Epiphany 4
– Series C (January 31, 2016)
“A Still
More Excellent Way” (1 Corinthians 12b-13:13)
Striving for excellence in all that we do is a
good thing. In Colossians 3, St. Paul
writes, “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the
Lord Jesus … Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”
(Col. 3:17, 23). We don’t want to do
things in a sloppy fashion, especially when it is done to God’s glory. As we bear the name Christian, we want to
uphold God’s name, God’s reputation, as people who do things heartily as for
the Lord.
As a pastor, that means striving for
excellence in preaching, liturgy, pastoral care, and being sure that the doctrine
I proclaim is true. For each of us, that
means in our parenting, in our school work, in our relationships, we are to be
the best we can possibly be. In the
installation of our church officers last week, we heard from 1 Corinthians
15:58, “in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
On the other hand, the quest for excellence can
be burdensome. It can feel like you are
in a pressure cooker. The air around you
presses down upon every square inch of your body. It’s hard to breathe. You feel like something is about to
blow. It is especially burdensome when you
begin to believe that your status before God based on the quality of your
performance.
Ted Engstrom, former president of Word Vision
and Youth for Christ Internation wrote a book titled The Pursuit of Excellence. Here’s
the description from the back cover:
“He cuts a swath
through mediocrity – ‘get angry at your own mediocrity’ – to promote a way of
life that says ‘you don't have to be average.’ … Engstrom calls people to
stretch themselves, to give up their small ambitions, and to pursue the path of
excellence, using examples from Scripture to show how God's people down through
the ages have followed this mandate. Each chapter includes workable steps for a
strategy for excellence in every area of life.”[1]
Wow. Does
that sound like a book that might put you in that proverbial pressure
cooker? Another book was written a few
years ago entitled Perfecting Ourselves
to Death: The Pursuit of Excellence and the Perils of Perfectionism. In this book, Christian counselor Richard
Winter compares the positive desire to strive for excellence, while warning
against “the seductive nature of perfectionism” that can lead to “debilitating
thoughts and behaviors” such as eating disorders, anxiety and depression, fear
of failure, and so forth.[2]
And yet here we have Paul today talking about
“excellence.” Our reading begins with
these words, “I will show you a still more excellent way.” He has been explaining that God has given
spiritual gifts to each of us in the Church.
He has been illustrating this with the example of the way the body works
together. Likewise, the Body of Christ
works together as God has arranged it. With
Christ as our head, with Christ at the center of all that we say and do, there
is no dysfunction. Even the smallest of
tasks are important because they are all empowered by the same Spirit.
But what can be more excellent than
this?
The “still more excellent way” is
love.
You can do everything with excellence, but if you have no love, you
are nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. As a matter of fact, some of the Corinthians’
neighbors used cymbals in the worship of Dionysius, the god of wine. Paul mentions gongs and cymbals here to
suggest that the use of spiritual gifts without love makes the worship of the
Corinthians no different than the pagans around them.[3]
You can say the truest things in the world, but
if there is no love behind it, you sound like this [BANG CYMBAL]. You can prophesy. You can understand all the mysteries of the
universe, peering into the deep things of God.
You can move mountains with the strength of your faith. You can live like a monk and die like a
martyr. But if you have no love, you are
nothing. If you have no love, you gain
nothing.
The pastor can stand in the pulpit Sunday after
Sunday. He may be the most orthodox of
theologians. He may be the most eloquent
of preachers. But if he shows no care or
concern for people, he sounds like this [BANG CYMBAL]. Some of the best advice I ever received came
from the Rev. Walt Reese, interim pastor here at Messiah when I was called to
be your pastor. All he said was, “love
these people.” Not long after that,
another pastor echoed that advice when he put his arm around my shoulder and
said, “Love your people, love your people, love your people.” I pray I’ve lived up to that to the best of
my abilities, with the help of the Holy Spirit, of course.
Paul’s Spirit-inspired description of love is
one of the most poetic and beautiful descriptions ever written. It’s often used in wedding services, but it
is about so much more than romantic love.
It is a description of the self-giving, self-sacrificing love that we
are to have for all people.
Patient. Kind. Not envious or boastful. Not arrogant or rude. Not insisting on its own way. Not irritable or resentful. Does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices
in the truth. Bears all things. Believes all things. Hopes all things. Endures all things.
So how are we doing? Measured up to this standard, not so hot. We can be impatient, unkind, envious and
boastful. We can be arrogant or rude at
times, if not outwardly, certainly in our thoughts. We can be very irritable and resentful when
we don’t get our own way. We may not
rejoice at wrongdoing but we certainly revel over wrongdoers when they get
their just deserts. Of course, we want
justice served. But sometimes our brand
of justice becomes revenge. Someone
wrongs us and hatred boils up in our hearts.
Maybe we even wish they would rot in hell.
We must repent of this. We must instead see each person as someone
for whom Christ Jesus also died to save, even as he died to save you and me. We must repent of all the ways we have failed
to love, and turn in faith and trust to the one who loved us in the most
excellent way.
·
The One who spoke not in the tongues of men and
angels, but with the very voice of God himself.
·
The One who has all prophetic
powers to speak with authority to both demons and disease and to cast them out,
and whose authoritative Word in his Church today still works to deliver from
all evils of body and soul.
·
The One who truly does understand all the
mysteries of the universe, because he created the universe.
·
The One who, when he walked and talked here on
earth, lived in perfect faith and trust in his Heavenly Father.
·
The One who lived in poverty and delivered his
body up to be crucified while bearing all the sins of the world upon himself.
Romans 5:8 says, “God shows his love for us in
this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). That’s the most excellent way in which you
are loved. Jesus is the One who did all
this for you and for your salvation. Forgiving
you for your failure to love. Forgiving you
for all the ways you have sinned against his holy commandments. Empowering you to love as he has loved you …
self-giving, self-sacrificing. “We love
because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Jesus is love incarnate. He is eternal. He never ends. And because Jesus never ends, that means love
never ends.
And yet we still ask this question: “I know Jesus loves me today, but will he
love me tomorrow? What if I sin
tomorrow? I probably will. I’m so weak.”
Yes, of course, Jesus will love you tomorrow. His love never ends. His forgiveness never ends. His work on the cross was effective for you
yesterday and will be effective for you always.
He loves you the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Paul says that one day prophecies will pass
away, tongues will cease, knowledge will pass away. These are all things that were present in the
first century early church in miraculous ways.
Some were given the gifts of prophecy, speaking in other languages, and
special words of wisdom. Those gifts
seem to have faded away after the apostolic age, especially after all the books
of the New Testament were written and God’s written revelation was complete. Paul probably mentions this in conjunction with
the problem in the Corinthian congregation, that is, people with more spectacular
spiritual gifts pridefully considered themselves better than others. It’s like two children arguing in the
playground over silly little things: “My
backpack is cooler than yours” … “I have more pencils than you” … “My dad can
beat up your dad” … “I can throw this rock farther than you” … Neener neener. Paul says there comes a time to give up those
childish ways. That’s why he had to
remind his hearers that the same Spirit gives gifts to each member of the Body
of Christ to work in coordination with each other and to edify the Church … no
one gift is better than another.
And as he says immediately before our text
today, “eagerly desire the higher gifts.”
What are those gifts? I assume he
is referring to the gifts of faith, hope, and love.
Faith is trust in God’s promises. There will come a day when faith will no
longer be necessary. All of God’s
promises will be fulfilled. We will see
him face to face.
Hope is confidence that God will keep his
promises. There will come a day when
hope will no longer be necessary. We
will see with our own eyes the fulfilment of all those promises.
Love is putting the needs of others before
yourself, willfully acting on behalf of others, showing genuine care and
concern for their well-being. Every need
of every baptized believer will finally be met in the resurrection on the Last
Day. But the love of God that binds us
all together will never cease. In
eternity, there will never be a moment when love is not necessary, for God’s
chief attribute is love. God will love
you forever. We will love each other
forever. And that is why of faith, hope,
and love … the greatest of these is love.
It truly is the more excellent way. God help us to be excellent in this way.
Amen.
[3]
Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M.
(2012). Faithlife Study Bible (1 Co
13:1). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
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