will lose control and pray that you remind us
in those moments that your spirit makes burden rest with ease.
Oh
Guiding Presence, Caretaker, Deliverer, be with us with our fears, be with us
in our sins, be with us in our praise.
Oh
Joy, be with us this morning through it all.
Hear our prayer as we pray together, saying the words given to us by
your Son, “Our Father…”
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