13:1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not
have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
13:2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but
do not have love, I am nothing.
13:3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so
that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
13:4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or
arrogant
13:5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable
or resentful;
13:6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
13:7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.
13:8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end;
as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an
end.
13:9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;
13:10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a
child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end
to childish ways.
13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to
face.
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been
fully known.
13:13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the
greatest of these is love. (NRSV)
As I read this scripture again, I am struck by how wholistic this passage is. I guess I have always thought about it from the perspective of an individual or one of a couple.
Reading this from the perspective of a parent, or one of a system of people (such as a congregation), and as a part of creation is very intriguing and powerful for me.
What helps my faith, hope and love to grow?
- All of the support and nurture that I receive from those with whom I live in community.
- Theological reflection
- connections with others (HUCC, friends, family)
Reflection: God has invited and gifted us with the wonderful communities of which we are a part.
- How do we benefit from our connections/communities?
- How do we contribute to our connections/communities?
- How is/does our faith, hope and love grow?
Nature helps my faith, etc., grow too, and children. Music, art, books, and sometimes movies help my fhl grow.
ReplyDeleteA good laugh helps my faith, hope, and love grow too.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I read Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan's The First Paul in which they commented extensively on this passage, arguing the following:
ReplyDelete"First, the love of which Paul speaks is a spiritual gift, not simply an act of will, not something we decide to do, not simply good advice for couples. Rather as a spiritual gift, love is the most important result (and evidence) of a Spirit transplant. As the primary fruit of the Spirit, it is also the criterion by which the other gifts are evaluated.
"Second, when this text is heard apart from its context, it often sentimentalizes, trivializes, and individualizes what Paul meant by love. It should not be reduced to a tribute in praise of love. Nor should its meaning be reduce to being nice, sensitive, thoughtful, faithful, and kind, even though these are fine qualities. And it should not be reduced to behavior in individual relationships, important as that is.
"Rather, for Paul, love is radical shorthand for what life 'in Christ" is like--life in the 'new ceration,' life 'in the Spirit,' life animated by a Spirit transplant. As the primary fruit of a Spirit-filled life, love is more than our relationships with individuals. For Paul, it had (for want of a better word)a 'social' meaning as well. The social form of love for Pual was distributive justice and nonviolence, bread and peace. Paul's vision of life 'in Christ," life in the "new creation,' did not mean, 'Accept the imperial way of life [the way of Casesar and the Roman government] with its oppression and violence, but practice love in your personal relationships.'
"To make the same point differently, people like Jesus and Paul were not executed for saying, 'Love one another.' They were killed because their understanding of love meant more than being compassionate toward individuals, althoud it did include that. It also meant standing against the domination systems that rule their world, and collaborating with the Spirit in the creation of a new way of life that stood in contrast to the normalcy of the wisdom of this world. Love and justice go together. Justice without love can be brutal, and love without justice can be banal. Love is the heart of justice, and justice is the social form of love."
And so to connect what I quoted from Borg and Crossan in their analysis of I Corininthians 13 to what Beth has said above, my participation in the HUCC congregation needs to be about sharing ideas of living out distributive justice, of love and justice, and finding ways we can help ourselves act on those ideas individally and corporately. That'w whys I'm so thankful for Peggy Rafferty for leading us in our recent study of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict, for her passion for justice and love over this issue and the two peoples caught in a cycle of misery and vioelnce, for her enlightening me.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for Haifa Johns' participation in that discussion and the unique perspective she brings to it as a Palestinian.
May we as the Adult Sunday School class, as a congregation, as individuals find a way to foster God's love and justice to the peoples of Israel and Palestine. Again, I invite all in our congregation (and beyond) to join us for what we hope move beyond discussions.
Very well said Mitch! Also, I love the quote that you shared!
ReplyDelete