IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE
1 Corinthians 13
Rev. Paul Wrightman 12/1/24
THIS MORNING’S SCRIPTURE READING WAS CHOSEN
BECAUSE IN IT ST. PAUL GIVES US THE HIGHEST AND DEEPEST
AND BROADEST DESCRIPTION OF CHRISTIAN LOVE
THAT WE FIND IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE.
SCHOLARS ARE IN AGREEMENT THAT PAUL DIDN’T JUST
CASUALLY COME UP WITH THIS PROFOUND PASSAGE,
BUT THAT IT IS BASED ON YEARS OF MEDITATING
ON THE MEANING OF JESUS’ LOVE-IN-ACTION.
ALTHOUGH MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, AND JOHN –
WHICH WE COLLECTIVELY KNOW AS “THE GOSPELS,”
HAD NOT YET BEEN EDITED INTO THEIR FINAL FORMS,
THERE WERE VARIOUS COLLECTIONS OF JESUS’ SAYINGS,
PARABLES, HEALINGS, AND PROPHETIC ACTIONS
ALREADY CIRCULATING AS PAUL WAS WRITING HIS LETTERS.
THESE COMPILATIONS WERE BOTH WRITTEN AND ORAL.
SINCE PAUL DID NOT PERSONALLY MEET JESUS
UNTIL AFTER JESUS’ DEATH AND RESURRECTION,
I SEE PAUL AVIDLY COLLECTING ALL THE MATERIAL ON JESUS
HE COULD GET HIS HANDS ON,
REFLECTING ON THIS MATERIAL FOR SEVERAL YEARS,
(See Galatians 1:18),
THEN EVENTUALLY INCORPORATING MUCH OF THIS CONTENT
INTO HIS OWN LETTERS.
BUT UNLIKE JESUS, WHO EXPRESSES HIMSELF VERY CONCRETELY,
PAUL LIKES TO MULL THINGS OVER
UNTIL HE CAN COME UP WITH GRAND SUMMARIES
OF JESUS’ WORDS AND ACTIONS.
SUCH IS CHAPTER 13 OF PAUL’S FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS.
PAUL HAS BEEN MEDITATING ON THE MEANING OF LOVE
USING JESUS AS HIS PRIMARY ROLE-MODEL,
AND THIS IS HIS OWN GRAND POEM, OR PASSIONATE HYMN,
ON THE SUBJECT.
THERE IS NOTHING LIKE IT IN ALL OF ANCIENT LITERATURE,
AND THIS IS BECAUSE NO ONE BUT JESUS HAD DARED
TO REDEFINE THE VERY MEANING OF LOVE.
FOR THE GREEKS LOVE WAS SEEN PRIMARILY IN TERMS
OF FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND EROTIC NEED AND FULFILLMENT.
THE HEBREWS UNDERSTOOD LOVE PRIMARILY IN TERMS
OF CARE AND PROTECTION.
JESUS DID NOT DENY ANY OF THESE ASPECTS OF LOVE,
BUT THE HEART OF LOVE, FOR HIM, LAY ELSEWHERE.
THE HEART OF LOVE, FOR JESUS, LAY IN GOD’S DESIRE
TO SHARE THE FULLNESS OF GOD’S VERY BEING WITH OTHERS.
AND GIVEN THE REALITY THAT EVIL IS REAL
AND THIS WORLD AND THE PEOPLE IN IT ARE BROKEN,
GOD’S LOVE OFTEN HAS TO FIND EXPRESSION
THROUGH ACTS OF SACRIFICE.
PLEASE NOTICE A MAJOR, MAJOR DIFFERENCE HERE:
CHRISTIANITY, AT LEAST IN ITS ORIGINAL FORM
AS TAUGHT AND LIVED BY JESUS,
ROUNDLY REJECTED THE NOTION OF SACRIFICE
AS SOMETHING PEOPLE DID TO CONNECT WITH GOD,
AND SHOCKINGLY REVERSED THE TERMS OF THE EQUATION:
SACRIFICE IS SOMETHING THAT GOD DOES
TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE!
GOD’S ULTIMATE SACRIFICE IS UNDERSTOOD TO TAKE PLACE
ON THE CROSS,
WITH JESUS VOLUNTARILY AND NONVIOLENTLY
EMBRACING DEATH ITSELF
SO THAT BROKEN HUMANITY COULD FINALLY KNOW
ONCE AND FOR ALL
THAT THERE IS NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING,
WE CAN DO THAT WOULD MAKE GOD LOVE US LESS.
BUT THERE IS ANOTHER, OFTEN OVERLOOKED,
DIMENSION OF GOD’S CHOOSING THE WAY OF SACRIFICE
TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE.
AS LENT, GOOD FRIDAY, AND EASTER COMMEMORATE
GOD’S ULTIMATE ACT OF LOVE ON THE CROSS,
ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS CELEBRATE ANOTHER ASPECT
OF GOD’S SACRIFICIAL LOVE,
A LOVE WHICH WAS WILLING TO LEAVE
THE COMFORT AND GLORY OF HEAVEN,
TO BECOME ABSOLUTELY CONCRETE
IN THE LIFE OF A PARTICULAR HUMAN BEING,
NAMELY JESUS OF NAZARETH.
THIS IS WHAT CHRISTIANS REFER TO AS “THE INCARNATION,”
THE BELIEF THAT GOD ACTUALLY BECAME A PERSON
IN THE PERSON OF JESUS OF NAZARETH.
AS BEINGS WITH AS YET A VERY LIMITED REPERTOIRE OF TOOLS
TO TRY AND DESCRIBE THE INDESCRIABLE,
WE’RE FORCED TO USE PRIMITIVE CONCEPTS
SUCH AS GOD’S “COMING DOWN,”
AND CHOOSING TO BECOME ONE OF US.
OUR DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MYSTERIES OF EASTER AND CHRISTMAS
MAY BE PRIMITIVE,
BUT THE REALITIES GIVING RISE TO THEM ARE NOT.
MANY MYTHICAL STORIES FROM EVERY PART OF THE GLOBE
SPEAK OF GODS BREAKING INTO OUR HUMAN DIMENSION,
WHICH CONNECTS WITH THE CHRISTIAN NOTION OF INCARNATION,
AND OF GODS TRANSCENDING DEATH,
WHICH CONNECTS TO THE CHRISTIAN NOTION OF RESURRECTION.
MYTHS WHICH SHOW SOME SIMILARITIES TO CHRISTIANITY
ARE SOMETIMES CITED TO MAKE THE POINT THAT
THE STORIES OF JESUS ARE THEMSELVES
NOTHING BUT MYTHICAL NARRATIVES.
BUT J.R.R. TOLKIEN (YES, THAT J.R.R. TOLKIEN!) AND C.S. LEWIS, AMONG OTHERS, HAVE APPLIED A VERY EFFECTIVE, JUDO-LIKE MOVE
TO THIS CRITICISM OF CHRISTIANITY AS SIMPLY ONE-MORE MYTH
AMONG A MULTITUDE OF OTHERS.
TOLKIEN AND LEWIS HAVE NO PROBLEM USING THE TERM “MYTH”
TO DESCRIBE CHRISTIANITY,
BUT WITH ONE ALL-IMPORTANT PROVISO:
THE “MYTH”, THE STORY, OF CHRISTIANITY --
UNLIKE ALL THE OTHER STORIES CONCERNING “THE GODS” --
HAS ACTUALLY BECOME TRUE IN HISTORY.
THERE ARE MANY STORIES OF GOD’S ENTERING OUR WORLD.
THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY OF GOD ENTERING OUR WORLD
THAT HAS OVERWHELMING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
TO SUPPORT IT,
AND THAT IS THE CHRISTIAN STORY, THE STORY OF JESUS.
BOTH TOLKIEN AND LEWIS CONSIDERED THE CHRISTIAN CLAIM
THAT GOD BECAME A PERSON IN THE PERSON OF JESUS
TO BE GROUNDED IN HISTORY.
THIS ENABLED THEM TO PUT A POSITIVE SPIN
ON MANY OF THE OTHER GOD-STORIES CIRCLING THE WORLD:
THEY ARE EXPRESSIONS OF HUMANKIND’S DEEPEST YEARNINGS
FOR A GOD WHO IS TRULY WITH US IN LIFE AND IN DEATH
AND IN LIFE BEYOND DEATH.
AS EXPRESSIONS OF HUMANITY’S PROFOUNDEST LONGINGS
THESE COMPETING STORIES ARE LARGELY TRUE.
WHAT THEY LACK IS A GROUNDING IN HISTORICAL REALITY
WHICH IS THE UNIQUE HALLMARK OF CHRISTIANITY.
IT IS VERY MUCH AS IF ALL THESE COMPETING MYTHS, OR STORIES,
WERE BASICALLY IN “THE RIGHT TRACK,” AS IT WERE.
GOD SAW AND GOD HEARD OUR DEEPEST YEARNINGS
AND ANSWERED BY COMING IN PERSON AS A PERSON.
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, GOOD SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS
ON THE MEANING OF INCARNATION ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
BUT WE HAVE TO TRY TO PUT THE MYSTERY INTO WORDS,
ALWAYS ACKNOWLEDGING, ALONG WITH T.S. ELIOT
IN HIS FOUR QUARTETS, THAT
WORDS STRAIN,
CRACK AND SOMETIMES BREAK, UNDER THE BURDEN,
UNDER THE TENSION, SLIP, SLIDE, PERISH,
DECAY WITH IMPRECISION, WILL NOT STAY IN PLACE,
WILL NOT STAY STILL.
IN SPITE OF THIS, IN THE SAME POEM ELIOT IS ABLE TO AFFIRM:
THESE ARE ONLY HINTS AND GUESSES,
HINTS FOLLOWED BY GUESSES; AND THE REST
IS PRAYER, OBSERVANCE, DISCIPLINE, THOUGHT AND ACTION.
THE HINT HALF GUESSED, THE GIFT HALF UNDERSTOOD, IS
INCARNATION.
SO ANY ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE THE MEANING OF INCARNATION
IN WORDS WILL BE SLIGHTLY RIDICULOUS.
ONE OF THE LEAST RIDICULOUS ATTEMPTS AT DOING THIS
COMES FROM PHILIP YANCEY’S BOOK THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW.
HE WRITES:
“I LEARNED ABOUT INCARNATION
WHEN I KEPT A SALT-WATER AQUARIUM.
MANAGEMENT OF A MARINE AQUARIUM,
I DISCOVERED, IS NO EASY TASK.
I HAD TO RUN A PORTABLE CHEMICAL LABORATORY
TO MONITOR THE NITRATE LEVELS AND THE AMMONIA CONTENT.
I PUMPED IN VITAMINS AND ANTIBIOTICS AND SULFA DRUGS
AND ENOUGH ENZYMES TO MAKE A ROCK GROW.
I FILTERED THE WATER THROUGH GLASS FIBERS AND CHARCOAL,
AND EXPOSED IT TO ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT.
YOU WOULD THINK,
IN VIEW OF ALL THE ENERGY EXPENDED ON THEIR BEHALF,
THAT MY FISH WOULD AT LEAST BE GRATEFUL.
NOT SO.
EVERY TIME MY SHADOW LOOMED ABOVE THE TANK
THEY DOVE FOR COVER INTO THE NEAREST SHELL.
THEY SHOWED ME ONE EMOTION ONLY: FEAR.
ALTHOUGH I IPENED THE LID AND DROPPED IN FOOD
ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE THREE TIMES A DAY,
THEY RESPONDED TO EACH VISIT AS A SURE SIGN
OF MY DESIGNS TO TORTURE THEM.
I COULD NOT CONVINCE THEM OF MY TRUE CONCERN.
TO MY FISH I WAS DEITY.
I WAS TOO LARGE FOR THEM, MY ACTIONS TOO INCOMPREHENSIBLE.
MY ACTS OF MERCY THEY SAW AS CRUELTY;
MY ATTEMPTS AS HEALING THEY VIEWED AS DESTRUCTION.
TO CHANGE THEIR PERCEPTIONS I BEGAN TO SEE
WOULD REQUIRE A FORM OF INCARNATION.
I WOULD HAVE TO BECOME A FISH AND “SPEAK” TO THEM
IN A LANGUAGE THEY COULD UNDERSTAND.”
(End Quote)
SEEN IN THE CONTEXT OF INCARNATION,
THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE PRSON OF JESUS
BECOMES A PERSONAL CLARIFICATION OF WHO GOD REALLY IS,
AND WHAT GOD REALLY CARES ABOUT.
LET’S FACE IT, CREATION, HOLY BOOKS, INCLUDING THE BIBLE,
AND PROPHETS, INCLUDING ALL THE ONES
IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
WHILE ALL AT TIMES PROFOUND POINTERS TO GOD,
ARE ALSO ALL, AT TIMES, PROFOUNDLY AMBIGUOUS,
AND SOMETIMES DOWNRIGHT CONTRADICTORY.
HOW CAN WE REALLY KNOW THAT GOD IS LOVE,
AND THAT GOD’S LOVE TAKES THE FORM OF
RELENTLESS COMPASSION,
CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE,
AND UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS?
CHRISTIANS WOULD ANSWER THAT WE CAN KNOW
ALL THIS ABOUT GOD BY LOOKING AT AND FOLLOWING JESUS.
ALTHOUGH A NUMERICAL MAJORITY OF CHRISTIAN THINKERS
SEE CHRISTIANITY IN A TRIUMPHALISTIC WAY
AS THE “ONLY TRUE RELIGION,”
A STRONG MINORITY OF CHRISTIAN THINKERS WOULD SAY
THAT THE COMING OF JESUS WAS NOT TO FOUND A NEW RELIGION,
BUT TO ASSURE PERSONS FROM ALL FAITH TRADITIONS
THAT WHENEVER THEY ACT WITH COMPASSION,
WHENEVER THEY AGITATE FOR JUSTICE,
WHENEVER THEY SEEK TO EMBODY GOD’S LOVE
IN LOVING ACTS OF THEIR OWN,
WHENEVER THEY RESPOND TO VIOLENCE
WITH CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE INSTEAD OF WITH MORE VIOLENCE,
THAT WHENEVER THEY DO THERSE THINGS,
THEY ARE CONNECTED TO, THEY ARE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH,
AS JESUS HIMSELF PUTS IT, “THE GOD AND FATHER OF US ALL.”
OF COURSE THE COROLLARY OF THIS IS THAT
WHENEVER PEOPLE OF ANY FAITH TRADITION
VERY MUCH INCLUDING CHRISTIANITY,
DO NOT ACT IN THESE WAY, THEY ARE NOT CONNECTED TO,
NOT IN RELATIONSHIP WITH, GOD IN GOD’S TRUE NATURE.
THE EARLIEST CHURCH SAW THE INCARNATION
AS LESS A CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE THAN A UNIVERSAL REALITY:
THE REALITY THAT GOD IS LOVE,
AND THAT GOD BECAME A LOVING PERSON
TO FULLY DEMONSTRATE THAT FACT.
THIS IS THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS. AND IT IS HUGE.
WHAT DOES INCARNATION LOOK LIKE?
INCARNATION LOOKS LIKE GOD LOVING THE WORLD SO MUCH
THAT GOD CHOSE TO MOVE IN WITH US.
INCARNATION LOOKS LIKE GOD MEETING US AT OUR PLACES
OF GREATEST NEED AND DEEPEST JOY.
GOD’S INCARNATE LOVE IS THE STRONGEST FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE.
LET’S DO ALL WE CAN TO HELP SPREAD IT AROUND.
AMEN.