Year C. Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany.
1Corinthians 12:31-13:1-13
January 28, 2001
Lord of the Lake Lutheran Church
Web page http://lordofthelake.org
By The Rev. Jerry Morrissey, Esq., Pastor
E-mail pastor@southshore.com
Heavenly Father thank you for Jesus unconditional love. Amen.
Title: “Conditional versus Unconditional Love.”
In chapter 12 Paul has discussed the spiritual “gifts” and shown that they are given for the building up and operation of the Church whose work is salvation. They are temporary graces to accomplish something. Their purpose will come to an end when that is done. Love, the vital center of God and of the Church will not end. It will last permanently.
Everyone must have love, no matter how expressed in whatever “gift.”
This is high prose, but not quite poetry. It is rhythmic, but not regular. The balance of the sentences and the power of the vocabulary are seldom equaled in Paul. Verses 1-3 contrast love with the “gifts;” verses 4-7 describes love, mostly in terms of what it is not; and verses 8-13 return to the contrast and stress that love is eternal.
In verse 31: strive eagerly: The imperative and indicative forms are identical in the Greek. It is impossible to tell which it is here. If it is imperative, it means to strive for the first three “gifts” in verse 28, that is, apostles, prophets and teachers. This would seem to be somewhat inconsistent with what Paul has said about “gifts” being gifts and not to be sought. However, he might be saying, “If you want to or must “strive” for a gift, strive not for the lowest one, namely, tongues, but the higher or greater ones.” If the verb is in the indicative, and it probably is, it would mean, “You are, indeed, striving for gifts, especially what you consider the “greatest,” tongues, but I am going to show you a better way.”
I shall show you a still more excellent way: Paul recognized that all did not have all gifts. Some thought they had none. Paul says it does not matter what “gifts” one has if love is not also present.
In verses 1-3: Three statements are all constructed on the same model: “If…but have not love…” In each case there is an allusion to a “gift” mentioned in chapter 12 tongues in verse 1=12:28; prophecy in verse 2= 12: 10, 28; knowledge in verse 2=12:8; faith in verse 2=12:9; helping in verse 3= 12:28.
If the exact nature of the “gift” is not clear, the point certainly is. The exercise of any gift or activity or any attitude that is minus love is nothing at all. There is nothing authentically Christian unless it is founded on, motivated by, and expressed with, love.
In verse 1: Paul treats of the gifts of tongues and interpretation first because he considers it “least” important and most open among all the gifts to the charge of being loveless.
Love: Paul uses the special Christian word for love, agape. It is not “good feeling” love, but “good will” love, sacrificial love.
In human and angelic tongues: Speaking in tongues was thought to be the same speech the angels use. Here and there in Jewish literature, outside of scripture, there is mention of this. Job’s daughters were said to have used it in praising God and Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, because of his piety and learning, was said to understand it. Here, “angelic” speech refers to the unintelligible speech of “tongues,” while “human” speech refers to its intelligible interpretation
Resounding gong or a clanging cymbal: In pagan worship the clang of the cymbal was used either to get the god’s attention or to drive the demons away, producing much sound but little sense. This was also a metaphor for empty philosophizing. It may pass for music, but it has no meaning. So also with “tongues” without love.
In verse 2: The three gifts mentioned in all lists are subjected to the same test of love. The gift of teaching is expressed here in its quintessential form of “comprehending all mysteries and knowledge.” The gift of “apostle” is described as in 12:9 as “faith to move mountains.,” to perform miracles, not the faith which every Christian has and must have. That faith is treated in 13:13. Prophecy, the divine interpretation to the human situation, is not effective unless the prophet does it in love. The same is true of apostles and teachers and, by extension, all who serve in the church no matter what title is held.
In verse 3: Paul runs the gamut of Christian activity in this brief sentence. Almsgiving, a private and daily feature of being a Christian, even to the point of personal poverty, on one end, and martyrdom, a public and once-in-a lifetime act of generous sacrifice, at the other end, are not exceptions to Paul’s principle of love as the necessary condition to make a person and his or her attitudes and actions Christian. Without that ingredient they are something else, nothing really, as far as Christ is concerned.
In verses: Christian love is not natural to human beings. To put others before oneself is a contradiction to the person of “flesh.” For Paul “love” is as loves does. So, he personifies love. Really, he is describing the attitudes of God shown in his behavior. He applies them to human-to-human relationships. God puts up with a lot from his children. He does them no harm. He does not resent their success, but rejoices in it. He, in Christ, takes evil upon himself and disposes of it, not rejoicing in unrighteousness. He does not boast of his power or virtues, nor does he put down those who do not have the same. He supports, has confidence in, and is faithful to all. This “love” is to be reproduced in those whom he loves and who claim to love him.
In verse 8 love never fails: If love is so like God, then it is nothing if not faithful, which is to say eternally consistent. While only God’s love persists without variation, human Christian love must rise above rebuffs, rejection and disappointments.
Will cease: All the “gifts” are temporary, important but temporary nonetheless. They will not be needed in eternity.
In verse 9 partially: The gifts can only reflect God and personal knowledge of him in an incomplete way. As great as our vision and grasp of God, love, is, it is still in the sin-stained context of earth. While we can grow in our apprehension and appreciation of God, we shall never arrive at perfection in this life.
In verse 10-11 a child…a man: It is like the process of maturation. Paul jabs the Corinthians for their childish attitudes and actions and spurs them on to fuller growth and development, but he knows that even full adulthood does not spell perfection in the sense he means.
In verse 12 at present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, then face to face: Mirrors were of polished metal. They did not reflect as clearly as our present ones. “Indistinctly” translates the Greek for “enigmatically.” That is to say, through metaphors, riddles, parables that must be interpreted. That is not without its risks and it does leave one not completely satisfied. Then, in eternity, we shall see "“face-to-face,” an expression which describes Moses’ experience of God on Mt. Sinai. God does not really have a face, but the expression tries to capture the clarity, directness and unimpeded vision of God in so far as we are capable of experiencing and he is willing to reveal.
At present I know partially, then…fully as I am fully known: God will always be shrouded in mystery, yet we will know him in a transparent way similar to the way he knows us, since we will be full of love, giving us a capacity for personal knowledge of God which lacking love prevents.
In verse 13 faith, hope and love remain: It is impossible to think of humans without these three powers. We, of course, will not need faith and hope in the form we now need them. Yet, we will always need confidence in God, even though we see him. Though we will not be “looking to the future,” since it will have arrived, that bond which hope produces will still be there in some form. Faith and hope then will be fulfilled and transformed, but not absent.
The greatest of these is love: Just as God reveals himself in three basic ways, we relate to him in these three basic ways. None of that will disappear. These “gifts,” if you will, are not temporary, to fulfill a function on earth, but are eternal, though born on earth. Whatever form faith and hope take in the Age of the Resurrection, when faith as we know it gives way to vision and hope is absorbed in realization, love remains unchanged in its nature even though it is perfected. Because these are eternal, they are a “better” course to take if there is to be anything like “striving” in a Christian. Without them, and especially love, there is no Christian. All the other gifts flow from them if they are to be authentic.
Paul ends his comments on “love” as viewed in and with his vision of heaven, eternity, but he means for his words to apply on earth, in time. We may have trouble understanding how faith and hope will continue in heaven, but Paul is not so concerned about that. He wants to say that, even though the “gifts,” which are really functions, ministries, works in the Church and for the Church, empower the Church to be and do, the Church as such will cease to exist when her job is done. What will not cease is love, the whole basis, purpose and motivating force of the Church. That being so, love is the necessary reality or dimension that must be present if God is to be present. Without love, no matter how well functioning the Church might seem to be on the surface or any “gifted” individual person; it is devoid of reality if devoid of love.
One cannot really “strive for” a “gift.” And love, too, is a gift. Yet, there is a sense that, once conscious of love, one “strives” to perfect it. Though Paul’s specific language may be confusing at times, the general import of his words are clear enough. The whole point of the Church is to love, not merely to function. The Church and every individual member of it; does indeed have functions to perform- from the superficial ones like administration to the profound ones like teaching, healing, and interpreting. These are things to do. But underneath the “doing” there is “being.” Love is both the means and the end. As such, it is eternal in quality, if temporal in expression.
Only God loves totally. Our love, while here on earth, will be mixed. Our motivation will not be pure. The scene in John’s last chapter with Peter confessing the mixed nature of his love for Christ makes the same point. It is good enough for Christ if we start out knowing that our love is not of the pure variety as his is. Clarity regarding our motivations, not purity, is required if we are to grow. Once we stop kidding ourselves that our motives are from pure love, we can let God do something about it. Until then we can only point to our accomplishments – our “charity” to the poor, our successful teaching, our eloquent preaching, our miraculous effectiveness, etc.- as “proofs,” really only boasts, and empty ones at that. The “proof” is not in the pudding, not in the “doing” but in the “being,” the “why” we do what we do and the “way” we do it. We will only come into purity if we begin with clarity and admit it. The works will end when our time on earth ends. We will not take with us our accomplishments. In heaven there will be no further need for preaching, teaching, interpreting, healing, etc. Only love as we have known it will remain. Only such love will be “better,” “greater,” higher.” And faith and hope as is appropriate to the new state of being. If we strive for anything, not on our own power but on God’s, we should strive for that. Not perfection in performance, but integration of love into our being, which will express itself in our doing.
If love cannot be hidden, the lack of love cannot either. Those whom we serve- both the converted and unconverted will notice that something is missing, does not ring true, is not authentic or real. “I am nothing,” Paul says. Nothing is what will happen, no matter how good it looks on the surface. There is nothing and no one “real” without cohering in love. We cannot get to heaven without it because it is heaven itself. So, heaven can be experienced here- though a mirror darkly, enigmatically, but truly nonetheless.
Authenticity: Jesus recognized that the greatest challenge to people who would “strive” to be religious is the challenge of being authentic. Hypocrisy was just about the only sin that caused Jesus to become irate. He saw so much hypocrisy among the “religious” people of his day. It infected and infested official Judaism and popular Judaism as well, both priests and people. And it annoyed Jesus because love is the essential ingredient of a truly “religious” and or spiritual life. Love and hypocrisy do not mix, cannot mix. One cannot be present when the other one is. The new movement that Jesus founded had little of the trappings of an “official” or mainstream religion. The first Christians turned to Judaism for all that, at least at first. They continued to go to Temple and synagogue and practice their new beliefs alongside of official Judaism. Paul is holding up those new practices and functions- teachings, prophecies, miracles, speaking in tongues, etc.- and he is looking at them through the magnifying glass of love to determine whether or not they have also been infected by hypocrisy. Just because Christianity is starting to look and act differently from Judaism is no automatic guarantee that Christianity is immune from the virus of hypocrisy. Paul makes the same point that the Old Testament prophets made in their criticism of the practices and functions of Judaism. They spoke of the absence of justice; Paul speaks of the absence of love. It is the same reality, but now seen through the experience of Christ. He makes clear what Jesus made clear, namely, that love, not any old love, not good feeling love, not self-motivated love, but Christian love, agape, is the necessary ingredient to any and all moral, ethical, religious behavior if it is to be real. What is new here is that Paul is applying that truth to the relatively new spiritual gifts given to this new movement by the Spirit of God. Even they can be infected by hypocrisy. They, like all religious, ritual, and moral behavior, can look good on the outside, be performed correctly, and still be lacking the living internal organs. They can be pretense, copycat imitation, acting, sham, a mere skeletal form of the real thing. Love is the very reality of God and without love God is not present. If God is not present, then no matter the external behavior, no matter how correct it might seem to be, it is without substance and without truth. It is not real in the eternal dimension where the really real is determined. Time has proven that Christianity, official and popular, is not immune from hypocrisy.
Weddings: This reading is by far the most popular reading chosen by brides and grooms to be read at their Christian wedding. Its high-sounding and rhythmic cadences seem so appropriate for the occasion. But its point is frequently missed. The shell, the exterior of the message is politely and even emotionally taken in, but the core is left behind. Paul relates love to the long term. Anyone can fake the real thing for a while. Anyone can be duped by an almost flawless performance- for a while. The real thing needs to be tested by time, a long time, by fidelity. Human motivation is tested not only under pressure, but also by routine. In fact, under pressure, most humans manage to rise to the occasion and do the right thing, even to the heights of heroism. However, under the rote of routine, most humans crack. And it is in the cracks of daily life, in its ever-present flaws, that the real mettle of the human character is tested. That’s why love, as Paul and Jesus understand it, is a gift, a true gift from God enabling us to be true to ourselves and our word. Love is the connecting link between time and eternity. It is also the very presence and power of God, enabling us to behave more like God than like the typical human. It is a gift that makes us atypical, unique, different from the run of the mill, living a life that points to eternity, where love remains the essential ingredient. Amen.
