One of my favorite chapters in the whole of Scripture is 1 Corinthians 13, and I doubt that I am alone in that opinion. Although somewhat poetic in its style, its content is loaded with poignant and powerful truth. The razor sharp focus of the chapter is unwaveringly fixed on 'love'. Now, the Bible has a lot to say about love throughout its many pages, but if you are at all interested in studying that topic then 1 Corinthians 13 is an absolute must read. On a bit of a side note, it is interesting to see that the 1 Cor. 13 treatise on love follows immediately on the heels of a passage in chapter 12 that talks about the diversity found within the body of Christ and its corresponding need for unity. You see, the only hope for realizing unity in this unique and incredibly varied body of people is the regular presence and practice of love within it. Members of the Body of Christ are far from perfect. We will all fail and disappoint one another at times. But love covers a multitude of sins and shortcomings and will help us make it over the hurdles and through the difficult times.
This chapter is basically divided into three sections. In the opening segment Paul, the author, identifies several of the leading candidates that hold potential for generating feelings of religious superiority and pride and for trying to exalt themselves into the position of supreme importance. The exercise of spiritual gifts (specifically speaking in tongues and prophesying); the possession of mountain moving faith; extreme acts of generosity and charity; vast stores of knowledge and understanding; self-sacrificial service and suffering for the Kingdom… these are all mentioned and put firmly in their place, as being inferior and subservient to the one true ultimate quality—love.
The descriptive wording in these first three verses of the chapter leaves absolutely no doubt that the race for supremacy from God's perspective isn't even close. In fact, it's not even really a race at all. Love's victory is a complete and total landslide. Not only are these other pursuits that are mentioned of lesser value, Paul goes as far as to say that in the absence of love they are completely worthless. The final score for ultimate supremacy is Love: 100, Everything Else: 0. Love has pre-eminence because GOD, in His very essence, IS love. True divinely inspired love authenticates, validates and empowers all other qualities and acts of service. It guides us into the right application of our gifts and talents and it guards against their inherent potential to be abused.
The middle section of the chapter devotes itself to a rich description of the characteristics and attributes of love in action—"love is… love doesn't… love always…" In these three concise verses (4-7) we find a great yardstick with which to consider how our own attitudes and actions measure up. Is genuine, God-originating agape love providing the necessary foundation for all we do, or are our efforts more of the 'resounding gong' and the 'clanging symbol' variety? Undoubtedly every one of us will find that we come up short at times to the lofty standard that is revealed here, but what a wonderful target to be aiming for.
The last section of the chapter celebrates the eternal nature of love. It points out that virtually everything we know and do now in this life as Christians is just an incomplete foreshadowing of that which will be revealed in the future. We are told that, at that time, all of the partial will pass away as it is swallowed up in the completeness of the perfection that will be revealed. But love… love will stand the test. Faith and hope are also revealed here to have eternal value, but just in case we missed the message from the opening verses, once again love is unmistakably declared supreme.
So there it is. As we learned in Pastor Ryan's sermon this past Sunday (Oct. 16, 2016), gaining this knowledge now puts us to the test. Will we accept its truth and put it to practice in our lives, thus proving ourselves to be wise by the right application of our knowledge? Or, will we leave that knowledge to merely rattle around in our heads, never quite finding its way to our hands, feet and heart, and thus proving ourselves to be foolish? God has graciously shown us the most excellent way. Let's faithfully and wisely follow in it.
-Gord Hanson
(Associate Pastor of Administration)