"What Is This Thing Called Love?"

Sermon for Fourth Sunday of the Year, cycle C, Jan 31-Feb 1, 1998

by Most Rev. Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Presiding Bishop, United Catholic Church

Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 17-19

Psalm 71: 1-6, 15-17

1 Corinthians 12: 31 - 13: 13

Luke 4: 21-30

For two weeks now, we have been working our way through the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, starting at chapter twelve.

Two weeks ago, we heard Paul talk about the spiritual gifts, how they all come from the same Spirit, and they are all given for the same purpose, the building up of the church. Paul tells us that we all have received a gift; no one is left out.

Then last week, we heard Paul compare us to members of the one body. We talked about how we are all dependent on each other. None of us is self-sufficient. We need each other.

This week, in one of the most famous and beautiful passages in the Bible, we heard Paul’s famous discourse on love. From here, in chapter fourteen, Paul goes back to discussing the spiritual gifts, in particular the superiority of prophecy over speaking in tongues.

So what’s going on here? What is this beautiful chapter on love doing in the middle of Paul’s discourse on spiritual gifts?

First, it is instructive to understand the context of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Corinth is located on an isthmus in Greece. Sea lanes in the Mediterranean went back and forth between Spain and Italy to the West and Asia to the East (what is now Turkey, Lebanon, and Israel) From there, land trade routes went on to Persia, Mesopotamia, and on to India.

Now the Mediterranean can be a stormy and dangerous sea, and ships were not as seaworthy as they are today. So ships tended to stay close to shore and avoid the open sea. But to get from the Adriatic Sea, which serves Italy, to the Aegean Sea, which serves Turkey, you have to go all the way around Greece. Unless, that is, you take a short-cut across the narrow isthmus at Corinth. That would save days of sailing through treacherous waters. But they didn’t have the capability to build a canal. So they constructed a skidway on which ships could be towed across the narrow strip of land and deposited into the water on the other side. Ships too large for that could unload their cargo, which would be carried across the isthmus and reloaded on other big ships.

So Corinth, with its seaports on both the Adriatic and Agaean seas became a center of commerce and the most important city in Greece. And, predictably, it became one of the most sinful cities in the world. Its Temple of Aphrodite reportedly had over a thousand temple prostitutes. Sexual immorality was so rampant, they had made a religion out of it.

It was in this hotbed of immorality and sin that Paul had planted a church. Not surprisingly, the church had problems. Many of these problems had been reported to Paul by letter and in person by people like Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, who came to visit Paul in Ephesus. They told Paul that members of the Corinthian congregation were engaging in immorality. Some were abusing the Lord’s Supper. Others were suing fellow Christians in pagan courts. Still others were promoting false teachings about the resurrection. (We will deal with that in the next few weeks, as we study chapter fifteen.) But the most serious problem in the Corinthian church was division. Some of them were claiming loyalty to Paul, and others to other apostles and preachers. Some were puffed up with pride because they could speak in tongues, and were putting down those who couldn’t. There were cliques, factions, animosities, backbiting, and gossip. In short, it was much like some of the churches I have known.

It was this problem of division in the body that Paul spent most of his letter dealing with. And today’s reading from chapter thirteen contains the heart of his response. What he is telling them is that it doesn’t matter how powerful the gifts are that you have been given. They mean nothing if they are not used in love. Their purpose is to help others in the body, not to feed our personal pride. He is telling them that love is more important than everything else, and if they lose that, they are useless or worse.

At this point, I must point out that the Greek word Paul uses for "love" is "agape." It means a selfless concern for the welfare of others that is not called forth by any quality of lovableness in the person loved, but is the product of a will to love in obedience to God’s command. It is like Christ’s love manifested on the cross. It has nothing to do with romance. It has nothing to do with friendship. It even has nothing to do with liking a person. It has nothing to do with emotion. It is an act of the will.

Now with this as background, let us once again listen to the words of chapter thirteen.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

(Here Paul is referring to martyrdom by burning at the stake, as many early Christians experienced. He is telling them that even this supreme sacrifice, if not motivated by love, accomplishes nothing. Paul is tactful. But he’s not being subtle. He wants them to know what he’s talking about. So as we continue the reading, bear in mind that when he says something that love is not, you can be sure that the people of Corinth will recognize that as something they have been doing. And if we’re honest, quite often so will we.)

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

(As Paul continues, he again emphasizes the perishability of the gifts which the Corinthian parishioners are so proud of and jealous of, and the permanence and superiority of love. He goes on to tell them to grow up, or as might be said in today’s jargon, ‘get a life.’)

"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

In the next chapter, Paul gets even more specific. He tells those who speak in tongues that its okay betwen you and God, and it may make you feel good. But unless it is interpreted, it does those around you no good. He says, "In the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brethren, stop thinking like children."

Like I was saying, Paul is not subtle. I use 1 Corinthians chapter 13 at almost every wedding I perform. My wedding homily applies it to the specifics of the love required between a husband and wife. But it can be used in any situation. We can listen to Paul’s words and apply them directly to our lives and to the relationships we have to those around us.

We can also imagine what additional words Paul would use in addressing us if he were writing an epistle to the Floridians. "Love is not lazy. It is not self-absorbed. It is not preoccupied by pleasure or even by the so-called necessities of life. Love is not easily distracted. It revels not in endless golf and television and fishing and boating and swimming, but serves others. Love does not avoid commitment, but gives generously of itself. Love never fails."

Sometimes I’m tempted to write an epistle "according to Father Bob." But then I think better of it. Who can improve on Paul?

The point is that Paul’s words do apply to us today. He is telling us that the gifts we have been given (and every one of us has been given a gift) are for the building up of the body, for the welfare of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and for service to God’s people in the world (even those we don’t like).

Don’t look upon these words as something to make you feel good and holy for the hour you’re in church. They are meant to direct the way you live your life when you go out that door into the world. If you are not changed by what goes on within these walls, then we labor in vain. Accept and respond to the grace God pours out upon you in this Mass. Jesus has died for you that you may be reborn into new life. The Holy Spirit has given you gifts to be used in the service of others. And God the Father has created you in love to love him in return, to serve each other in agape love, and to be happy with him for all eternity. We are commanded to serve each other in agape love. Do it. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Return to #Top of Page

Return to United Catholic Church Home Page