Epiphany 4 – Nothing, but Love
Jan 28
1 Cor. 12:31b—13:13
† In the Name of Jesus †
16 May the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father who loves us and gives us unending encouragement and unfailing hope by his grace, inspire you with courage and confidence in every good thing you say or do. 2 Thessalonians 2:16 (Phillips NT)
Nothing but….
The basketball flies out of the players hand, it’s 22 foot arc, is absolutely perfect, the ball rotating slowly backward as it drops towards the hoop, and as it enters the cylinder, all one hears is the simple perfect sound, the swooshing rustle of the net. Then silence, and then the thump, as the ball hits the floor.
There is a phrase that describes such a shot, “nuthin but net!”. Said before the shot, by the player, it is a claim of assurance, that the shot to be made will be perfect, no guess work, no risk. Said by those observing the game, it is a remark of admiration, as surely as the applause given to the master violinist, or the stare of awe of those admiring a Picasso, or a Monet. Being able to repeat such a shot, and continually hit nothing but net, is a skill few can master. It requires perfect form, perfect technique, and a certainty of what one is about.
If life where a basketball game, 1 Corinthians 13 is “the” passage, that describes a life that is “nuthin but net.” It describes a life that is perfect, that doesn’t bounce on the sides of the rim, or roll out. It is simple, beautiful, inspiring perfection. That simplicity, that beauty, that inspirational passage read at least at half the weddings I have been to, is life lived, nothing but net.
To be honest, there are times I hate the passage.
Clanging on the rim….
If I look at this passage, and judge my life by it, there are days my shots clang loudly off the rim. And like most humans, there are days where life is like an airball, where not only is the rim missed, but the backboard is as well.
I would think that many of us struggle with being patient with others, but instead, we want vengeance, and judgment on them now. There might be a time or two where being “kind” to that one particular person, or that group, might not ever enter into our mind. Being kind by the way, means being beneficial or helpful, or profitable for the other person. What about being envious, do we choose that, or do we rejoice for what others are blessed with, even when we are not? Boastful? Another thing I have a tendency to be, rather than demonstrate love. I could keep going, mentioning insisting on my way, or being rude, or rejoicing in injustice,
Having played a bit of basketball in my life, the sound of those shots that miss, when I am trying my hardest, can echo far longer in my ears, than the airball I shot without caring. Just like the times where I thought the lesson was learned, and I would live perfectly as God wants, and then, as I read a passage like this, and realize how far short my attempt came… the guilt can be overwhelming…when one sees their lives judged by the standard of this passage…
The Free Throw Substitute
That swoosh, provides our hope, our faith,
There is a rule, in basketball, that is so applicable to the Christian life, and to the problem of our dealing with sin. Imagine the game is on the line, and you are a poor free throw shooter. For those that don’t know, a free throw is what you get if someone fouls you, the penalty for them holding, or pushing or doing some thing to you against the rules. Imagine the game is on the line, and you get fouled with one second on the clock, down by 2 points. If you make the free throws, you win, if you do not, you loose.
Only problem is, you are a horrible free throw shooter. So bad that you do the old fashioned “gramma” shot. If you shoot, the game is over. But the rule states, that if you have been injured in the process of the foul, someone else can replace you, to shoot the foul shots for you. The coach can replace you with anyone on the bench. Say someone who will hit ‘nuthin but net”.
In life, our lives are injured, injured by sin, ours, and those sins committed against us. That is why we pray, in the Lord’s prayer, that God forgives us, as we forgive others. Our injuries totally debilitate us, and Jesus steps in, and with a sinless, obedient life, and His sacrifice on the cross, substitutes for us, and hits nothing but net. You see, we often talk of how His death substitutes for the death our sin has earned, but equally, his righteousness, his perfection, his “nothing but net’ness” is counted as ours. Because of His love.
The Ideal
Look at how he swooshes life
You see, that is the key to understanding this incredible chapter – that it is Christ that embodies the very nature of love. All languages, all wisdom, all power, and knowledge were His, but those qualities were made so valuable, so perfect, because of His love.
He is patient, Peter says in his 1st epistle, that God is patient, not willing that any should be lost and suffer wrath… but rather all come to repentance. He is the very definition of loving kindness, for all He has done, pour out as the beneficial grace that so changes us. Look at the epistle again, at the qualities, do they not describe Jesus?
“love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends”
It is Jesus, is it not?
Training program
Once saved, once we realize we are in the presence of God, that in our baptism, we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are being transformed 2 Corinthians 3, into the likeness of Christ. We begin to love, for we are loved. Here is how Luther put it,
And again, “If I have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2). 124 These and similar passages assert that we should begin to keep the law ever more and more. We are not speaking of ceremonies, but of Decalogue, the law that deals with the thoughts of the heart. 125 Since faith brings the Holy Spirit and produces a new life in our hearts, it must also produce spiritual impulses in our hearts. What these impulses are, the prophet shows when he says (Jer. 31:33), “I will put my law upon their hearts.” After we have been justified and regenerated by faith, therefore, we begin to fear and love God, to pray and expect help from him, to thank and praise him, and to submit to him in our afflictions. Then we also begin to love our neighbor because our hearts have spiritual and holy impulses.
Using the basketball analogy, it is like being on a team, where there is a player of incredible talent. The kind of guy who you forget you are in the game, because you are watching him play. In college, that was a guy named Brian, who after I left the school, led my alma mater to two NCCAA division II championships. If Brian had been 6’3”, he would have played in the NBA. He couldn’t miss, whether form 23 feet, or from 2 feet, in the midst of guys a foot taller.
Playing with him was inspiring, for he made you better, he made you capable of taking shots beyond your own ability, because of the way he hit nuthin but net. And in impossible situations, you simply passed to him, and watched in awe.
Similarly, the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus as a gift celebrating our baptism, our becoming unified with His death and resurrection, guides us in our lives, shows us how to love, and who needs to be served by that love.
It is no longer a matter of who has what gift, for as we heard the last two weeks, it is the Spirit who gives and guides their use. Love becomes, thought challenging, the way in which we operate spiritually. It becomes, in many ways, like the lessons I am learning in fatherhood.
I am not quite intellectually capable yet, of comprehending that I am a dad. The fears, and trepidation, and concerns still dominate my mind, just like sin challenges us each and every day. Yet, there is something… right, about holding my son, about having some 300 pictures of the little guy taken, that I will more than gladly share, just about anywhere, with just about anyone!
That is, the nature of God’s love, it comes to us, and changes us, transforms us, re-creates us, as people capable of true love. Not just the emotional gut wrenching stuff, but the literal calm, self sacrificing love that we see in Christ. The nuthin but net type of love.
The End of the Game…
As the chapter comes to a close, this idea of serving, of using our gifts, comes full circle. In truth, it doesn’t matter who has which gift. In the end, what matters is found in the words of Paul – to the people of God in Corinth,
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Faith in a God who sent His son, that should we trust His substitution for us, results in our being forgiven, and gifted with eternal life. Hope in that life, and that we walk every day, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And that we can love, for we are loved, by God.
So be at peace, those who know they are loved by God, for He has given you peace that surpasses all understanding… given to you in Christ Jesus. AMEN?
AMEN!
AMEN.
