What is Love? (1 Cor 13) 2-6-2022

You come into the church for a wedding and are given a service bulletin. On the front cover is a picture of two roses crossed and the words love is patient, love is kind printed at the bottom. Sometime during the service, the minister reads the entire passage of 1 Corinthians 13 as part of the message, a message about love and what it is and what it is not. The bride and groom look into each others eyes and one realizes that they are not really paying attention. They know what love is and they have it. What the minister says is not important to them. All they need, as the Beatles said, is love.

But what is love? If John 3:16 is one of the, if not the, best known verses, then 1 Cor 13is one of the best-known full passages of the Bible. And why not? It is lyrical to listen to and has a message that we all want to hear: what love is. But what if we have not heard the whole story? What if what we have heard from this passage is what we have wanted to hear and not what we need to hear?

This passage picks up where chapter 12 finishes and continues Paul’s argument that the gifts are not to be used for hierarchy or supremacy. They are to be used for the building of the body of Christ. But Paul now sees that there is a better argument to make regarding the status hungry Corinthians. He begins by stating in 12.31b: “And now I will show you a way that is beyond comparison.”[1] With this statement Paul launches into his best-known argument.

This argument is broken into three sections: 1-3 tell us of the futility of all religious practices done without love, 4-7 is an encomium, or glowing and enthusiastic praise, of love and 8-13 are a contrast: the temporary character of the spiritual gifts, in comparison to the abiding character of love.

The first three verses are pretty straightforward. Paul is using himself as an example as he does all of the things listed: speaking in tongues, prophesying, having knowledge and faith, giving away possessions and even sacrificing his body for the gospel. These are all exemplary things, but Paul says that they are nothing if they are not done in love.

There are some powerful symbols here. When he speaks of speaking in tongues of mortals and angels, he is speaking to the Corinthians favorite gift. He is saying that he speaks and understands the tongues about which he is telling. But if these things are not done in love, then one should hit a gong or a cymbal for that sound, that quavering one note, is about all that this gift is worth.

When speaking of prophecy, Paul is speaking of his personal favorite gift. It was one that he was able to do and was one that he believed was key to spreading the Gospel. But Paul also had knowledge and understood the mysteries of the faith better than most people. He also had faith, faith that could move mountains as evident in his life and his ministry. But he says that if these things are not done in love, then he is nothing and the gifts that he uses are nothing as well. They should not even be thought of as gifts if not done in love.

And who does not think that giving away possessions is not a good thing? It is said that America is the most charitable nation. We give money and possessions to those in need as evidenced in our reaching out to those in disaster areas. But if this is not done in love, if it is done in a self-serving manner, then there is nothing to gain. One might as well just keep what was given for all the good it will do.

And the last part of this first section is one that is tough to take as well. Paul is saying that if he sacrifices his body to boast about how he gave it up for the cause of the gospel then there is some merit to it. But if there is not love behind this action, then there is no benefit. Again, one might as well keep their health and well being than to give up the body without love.

The next session is an extravagant praise to what love is and what love is not. In fact, it is self-contained in the verses from 4-7. Let me read those one more time: “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 13:6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 13:7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” [2]This really needs no explanation. These are what love is and is not. However, in verse 7 there is a bit that needs to be covered. We all like to think of ourselves as charitable people. We give people the benefit of the doubt and will say things such as “Well, that’s how they are.” And that is what love does. But love also does not cover up injustice or abuse. It stands for the victim and not the victimizer. Love will stand and call out abuse when it needs to be called out so that the abuse of this text will not occur.

There is one thing that some preachers do that I would like to use to bring home the point of what Paul is saying here. Wherever the text says love or love is implied, insert your name into the text. Think about that for a moment or two. What does it say to us when we say “Travis (or your name) is patient, Travis is kind, Travis is not envious, does not brag or is puffed up…” and on we could go. Can we really say that about ourselves? Because if we cannot then we really need to take a look at ourselves and what it means for us to say that we love.

Finally, the last section comes into view. Here Paul is dealing once again with the spiritual gifts of that the Corinthians so highly prize. He begins by saying that love never ends. Why would love never end? It is because love is from God. 1 John tells us that God is love. God in love reaches out to us and made possible our redemption through Jesus. It is only though the love that never ends that we begin to understand who God is.

Paul is telling the Corinthians that all the gifts that they prize (tongues, knowledge, prophecy, et al) will come to an end or they are only known in part. And when the complete comes, then the partial will come to an end. He uses a very powerful symbol of a child growing to an adult. The adult puts away the things that had been used as a child, the adult thinks like an adult now and no longer acts like a child (or one hopes so).

The mirror image is one the Corinthians would have fully understood. Corinth was known for its bronze mirrors. These mirrors were like ours today. One sees in the mirror only a reflection of what one is. But when the end of time comes, when God will make all things new, then we will see ourselves as God sees us, fully and completely. In the same way we know only in part but will then know fully even as we are fully known by God.

In the end there are three things that stand: faith, hope and love. The first two will fade away when God brings all things to fruition. Faith will fade because we will have God there. Hope will fade away because what we have hoped for will have come to pass. But love, love will not fade away. As I said before, God is love and so love will never end. Love is what make it all go round.

What is love? Love is not just a sentimental feeling that comes and goes, though it can indeed be that. Love is more. It is something that makes us want to reach out to take care of others before we take care of ourselves. It is something that makes us put other’s cares before ours. Love is not merely a feeling that comes and goes like a fog in the sun, it is action that we take with our lives and makes us a just little more like God.

Daniel Migliore says this about this passage and how Paul puts the life in the Spirit in the life of love: “To be in Christ and to walk by the Spirit is to participate in the energy of God’s liberating, sacrificial love and to be given new courage and hope by it. Only this holy love of God--extended to us in Jesus Christ and made effective in us by the Spirit of God—can transform a broken world and bring it healing and renewal. Only such love can persist in the struggle against disease and devastation and resist the bitterness they so often engender. Only such love can forgive sins—and without God’s forgiveness of our sins and our forgiveness of the sins of others against us, no hope of real transformation of life is possible. Only the divine love that aims at new life and new community where all are free and all are affirmed can sustain the struggle for healing, justice, and peace without being captured by the spirit of hatred and revenge. Only a love that moves through the suffering of the cross to the promise of new life confirmed in the resurrection of Christ can be the basis of hope that does not despair in the face of personal and communal disappointment and death. The Spirit of God is as work wherever there are such signs and beginnings of new life, new community, and new hope in the midst of death, separation, and hopelessness.” Paul would tell us yes, this is these are the kinds of thing that all begin with love. Love is patient, love is kind. God and love go together and so should we. Amen.

[1]Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press, 2005. Print. [2]Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press, 2005. Print.