For context, this chapter 1 Cor 13 was preached at my wedding. On August 22, 2020, I married Lalatiana, and Jason preached on 1 Cor 13—a wonderful sermon that touched many guests (thanks again to him). Anyway, all this to say that Jason is neither the 1st nor the last to choose this text for a wedding; it is the quintessential wedding passage (one of the favorites among Christians worldwide, I think), and that is understandable.
But today, preaching on this text takes place as part of a sermon series on 1 Corinthians. So, even though this text applies very well to a wedding context, today we will put it back in its initial context: that of the church in Corinth. Before entering into the text, let us review its background together.
Context
As a reminder, Paul writes a letter to the church at Corinth, which he considers in chapter 1 (1 Corinthians 1:5–7) to be enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and all knowledge—God's testimony about Christ having been confirmed among them. He even goes so far as to tell them, “Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”
So the church at Corinth is a blessed, equipped church, ready to function as a church. And yet the rest of his letter is full of reproaches and dismay from Paul toward them. Paul mentions:
Divisions, rivalries
Spiritual immaturity
Pride
etc.
And that is only the beginning of the list. So what is the problem? If the church is equipped and lacks no gift, why so many reproaches? What are they missing? That is the global context of chapter 13.
More specifically, chapter 13 also fits into the context of a specific topic being addressed. You know, the letter to the Corinthians seems a lot like an FAQ (frequently asked questions) to me. Paul appears to be answering questions that the Corinthians had (probably) sent him beforehand. Each question forms a section of his letter, a theme addressed (e.g., the topic of marriage, meat sacrificed to idols, among others).
And so our text fits into a precise theme that Paul starts a chapter earlier:
1 Corinthians 12:1 'Now about spiritual gifts [...]'
We understand what Paul means by 'spiritual realities/gifts [...]' as we read the rest of chapter 12. He is talking about spiritual gifts, particularly those that impress—the ones manifested visibly by the Spirit. When I talk about gifts in this sermon, I won't specify every time, but those are the kind of gifts I'll be referring to: the ones that impress.
Visibly, the Corinthians tended to rank spiritual gifts within the church. They sought impressive gifts, perhaps considering them more useful or noble than others. In any case, they considered those gifts worthy of pursuit, and members who did not have those gifts felt excluded, left out of the body of Christ. This view of gifts created divisions among church members. So here is a summary of chapter 12 (to refresh our memory): “The Church is one body made up of many members, each having received a different gift from the Spirit, and all these gifts are necessary and must serve the common good.”
That is exactly the context of chapter 13. In fact, Paul ends chapter 12 with a teaser, saying: 1 Corinthians 12:31 'Eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.' In other words: “We remain on the subject of gifts, to be continued in the next episode...”
Let us address this new episode together, following two main points:
1st: we will see that a gift is not an end in itself
2nd: we will see that we must instead pursue love
A gift is not an end in itself
A gift without love is of no value
When I was a teenager, I used to hang out with young Christians from various denominations, including charismatic backgrounds—meaning those who emphasize gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit. By spending time with them, I sometimes thought, “Wow, these are Christians of another level because they speak in tongues!”
Naturally, I started asking myself, “Shouldn't I also be able to speak in tongues? Am I missing something? Am I really the Christian God calls me to be?”
Let me open two parentheses here:
1st: I do not mean to denigrate these young Christians; they are wonderful people who had a very positive impact on my life
2nd: I do not denigrate speaking in tongues either; in any case, it is a secondary issue that in no way determines our salvation.
However, what can be dangerous is the importance we place on this gift (as with any other gift). Parentheses closed.
Returning to my case, as a teenager questioning speaking in tongues and my own spiritual maturity: if I had read 1 Cor 13 at that time, I would have found a clear answer:
1 Corinthians 13:1–3 'If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.'
The question was not whether I should aspire to speak in tongues, but rather “did I have love?” I hadn't even asked myself what I would do with this gift for the church. Ultimately, I wanted this gift more for myself than to serve others. “Do I have love?” That was the only relevant question to ask back then, and it remains the only relevant question today: “Do I have love?”
This reasoning applies to all kinds of gifts. What good would it do me to be able to move mountains if it leads neither to salvation nor to the edification of my brothers and sisters? This is true for impressive gifts, but also for more modest acts. Giving to the poor, acting for noble causes... these acts seem generous. But if I don't have love, these acts remain earthly services, services with no bearing on the eternal life of my neighbor. And so, in the perspective of eternity, these services remain useless for them as well as for me.
A gift is temporary
A spiritual gift is not only worthless without love, but it is also destined to disappear. Prophesying, healing, speaking in unknown tongues, knowing the mysteries of the world... All these things resemble “gifts” today, but one day everyone will have perfect knowledge; one day no illness will affect us. At that moment, these gifts will no longer exist, or at least no one will need them anymore.
1 Corinthians 13:8–10 '[...]. 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 completeness comes, what is in part disappears.'
To illustrate this idea, Paul uses the example of childhood: 1 Corinthians 13:11 '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 the ways of childhood behind me.'. My son Nathan is 3 years old; he is a child. And because he is a child, as a father I must adapt to his situation. For example, I have to install a booster seat on his chair so he can eat at the table with us; I have to install training wheels on the back of his bicycle so he can pedal without falling. I must give him all kinds of objects that are very useful to him today, but which one day will gather dust in the attic because we simply won't need them anymore.
That is the idea Paul presents here: gifts of prophecy, knowledge, teaching, healing, etc.—all these impressive gifts, as useful as they may be, are destined to gather dust in the attic when we see and know fully, or when sickness exists no more.
A gift is a false indicator of spiritual maturity
Finally, a spiritual gift is not only of no value without love and temporary, but it can also be a false metric of spiritual maturity. I have seen preachers stand before congregations and recount miracles that occurred through them, or share testimonies of miracles in their lives. I am not saying this is a bad thing, provided that:
The testimony is true
The testimony directs glory to God alone
That is great. But unfortunately, the effect it had on me for a long time was to consider these people as Christians who had “succeeded”—to compare myself to them and feel tiny beside them. Or even worse, to think that God favors them more than me because he works miracles through them.
If the book of 1 Corinthians shows us anything, it is that one can have impressive gifts and still be spiritually immature. That was the case with the Corinthians: on one hand, Paul says in chapter 1 that they lacked no gift, and in chapter 14 we see Paul providing a framework so these gifts wouldn't create disorder in the assembly; so on one hand, the Corinthians possessed these gifts in abundance—visible, impressive gifts. But on the other hand, Paul reproaches them for divisions, being worldly, being proud... in short, lacking love. Gifts do not imply spiritual maturity.
More generally, any impressive or miraculous act should be decoupled from a person's spiritual maturity. Jesus himself says in Matthew 7:22–23 'Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?”' Some people will come to Jesus reminding him that they did many wonders and miraculous acts IN HIS NAME. And yet, Jesus will tell some openly: ' [...] I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
For some, it won't even be their spiritual maturity in question, but their salvation itself.
So once again, I do not wish to discredit all testimonies you might have heard. I am not suggesting they are fake, because I am convinced God still acts miraculously today. Nor do I want us to foster a culture of extreme skepticism toward spectacular manifestations of the Spirit (always with wisdom and discernment, of course).
What I wish to do, if needed, is to adjust our perspective and estimation of certain gifts. We must put gifts back in their proper place. In love, they are a powerful blessing that God will use to draw people to himself and grow his Church. But that is all—the role of spiritual gifts mentioned in this chapter stops there. These gifts are temporary; without love they have no value, and they are not even a guarantee of spiritual maturity.
So let us not judge a person or even a church by its gifts, but rather by its fruits (described in Galatians 5), and by the love that reigns among its members.
So we have seen that gifts should not be an end in themselves, and that what makes them useful is the love that puts them to work. The logical question that follows is: “What is love, and how do we pursue the love Paul speaks of?”
Let us rather pursue love
V 4–7 'Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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.'
We are incapable of loving
We were studying 1 Cor 13 with small group leaders when one leader said: “When I read this description of love, I think: that's how I want to be loved.” And I understand that leader; this description of love is beautiful, attractive, and just reading it brings peace.
Unfortunately, what attracts us even more to this love is that we rarely see it. This described love is God's love; this perfect love does not exist naturally in us.
Naturally, as humans, we do not know how to love... Naturally, we engage in all types of relationships in which we love poorly, often ending up seeking our own self-interest somewhere in that relationship. We enter friendships or romantic relationships with expectations... and when the person doesn't fulfill our expectations, impatience begins to grow. We become easily irritated, counting the wrongs suffered.
How many times have we been disappointed by others—not because they wronged us, but because we expected them to do us good?
Even within a family, where love is supposed to be purest and most selfless, we end up showing impatience, becoming irritated, not trusting everything, not enduring everything.
And if we are incapable of loving those dear to us, let us not even talk about our love for others.
That is what our love looks like. We are far from the love described in 1 Cor 13. The Corinthians' love did not resemble this beautiful description either, or Paul would not have reproved them so much in his letter. In fact, Paul gives a description of love that directly echoes the various reproaches he addresses in other chapters of his book:
'Love is patient': Chapter 11, the Corinthians lack patience when taking the Lord's Supper to the point that one goes hungry while another gets drunk.
Love 'is not proud': Chapter 5, Paul says they are puffed up with pride to the point of not grieving over the evil committed among them.
Love 'does not delight in evil': Chapter 6, Paul highlights that they themselves commit injustice, and against their brothers and sisters in the church.
It is as if Paul were explaining the root of all the evils observed among the Corinthians as ultimately a lack of love. So for the Corinthians, as for us, the ultimate question becomes: how do we love?
Love is given to us
The answer may sound cliché, but it is true: we can love with God's help. Love is not only the framework within which we can desire a gift, but Love is itself a gift from God. Remember, chapter 13 fits into the context of chapter 12, which addresses spiritual gifts God gives for his church. So just as I am incapable of prophesying or healing by myself, I am also incapable of loving properly through my efforts alone.
God's love has been given to us in Jesus Christ. His death on the cross reconciles us with God and allows the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. By dwelling in us, the Holy Spirit enables us to love better, in the most beautiful and true sense—that is, to love as God loves.
Our love grows progressively
God's love is given to us as a model through Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is also given to us to enable us to press toward this love of God. Nevertheless, the transformation of our own love remains progressive. Realize this: God brings us from death to life, from sin to holiness, from hatred/pride/indifference to true love. This is a chasm uncrossable by ourselves, but in God it is possible. Yet crossing this chasm happens continuously and progressively—it doesn't happen overnight after baptism. So knowing that our love grows progressively, what does that imply for us? Two things:
First, the fact that our love grows progressively means we must make efforts. 2 Peter 1:5–7 tells us '[...] make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; [...] and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.'. Now that God enables us to love, let us make the necessary efforts to cultivate this love, because our efforts are no longer in vain.
It is like our holiness: although called saints, we must struggle against our flesh. It is the same with love: God enables us to love, but that does not remove the struggle with our flesh. Let us not lose heart; our efforts may seem insignificant, increasingly heavy, or endless, but God works in us through our efforts. Let us pray regularly that he gives us the desire and the ability to act.
Second, that our love grows progressively implies that we must be patient with one another. This is the very first description of love Paul gives us: 'Love is patient'. If a brother or sister said or did something that displeased you (lacked love toward you) and it eats away at you from the inside, that is likely a sign that God has work to do not only in their heart, but also in yours—so you can be more patient toward that brother or sister, not be easily angered, not suspect evil, and endure all things.
We have just seen that we are incapable of loving on our own, that love is a gift to us (even though our love grows progressively), but here is one last point Paul raises in v13 'And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'
I will conclude with this last point: Why? Why is love the thing that is greatest?
The most important thing: love
Let us take a step back and go back to the creation of man. As you know, the book of Genesis tells us that God created us in his image and likeness. And to be the image of a God whom the Bible says is love: 1 John 4:8 and v16
'God is love.', knowing how to love becomes not just important for us, but essential. Loving is tied to the very purpose of our existence; otherwise, we are no longer the image of God and miss the purpose for which he created us.
It is to teach us to love that Jesus calls us to be servants to one another, to submit to one another, to wash one another's feet. Ultimately, it is to teach us to love that God gave the law.
Matthew 22:36–40, a teacher of the law asks Jesus a question to test him: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall LOVE your neighbor as yourself.’ ” And look at what Jesus says next: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” All the Law and the Prophets (meaning all the laws God gave his people through Moses and all the words God gave through prophets) exist to teach us to love God and our neighbor. Do we realize that loving is not just a bonus commandment for us? Love is our goal and our reason for existing: to love God and love our neighbor.
'And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.'
Conclusion
To conclude,
Let us no longer consider a gift as an end in itself because:
Without love, a gift is useless
A gift is temporary
And as impressive as it may be, a gift is not even proof of spiritual maturity
Instead, let us pursue love.
We are incapable of loving on our own
But God gives us love through Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to enable us to love better
However, the transformation of our love remains progressive, which should push us toward effort and patience with others
Finally, love is the most important thing we should seek
If you hear this message and have not yet accepted God's love for you—if despite the gift of his own Son for you, you do not wish to respond to his love—know that seeking love elsewhere will gain you nothing. The love this world offers is broken, selfish, and often hypocritical. Yet 'Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.'; Jesus said this (in John 15:13), and he is the one who proved he loves us with this love.
If, on the contrary, you have placed your hope in Jesus—to you who have tasted his love and responded through baptism—I encourage you to desire to resemble him more in your love for God and your love for others. I encourage you to maintain your efforts in dependence on God. In the midst of your busy daily routine, at work, with your family, do not lose sight of the fact that all these areas are fertile ground to learn to love. Even in ministry, sometimes we accumulate Bible studies, accumulate efforts on all fronts, only to realize that love is no longer our engine. Let us preserve this framework of love at all costs, even in our service to the church.
And until we are with him, when our love is made complete, let us make every shortcoming in our love an opportunity to repent, break our pride, and implore God's help again and again.
Let us pray.