Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Notes
Transcript
1 Corinthians 13
1 Corinthians 13
LOVE
LOVE
A very appropriate scripture - 1 Cor 13 - for the Month of Love?
And we come to this scripture with two things in mind.
1 - The Circuit - Because our circuit of Methodist Churches share their resources. And often we are a bit short on resources we have been asked to focus on stewardship in the month of February.
Our societies are short of money - our church is ‘cash strapped’ and we need to see what we can do about that.
So the instruction from the circuit is to teach and preach in the month of February about giving.
2 - The Covenant - Today is communion Sunday and it is the day on which we have decided to pray our covenant prayer of surrender.
A Methodist tradition - praying the covenant prayer usually at midnight at the beginning of every year. Carried over to being prayed in the first few weeks of the year.
I thought 1 Corinthians 13 - the lectionary passage for today - applied well to both.
1 Corinthians 13 - our surrender to God - and our stewardship of resources.
What is 1 Corinthians 13 about?
What is 1 Corinthians 13 about?
1 Corinthians 13 begins and ends - as most Bible passages do in the words before and after. First in chapter 12 - where Paul speaks about the body of Christ with its different gifts - all working together.
And in chapter 14 where Paul emphasises the importance of pursuing love and striving for the spiritual gifts.
1 Corinthians 12 - One Body
1 Corinthians 13 - One Love
1 Corinthians 14 - One Purpose
So - 1 Corinthians 13 is written for the body of Christ - working in the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.
So from 1 Corinthians 12 - the body of Christ:
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
A reminder that God the Holy Spirit makes all of this happen - and we work together to make up the body of Christ. And I really enjoy Paul’s illustrations here:
15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
God the Holy Spirit - working in us the Body of Christ - to do the work of Jesus in the world. And then again - at the end of 1 Corinthians 13 - chapter 14 -
1 Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy…
And then in verse 12 -
12 So with yourselves; since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church.
1 Corinthians 12 - One Body
1 Corinthians 13 - One Love
1 Corinthians 14 - One Purpose
Christian Love
1 Corinthians 13
Christian Love
1 Corinthians 13
So - in the body of Christ, representing Jesus hands and feet on Earth - united in one purpose - building up the church (in love) we reflect the most important aspect of Christ’s character - of God’s being:
Love.
As we have written up on Methodist pulpits all over the world:
God is love.
(1 John 4:8, 16)
As is our purpose in Jesus - being transformed into his likeness in love.
We’re listening to 1 Corinthians 13 - asking “How does this inform our prayer of Covenant surrender?” and “What about stewardship?” as per our circuit theme.
Let me deal with the stewardship part first of all - and briefly with one verse -
Stewardship in
1 Corinthians 13
Stewardship in
1 Corinthians 13
3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Within the church, within religion for centuries - and even hinted at - but rejected in the Old Testament is the idea that God is influenced by our sacrifices and offerings.
Our churches still thrive on this teaching.
The prosperity churches will select those Old Testament verses that recognise the blessings that come with filling the storehouses of the temple - like Malachi 3:10
10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.
It is a long story - but the storehouses of the temple were precisely for the purposes of love and care. Care for those who ministered in the temple - and for the orphans and widows who depended on the temple storehouses for provision.
We’re anxious about money - we need it to live - and we’re tempted to see if we can get God to bless us.
The truth is - God blesses us before we bless him.
Malachi might give us the impression that God will only bless us if we fill the store houses. But Jesus teaches us something different:
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
We can not buy God’s blessing.
We can only imitate God’s blessing.
Just as he sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteousness.
God blesses us.
And in love - we respond - by giving - not because we want to buy something. But because we love God. We love our church. We love the people of our church.
When the church has resources the ministers are set free to minister as they need to. Even our volunteers can have a secretary who helps with admin and co-ordination. We can bless our children with Bibles and lessons - and comfortable class rooms for Sunday School.
When we give in love we are able to bless each other.
Within the Methodist model of Circuits and shared resources we went to the Nonkosi Makananda Society in Saldanha yesterday. It made me grumpy - because I like Zoom meetings from the comfort of my home. But it is important to go.
The asbestos roof is full of holes.
The toilets are not that great.
The windows are broken.
There is a daycare there but no garden to play in.
Instead of giving abundantly to be an abundant blessing - we give as little as we can - because we don’t give with love.
1 Corinthians 13 reminds us - love is first - with love - we give in the right way for the right purposes.
On the stewardship side of our sermon today… The lesson on giving:
Give with Love - love for God, love for your church, love for its volunteers and staff - love to see God’s blessing.
And give proportionally - in response to the way that God has poured out his blessings on you.
Janu-worry…
Covenant in
1 Corinthians 13
Covenant in
1 Corinthians 13
1 Corinthians 12 - One Body
1 Corinthians 13 - One Love
1 Corinthians 14 - One Purpose
I’ve reminded us of the context of 1 Corinthians 13 - the chapters it is in. I’ve reminded us of our February giving campaign.
But one - much more important context of 1 Corinthians 13 is obviously - the whole of the New Testament and all of scripture…
Starting back in Genesis we remember that humans were created in the image of God.
27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God is love.
(1 John 4:8, 16)
I reminded you just now - that God’s image - God’s likeness is best summed up in the word: “Love”.
Genesis 1 carries on into Genesis 2 and 3 where we learn of the fall of Adam and Eve - their decision to be disobedient… rather than surrender to God.
When we rebel against God - we lose some of that ‘love’ with which and for which we were created.
So - our covenant prayer of surrender…
I am no longer my own but yours…
Is an attempt on our side - to do the opposite of what we are inclined to do. Instead of trying to make it on our own - we decide to surrender to God’s purpose and God’s transformation.
Further on in the Old Testament in the book of Jeremiah we hear of what God promises to do in us through the power of the Holy Spirit:
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And what is the LAW of God. What is the law that God will put within us - simply in the words of Jesus:
37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
So - restoring love in us.
Surrendering ourselves to God.
Allowing the law of love to be written in our hearts.
And love is so beautifully described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
This is what I want to be.
I could replace the word ‘Love’ with ‘Jesus’:
4 JESUS is patient; JESUS is kind; JESUS is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. JESUS does not insist on their own way; JESUS is not irritable or resentful; 6 JESUS does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 JESUS bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
But I’d struggle to replace it with ANGUS :) - Well I won’t be able to replace it with ANGUS yet :)
The good news is Paul reminds us that we are on a journey:
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
God is not finished with us yet.
As we reflect on 1 Corinthians 13, we see that love is at the heart of our calling. Love guides our stewardship and our covenant with God.
We give not out of obligation but as a response to God’s blessings. We surrender not in duty but in trust, allowing God to shape us in love. Though we are not yet perfected, we live in faith, hope, and love.
Now, let us prepare our hearts to pray the Covenant Prayer of Surrender and come to the Lord’s table, receiving Christ’s love poured out for us. Knowing that the bread and wine we receive as a sign of the forgiveness of our sins - is also a reminder of the fact that we are fed for the journey forward.
ADVERTISEMENT
