Friends, each week of this summer we have focused on a “favorite” scripture shared by a person from our worshipping congregation. This week, we are focused on 1st Corinthians chapter 13. This passage was lifted up by Nancy Gallagher – apparently, it was read at Gary and Nancy’s wedding ceremony – a memorial occasion for everyone who gathered here in this room to celebrate with Gary and Nancy.
St. Paul wrote this word about love in the middle of his first letter to the church at Corinth. The congregation was in the midst of a dispute among its members – Paul wanted them to settle down and focus on what was important: LOVE. Listen now to his poetic words as they are found in 1st Corinthians chapter 13:
The Scripture 1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray….
The Message Faith for the Long Haul
Now that I commute to work ( 😀 ) , I regularly drive back and forth down Bridge Road – Highway 113. As I drive, I have watched several new homes being built – it is almost magical to watch them appear. First land clearing equipment arrives – the trees are cut down, the land is cleared of brush and grass, the ground is leveled. Then, the basements are scooped out of the ground by excavators and the soil is hauled away. The concrete trucks arrive and pour the foundations. Then the walls are framed out and roofers come and put the roofs up in a day or two. You can’t see what is going on inside the walls of a tyvek covered home, but workers and trucks surround it and I can only assume plumbers, electricians and HVAC workers are installing systems indoors; the drywallers are putting walls in place and floors are being laid down; and all of the appliances are placed and cabinets and countertops are installed. The landscapers come last and roll out the grass and plant the trees.
After the house is constructed, the construction equipment is removed. The equipment, and the workers who use them, move on to the next job once the house is complete. The house will stand on its own–it doesn’t need the support of all the workers and trucks and equipment to stay in place. The house abides… .and for Christians, the love we share with each other, the love we have for God, and the love God shares with us abides eternally – even after all the spiritual gifts are shared and the work of church is done.
Today’s scripture lesson is focused on a disagreement about Spiritual Gifts – speaking in tongues, sharing prophetic messages, or interpreting scripture (translated as sharing Knowledge). In the Corinthian church, people were fighting about who had the most important spiritual gift – people were claiming their gift was superior to other people’s gifts. They were having a big disagreement…..and Paul’s point in his letter was that no matter what spiritual gift a person had, the most important gift that God gives the church is the gift of love. The other spiritual gifts are temporary, like the construction vehicles and workers are temporary when a house is being built ... .the spiritual gifts will go away, like the trucks ... .but God’s love and the love shared between members of the Christian community is the important gift…love is eternal.
The members of the church each have something to contribute to the work of the church….just like the construction workers and their equipment and vehicles each has something to contribute to building the house. They all work together to complete their building job – we, the members of the church, all work together to manifest God’s love on earth. And, just as all the construction jobs are necessary to build a house, all of the jobs we do at church and the talents we share here are needed….our church is who we are because of the colorful and creative and diverse ways we live out our faith together.
The people in the Corinthian church were acting very, very human as they argued. They wanted to feel special, and singled-out as the best…I have the gift of prophesying and that trumps your gift of speaking in tongues. I have the gift of being able to interpret scripture, and that trumps your gift of prophesying….sort of like a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” But, like Rock, Paper, Scissors, no one’s gift is ultimately the best. No matter what God calls us to do as Christians, no matter where our gifts and talents lie, none of us is the “best.” We all have a part to play in the work of God’s church. We all have beautiful jobs to do for God. And, dirty jobs to do for God. Even churches have bathrooms that need to be cleaned and gutters that need to be unclogged. We all have ways to contribute to God’s work at Trinity Christian United Church of Christ.
Paul emphasized in his letter to the Corinthian church that the most important work of the church is to LOVE. We are called to love each other (and not fight 😃). We are called to love our God. We are called to love other people. We are called to love other Christians and love people who aren’t Christians. We are called to love other people from Skippack and other people from Montgomery County and other who are from places far and wide. We are called to love our family, and love our friends, and love strangers, and love our enemies. We are called to be people of LOVE…period.
And, in some ways, we are ”fighting” an uphill battle. Just as we know the people in the Corinthian church were fighting with each other, people in our communities and the wider world have noticed that Christians don’t always get along with each other. They have noticed there are three Mennonite Churches next to each other on 113. They have noticed that Christians say pretty un-Christ-like things on TV. They have noticed that Christian countries have started wars with people because they aren’t Christians or the right kind of Christians. They have noticed that the Nazi’s thought they were upholding Christian values, and slaveholders in the US thought they were upholding Christian values, and the Americans who removed Native Americans from their land thought they were upholding Chrsitian values. Our non-Christians children and neighbors and co-workers can point out tons of examples of times Christians haven’t acted very lovingly.
And, we can’t personally overturn everyone else’s negative ideas about Christians. But, we do have control over ourselves and our behavior. It is our calling to treat other people with love.
It is our calling to work on being more loving in our attitude, our internal thoughts, and our behavior. It is hard…it is hard to not say our complaints out loud, and to think unkind thoughts about people we find annoying, or to stay positive when the person in front of you at the check-out line in the store can’t figure out how to use the credit card machine. But, when we practice being more patient, and practice thinking kinder thoughts, and practice being friendly, and practice being loving we retrain our brains and retrain our hearts.
God’s greatest gift to us is God’s love. We can do anything through him who strengthens us with his love. It is our calling, our opportunity, our obligation to treat other people with love.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Let us live out God’s love in how we act, in how we think, and in how we treat other people, today and all days. Amen.
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