Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-october-16-2023
I Corinthians 13:1-13
Love
1If I speak in the tongues of people and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not 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 is not rude, 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 perfection comes, the imperfect 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 childish ways behind me. 12 For now we see but a poor 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.
This is an awkward passage. Or at least it’s awkward for me as an officiant at weddings, because so many couples choose it as a reading for their special day. The reason it’s awkward is that at some point in the ceremony, I feel obligated to tell the couple that Paul isn’t talking about what they think he’s talking about.
It’s no mystery why so many couples have this passage from First Corinthians read in their weddings – the focus of most weddings in our culture is on the couple’s love for each other. That’s their romantic love. But the problem is that the word that’s translated “love” in this passage isn’t about romance at all. The Greek language has a word for romantic love, which is eros, the root of our word erotic. But the word translated “love” in our passage for today is agape, and that word isn’t really about feelings of romantic love, or even about feelings at all. As a matter of fact, the King James Bible didn’t even translate that word as ‘love.’ It translated it as ‘charity.’
The truth is that agape refers to a commitment to the welfare of others. That could be a commitment to the welfare of our neighbor, of a casual stranger, even of an enemy. Paul’s message in this passage isn’t about our romantic relationships. He’s calling on us be committed to advancing the welfare of every other person. So if you read this again and think about that non-romantic love, it sort of puts the passage in a whole new light – and maybe one that seems less appropriate for a wedding.
But not so fast. Maybe this passage really is appropriate for a wedding, after all. The best of marriages are ones that are about more than just erotic-romantic attraction.
Glamorous weddings are about eros, but healthy marriages are all about agape. Relationships marked by a total commitment to the welfare of the other tend to grow stronger with the passage of time, wherever the erotic chips may fall.
So this passage isn’t really about feelings as much as it is about commitment. But it’s probably also true that you can’t completely separate the two. “Advancing the welfare of another person” is something a bureaucrat could do from a government office. But genuine agape love, a love with elements of kindness and patience and hope and protection, it seems like one that’s bound to have some feeling in it. So I’m wondering whether the Holy Spirit might be telling us that there’s a deep connection between really being committed to helping another and experiencing a kind of mutual affection with them – the kind of feelings that offer comfort and encouragement in all of life’s circumstances.
Of course, we’re commanded to love our God, too – to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength. So maybe it’s also true that having a real commitment to advancing God’s interests in the world will lead us toward a greater and greater sense of reverent affection for him. After all, the God we love and serve has created the universe, and has also forgiven our sins and invited us to call on him as something like “Papa.” When you reflect on all God has done for us – including going to the cross for us – how could you not come to feel some affection for him?
Paul writes that “when perfection appears, the imperfect disappears.” But some translations substitute the word ‘completeness’ for ‘perfection.’ The Greek word can mean both things, and Paul never suggests that followers of Jesus become ‘perfect’ in the way we use that term today. He’s saying that devoted disciples of Jesus will come to understand God’s will more and more completely – and presumably, to experience deeper and deeper love for him.
Throughout the history of the Jesus movement, the one trait of the followers of Jesus that has been most surprising to the world is our strange capacity to love others – to demonstrate great caring for strangers and even enemies, as well as for family and friends. The power of the church’s witness to the world really depends on how well we demonstrate that kind of agape love in our dealings with everyone who crosses our path.
Let’s pray. Lord, let your Holy Spirit stir our hearts to love others – to commit ourselves to their personal welfare. Let us serve others – even those we may not like, even those who may want to harm us, remembering that Jesus showed love to those who would betray and deny and doubt him, and prayed for the forgiveness of those who crucified him. Amen.
Blessings,
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 39 and 40; Jeremiah 36:11-26; and Matthew 10:5-15. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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