Crossman, Richard C.

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 18Issue 2 Word and Worship: Essays on Preaching andLiturgyArticle 711-1-1992But the greatest of these is loveRichard C. CrossmanFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Sermons is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationCrossman, Richard C. (1992) "But the greatest of these is love," Consensus: Vol. 18 : Iss. 2 , Article 7.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol18/iss2/7But the Greatest of Theseis LoveRichard C. CrossmanPrincipal-Dean, Waterloo Lutheran SeminaryWaterloo, OntarioText: 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 12-13I’m sure it would come as no surpriseto any of you if I observed thatwe live in an age of“uncertainty”.We are told that Christians aredeclining in numbers in Canada and thatour culture will soon bemade up only of anumber of religious minorities.We often sense that the moral standards of our communityare being eroded by a rising secularism.Add to that the growing awareness thatthe ethnic makeup of Canada (culturally and visibly)is becoming more diverse.Beyond this. ..There are now emerging, ever more strongly, groupswhich have special concerns and interests,wanting the support of community to be focused on them.Moreover, in the face of these competingcultures, andfaiths, andinterests. ..there is a press to seek eitherthe lowest common denominator,94 Consensusor, to affirm the creeping tolerance of complete“relativism”,or, to press even more strongly for one’s ownspecial interests, values, or cultureat the expense of others(in the name of “righteousness”, of course).Anyone who has been reading the papers or listening toT.V. about the Canadian constitutional debate,can’t help but recognize the general feelingthat as a community—a nation—in many ways we are “uncertain” as Canadianswho we are, anymore.It’s a time of honest concern!In many ways our Epistle lessonreflects a similar kind of concern.As you know, Corinth (at the time Paul was writing thisEpistle) was a bustling crossroads of that part of theworld:- there was a wide number of religions representedin the city;- there was a large variety of cultures presentin the city;- there were special interest groups of all sortscompeting with one another;- there was a spirit of being a “wide-open” town;- it was a centre of international tradeand youthful vigour;- it was a place of great potential—which wasn’t always realized, becauseof the fractionalizing of the community.And it was a place where Paul got a community ofChristians started:a community he apparently cared for very much.(He wrote a number of letters to them.)You see, Paul’s concerns were not unlike our own,as Canadians and Christians.Love 95Paul was confronted by a church in Corinthwhich was easily dividedand often divisive toward one another:- along lines of vocation- along lines of learning- along lines of status- along lines of influence- along lines of special interest- along lines of piety.Paul was thus faced with a very real challenge:“How does one create and maintain a community?”If one were going to enable a fledgling movement likeChristianity to flourish,then this challenge had to be met.But the answer had to be onethat did justice to both:- the sense of common “wholeness” as a group;- the richness and diversity of the gifts ofeach of the members.Paul found the answer in an image we have all grownto love and respect; the image of the “body”,which has many “parts”, each of which is different,but makes a necessary contribution to the whole.The solution was ingenious! (But not entirely new,for Plato had also come up with a similar idea.)Nevertheless, the image worked well:it organizes and integrates things around astable balancing among the parts.The place and role of each part is clearly identified;- boundaries are clearly delineated- tasks are clearly set- levels of cooperation are nicely defined.But something was missing!Paul saw that if one doesn’t have something more,this gospel image is primarily turned into a formulafor only adjustment and accommodation.It becomes an image for the status quo of96 Consensus“cooperative adjustment”:“Know your place and live accordingly.”In fact, that is often how this text is read:- the different parts of the community should notbe critical of one another;- they should not count wrongs done to one another;- they should not become angry with one another;- they should be self-effacing;- they should be long suffering toward one another.It’s no wonder that many Christians,persons of colour,women,the marginalized,feel somewhat uneasy with this passageunderstood in this way.They say, “O Lord, how long?”But Paul sees this need.He recognizes that without “something else”,- injustices within the body would by implicationbecome institutionalized;-“liberation” of the gospel messagecould be liberation of the partswithin the whole, but not the wholeitself.And Paul identifies just what this “something else”needs to be if the Christian movement and community areto grow, and develop, and be renewed as part ofGod’s Kingdom.The image of the body must be seen through a specialset of glasses; a “bias” if you will.There must be built into the imagea strategy for social growthand transformation,rather than simply accommodation and adjustment.That new set of glasses Paul invites us to put on isthe Love of God, as it is given to us in Jesus Christ.It is a “transformative love”, a gift;Love 97which celebrates who we are, so as to bring us togetherinto an ever increasing wholeness of “community”.It is a love which seeks to discover and be a part ofthe future God is preparing for us. ..“On earth, as it is in Heaven” (as we prayin the Lord’s prayer).What then are the marks of such a personwho sees the world through the glasses ofGod’s “transformative love”?Allow me to parallel, expand, and amplifyon the words of Paul:1. Persons with love are ‘patient.They know how to pace themselves, so as to usetheir gifts and talents in the most effective wayfor renewal, and justice, and the needsof the neighbour.2. Persons with love are kind.They seek to discern the “seed of God’s presence”and to focus on it in others, in their own selves,and in the community—to focus on the place where God isworking to renew and recreate life.3. Persons with love do not brag.They are persons who “listen” and are notdeafened by their own voice; they seek ratherto be attentive to God’s voice,even when it is “still and small”and spoken through the lives of others.4. Persons with love are not envious.Rather they celebrate the gifts of others asstrengths, as things which complement our lifetogether, rather than as things which willthreaten or diminish us.5. Persons with love are not inflated with their ownmportance.They count success a thing not to l)e possessed,but rather consider it the interesting by-product98 Consensusthat remains after the neighbour has beenwell served.6.Persons with love are not graceless.Rather such persons give space for another to saveface in the process of addressing an injustice forwhich that individual has been responsible.Persons who live out of loveknow that truth is more profoundwhen it is exercised with tact,courtesy, and care.7.Persons with love do not reduce lifeto a set of rights.A person who lives out of love lives rather outof a sense of God’s acceptance, despite oursinful unacceptability; and lives for theresultant call to stewardship on behalfof the neighbour and creation.8.Persons with love are people whose lives aren’t cloudedby their own anger.Loving persons don’t lose sight of theChristian ideal as they deal with theexasperations of daily communal life.They don’t allow their sense ofinjustice to cloud their visionof what the community could become.9.Persons with love don’t keep records of past correctedinjustices.They are more concerned with how justicein the community can be a fuller realityin the future, rather than being preoccupiedwith the extent of past injusticesand how they have been repaid.These persons know the power offorgiveness for renewal.10.Persons with love don’t celebrate another’sweakness.The person whose life is based in lovedoes not seek to find the clay feet ofLove 99others or delight in such exposures,but rather seeks a renewed life for all.11. Persons with love endure and never stop hoping.They are persons who are not afraid totake a risk on behalf of the neighbourand his or her need, knowing that Godis quite capable of surprising uswith renewed life.12. A person with love trusts God in and through others.The loving person knows that life existsin an imperfect way, and ambiguity can’tbe avoided. Therefore each of us mustalways be sensitive to both the realpossibilities and the real limitationsof every new thing we do.This then is Paul’s insight for true Christian community.He lifts it up for us, and recommends it to each of us.And he assures us of God’s promise to be with us.as we put love at the centre of our lives andour community.Therefore, as it was for the church in Corinth,may it also be said of our community here:In our life together we found that these three things abide.Faith,Hope, andLove;but the greatest of these was Love. Amen.

But the greatest of these is love

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But the greatest of these is love

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