“The Greatest of These Is Love”

A Sermon Preached by Frank Mansell III

John Knox Presbyterian Church – Indianapolis, Indiana

January 31, 2016

1 Corinthians 13

What is love? Is it an emotion, most notably sentimentalized at weddings or on holidays like Valentine’s Day in two weeks? Is it a feeling, something that touches us as teenagers, young adults, or later in life, impacting our whole physical being with how we are attracted to another human being? Is it an action, something that motivates us to do certain things, or care for other people, or make specific choices, all in the name of love?

How do we react to the idea of love? Do we recall fond memories of family, spouses, children, or friends? Do we remember loves that have been lost, and the grief that goes with our sadness? Do we feel envy at others who have experienced love in ways we have not? Does the idea of love bring with it more pain and emptiness than joy and happiness?

Whenever we hear the word “love,” we have all of these and many other thoughts and feelings flowing through our hearts and minds. That is because love is something that, on a human level, can mean many different things and be experienced by us humans in many different ways. It can be the most powerful of experiences for us human beings, and it can be the most mysterious and baffling of experiences for us human beings.

And yet, love is one of the cornerstones of our Christian faith. It is the word we most often use to describe God’s relation to us in Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son . . .” (John 3:16). It is how we are called to live in community with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. It is a word that speaks to relationship, to service, to faith.

Today we have heard one of the most familiar passages on love: 1 Corinthians 13. We most often associate this passage with weddings, and either had it read at our own wedding, or we heard it at a wedding we have attended. Probably one of the reasons it is so often used at weddings – whether they are religious in nature or not – is because the subject of the entire passage is love. If you were hearing this for the first time, or without much context to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, you might assume that it’s just all about love.

Jerry Irish writes: How surprised the apostle Paul would be to discover that this most challenging and grace-filled ode to love has become a staple of secular and quasi-religious marriage ceremonies! No wonder, given the absence of any reference to God or Jesus Christ in the text itself. If we are to get at its theological meaning, we must place it back in Paul’s letter and remind ourselves of the author’s intention in addressing these words to the church in Corinth.

Apparently Paul has heard that some members of the Corinthian congregation are trying to enhance their status on the basis of their particular spiritual gifts. Sound familiar? In the preceding chapter, Paul counters this by asserting that all spiritual gifts are manifestations of the Spirit of God. He likens the church to a body of diverse members, each playing an essential role for the good of the whole. Then in this chapter, lest there be any lingering doubt about the folly of taking pride in one’s knowledge or one’s capacity to speak in tongues or to prophesy, Paul claims that love trumps all such gifts (Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, © 2009: 302).

How many times have we said to ourselves, “If only I could love that person more”? Many times, as human beings, we equate love as a skill that can be honed and mastered. But look at how Paul speaks of the gifts in this passage, and notice that love is not a gift, but rather a state of being. “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers, understanding all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all of my possessions, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

In others words, if our actions, our decisions, our lives are not first motivated by love, then what we are doing is pointless, meaningless, fruitless in the eyes of God. No matter how eloquently we speak, without love our words are simply noise. No matter how knowledgeable or faithful we may be, without love our beliefs are pointless. No matter how much we give away of our time, talent, and treasure, without love our giving is empty.

That is because the love Paul speaks of is rooted in relationship: relationship between us and our Creator, us and our Redeemer, us and our Sustainer, and our relationship with one another. And in those relationships, love’s identity shines forth. Love is patient and kind. It does not take joy in others’ misfortunes, nor does it insist on getting its own way. Love does not hold grudges, nor does it become irritable in the face of the smallest of annoyances. Love bears, believes, hopes, and endures at all times in all ways (1 Cor. 13: 4-7).

Today we have the joy of ordaining and installing new ruling elders and deacons into service at John Knox. One of the things I have always appreciated about being Presbyterian is that we believe that women and men are called to leadership roles at particular times in the church’s life, with the particular gifts and abilities God has blessed each of them with. Some are people who have much experience in church leadership; some are people who are new to such leadership roles. Yet we adhere to the belief that all are equally and uniquely equipped by the Spirit to serve the common good of the Body of Christ.

Later, we will hear these men and women answer the constitutional questions asked of all new officers in the church. And one of those questions will speak not to their knowledge, or faith, or skill-set, but will speak of their state of being as they serve God’s people: “Will you pray for and seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?” It is a reminder of Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, that unless we seek to be disciples in a spirit of love, our time and talents are useless.

Jerry Irish continues: For Paul, our capacity to flourish as human beings is realized to the extent that we can live in the love of God revealed in the cross of Jesus Christ . . . Is such love humanly possible? As an individual character trait or a personal attitude, no; but as the presence of God’s love in Christ crucified and in a community of believers that live in that love, yes. To belong to God’s church in Corinth (and today) is to be an agent of God’s love in the world, not seeking one’s own advantage, but working on behalf of others . . .

The love described in 1 Corinthians 13 is a love we experience as God’s unshakable grasp upon our lives. It is the source of our greatest security and, thus, our freedom to actually be patient and kind, to bear all things and not insist on our own way. (As humans, we have not only grown immeasurably in our knowledge, but also in our belief that we know what is best as masters of such knowledge). Paul is raising similar issues in the church in Corinth, as we must in our own churches and in the larger world, where insisting on our own way wreaks havoc with other peoples, not to mention the natural environment. Lest our efforts be additional acts of human willfulness, let them spring from the love of God, that love which distinguishes 1 Corinthians 13 (ibid).

The love that Paul speaks of here is rooted in our knowledge of God’s love for us. God gave of himself – sacrificed on our behalf – that which was most precious to him: his only Son. That is the love we know as Christians. The Greek word used for this sacrificial love is “agape.” It is not a love that is sensual, or a love that is on the surface of a relationship. Agape love is rooted in the willingness to think first of the other, and live one’s life with that motivation.

Paul calls on us to live out this agape love because God has first shown us agape love in his Son, Jesus Christ. If we have been loved in such a sacrificial, boundless way, why shouldn’t our lives be embodied by that love for our sisters and brothers in Christ? Why shouldn’t we listen, speak, act, all with love as our motivation? That is why, as Paul concludes, “Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).

Our community experienced another tragedy this past week, with the death of Principal Susan Jordan at Amy Beverland Elementary School in Lawrence Township. What appears to be an awful, tragic accident has taken the life of a dedicated educator who served her community, colleagues, and most especially her students, throughout her life.

What has come to light in the days following Tuesday’s accident is that Principal Jordan acted in the most sacrificial of ways Tuesday afternoon. Realizing that the bus was lurching forward toward a group of her students, she rushed and pushed them out of harm’s way. And in so doing, she thought not first of her own safety, but her priority was the safety of those in her care: her students. Her death was the ultimate example of sacrificial, agape love.

But what I have also come to deeply appreciate is that Principal Jordan’s life clearly was lived in the spirit of agape love, as well. She did whatever she could to support her teachers, trusting them to be the best they could be for their students. She loved her students deeply, doing whatever she could to make them feel loved and valued, and thus helped them grow in knowledge and character. I believe she modeled what many of us deeply appreciate about those who teach our children: a passion for these young women and men to achieve their fullest potential as children of God.

I appreciated the words Tim Swarens, columnist for the Indianapolis Star, wrote on Wednesday: Years ago, a seasoned educator told me the key ingredient to a good school is an effective principal, one who sets the tone, who inspires students and staff, who expects all who enter the building to deliver their best every day.

It’s clear Susan Jordan was such a leader, one who, long before Tuesday, demonstrated over and over again her dedication to students, to education and to the community.

But the greatest demonstration of that dedication came in the final moments of her life.

Sudden danger was at hand. Students’ lives were at grave risk. And Susan Jordan stood her ground so that others may live.

No greater love.

No greater sacrifice.

No greater testimony for an educator who exemplified a life of service (Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/tim-swarens/2016/01/27/swarens-greater-love-principal-gave-students/79408806).

Thanks be to God for the life of service of Susan Jordan. Thanks be to God for the sacrificial love we know in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. Thanks be to God for the opportunity we have to live lives of thanksgiving for this agape love first shown to us.

Thanks be to God. Amen.