What It's All For

The scriptures referred to are 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

A question that usually arises with geeks is “What superpower would you want to have?” Would you want to be strong like the Hulk, or as fast as the Flash? Would you like to be able to fly like Supergirl or become invisible like Violet in The Incredibles? Would you want to travel in time like the Doctor or master magic like Hermione in the Harry Potter series? Of course a hero always has an enemy who mirrors his abilities. Shazam is opposed by Black Adam; Sherlock Holmes fights a battle of wits with Professor Moriarty; Dumbledore faces off against Voldemort. The difference between superheroes and supervillians is not what their powers are but what they use their powers for: the good of humankind or for dominating and destroying others. The purpose for which they use their gifts differentiates the good guys from the bad guys.

For a real life example, consider Hilde Schramm. She is the daughter of Albert Speer, Hitler's chief architect and later his armaments minister and a member of the Fuhrer's Inner Circle. She inherited art from her father, and though unlike other Nazi-owned art  it was not stolen, she decided to sell it and start a foundation to provide financial support for Jewish female artists. The Zuruckgeben Foundation, from the German word for giving back, also helps give art and property that was stolen by the Nazis back to the families that originally owned it. She also has brought Syrian refugees into her house. She has made her life about fighting anti-Semitism and encouraging empathy. Hilde Schramm inherited a legacy of evil and used her gifts to turn it into good.

As we saw a couple of weeks ago, Paul was dealing with a problem in the church at Corinth. People were discovering their spiritual gifts but some were more spectacular than others. That led to envy and a perception that some gifts were more valuable than others. Paul says that while we are all different and have distinct and contrasting gifts, we are all part of the body of Christ. Like a human body all the parts have important functions. But in the section of his letter we are studying today, he says that the vital question is “What is the purpose of our gifts?”

The Corinthian Christians all wanted to speak in tongues. Paul says that exercising that gift without love just makes you another source of noise. Having the gifts of prophesy or wisdom or knowledge or even great faith while lacking love does not make you a great Christian. Even showy acts of self-sacrifice gain you nothing if they are not done out of love.

Paul goes on to sketch out what love is and is not. And though we often read this passage at weddings, Paul is not talking about romantic love. He is describing God's love, from which all loves are derived and which we are to show for others, beginning with our fellow Christians.

God's love is patient. God is love and though we are created in the image of the Triune love, we have not distinguished ourselves in reflecting that love towards God's creation or creatures, especially our own species. God's patient love is demonstrated in the fact that he hasn't washed his hands of us long ago but still works to redeem us and restore us to what he intended us to be. We should therefore be patient with one another.

God's love is kind. In the very first chapter of Mark, we are told that a leper came to Jesus, "and fell on his knees, asking for help. 'If you are willing you can make me clean.' Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing. Be clean!'” (Mark 1:40-41) Likewise when Jesus was trying to take his disciples to somewhere remote where they could rest and eat in peace, the crowds anticipate him and are waiting for him at the spot. “As Jesus came ashore he saw a large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:34) Jesus didn't do what he did out of duty but out of kindness and love. Kindness is a key characteristic of divine love.

God's love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Notice that all of those things are a matter of one's attention being on oneself. Love is about the welfare of of others. More than 200 times the Hebrew Bible speaks of God's steadfast love for his people. Isaiah writes , “I will make known the Lord's faithful love and the Lord's praiseworthy acts, because of all the Lord has done for us, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, because of his compassion and the abundance of his faithful love.” (Isaiah 63:7) The New Testament emphasizes God's love for the whole world, which is the reason he sent his son. Jesus did it all for us. As he lived his life serving God through serving other people, so we should not be focused on ourselves but others. We should not be full of ourselves but full of the Spirit of God's love.

Consequently Christian love does not insist on its own way. This may sound surprising because as Christians don't we believe that there is one way that is right? A better translation of this phrase is “it is not self-seeking.” Again Paul is really talking about being selfish. So we are talking about the person who insists on doing things a certain way, not because it is God's way but because it is their narrow view of God's way. This refers to people who insist that things be done a particular way, not because they are laid out in the Bible that way but because this is the way they were taught or worse, simply because it is the way they are comfortable doing it. There is a line in the Jack Webb film The D.I. where the drill instructor tells a recruit: “There is the right way, the wrong way, the Marine way and my way. You do things my way and we won't have any trouble.” That is precisely the attitude no Christian should have.

Which also means a Christian who is loving should try not to be resentful or irritable. The Greek is literally “not be provoked or stirred up.” This is hard. Even Jesus said at one time, “You unbelieving generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you!” He was exasperated by the fact that the disciples, despite being sent out to heal people, could not heal this one boy. All it required, Jesus said, was prayer. Perhaps, buoyed by their successes on their mission, the disciples forgot the power did not come from them but from God. (Mark 9:14-29) Often the people whom we love and who love us nevertheless get on our nerves. We should try not to let it get us all stirred up and resentful. When it does we should apologize.

God's love does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. When Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in a battle with the Philistines, clearing the way for David to become king, he did not rejoice over their deaths. He mourned. Likewise he did not reward the men who killed the son who succeeded Saul. He had them executed. Despite their differences, David loved Saul and Jonathan and bore them and their family no ill will. In fact when he found out that a son of Jonathan still lived, he invited him, a disabled man, to eat at the king's table for life and gave him Saul's lands. Saul's family line survived because of David. (2 Samuel 4:1-12, 9:1-13) In the same way, Christians should not rejoice at the death or misfortune of anyone but rejoice in the truth; namely, that God is loving and merciful and that everyone is either our brother or sister in Christ or our potential brother or sister in Christ. We should not gloat over the misfortune or loss of someone who could have been our sibling in Jesus.

God's love bears all burdens, trusts in all situations, hopes in all circumstances and endures all kinds of injuries. God's love never gives up. Thus Jesus bore his cross and all the shame and humiliation that came with it for us. He endured all manner of physical and psychological pain out of love for us. He trusted God's love in all kinds of situations that would cause most to doubt it. He continued to hope in circumstances that others would see as hopeless. Jesus, God's love incarnate, never gave up. From the cross he asked God to forgive his executioners and promised a thief dying beside him that he would join him in paradise. His example should inspire us to aspire to such love.

Paul then points out that the gifts everyone is clamoring for will end when there is no more need for them. When God's new creation is completed, the tools needed in the interim will be surplus. Intermediate measures will be superfluous. When the building is completed, the scaffolding is removed. As Isaiah says of the time when all shall turn to God, “They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.” (Isaiah 2:4) When universal peace is realized, there will no longer be any use for weapons of war. They will be turned into things that are truly useful for the kingdom of the Prince of Peace. When we come to God, the things that brought us to him are part of the past.

Paul mentions how things change as we grow from a child to an adult. Our language and reasoning improve tremendously. We don't do the right things because we are avoiding punishment but because we love and trust our parents and see how things go better when we do the right thing. Likewise, as we mature spiritually, we leave behind the way we thought when our faith was immature and weak. We do not obey God because someone told us we would go to hell. We obey him because we love him and want to be with him and like him.

Paul shifts his metaphor again. He talks of seeing in a mirror dimly. Corinth was known for its bronze, and mirrors were often made from highly polished bronze. But they were not like our mirrors today. The image you got was not as clear or detailed. If someone came up behind you as you were looking in a bronze mirror, it didn't compare to turning and seeing that person face to face. Just so, what we know of God is partial. We know the essentials but it is not the same as knowing God directly. As Paul says, "Now I know in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known." That's another reason not to be arrogant or insisting our way is the only way. We don't know everything about God. He is bigger than our ability to totally comprehend him. He is wiser and more loving and more forgiving than we are. We should always be humbly aware of that whenever we speak of God.

Only 3 qualities are eternal: faith, hope and love. We will always need to trust our inconceivably large and unbelievably loving God. We will always need to remember that ever better things are coming from him. And we will always need to love and be loved by him. That last is the most important thing to take away. As the Harper Collins Study Bible says in its notes on this passage, “Paul regards God's love as the ultimate and only enduring reality.”

God gives all people gifts. Some are strong, some are smart, some are persuasive, some are full of energy, some are full of good sense, some create beautiful things, some create useful things. Some use these gifts mainly to advance themselves and their own causes in the world. And some use their gifts for the common good. That's what's important, not what your gifts are but how you use them and why.

The world is full of gifted people who pursue their own glory and fame and pleasure and who end up unsatisfied, lonely and in despair. As someone once said, a person wrapped up in himself makes a very small package. We were created in the image of the God who is love and we are most like him when we are acting in love. Our motive for everything we do should be love: love for God and love for other people, who are also created in his image. Our example is Jesus, who personifies God's love and was kind and patient and merciful and forgiving and hopeful and trusting. He gave us the gift of his life, eternal life, and all the good things which spring from having his life in us. The way we see ourselves is the dim reflection of a poor mirror. One day we will see the God in whose image we were made and as John said, “...when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (I John 3:2) That is, we too shall be love.