1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30
This is the chapter of the Bible most used at weddings. Now that kind of love should be the example to the church of what Christ's love is for us. There are a few things we miss though if we just treat it as a law or rule to go by. First are all those cases where for one reason or another love does not stand the test of time. Because love is a test. Secondly we miss the last thing Paul says before we dive into these verses. It was from last weeks reading about being the body. When Paul closes out those verses at the end he gives us some examples of different gifts the body of Christ had. Then he ends it with this, "But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a more excellent way." (1 Corinthians 12:31)
This example of love follows. We can do all of the prescribed gifts, or the more excellent ones and have no love, which means they mean nothing. We have seen people who do things with no love in their hearts, only outcomes and results. These things don't have the strength which something initiated in love has. They fade and go away.
The strongest stories are the ones with love all through the. Just look at the Facebook feed sometime. Children who start impossible hard tasks and succeed, because at the root is love. Like the young boy who goes out into the city and brings presents to everyone he meets. These small presents improved the receiver whole day. Maybe even their whole outlook on that day. Or the story of tiny houses being made for homeless around the country. These are springing up because a community has love for those who don't have, whatever that reason may be.
Love is a decision we make every time we have someone die, every time we encounter a bad relationship, every time we are disappointed by someone we have a choice. To continue to love, to continue to let it shine through all we do. There are those for whom the disappointment has been too much and the light of love fades out. Yet this is the love we are called to, the love Christ showed us. Just think of the events today in Luke. The crowd is angry, ready to throw Jesus over the cliff, and what does Jesus do? Rain down fire and destruction? Blind them all? No, they are already blinded by something else, so Jesus passes through the midst of them. Because he remains calm and quiet, because he still loves his fellow townspeople.
A few years ago the freedom riders came to the Cathedral for black history month. They presented a video from the series done on PBS. In one of those videos a crowd is outside a church, a black church, where they had gathered to pray, to make plans for the next day. The crowd wants to torch the building, with them in it. It wants to shut out what is being brought to their attention. As the crowd inside tenses and there is little hope of surviving the night, up to the pulpit comes Dr. King. He is calm, he is patient, he has a peace beyond understanding in the moment. His act of nonviolence was truth telling with love. You have to have it if you are going to be nonviolent.
The thing about love is it's enduring. It doesn't give up, it doesn't fade out even if we let it go. It is one of the most enduring things. People in awful situations endure because it won't be let go or snuffed out in them.
So to be like Christ we put on this garment of love. Even in the face of things we don't agree with. Even in the worst storms of life, we cling to it. Even on the darkest nights, we find it deep within us. Love endures, believes, hopes and is a part of our Christian walk. So take up the garment of love. It will never fail you.
This is the chapter of the Bible most used at weddings. Now that kind of love should be the example to the church of what Christ's love is for us. There are a few things we miss though if we just treat it as a law or rule to go by. First are all those cases where for one reason or another love does not stand the test of time. Because love is a test. Secondly we miss the last thing Paul says before we dive into these verses. It was from last weeks reading about being the body. When Paul closes out those verses at the end he gives us some examples of different gifts the body of Christ had. Then he ends it with this, "But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a more excellent way." (1 Corinthians 12:31)
This example of love follows. We can do all of the prescribed gifts, or the more excellent ones and have no love, which means they mean nothing. We have seen people who do things with no love in their hearts, only outcomes and results. These things don't have the strength which something initiated in love has. They fade and go away.
The strongest stories are the ones with love all through the. Just look at the Facebook feed sometime. Children who start impossible hard tasks and succeed, because at the root is love. Like the young boy who goes out into the city and brings presents to everyone he meets. These small presents improved the receiver whole day. Maybe even their whole outlook on that day. Or the story of tiny houses being made for homeless around the country. These are springing up because a community has love for those who don't have, whatever that reason may be.
Love is a decision we make every time we have someone die, every time we encounter a bad relationship, every time we are disappointed by someone we have a choice. To continue to love, to continue to let it shine through all we do. There are those for whom the disappointment has been too much and the light of love fades out. Yet this is the love we are called to, the love Christ showed us. Just think of the events today in Luke. The crowd is angry, ready to throw Jesus over the cliff, and what does Jesus do? Rain down fire and destruction? Blind them all? No, they are already blinded by something else, so Jesus passes through the midst of them. Because he remains calm and quiet, because he still loves his fellow townspeople.
A few years ago the freedom riders came to the Cathedral for black history month. They presented a video from the series done on PBS. In one of those videos a crowd is outside a church, a black church, where they had gathered to pray, to make plans for the next day. The crowd wants to torch the building, with them in it. It wants to shut out what is being brought to their attention. As the crowd inside tenses and there is little hope of surviving the night, up to the pulpit comes Dr. King. He is calm, he is patient, he has a peace beyond understanding in the moment. His act of nonviolence was truth telling with love. You have to have it if you are going to be nonviolent.
The thing about love is it's enduring. It doesn't give up, it doesn't fade out even if we let it go. It is one of the most enduring things. People in awful situations endure because it won't be let go or snuffed out in them.
So to be like Christ we put on this garment of love. Even in the face of things we don't agree with. Even in the worst storms of life, we cling to it. Even on the darkest nights, we find it deep within us. Love endures, believes, hopes and is a part of our Christian walk. So take up the garment of love. It will never fail you.
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