We learn first from our families, our parents and siblings
and the people closest to us. But
then we learn from Disney movies about naïve, helpless princesses and heroic
princes and happily ever after which ironically always ends immediately after
the wedding. We learn from soap
operas where love is always a game of possession, lies, and traps. We learn from sitcoms where one parent
is the responsible adult and the other is a big kid who makes everyone
laugh. Is it no wonder we struggle
to have healthy strong relationships in this modern age of media?
As people of faith our learning about love comes first from
looking at how God loves. God’s
love for us and humanity is the pattern for our loving. How Jesus loved, caring for the
hurting, the poor, the rejected, the sinners and accepting all as precious is
our example of love. And our first
place to practice this love is in the church. How wonderful would it be for parents to bring their kids to
church expecting them to learn about love from watching church members?
When Paul writes what is called “The Love Chapter” 1 Corinthians 13, he isn’t writing for
a couple of lovers. He doesn’t
write it for romantic love at all.
In fact Paul doesn’t really thing romantic love is all that great – his
preference is for Christians to stay single and celibate and focus their lives
on God and on service. (this
standard continued for another 1,300 years, Christian churches/pastors weren’t
involved in weddings at all until
that time)
Paul writes The Love Chapter for the church. Specifically a group of house churches,
at this time there were no church buildings, who were quarreling with each
other comparing and trying to one-up each other all the time. Paul first writes chapter 12 – how we
are all given a gift from the Holy Spirit and we need each other like a body
needs both hands and feet, eyes and ears.
We are the body of Jesus and we need each other to work together.
Then Paul switches on us with Chapter 13 – but even though
we may have these gifts, they are nothing without love. We can have talents and skills but if
we don’t use them with love its pointless. The quality of how we interact with each other matters. And the first quality should be
loving.
Then Paul fleshes out what loving looks like. Patience, kindness, not
keeping score or wrongs, not flying off the handle, not being self-centered,
forgiving, hoping for better, believing, trusting.
It’s a long list.
It’s a list that when I read it at weddings, I feel bad because it’s a
tall order for two people mad about each other. It’s a really tall order when we realize this is how we are
supposed to love the people we sit in church with and sometimes kinda
like. It’s a tall order when we
are supposed to love the people at the church down the street with this
love. When we are supposed to
treat every person we meet with this love.
This week we have seen a lot of un-loving actions in the
world. And what are we supposed to
do? It may seem naïve, silly,
pointless, even stupid, but Jesus says we are supposed to meet persecution with
love, rejection with love, hurt with love, we are supposed to respond to hate
with love. Because God loves us that way.
Its not easy. Its not supposed to be easy. But God calls us beyond what our society, our culture and our human guts say (all those things would let us focus on revenge and getting even) God calls us to a higher standard, Love. What does look like this week, of all weeks? Like this:
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