4 Epiphany C January 31, 2016
Jer. 1:4-10 Ps.71:1-6
1 Cor. 13:1-13 Luke 4:21-32
The famous philosopher Socrates is presented in the Platonic Dialogues as being against "writing." Why? Writing was like what a picture or drawing is to the real live action. Writings may imply the presence of a writer but a writer is dead or absent from the writing product and so the words of the writer are left vulnerable to the many meanings which the reader may want to impart to the writings.
So the writings of the Bible are vulnerable to the endless and even contradictory readings given them by readership. When it comes to the Bible one subscribes to the fact that there are universally accessible ideas within words themselves which can have new hearings in new situations.
The famous love chapter of first Corinthian 13 is a passage most often read at wedding ceremonies even though St. Paul was not married and he did not compose this specifically for the wedding ceremony. But St. Paul is not alive to tell the church now, "Don't use this at a marriage ceremony because I did not specifically write it for that liturgy."
Then why did you write the famous love chapter Paul? "I wrote it because the members of the Corinthian church were getting very competitive with each other about the value of their ministry in the church." Apparently some of the members were acting towards other members with the attitude, "I have no need of you. You can't preach as well as I can...I have no need of you. You don't speak in tongues? I have no need of you. You don't have much faith. I have no need of you. You can't heal or work miracles like I can. I have no need of you."
When people were saying, "I have no need of you, then they were needing a lesson on love.
The love chapter of Paul was written to the members of the Corinthian church because they were having a very difficult time appreciating each other. And love is the main issue in life when people cannot find a unity within the diversity of differences.
St. Paul wrote about love using one of the four Greek words for love, the Greek word agape. And this kind of love is different from the other human experiences of love. Why would we call the other kinds of love easier? The other kinds of love are named because they come more naturally and without effort.
Eros for the Greeks was a god; eros is the profound desire of magnetic love which make people want each other even against social restrictions and logical factors. Eros is the magnetic attraction within that draws them toward each other for varying interactions. The magnets of desire are so great that they are easier to give into. The magnets of eros love make that kind of love rather easy because it is involuntary, like the involuntary needs of thirst and hunger.
The next kind of easier love is call phile, love. It is brotherly love or friendship love. Human beings have affinities for some people and not for others. The people for whom we have affinities become our friends and it is easier to express favorable behaviors toward people when they are our favorites.
But what happens in relationships where there is no magnetic attraction? What happens in relationship when one does not have affinities? What happens when love is no longer easy? How does one cope and how does a community survive?
In the body of Christ called the church, whose head was Christ, one assumed that each member was responsible for checking the ego at the door because of the Christly Ego, the Christly "I" which lived within each member. But apparently this was good theological theory for the Corinthian church rather than actual practice.
How does one find power to check the ego at the door, enough to acknowledge and regard the gifts and talents of other ways in such a way that these gifts and talents can be woven into effective ministry for the church?
St. Paul wrote that there was a higher kind of love which could be accessed to be able to regard people beyond one's own limited attractions and preferences. This is the unconditional love of God. St. Paul personifies love by writing: Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. What is not love? The impatience of anger. Unkindness. Envy. Pride. Arrogance. Rudeness. Selfishness. Irritability. Gloating. Lying behaviors. Short term love. Love is the summation of all that is good. And St. Paul wrote that everyone has access to this reservoir of Love. Why? Because God is Love and the Love of God has been shed abroad within our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
What is the major difference between the various loves? I think the major difference between the three loves, eros, phile, and agape is the notion of freedom. With agape, a person has to access with freedom the higher power of God's love to perform deeds of love, kindness and justice which might go against limited self interests.
There was a popular song which once stated: What the world needs now is love sweet love. But much of the love of TV, cinema and song is the syrupy kind of romantic love. This world really needs the love of God which gives us the freedom to exercise choices for the common good beyond our limited self interest.
This world is full of gifted and talented people. But most of the gifts and talents of the world are sold for a price. Much of the world's creative talent is sold for the benefit of but a very small group of people. In our world many say the free market determines the value of everything and everyone. If you can sell your talent you have value and worth. If you can invent a product then you have worth. If you know hedge fund secrets then you have worth. This world is full of human talent but the talent does not get used to the maximum benefit of the majority of people in our world. And so we have on a grand scale, the same failure present in the Corinthian church; we have a grand failure of the kind of love which would guide human creative to the most perfect expressions of human justice and regard for every person in our world.
The amazing thing about God's love is that God's love believes all things. It admits a high degree of freedom in this world. And the highest expression of human freedom is to freely access the love of God and bring it to practice with patience, kindness, gentleness, contentment, humility, belief, hope, honesty, forgiveness, fortitude and consistency.
Human gifts and talent are nothing if we do not have love because without love human gifts and talents will end up using creativity for harmful and destructive purposes.
Is it nice that the love chapter is read at marriage ceremony. Yes, indeed, but the love chapter is really about being called to access God's love to regulate all of the creative gifts and talents within the human community for the benefit of the common good.
May God keep the lofty words of the love chapter ever before us as expressing the perfection of our calling. May we looked to Jesus who most perfectly embody the meaning of love. And may we access God's love often for the benefit of our families, parish church and for our calling to be good citizens in this world. Amen.
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