Why Love Matters Group Curriculum February 14, 2016 Sermon Passage: Selected Texts Curriculum Passage: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Introduction As soon as Christmas decorations have been removed in shopping outlets all over the country, the aisles and shelves transform into a blinding shade of pink. The word love is plastered on candy of various shapes and sizes, stuffed animals, and greeting cards with what should be an illegal amount of glitter. The amount of expectations placed on the events of February 14 th every year is overwhelming. Sadly, the degree to which those expectations are met or exceeded becomes a measuring stick for love. When we think about love as believers, the most readily identified passage is probably 1 Corinthians 13. After all, it would be difficult to imagine attending a Christian wedding ceremony in the last three decades without that passage making an appearance. The question remains, though, what exactly does 1 Corinthians 13 tell us about love? Does it, in fact, deal with this romantic type of love that is represented by all the Valentine s Day turmoil? Or is it something more? For a passage to spend so much time focusing on what love is and the nature of loving behavior, certainly Paul had something grander in mind. This week we ll look at what Paul did have in mind and, therefore, why love matters in how Christians live their lives in a world that can seem so unloving. Biblical Background Of all the relationships that the Apostle Paul had with the churches he planted, none was as adversarial and combative as the relationship with the Corinthians. The two letters that are contained in the canon of Scripture are only a portion of the at least four correspondences between the Corinthians and Paul. Much of the difficulty between the great church planter and the congregants can be deduced from textual clues within the letters. A significant contributor to the nature of their relationship was the environment in Corinth. The city had been conquered by Rome in 146 BC, and Julius Caesar refounded it in 44 BC because of its position as a hub for multiple natural trade routes. When Corinth was refounded, Rome used the city as an opportunity to rid Rome proper of large groups of Roman freedmen, who were just above slaves in social strata. Freedmen had historically caused civil unrest in Rome, so keeping them on the outskirts of the empire helped keep the peace. The result was a Corinthian community that was both cosmopolitan and volatile. Hedonism was rampant, as the citizens gave themselves over to whatever fleshly desire appealed to them. Combined with the inevitable wealth that passed through Corinth due to its central position along trade routes, the city became, in the words of scholar Gordon Fee, at once the New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas of the ancient world. 1
From reading 1 Corinthians, we can deduce that the Lord s Supper had become a gluttonous opportunity within the church to separate the haves from the have-nots. The congregation was easily wooed by the most eloquent and charismatic speaker that occupied the common areas in Corinth. All the while, Paul s humble approach among them, according to clues in the text, failed to entertain them. This led to even Paul s apostleship being questioned when he confronted the Corinthian believers with their sinful indulgences. This background serves to help the reader understand 1 Corinthians 13 better. In every regard, Paul is drawing a sharp distinction between the Corinthians lifestyles as they currently existed, and the model which Christ had left for His church to follow. The Text One of the important parts of understanding 1 Corinthians 13 correctly is 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12 contains one of Paul s more expansive and well-known teachings on spiritual gifts and their use. In doing so, Paul repeatedly emphasizes unity, cohesion, and interdependence among the believers. Why? The Corinthians had created a hierarchy of sorts, using spiritual gifts as a comparative element to judge who among them was the most spiritually elite. So what God had intended to empower and unify the church, the sin of pride and arrogance was distorting to divide the church. Paul s corrective teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 emphasizes the differences that would threaten unity: Jew, Gentile, man, woman, slave, and free. Repeatedly, Paul points to the transcendent importance of unity in Christ. After describing the manner in which a representative sampling of spiritual gifts impact the church, Paul closes chapter 12 with a cliffhanger verse: And I will show you a still more excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:31b) The more excellent way Paul refers to is precisely the love that 1 Corinthians 13 is known for. Instead of displaying giftedness for one s own personal glory or advancement, which is love of self, Paul reminds the believers that the gifts of God must reflect the character of God. In weaving chapters 12 and 13 together, Paul s intention is to demonstrate how the use of spiritual gifts, as well as all other expressions of the Christian life, should be characterized by love. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (1 Corinthians 13:1) The gift of tongues gets special treatment from Paul in first order because it was the crux of the Corinthian problem. Corinthians in general paid handsomely to hear the latest philosophies from the mouths of professional orators. These orators, known as Sophists, would travel from city to city, dazzling crowds with their eloquence and emotion until the crowd was in a frenzy. This, incidentally, is why1 Corinthians opens with a rebuke from Paul due to the church s self-division according to their favorite teacher. Such deep fascination with eloquent wisdom transferred from the secular sphere to the sacred, taking the form of Corinthian believers exercising the gift of tongues in the midst of corporate worship. The problem was not the gift per se, rather the fact that the Corinthian believers were disrupting worship of God in the name of worship of self. They were drawing attention from 2
the glory of God to their own abilities and giftedness. Paul, then, directly refutes such a practice by turning the focus of his writing to the first person singular. Paul says that even if he himself spoke in celestial tongues, but did so out of any motivation other than love, his acts were nothing but an abrasively loud nuisance. Before moving on, though, it is important to note that, by the force of Paul s argument, the opposite is inherently true as well. When the use of spiritual gifts are an outflow of one s Christ-like love, it moves from the abrasive nuisance to a contributing element of God s divine symphony of worship (Psalm 150). And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2) This next sentence from Paul features a representative selection from the spiritual gifts listed in the previous chapter. The magnitude of each of the gifts listed is significant. Speaking of prophetic powers, Paul means not only the ability to powerfully proclaim the truth of the Gospel, but the abundant effectiveness that would accompany that ability. Prophecy, one of the more misunderstood gifts, refers to the bold proclamation and application of God s Word to the speaker s own generation. Such proclamation has the intention of bringing about repentance from the hearer under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Paul s first example, then, refers to the use of speech the Corinthians would have been most drawn to the orator speaks powerfully and the people cannot help but respond. Paul s second example is even more far-reaching than the first. Paul supposes that, in addition to prophetic powers, he also possessed the understanding of all mysteries and all knowledge. There is a dual-prong meaning here. Most immediately, Paul is addressing the Corinthian obsession with philosophies and deeper meanings. Beyond that, however, is the meaning of these words in the context of the rest of the New Testament. Specifically, these words are typically used to refer to the mysteries that are reserved for God alone, especially the eschatological ones. Both phrases were prominent in Jewish apocalyptic literature. It is worth noting that Paul uses all to describe both of these. So, to this point in verse 2, Paul is supposing he had irresistible prophetic power accompanied with the understanding of the mind of God, as though nothing were hidden from him. Paul s final example is having the faith that moves mountains. This hearkens back to Jesus teaching on faithful prayer in Matthew 17:20. Mountains were widely regarded as the visible symbol of God s eternal and immeasurable power. Their majesty and rocky heights prove unchanging for centuries. Their stability was regarded as the unshakable foundation of the earth. Jesus did not pick mountains on a whim in His teaching, and neither did Paul. Again, it is important to note that Paul does not say enough faith; he says all faith. In all, the mosaic he has compiled is of himself having irresistible prophetic power, limitless understanding of the eternal mysteries, and faith that would remove the very foundations of the earth. This is an absolute impossibility, as Paul well knew. It is beyond the capacity of any mortal man to hold the entire breadth of spiritual giftedness. So what is Paul trying to do? He is painting a picture of Jesus. Only the Christ, the God-man, is capable of perfectly wielding such tremendous power. 3
In light of that, Paul adds one more phrase, but have not love. This is the qualifier that breaks Paul s mosaic from the likeness of Christ. For in His perfectly wielding such power, Christ is always loving by necessity of His own character. Summarily, Paul proposes himself to be just like Jesus with the exception of having no love. What would that look like? He would be nothing. None of it would be any gain. What consumes the believer is the daily pursuit of becoming like Christ. To be without love is to be forever the opposite of Christ. For that reason, no amount of power or wisdom brings meaning apart from the love of Christ. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3) In this verse, Paul moves from the exercising of God-given spiritual gifts to great personal sacrifice. The first part of the verse refers to the practice of providing for the poor by selling one s own goods. This is precisely what Jesus asked of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-22. It was also practiced at the birth of the Church in Acts 2-4. However, in keeping with the practice in the previous verse, Paul stipulates that his giving consumed all that he had. This is beyond sacrificial giving. Paul is making himself destitute to provide for the needs of another. As if the first example of self-denial was not extreme enough, the second example carries the cost of Paul s own life. This part of the verse is extremely difficult to translate, in part because martyrdom by fire was not yet a part of the Christian experience at the time Paul wrote this letter. In addition, the language is difficult to discern in the original Greek. However, what is not in doubt is that Paul is referring to the greatest of personal sacrifices one s own life. In the first part of the verse, Paul dealt with giving up one s ability to meet even basic needs for living. In the second part of the verse, he means giving up living. All of these sacrifices were based on the needs of others in the body of Christ. Even as much honor is given to those who lay down their lives for others, taking the role of martyr so that others might live, Paul says nothing would be gained if the reason for such an act is not the application of the love of Christ. That refers to the immediate reward as well as the eternal reward (the eternal reward being the only possible one for the second example). The familiarly beautiful list of attributes of love that follows describes the nature of the love that gives meaning to everything the Christ-follower is and does. No matter the ability, gift, or sacrifice, the love of Christ that draws His followers to serve others as He did is the only thing of value and significance. The Text in Life The overuse of the word love is a well-documented phenomenon in our culture. It can mean a lot of different things with incredibly fluctuating intensity. As followers of Christ, though, we understand love in a way that is unique to Christians. That is not meant to sound snobbish or holier-than-thou in any way. In truth, it is a fact that should produce a great deal of humility. The reason that Christians understand love differently is because of the nature of salvation. Specifically, we understand that when we were the most unlovable and oppositional, Christ loved us enough to lay down his life for us. As Christians, the way we understand love is as the most desperate, unworthy recipients of it. Our whole faith is based on that fact. 4
To that end, the love of Christ in our lives impacts the way we live in a variety of ways. First, just like Christ, the evidence of love in our lives is in the way we serve others. This defies contexts and boundaries. It is true in whatever situation or sphere we find ourselves in. Today, Valentine s Day, the sphere that receives the most immediate association is the romantic one. While that is a completely valid application, the same questions must be asked in the occupational, recreational, social, and familial spheres. Regardless of the context, the question we must answer is how we are practically serving those we love. These three verses from 1 Corinthians 13 all point to that. Love demands that the focus of life not be on ourselves. Second, our expressed love of God informs and enables our love for others. What that means is that, as believers, our capacity to love others is dependent on our discipline to rightly love God first. Being able to love others is a work of sanctification by the Holy Spirit in the believer s life. That means that, in order to be able to love others as we ought, pursuit of God is primary. Practically speaking, that means that worship, Scripture study, giving, and the variety of other ways that Scripture teaches us to express love for God are indispensable disciplines in teaching us to love others. Third, when we demonstrate Christ-like love to other believers, unity overcomes differences. Practically speaking, believers are as different in preferences, likes, and personality as anyone else. However, what sets us apart is the model of loving service that Jesus demonstrated in His own life. When that love becomes the force that defines our behavior and attitude, the specific differences between believers melt away in favor of unity and deference toward one another. From the way Paul explains love in this passage, it is readily apparent that the love that should characterize Christians is beyond our own capability to bring about. Rather, it is the result of the Holy Spirit conforming us into His image. It requires choosing to reject our fleshly nature in favor of yielding ourselves to the leading of the Spirit. It is precisely the demonstration of this type of love that serves as proof that we are Christ s disciples. Discussion Questions 1. Aside from immediate family, who would you say treats you in the most loving way? Why would you say so? 2. How do you resolve conflict differently with those you love versus those whom you do not know as well? 3. When was the last time you initiated an act of service for someone? What prompted you to do that? 4. Read Philippians 2. How would you describe Jesus depiction in that chapter? 5. How have you seen your attitude toward others, especially those with whom you frequently disagree, change over the past couple of years as a result of your relationship with Christ? 6. Consider the last week. How did you demonstrate love to those in your various spheres? How would you like the coming week to be different? 7. How have you noticed worship impacting your attitude toward others? Give a couple of specific examples. 5