3-18-2014

Good Morning All,

     1 Corinthians 13:13; “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love”

     It has probably been a school yard argument for as long as there has been school yards.  “My dad is smarter than your dad” or “My dad is richer than your dad” or “My mom is prettier than your mom.”  School yard bragging about who is better, faster, stronger has been going on for ages.  It is that as we get older we outgrow it, don’t we?

    That was the problem that the Apostle Paul was facing in the church at Corinth.  The church had divided itself among different factions who claimed to have certain gifts from the Spirit and that the gift they had was the best gift of all.  Some claimed that speaking in tongues we the greatest gift; some thought it was healing and some thought it was preaching.  So they argued back and forth and did a lot of damage to the church.  Their infighting made their evangelism almost dry up.

    So Paul goes through all of chapter 12 telling them that it takes all kinds of gifts and talents to make the church work just like it takes many different body parts to make the body work.  That is the background for 1 Corinthians 13, “the love chapter” is really Paul criticizing and correcting one of his churches.

    It is always interesting listening when you ask people why Paul said that the greatest of these is love.  You would be inclined to think that faith would be the greatest.   After all faith is an element in our salvation, as in “through faith.”  Yet Paul chose love over faith and over hope something that he had said wouldn’t put us to shame.  Why did Paul choose love?

    Paul chose love because love is what you give to others.  Love is how you react to others.  Faith and hope are things that God gives to you so that you will stand tall and firm until Christ returns.  Love is given away.  Love is what causes us to come to another person’s aid.  This is why Paul describes love in the terms that he uses earlier in the chapter.  Love is patient, love is kind, love bears all things.  These are actions we take for other people.  Faith is for our own good; hope is for our own good.  We may share them with others whom we love but faith and hope are personal while love can only be shared.

    So the Spirit, through Paul, tells us to love one another, bear one another’s burdens.  Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bring comfort to the dying and consolation to the suffering.  This is love and this is why Paul claims that it is the greatest of these.  Because love best emulates Jesus.  For God so loved the world; something God did for you so pass it on.

Father of all love, in you we see love in its most perfect form.  You loved us enough to send your only son to die for us.  Here we see love.  Help us to show this love to those around us.  Help us by your Spirit to love as you have loved us.  Be with those who do not feel the love that you have for them.  Help them as they travel the way of their life and guide them back into your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret