Union Bridge COB, Union Bridge, Maryland, Mid-Atlantic District

James Benedict, Pastor

Sermon for Sunday, February 1, 1998, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
           
              "IN A MIRROR, DIMLY"

  While we're on the subject of love -- which is patient and kind, 
not irritable or resentful -- let me start out this morning by 
mentioning publicly just how much I appreciate my wife's patience and 
kindness as I carry out my duties as your pastor.  I know that it 
isn't always easy for her.  I remember hearing a story about a 
preacher's wife who was home with the children while her husband was 
attending another late meeting.  While she put her youngest to bed, 
they prayed their usual prayer for such occasions, which included a 
request that God would keep the boy's father safe as he drove home.  
Evidently the prayer stirred the boy's imagination, because when they 
were done, he asked his mother, "Mama, do you suppose that if 
something were to happen to Daddy, there would be another man in the 
whole world just like him?" His mother, a little frazzled at that time 
of day, replied, "Well, son, I suppose there could be . . . and it 
would be just my luck to find him." Love is patient and kind, but it 
is also hard work.

  Loving someone can leave you feeling frazzled and frustrated (or 
worse) at times.  Still, love is God's way.  The Bible, especially the 
New Testament, makes that abundantly clear.  Jesus says, "This is my 
new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."  The 
book of 1st John says, "God is love." But probably the most familiar 
Biblical passage concerning love is the one we read today from 1 
Corinthians.   Brides and grooms choose it to be read at weddings all 
the time, and it is very appropriate.  But that's not why they choose 
it.  They choose it because they think it sounds romantic.  It is 
appropriate precisely because it is not romantic.  It is utterly 
down-to-earth and practical.  It was originally addressed to people 
who had hurt each other's feelings very deeply, which all who are 
allowed to love each other for long will do, sooner or later.  It 
isn't about sky rockets or feeling "all warm inside."  It is about 
healing deep wounds, reestablishing trust, and bringing relationships 
back from the brink of disaster.  That was what was needed in the life 
of the congregation at Corinth, and what is frequently needed in our 
lives as well. In Corinth the people were trying to discover what 
exactly it meant to be children of God and followers of Christ while 
living in a busy, ambitious and religiously diverse city.  The people 
who had become Christians had come from all kinds of different 
backgrounds.  They had different personalities and traditions.  And 
like marriage partners, they faced the challenge of blending those 
differences in order to be able to live and work together. To make a 
long story short, they weren't having much success rising to the 
challenge.  We get some idea of how they were behaving, not only from 
reading other parts of the letter, but also by simply looking at what 
Paul says in our text, "love is not."  They were envious, boastful and 
rude.  They insisted on their own way.  They were irritable and 
resentful.  Paul was not happy when he saw this all taking place in 
the congregation he had founded.  He saw the fruit of his labor 
withering on the vine. Now we have to ask, "If Paul could see it so 
clearly, why couldn't the Corinthians see it, too?"

  The answer is, "Because they were distracted."  They were distracted 
by powerful feelings they attributed to the Holy Spirit, and by the 
expression of those feelings in the form of what they called 
"spiritual gifts."  Some of those feelings were incredible, and some 
of the ways in which the feelings were expressed were spectacular.  So 
it was easy for them to get caught up in the emotion and lose sight of 
the simple truth about love being God's way, and about just what 
genuine love really is. It may be difficult for us to appreciate just 
how hard it was for the Corinthian believers to keep from being 
distracted   that is, how hard it was for them to remember to follow 
the simple, practical way of love, made up mostly of every day common 
courtesies, instead of following the alluring lead of emotion and 
spectacle.  It is in our nature to be easily led by emotion and 
spectacle.  That is why several companies whose goal it is to make 
money spent 1.3 million dollars for a thirty second ad during the 
Super Bowl last week.  Some of the commercials were great.  I liked 
the sky diver who shared his Pepsi with the goose in flight.

  But my point is that the companies spent that much money on the ads 
because they do influence us, even though they tell us nothing or next 
to nothing   of substance about the products.  They are all emotion 
and spectacle. Paul confronts the Corinthians who are caught up in the 
emotion and spectacle of certain spiritual gifts, and he says, "You 
know better.  You know that isn't the way God works.  God's way is 
love   love that is patient and kind, not envious or boastful or rude, 
etc., etc."  That is like someone buying a spot during the Super Bowl 
to remind us not to get carried away by those other commercials, and 
to remember to consult Consumer's Digest before buying any of those 
products.  We would recognize that it was good advice, but it would be 
so difficult to follow it.    I'm sure it was difficult for the 
Corinthians, but they managed somehow to overcome the distraction and 
regain their focus.  And they came together and worked out their 
differences.  They caught the scent of love and followed it through 
the maze of life in the direction that God wanted them to go.

  How very often today we find ourselves in similar situations in 
troubled relationships, full of jealousy, competition, and 
misunderstanding.  How often we wound one another deeply.  How often 
trust is broken.  Life grows dark, and the way ahead is uncertain.  We 
wonder where God is, and where God may be leading us. And we may think 
that the way to solve our problem is with some grand gesture, 
something dramatic and spectacular.  Or else we think the key is to 
act on the powerful feelings we may have, simply to express ourselves, 
regardless of the consequences.  I'm human.  I understand the appeal 
of living that way. But I understand, too, that when we live that way, 
we leave God's way.  If we want to walk in God's way, then we have to 
go back and come to terms with this scripture that describes love in 
such down-to-earth, practical language: "Love is patient, love is 
kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  Love does 
not insist on its own way . . . ." A famous football coach was once 
asked about his favorite trick play.  Was it the flea flicker, the 
half back option, the double reverse?  The coach replied, "They're all 
fine plays, but I never spend too much time on them.  You see, at best 
a trick play might help you win one game a year . . . maybe.

  But you never win championships by depending on trick plays.  
Mastering the basics, practicing them over and over, and executing 
them consistently in games   that's how you win championships.  Block, 
tackle, hustle   the basics   that's the key." That is what Paul was 
saying about love.  Real love, the kind that holds families together, 
the kind that makes churches attractive and effective, the kind that 
heals wounds, reestablishes trust and brings relationships back from 
the brink of disaster, is all about the basics   patience, kindness, 
humility, good manners.  Without the basics, no amount of grand 
gestures or emotional outbursts will suffice.  Eventually those 
gestures and outbursts will be seen for what they are: illusions and 
ephemera. Deep down, we all know this already, just like the 
Corinthians did.  We live in a world of many illusions and great 
spectacles.  We are fascinated with grand gestures.  But we know that 
those who really love us are those who are kind, patient, forgiving 
and fair with us, day in and day out, week after week, month after 
month, year after year, consistently.  We know that is what love 
really is.  We know that those are the relationships that really 
count. For Paul, the model for this was the steadfast love of God 
revealed in Jesus Christ, a love so deep that the Son of God humbled 
himself and took human form, a love that holds out the possibility for 
forgiveness day after day, a love that patiently works 
to help us grow to be more and more like Jesus.

  Because God has loved us in this genuine way, we in turn can love 
one another.  We can love our neighbors.  We can even love our 
enemies.  We can work with God to heal the world's wounds, to help 
people learn to trust again, to pull the world back from the brink of 
disaster. Let the love of God fill you.  Let the love of God heal you.  
Let the love of God work through you to change the world. Amen.     

 This sermon was preached at the Union Bridge Church of the 
Brethren, 124 South Main Street, Union Bridge, Maryland, 21791. The 
Union Bridge congregation offers many programs for children, youth and 
adults.  Sunday School takes place weekly, beginning at 9:20 a.m., and 
worship follows at 10:30 a.m.  All are welcome!