WTMLTTD

Dr. Richard J. Henderson February 14, 2010

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Psalm 99
I Corinthians 13:1-13(responsively)

Introduction

These words of Paul are the stuff of greeting cards, aren't they? "Love is patient, love is kind." "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love never ends." These are the words you expect to find when you open an anniversary card with misty pictures of roses and lace on it.

You know, they are the kind of words that are so sentimental that they almost slide off the page. Some people read these words and swoon. It's too bad Paul didn't have a copyright on his words; Hallmark would still be paying him royalties!

Maybe the words are too familiar. We have heard them so many times they seem trite. When I was in school the teacher still read scripture every morning. One of my teachers read this passage every day for all the years I had her for homeroom.

It is one of the reasons I am opposed to having Bible readings in school. She was reading the Word of God and kids were doing their homework or cramming for a test or throwing spitballs or paper airplanes or just talking out loud. The Word of God fell to the ground with the dirt and the dust and was trampled under the students' feet. But that's a whole other sermon!

I have couples that come to get married who say they would like to have scripture in their service, "But not that usual one." Has this passage had too much exposure?

I

Or are these words pulled out of context? Paul didn't write slurppy romantic platitudes; he wrote tough words to a congregation that was in trouble. The first hearers of these words didn't swoon with sentimentality; they were angry and offended because they were being harshly criticized. Paul writes this letter to the church in Corinth to tell them that they are screwing things up; he tells them what they're doing wrong and how to fix it.

In the middle of this passage Paul lists what love is and what love isn't. He says love is patient and kind - because people in the church at Corinth were impatient and unkind. He says love is not envious, boastful, arrogant or rude, because people in the Corinthian church were envious, boastful, arrogant, and rude. What love is, they were not. What love is not, they were. Hearing Paul's words they didn't swoon, they bristled.

Paul talks about speaking in tongues; many of them were proud that they were able to speak in tongues. Paul mentions prophecy; some Corinthians thought they were special because they could prophesy. Paul says if you have these gifts but you don't have love, then they're nothing, they're useless. I don't guess that went over well with the prophesiers or those who spoke in tongues.

They had to sit there in the congregation while Paul's words were read. As he mentions each of these instances, the people in that church know who he's talking about.

Romantic sentimentalizing is the furthest thing from Paul's mind. He's talking about concrete events, specific behaviors, and tough choices.

II

Paul is saying, "If you aren't a loving congregation, you're not a Christian congregation." The characteristics Paul offers could almost be used as a checklist for a congregation. Are people in church patient with each other? Do they do acts of kindness? Do some people brag a lot? Are people rude? Do some people demand their own way, whether or not it's right? Do people resent each other? The list goes on.

In a way Paul is saying, "To be part of Christ's church in Corinth is to actively express God's love to those around you." We can hear that as, "To be part of Christ's church in Novi is to actively express God's love to those around you."

The love Paul is talking about isn't as much about emotions as it is actions. When we face difficult circumstances in life, when we come across people who are hard to deal with, when we have to make tough choices, love is the context in which we decide. We ask, "What's the most loving thing to do?"

In a real way that is like asking, "WWJD - What would Jesus do?" except that WTMLTTD is a lot more awkward and would require a bigger bracelet than WWJD! You've seen the WWJD bracelets, haven't you? You don't see them so much anymore. I guess it was a passing fad.

I was never sure that the people wearing those bracelets, including me, understood how difficult WWJD could be in making decisions. I wondered what would happen if someone went up to, say, a young freshman with one of those bracelets and said, "You realize, don't you, that one of the choices Jesus made was to face arrest and beatings and being nailed to a cross?" I hope those WWJD bracelets weren't taken too casually and that the people wearing them realized how far Jesus' love was willing to go.

Asking "What's the most loving thing to do" is similar and just as difficult.

III

So these beautiful words about love, which are used so often in weddings, were originally written to a congregation to tell them to shape up. Of course, all this tough talk applies to marriage. What Paul says to the Corinthian church relates to families and married partners. It is about love after all.

What married person doesn't need to hear, "Be kind, don't insist on your own way, don't brag or envy, don't be rude or arrogant?" And forgiveness: every marriage requires forgiveness on both sides. Love in marriage is about ongoing forgiveness and not keeping score of wrongs.

And then there's one of our more common problems: letting go of our childish ways.

Paul writes that love is patient, which can be translated, "Wait patiently." We have no evidence that Paul was married, but it seems to me that if he knew about waiting patiently he had to be somebody's husband!

Love is never easy. Oh, it seems like it is in those first months when you are getting to know each other and you're thrilled just to be together, but before long there are difficult choices to make. You don't see things in just the same way. Your different personalities begin to collide and bump and scrape each other. He gets annoyed at how she squeezes the toothpaste and she doesn't like that he leaves the cupboard doors open. He's always too warm, and she's always too cool.

And yet when you're away from each other for any length of time you feel a huge absence. There's no one in the world you would rather be with. We feel so close that in a real way we are part of each other. The Bible says the two become one.

It would be very hard for any two people to live together for a lifetime; maybe we can only do it because of love.

Conclusion

Paul's challenging words about love apply to our marriages. In a basic way he is asking, "What's the most loving thing to do?" It's a question we keep asking in our marriages. How can I express my love in everyday actions? When can I be more patient? How can I help my partner in the best way? Where can I be more kind?

None of it is easy. And yet, because we love each other, most of the time it isn't difficult either. Love makes demands, but love is enormously rewarding. As the apostle Paul says, "It's the best."

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2010