“Living together – love language”
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (February 2, 2025)
Today we come to the second in a series of sermons from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It’s all about living together – which ain’t easy. Did I mention that?
But you already know how difficult it can be: To live with certain neighbours. To put up with that one particularly difficult person – in your work life, in your home life. To stay married to a spouse who’s probably not perfect. To raise kids who stubbornly ignore the things you say.
Whether it’s that little world of our home, or the much larger world of nations jockeying for position, asserting themselves … living together ain’t easy.
Last week we talked about diversity – in the natural world, in our human lives, and in the church as well. We are invited to celebrate that diversity.
Scripture also recognizes a deeper unity revealed to us in Jesus. We are baptized into one body with many members. All of us are valued by God. All of us contribute to a larger whole.
After saying these things, the apostle Paul lifts up the greatest gift of all. The one thing that truly matters. The treasure that makes all these other gifts look like peanuts. I wonder if you’ve been waiting breathlessly for it all week long? Well here it is: the gift of love!
I told you these sermons wouldn’t be talking about anything new. Just things we need to hear again. And then, again – throughout our Christian journey.
Over time they have a way of working themselves into our hearts and minds. And so the process of transformation unfolds. The Spirit is working in our lives, making us more like Jesus. Which is the goal.
✠
The gift of love. So tell me, what do you think love is? Are there words enough in the English language to define it?
Is love a feeling, a fluttering in your heart? Is it a candlelight dinner and romance? Have you made plans for Valentine’s Day?
Is love a function of hormones? A biological necessity for reproduction?
What on earth is love? Especially the kind of love that Paul is writing about in 1 Corinthians 13, that lasts for all eternity?
✠
Before we go any further, let me say that context matters when reading scripture.
The most common place to hear these words, in my experience, has been at a wedding. Picture a bride and groom standing there, starry-eyed at the front of the church, ready to make their vows.
The person officiating reads these words: “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love …”
It’s a beautiful passage! Very poetic. Enough to inspire a young couple. And maybe re-invigorate the love of every older couple sitting there, listening in. Yes, it’s a fine passage for a wedding.
But that is far from the original purpose of Paul’s letter. He’s writing to a fractious, divided congregation, where no one sees eye to eye, where competition trumps cooperation. And people are pulling in different directions, every person putting their own interests first.
I picture the apostle Paul at his wit’s end, pulling his “pastoral hair” out! (Incidentally, he’s often depicted as a bald man in early Christian art.) Paul must surely have been frustrated.
A noisy gong! A clanging cymbal! I can be the world’s most eloquent speaker. I can understand all mysteries. I can say to a mountain: “Be taken up and thrown into the sea.” (cf. Mark 11:23) But if I don’t have love, it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans!
As if to say, “Come on, you people. You can do better than this.” So, can we?
✠
I was speaking with a friend of mine about a week ago, who reminded me how much they dislike that song, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Because we make a mess of loving others. And who do we think we are anyway? Are Christians the only ones who can love? The answer is, of course not.
Yet the invitation to love is central to the Christian calling. It’s at the heart of everything Jesus stood for. Remember how he said to his disciples: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you ….” (John 13:34-35)
Jesus himself embodied God’s love … as he cared for others, even the least among them. As he taught them, healed them, led them. Even died for them. That’s the kicker. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1)
He loved not only friends, but enemies also. And tells us to do the same: Care for others, even when they don’t give a hoot about you. When someone does you wrong, forgive. And not just once, but many times.
✠
So now we see that love is more than just a nice idea. And certainly more than mushy sentimentality. Love is a disciplined way of life, a path we’re called to follow.
Love is a verb, a movement, a doing. Not mere words, but action.
Love, says Paul, means being patient. Showing kindness. Being humble – not boastful or arrogant or rude. It doesn’t draw attention to itself. It doesn’t gloat when things go wrong for others. It doesn’t utter falsehoods. Love rejoices in the truth.
You can see, can’t you, that this is no namby-pamby kind of love. This is love that challenges our humanity to the core. (And love that draws out of us the very best of who we are.)
Scripture calls for love in the most demanding circumstances. These times in which we live can be challenging. Like the church in Corinth, we too encounter division. Personalities drive us crazy. Love sounds fine, until it comes time to put it into practice with our neighbours.
✠
Love doesn’t happen all at once. It takes determination and practice.
If we want to keep our physical bodies fit and healthy, we have to exercise. It’s no good flopping down on the couch all day. We need to keep moving. This is why we have our Fitness in Motion group here at the church. To encourage seniors in our community stay well.
And just as we exercise our physical bodies, so too we can build our spiritual selves in the “body of Christ.” It’s a form of resistance training, a way to grow our “love muscles.” We push against the weight of hatred, prejudice and pride.
Instead of lashing out, we try to be patient. Instead of further division, we work to find common ground. Instead of putting others down, we offer respect.
This is heavy lifting! It doesn’t come easy, not at all. And there are times when I have failed miserably. But the more we live God’s kingdom way, the stronger we grow. I’m hoping the day will come when it’s second nature to me.
✠
Speaking of days to come, our passage calls us to focus on things of lasting value.
Prophecies, tongues knowledge – all of these gifts the Corinthians thought so highly of, even bragged about – are limited and will, ultimately, come to an end.
We are invited to turn our attention from that which is partial and fragmentary, to that which is complete. From present to future. From what is now to what will be.
From childish ways, to maturity in our Christian walk. From seeing in a mirror dimly, to seeing God face to face.
Christians have this eschatological (end time) hope. We live our lives in flawed, imperfect ways. But we strive for a kingdom that’s coming to be. We’re surrounded by chaos, disintegration. But we are living for the promise of a world made whole.
At the end of the day, says Paul, there are only three things of enduring value: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these … well you know what that is. Love is the one thing that matters – eternally!
All else, everything we strive for and work so hard to attain – the good, the bad, the whole of our world and all our living – will fade into insignificance compared to this most precious gift in the God-given universe.
Faith hope and love abide. And the greatest of these is love.
When I arrive at the end of life, and I stand before my maker, the only thing that matters is that love will be waiting there to welcome me. I trust my life with that! Can you?
✠
It is a gift, you know: Salvation at the end of time. Love even here and now. These are gifts that come from God’s generous hand.
Scripture claims the only reason we love at all is because God has first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
“…love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:7-9)
I think of the amazing turn-around the apostle Paul experienced in his life. He was a smart guy, well-educated. He was zealous for the Lord. So much so, that concern for righteousness turned to violence. There was no love in his practice of faith.
Until one day Jesus showed up, out of the blue, and revealed himself, and said, “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And it knocked proud Saul to his knees.
Love is always seeking us. Never gives up on us. Wants to dwell within us.
✠
When I read 1 Corinthians 13, I hear these lovely, lofty words. Then realize all the ways I have fallen short of them. It’s fine to say we should love more. Be patient, less irritable. Kinder, thinking less of self …. All down through the list of things that Paul presents in our passage as the way of love.
In my experience, it’s a bit like flogging a stubborn mule that’s bent on resistance. It doesn’t want to go. My life doesn’t want to change.
But as we open ourselves to God’s love, allowing it to come and dwell more fully within us – like a burning ember glowing in our hearts – then, maybe, hopefully, love will flourish!
And lives will change. And my life will grow to be more like that of Jesus.
The source of love is God. Love, says Paul, is the greatest of all God’s gifts. In love we were formed. In love we are redeemed. In love we will be welcomed. Love never ends!
And for that, we say whole-heartedly: “Thanks be to God!”