Tuesday,
July 21 –
Today’s
reading – In our plan to read thru the New Testament in a year – is from the
famous “love” chapter, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Every year it is voted as
people’s most favorite scripture in the Bible. You may have read it a dozen or
more times, but today I’d like you to read it again, and then come back – there
might be some new treasures to discover.
The beauty of Paul’s prose cannot be overstated. Yet, behind it is what?
Context, Context, Context. I bet you knew I was going to say that. Paul had
been writing to the Corinthians to encourage them to desire spiritual gifts,
but, for the right reasons. The Verse that he had written at the end of chapter
12 was immediately followed by the beginning of Chapter 13.
“Now
eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent
way” ... “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” (12:31 - 13:1).
What
was Paul referring to when he spoke of “the most excellent way”? The answer
follows, “Love”. Without love, all of the giftings are nothing more than
futility. This chapter on love sits in between the two chapters that Paul
writes about the gifts in the church. It serves as a tipping point to remind us
that the Spirit of God gifts the church, but the Fruit of the Spirit is love
and must be the motivation for using our gifts. The two verses that emphasize
both the fruit of the Spirit and how it intersects with the gifts of the Spirit
are:
Galatians
5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love..." and, 1 Corinthians
13:1, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal".
Put
those together and we make an important observation. There must be love as the
governing gift over all the other gifts. There are churches that place a great
deal of weight on the gifts of the Spirit, and the gifts are certainly
important for the proper functioning of the church’s life. Yet, without the
primary governing gift of love, the gifts can easily become self-centered and
conceited.
In a
series of “If I have”, connected to a gift, Paul accentuates that gifts without
love “gain nothing”.
“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 (13:2-3).
The
Greek language has three words for Love: Phileo (Fill ë o) meaning brotherly
love...comradery, or friendship – think Philadelphia, the “city of brotherly
love”. The second word is Eros, for sexual, or romantic love – think of our
word, Erotic. The third word was Agape (ä göp ā), which interestingly, we have
no transliterated English word. The word Agape means a sacrificial love such as
“husbands, love (agape) your wives, even as Christ loved (agape) the church”
(Ephesians 5:25). It is this kind of love that Paul uses to describe the
essential character of love in the gifts of the Church. We must remember this,
the first of the fruit of the Spirit is love. Chuck Swindoll summarizes Paul’s
words in a simple mathematical formula: Spiritual Gifts -minus- Love = NOTHING![1]
Love is
“never having to say you’re sorry”. Love is “just a sentimental feeling”. Love
is “blind”. There are a hundred different ways culture describes love. Paul
does not describe as a “feeling” but as an active response to others.
"Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on
its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at
wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends, (or fails)"
(13:4-8).
Most of
us realize how high the bar is set in these words. Are any of us capable of
doing this perfectly? No. Yet there was one man who did it perfectly – Jesus.
Paul described this in Romans 5 when he wrote: “God’s love has been poured
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us...God shows
his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
(Romans 5:5,8).
A
century ago, William Rees living in Wales during the Welsh Revival penned the
Hymn, “Here is Love, Vast as the Ocean”. It became the theme song of the Welsh
Revival and was used by God in meeting after meeting.
Here is
love, vast as the ocean,
Loving-kindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout heav’n’s eternal days.[2]
Paul
writes that love would “never end”, while the gifts for the Church would
someday end. “Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as
for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know
in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will
pass away” (13:8-10 ).
There
has been a lot of contention concerning what Paul meant when he wrote that the
gifts would disappear “when the perfect comes” (ESV), or “when
completeness comes” (NIV). Many see this as a reference to Christ Jesus’
second coming which means the gifts are established for the entirety of the
Church age. Others have argued that the gifts were for the establishment of the
church until the complete revelation of God’s word was fulfilled. They believe
that the Spiritual gifts were replaced by the complete Revelation of the New
Testament letters, and in the spiritual offices of the church. I don’t usually
do this, but in this case: “Ask Your Pastor”!
Seriously,
it is difficult to place certainty around what the “perfect” or “completeness”
is. This we know from the context: Paul was writing to a church that was
immature in its behavior. We know that he urged them to “grow” in faith leaving
the childish things behind. We also know that Paul writes that “those things”
that are passing away were revelatory gifts: Tongues, Prophecies, Knowledge –
which doesn’t mean to “learning something new”, but “receive something new”. I
can’t say with certainty that this means these three are meant to pass away as
either the revelation of Scripture closes new revelation or that maturity in
the church will make these mute. Yet, we see in what Paul writes a possible
connection to the completeness of New Testament revelation someday.
What
follows gives us a little insight to muse on:
"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 (13:11-13).
The
Corinthians thought highly of certain gifts. The following chapter (14)
highlights the proper use of those three gifts that Paul references in verses
8-9. Is the “child” reference meant to make a point? Probably. The three gifts
that remain are “faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love”.
These three, especially love will “remain”.
How do
we reconcile all of this in our modern church? We have varying beliefs and
practices concerning the nature of Spiritual gifts and their use in the life of
the Church. Some have adapted the Catholic position that the gifts were
swallowed up in the closing of the revelation of the New Testament and the
offices of the Church were accepted. Some have contended that the Spiritual gifts
have never ceased and they are still necessary for the church today. Having
Pastored in different settings I can honestly say there is reasons to believe
the gifts are still relevant, but revelation is closed and bounded by what the
Scripture says. What does that mean for “tongues” and “prophecy”? Well, that’s
the next chapter.
There
is no doubt in my mind that the major issue in Corinth is still the major issue
in the church today – the failure to be both doctrinally centered and
spiritually mature. Paul said: “Faith, Hope, Love abide, or remain” and the
implications are clear. Faith is not just “believing”, it’s the “Faith given to
the Church that defines the truth of the Gospel”, namely, Orthodox Doctrine.
Hope is the enduring trust in Christ at work in and through the Church. Love is
the abiding character of the Grace of God that matures us and defines us as
Jesus told it to His disciples - “A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (13:34-35). Love is not an
optional fruit, or gift. Love is the essential character of anyone who says
they want to follow Jesus’ way.
Peace
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