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. 2 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. 3 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.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 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. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 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. 12 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.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.These words are famous, of course, having been read at most every wedding since weddings were invented. That's appropriate, as they describe aptly the kind of self-sacrificing love a couple needs to make it through the rigors of matrimony. But in a way it's unfortunate that we've heard these passages so often in that context. They weren't intended to apply to weddings alone. Limiting our understanding of love to the bond between spouses also lets us duck responsibility for practicing it everywhere else. But Paul wrote these words to an entire community, not just paired couples within it. They weren't confined to two people. They were meant to be the bedrock of our life, the lens through which we view all of our actions and all the people those actions affect.
Not coincidentally, these verses from Corinthians also show what the people of Nazareth lacked, causing them to miss the Messiah in their rush to throw him off their hill.
We could talk about the intricacies of love all day. (Hint: It's not really a mushy emotion. That can be part of love but it's neither the most enduring nor the most powerful part. We see the strongest parts of love as we act it out even when we don't feel mushy and gushy towards the recipient.) But for our purposes in the sermon we distilled it down to a couple of basics.
Love means seeing the best in people and then holding on to that definition of them no matter what. We're always in a hurry to look for flaws, thinking that this will protect us from harm and make us stronger. Since everyone and everything on earth is imperfect we always find what we seek. This path does not lead to love, though. More often it leads to a life of loneliness and fear in which we never learn to trust others. This lack causes us to miss the beauty in each other and life.
Everybody you know will let you down in one way or another. Everybody you know also has amazing qualities. Love means holding onto the latter while forgiving the former as much and as often as possible. Love means seeing people through God's eyes, viewing neighbors as his beautiful, beloved children whether they happen to be acting like it at the moment or not. When you see the best in people--interpreting their words charitably instead of harshly, explaining their actions in the kindest possible way, welcoming them instead of suspecting them--you will naturally convey love. As Paul says, this takes patience, kindness, and a heaping dose of self-discipline.
But this approach to life also holds great rewards. When you see people in the best possible way and depend on them to be their best possible selves, they tend to live up to that. (Note that we said depend and not expect. "Expect" conveys the message that you're not something and need to conform to someone's standards in order to become it. "Depend" means you are already something which is meaningful and important to the people around you. "I expect you to be good" is far different than "I depend on you to be good".) Love is contagious. People love to be defined by it. When you see the good in people they start seeing it too. They act on it more often, which fills your environment with more good things. This goodness makes love even easier and begets yet more goodness. The simple act of holding on to the best view of your neighbors eventually changes your whole world.
If there's a secret to happy marriages, raising your kids well, having a great youth group or Bible Study in church, enjoying friendships, creating good working relationships, this is it. This is why we welcome every person who comes into our church with open arms. We start from moment one seeing and assuming the best in them, showing them love. We invite them to co-create with us, drawing inspiration from them as they draw from us, each of us seeing Christ in the other. This defines not only our individual relationships but our community. This is God's Spirit at work in a web of trust and Christ-colored glasses.
The people of Nazareth did not approach Jesus this way. They should have. They knew him better than anyone. Not seeing him in the best possible light led them straight into darkness. That's the way it goes, I'm afraid. There's no neutral in faith. Either trust or suspicion will eventually win out in your life. When you trust and love you see God everywhere. When you don't you can't see him anywhere, even if he shows up right in front of your eyes and holds up a sign.
I'm afraid the people of Nazareth weren't very patient or kind with Jesus. If you read Luke 4: 21-30 you'll actually find that they quickly turned envious, boastful, proud, disparaging, angry, and rude, leaving no room for God to work in their midst. Instead of shaking our heads and wondering how they could do that, we need to remember Christ's reminder that as we do to the least of the people in our lives, so we do to him. We re-enact this scene every day. We're led towards it inevitably the moment we start seeing less than the best in folks around us...the moment we turn away from love.
Let this be a reminder to all of us in all of our many relationships. When Christ shows up among us and says, "Today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (probably in the form of a little kid showing off a glitter-filled craft project in our fellowship hall or a stranger looking to us in need) may we be able to respond with celebration instead of hurrying to cast him out because he dared to challenge our perceptions and comfort.
We're always looking for new and interesting questions to talk about, so if you have any send them in to the e-mail address below!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment