Corinthians 13: 1-13

Thomas Alva Edison, possibly the greatest inventor in history, lived in a large house with huge fence. Visitors had to push open a heavy iron gate in order to enter the compound and then push it back again until it clanked shut. One of Edison's friends complained to him about the tremendous amount of energy required opening and shutting that gate. With a twinkle in his eye, Edison escorted his friend up onto the roof of his house and showed him an elaborate mechanical device made up of levers, pulleys and pumps. "What you don't know," said Edison, "is that everyone who comes to visit me and opens and closes that gate, automatically pumps a gallon of water into the tank up here on the roof."

This story vividly illustrates our relationship with God. 

When we bring God into our lives, we often invite Him into our hearts with great expectations that He will do something good and beneficial for us.  Therefore, it would be worthwhile for us to listen to and heed the warning of the 12th century German mystic philosopher Meister Eckhardt:  “Just as some people love cows because they can see the cows and what they provide, most people wish to see God with their own eyes.  They love the cow because the cow gives them milk and cheese.  Likewise, these people love God because of external affluence or internal tranquillity that God affords them.”

When we love those around us let alone in loving God we often, foremost, seek some benefits and advantages from that relationship.  Today’s scripture tells us that true love is not ‘need-love,’ love out of some need, but a ‘gift-love’ love that is given without any price or conditions.

Chapter 13 of the First Epistle of Corinthians is often referred to as the ‘book of love’ or ‘hymn of love.’  Among the early writings of Paul, there is perhaps none more beautiful a verse than this chapter in Corinthians.  When we look at the state or conditions surrounding the Corinthian Church, we can gain an accurate understanding of Paul’s motives behind writing a book that deals with love.  According to the Bible scholars, Paul wrote some seven volumes of letters to the congregation of Corinthian Church. 

Spending a better part of ten years building a relationship with the congregation of Corinthian Church, Paul harbored more ministerial interest towards the Corinthian Church than perhaps any other church during those days.  Paul’s interest stemmed from the fact that Corinthian Church had every imaginable and conceivable problem that a ministry and a church can have.  For example, parochialism within the congregation, sexual deviation, ethical problems concerning marriage, problems concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit, problems concerning worship service and communion, and host of others were some of the major problems that afflicted this church.  The thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle of Corinthians was written to criticize and educate the members of the Corinthian Church, who professed or paid lip service to the notion of love yet failed to demonstrate acts of true Christian love themselves.

Chapter 13 must be read along with preceding chapter 12.  In proving and confirming the word of the Gospel, the people of the Corinthian Church were the most eloquent and knowledgeable in the land at the time.  In the arena of spiritual gifts, these people also had an abundance of experience.  Chapter 12 of the First Epistle of Corinthians, through the metaphors of the ‘body’ and ‘members’ or ‘limbs,’ explains the various gifts that Christians can experience.  Verses in this chapter enumerates the numerous gifts, or manifestations of the Spirit, such as word of wisdom, word of knowledge, working of miracles, prophesy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and interpretation of the tongues.  Paul does not negatively view these ‘gifts,’ in the light that God bestows these gifts upon Christians as a sign of His love.  Paul merely points out that without love, having these gifts amounts to nothing and does not mean a thing.

Christians of the Corinthian Church received plenty of gifts from the Spirit; yet they could not display true love.  Not only did they regale in and boast of the gifts they possessed, they divided themselves into cliques, along the lines of who baptized them, and engaged in internal, parochial fighting and disputes.  To this hypocrisy of the members of the Corinthian Church, Paul warns that all the gifts of this world amount to nothings if bereft of and not based on love. 

First, without love, nothing we do matter.  All organs of our body cannot function without circulation of blood.  All members, or organs and limbs, of the body exist to assist in circulation of blood.  The heart pumps blood; kidneys and liver cleans the blood; and the lungs provide oxygen for the blood.  In turn, blood delivers vital nutrients and minerals to the members of the body to function properly.  Our body can survive without some of its members.  For example, we can live on one kidney, one lung; furthermore, loss of gall bladder has no life-threatening implications.  Yet, without blood, we cannot survive.  Love is like the blood of our bodies.  Without love, we are nothing.

Let’s take a look at verse 1 though 3 of today’s scripture. 

 It states, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”  The Corinthians held the ability to speak tongues and the knowledge in the highest regards.  Paul himself held the gift of prophecy in a high regard (refer to 1 Corinthians 14: 1-25).  Capable and working faith is a foundation that all Christians must have.  Salvation work designed to help the poor, or martyrdom in the face of burning fire, is not something that anyone can do.  All requires special faith and beliefs, and Paul, in no way, is underestimating its importance.  Yet, what he is trying to get across is that ‘doing the right thing for the wrong reasons’ pose serious problems.

Do you sometimes speak, not of your own will or accordance, the indescribable and inexplicable language of the angels?  Can you prophesy God’s word of revelation?  Do you possess the requisite faith that allows you to command supernatural powers?  Do you spend a lot of time helping those in need?  Does your faith take you as far as to be ready to commit martyrdom for your religion?  But what does all this mean?  Better yet, so what?  No matter how much mysterious gifts are bestowed, no matter how sophisticated a life one may lead, so what?  What is it worth?  No matter how much powers are bestowed, no matter how many dead people are brought back to life, no matter how many sick people are healed, so what?  What is it really worth? 

 If there is no love at the foundation of any action no matter how good, benevolent, and beneficial it may be it does not mean a thing. 

Healthy human relationships require four ingredients that start with the letter ‘T.’  Time, touching, talking, and trust are the four ingredients.  According to a study, the average couple in a dual income household where both spouses work to earn a living spend only about 4 minutes a day on meaningful conversation.  Even more surprising statistic is the fact that of these dual income households, parents spend about 30 seconds a day engaged in a meaningful conversation with their children.

A household without love at its foundation is doomed to fall, no matter how monetarily affluent it may be.  Houses in California, around earthquake regions, must be built on a foundation of sturdy bedrock fastened by metal bars, or rebars, of scores of feet in length in order to withstand earthquakes.  Only the household fastened to the foundation with the bolt of love can withstand all types of tremors and turbulence. 

Second, love is a character attribute that must continue throughout our life.  Love is not a spontaneous or momentary emotion; rather, it is a character trait that must be present in us throughout our lives.  Love is not a noun it is a verb.  Love cannot be defined.  Only those who have loved, and those who have been loved, can understand its true meaning.

Verses 4 through 7 of today’s scripture describe the act of loving.  To reiterate, it does not define love as some abstract noun; rather, it describes, in detail, the act of love itself.  It describes 2 positive traits, or characteristics, of love, 8 negative, or counter-traits of love, and another 4 positive traits of love, in order. 

First, it states that “love suffers long and is kind.”  To suffer long means to be patient and persevere; it means to understand and know others enough to cover up their weaknesses.  To be kind means not harming others and always encouraging them.

Keeping the attitude and the disposition of the Corinthian Christians in mind, Paul states that doing the exact opposite of Corinthians is act of love.  Paul describes, by giving eight counter or negative examples, the nature of love.  First, love does not envy love does not desire the other’s possessions, and does not desire things that others do not have.  Love does not parade itself love does not boast or show off neither my possessions nor my accomplishments to others.  Love is not puffed up meaning love is not arrogant or haughty, throwing away the notion of ‘what I deserve’ or ‘how I ought to be treated.’ 

Love does not behave rudely love is opposite of selfishness, the wanton act of disregarding the others’ feelings.  Love does not seek its own meaning love does not pursue one’s own interests.  Love casts away the notion of ‘my authority’ and ‘only I need to be treated fairly.’  Love is not provoked the first reaction of love in undesirable circumstance is not one of anger or ire.  And love thinks no evil love knows how to forgive, and despite having the resources and ability to do so, love does not seek revenge or retribution.  Finally, love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth love closes its mouth and ears on all things that are contrary to the way and the will of God.

After describing, in detail, the eight characteristics of the Corinthian Christians that run contrary to the meaning of love, Paul, in a most powerful and engraving manner, lists the four positive meanings of love.  Love believes in the ultimate victory of the good; therefore, love bears all things.  Love understands that all things will proceed according to the will of God; therefore, love believes all things.  Love believes that, through the miraculous grace of God, the history of man will turn towards good and just; therefore, love hopes all things.  And since love believes in the advent of the Kingdom of God, love steadfastly perseveres over all things; therefore, love endures all things.

In referring to the fourteen characteristics of love, as outlined by Paul, true love is different from the secular, selfish love of this world.  True love is giving, and true love is sacrificing.  This true love manifests itself through Jesus Christ, as He gave all He had in order to save us at the cross.  The First Epistle of John, Chapter 4, verse 9 states:  “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”  In Chapter 4, verse 16, it states:  “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. 

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”  Only God loves this world so; that is why He sent and gave His only Son to us, clearly defining the essence of true, all-giving, and absolute love. 

A middle-aged man in Taiwan contracted cataracts, and had to undergo a cornea transplant surgery.  Someone donated a cornea, and the surgery was successful; the man was able to regain vision in his eyes. 

After awhile, it was discovered that the donor of the cornea turned out to be this man’s wife; she had donated her left cornea for her husband.  This couple was married through match making they did not date each other and fell in love.  Rather, they were set up by their fathers under the pretext of marriage, and had married without fully knowing or loving each other.  The wife, furthermore, had numerous pockmarked scars on her face (probably as a result of acne or chicken pox) and had a turned-up, pig-like nose to boot.  The husband the middle-aged man ended up marrying a woman an ugly woman at that without having a say in the decision; naturally, he led a life with his wife that was devoid of affection or love.  Despite her appearance, however, the wife had an angel-like, silky-soft heart.  When her husband would throw a temper tantrum, she accepted it all without a complaint. 

 Even though they had two children, the man was so embarrassed of his wife that he never attended any couples functions.  The man was a swimming instructor at the Taiwanese Military Academy; therefore, they had the opportunity to live in on-base officer family quarters.  Yet, he was so afraid of showing his wife to his co-workers and others at the academy that he never lived on base.  Even though he lived with her, he always had deep contempt for and looked down upon his uneducated and physically unattractive wife.  This woman ended up giving, unconditionally, her eye to her husband.  The man asked his wife, “why did you do such a thing?”  She answered, “because you are my precious husband.” 

Love is like an aroma or a scent that exudes from our character.  Love is like a river.  Even though we may not hear the river run, we can be assured that the river flows; likewise, when we become true Christians, we can be assured that love will flow out of our lives like a river. 

Third, faith, hope, love; the greatest of these is love.  Verses 8 through 13 of today’s scripture compare things that are ephemeral and eternal.  Prophesy, tongue, and knowledge, which are all gifts of the Spirit, will ultimately fail; yet, love will never fail.  No matter how miraculous the gift from the Spirit may be, that gift is only partial; it is not complete.  No matter how powerful this ability from the Spirit may be, it is merely childish ready to be put aside when one becomes a man.  The gifts of the Spirit, which we experience in this world, are cloudy like reflections in an opaque mirror; when the heaven advents, and when all becomes known as we become face-to-face with the truth, all these gifts will fail.  Just as partial, child-like, cloudy things become complete, adult-like, and clear upon coming to face the truth, ephemeral things will eventually be absorbed into something that is eternal.

Paul, for this reason, stresses that faith and love is partial and temporary and that love is the only thing that is complete and eternal.  This is because faith believes what hope expects and hope expects what faith believes.  Therefore, the only entity that is valuable on earth as in heaven is love.  Because love takes on eternal and absolute value, Paul designated love as the foremost virtue of Christian religion among the three major virtues:  Pistis, or faith, elpis, or hope, and agape, or love.  On the day that we go to heaven and become face-to-face with God, all we believed will become truth; all we hoped for will be realized; and therefore, only love will remain in heaven.

Some time ago, the Life magazine ran an opinion poll of 173 famous people to include Dalai Lama, Rosa Parks, Richard Nixon, George Lucas, John Updike, Desmond Tutu, and other leaders and stalwarts of our society and asked them the question, “what is the meaning of life?”  Based on this poll, a book called The Meaning of Life (New York:  Little Brown, 1991) was written.  It is quite obvious, and expected, that most people polled in this book answered that the best or most meaningful life is the one in which true and meaningful love is found.  That is because humans must give and receive love in order to lead lives as humans.               

The 1990 spring thaw in the Sierra National Forest revealed a profound tragedy. On March 1, 1990, Jean and Ken Chaney, while attempting to negotiate a little-used road in the park, skidded off into a huge snow bank. With a blizzard swirling around them, the 68 year-old woman and 75 year-old man decided to sit tight. As they waited for help to arrive, the couple began to keep a diary of their actions. Writing by the fading glimmer of their glove compartment light, the Chaneys slowly began to see the fatal truth of their situation - "We began to realize that we were on a road that isn't maintained during the winter. Truly a miracle if anyone comes by...We have no idea what lies ahead...so here we are completely and utterly in God's hand! What better place to be!"

During the next week the Chaneys ate Rolaids, a stick of gum, and two restaurant packets of jelly. They scraped frost off their car windows for drinking water. But the Chaneys endured those days by singing hymns together, quoting all the Bible verses they could recall, and praying. Still no one came. On March 18 Jean Chaney made the following entry in their diary: "My husband went to the Lord at 7:30 this evening...It was so peaceful I didn't even know he left. The last thing I heard him say was 'Thank the Lord.' I think I'll be with him soon...I can't see. Bye. I love you."

The Chaneys' bodies were not found until May 1, when the spring thaw had finally progressed enough that a forest ranger could make it down the road the Chaneys had been trapped on for so long. But although the loss of their lives was a human tragedy, the Chaneys did not die alone or in despair. Huddling together in their car, they celebrated their love, hope and faith with every fiber of their beings, every shred of their strength. They were not complacent about death, but were confident in their faith, hopeful for God's presence, and secure in the knowledge that they were surrounded by God's love. That is the power of love, hope and faith.

Love is beautiful.  Life without love is unthinkably cruel.  Household without love is unimaginable.  A church without love is no different than a state penitentiary.  Let’s make it so that it is a season of love, all the time, in our workplace, in our home, in our church, and in our nation.  Amen.

“The conference concluded in a spirit of love, much to the disappointment of many.”  From the concluding Minutes of the 1784 Methodist Conference in Britain.