Love is a many splendored thing – 1 Corinthians 13

It’s hard to acknowledge that it has been decades since the song with the line “love is a many splendored thing” was first played on the radio. As a young man full of hope for my future, that song inspired me to imagine what love could be and what love could look like in my life.  You may also remember the little comic “Love is...” which gave many examples of love that were simple and yet touching; ways in which we could let another person know that they were loved and know that we were loved.

Certainly, the word and the concept of love has been with us for as long as this world has been in existence. It is an emotion, a feeling, a state of mind and being that has found expression in every culture known to humanity.  But the interpretation of what that word means and what the concept of love entails has varied and sometimes the way in which love has been practiced has been quite disturbing.  While for most of us the word love or the concept of love may conjure up images of sunshine, warmth, affection, and care, to others that word carries a darker meaning.  And as with most things in this world, it is our personal experiences that shape our understanding and affect our response.

Critical to expressing love is knowing what is meant by love. When we know what love is to be, then we can begin to express love by following the interpretation that has been given to us by God through the prophets, the apostles, and our Lord.  But as with anything we have learned in this life, expressing love that reflects the love God intended is challenging. It challenges our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

We find ourselves struggling to be loving as we deal with people who prefer to tear others down physically, mentally, and emotionally. We find ourselves struggling to be loving as we deal with people who would exploit any weakness in order to gain an upper hand in a relationship be it in business, a social group, a family setting or in our own church fellowship.

The problem is that the true expression of love for the Christian faith is something that is the most challenging idea to grasp and to faithfully practice.  It demands that we engage with one another in body, mind, and spirit in such a way as to be ever mindful of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual frailties of one another and be prepared to respond to one another with words and actions that will reveal a true care and respect for the other.

More than ever, we need to understand, interpret, and practice the essence of what God means by love and as it becomes expressed through the practice of grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  We need to seek the guidance of God’s Spirit to help us see where and how we may have blocked or seriously impaired others from experiencing that mercy, grace, and forgiveness through our interpretation of and application of love.

Through the life and ministry of Jesus, we have been given a touchstone by which to live our lives here in community, with our families and with any one with whom we may have contact.   Through the life of Jesus we are encouraged to look beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law. We are encouraged to exercise good judgment by looking to what is the greater good not just for us but for others.  Many times, Jesus ran afoul of those who claimed to be knowledgeable about the will of God for humanity; and while the heart of God sought to have the human heart respond in certain ways that would be most beneficial to this life, Jesus knew that the human heart was prone to respond in ways that could cause harm.  Through Jesus, God revealed to us that while such harm will and does occur. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are to seek to reduce or eliminate that harm as far as it is within our ability.

Over time, we have come to understand where we have bound people rather than freeing them, where we have broken spirits rather than healing them. As we seek to move forward in this time, the challenge is to embrace the depth of the love spoken of by Paul in his letter and encourage a path of peace and reconciliation among all people.  Such a response will change our relationships with one another.    And it was that response from Jesus that changed the lives of so many.  Our faith in God, our commitment to have a relationship with God and with one another calls us to follow the example of Jesus and seek to respond to one another in ways that reveal that we are prepared to act with the same heart and mind as Jesus himself.  We will not do this perfectly, but we are to never stop trying. We are encouraged to be forgiving of others but also forgiving of ourselves. We are encouraged to be gracious to others and to be merciful to others. We cannot change the past, but we can change the future.

Today it is critical for us to embrace the vision and understanding of love that Paul presents.  From a position of great learning in the interpretation of Scripture, from a position of mastery in the art of teaching and preaching, from a position of privilege within the society that he was raised, Paul found that none of this mattered if he did not have love.

But that love needs to be patient and kind, it needs to not be envious of others, it needs to not be boastful or conceited or rude. It needs to be unselfish.  It needs to be willing to listen to the stories of others and to not take offense at the words or actions expressed by those struggling with events and circumstances that have deeply wounded them and led them to where they are today. We need to let go of keeping a record of how we have been hurt by others and of how we have hurt but still remember so that we may not hurt or be hurt again. We need to be conscious of our own frailties so as not to be quick to judge.

Let us not forget that “There is nothing that love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, its endurance.” (1Corinthians 13:7, The Revised English Bible) We need to face the life we have been given to live and not give up; to be willing to receive one another with open arms and open mind; ready to be there for one another.  To embrace love in this way will challenge us in mind, body, and spirit. It will challenge our faith and give us pause to reflect on our own relationship with God.  During his lifetime Paul never stopped striving to love as he believed God was calling him to love.  And through it all, he knew that nothing in all the world could ever separate him from the love of God for him and because of that he knew that he could never stop seeking to love others. Let us seek to live the love revealed by God through Jesus and spoken of by Paul that we too may love one another as God has and continues to love us!

AMEN