1 Corinthians 13
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From One Generation to Another: A Presbyterian Perspective on Christian Faith and Practice
The Glue that Holds Us Together
1 Corinthians 13
Ephesians 3:14-21
Dr. Stephen H. Wilkins
Georgetown Presbyterian Church
July 8, 2012
I think I'm going to conclude this sermon series on Presbyterian perspectives on
Christian faith and practice this morning. I say, “I think I'm going to conclude it”, because there
may arise occasions for me to offer further clarity on why we do some of the things we do and
say some of the things we say. The purpose of this series of sermons has been to help us see
that, while Presbyterians hold many of the central doctrines of the Christian faith in common
with Christians around the world, we may come at some of those doctrines with perspectives
that are distinctive to the Presbyterian ethos.
Of course, we believe that the story of God and God's relationship with the world, and
the world's relationship with God as found in the Bible is our story, as well.
Of course, we believe in the God revealed to us through Scripture as Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, one God in three persons.
Of course we believe that God is sovereign and in control. Presbyterians have always
held to a sense of God's sovereignty that may not necessarily be absent in other traditions,
but may not be as strongly articulated as in our tradition.
Of course, Presbyterians believe and accept the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments to be, by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ in
the Church universal, and God’s Word to us. But we also acknowledge that, given 100
Presbyterians looking at the same scripture text, we may end up with 101 interpretations of
the text.
Of course, Presbyterians believe that we are saved by grace through faith. But we also
place a greater emphasis on God's saving activity in calling us than we do on faith as an
independent act for which we can take full credit; and we also remind ourselves that our
election in Christ is not simply for the purpose of punching our ticket to heaven, but even
more to call us into Christ's service as faithful disciples.
And it's also true that Presbyterians will emphasize social justice and social
righteousness issues more vocally and publicly than many other traditions, for we believe that
one of the functions of the church is to promote social righteousness, and that means
engagement with the public and political realms of the world in which we live. It's a part of the
call to transform the world in which we live, into conformity with the kingdom of God.
And Presbyterians have a strong sense of the unity of the church, even within the
context of wide-reaching diversity. That was the focus of last week's sermon, in which Paul
reminded us of our necessary connections to one another in the body of Christ. Presbyterians
have a strong sense of both the richness and the challenges of diversity in one body.
I need to admit at this point that the timing of this sermon series was not coincidental. It
was meant to provide a basis of understanding of what may have come out of the General
Assembly of our denomination as it met this past week in Pittsburgh. I wanted to lay some
groundwork to help us understand some of the things that may or may not get reported in the
press, so our own responses could be grounded in knowledge.
The truth is, the church has been on my mind and heart lately. I'm not particularly
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referring to Georgetown Presbyterian Church, though I always hold this church close to my
heart. But in recent months my heart has been burdened by many of the struggles that are
taking place in the larger church, the PC(USA).
For the past two years, tensions in our denomination have come to a head over the
passage of changes to our constitution that give greater leeway to individual governing bodies
(Sessions and Presbyteries) to determine the suitability for ordained leadership. Rather than
laying down a specific set of criteria or litmus tests that must be adhered to universally by all
Presbyterians, the newer language broadly calls for submission to the Lordship of Christ in all
aspects of life. And in the context of contemporary issues, this has opened the doors for
congregations and presbyteries to ordain practicing homosexuals as elders, deacons, and
ministers, should they deem it suitable under the Lordship of Christ.
As a result, there has been a mass exodus of congregations from our denomination to
other Presbyterian denominations. My heart has been heavy beyond description as I have
witnessed churches in our own Presbytery of New Harmony find their way to the emergency
exit, effectively announcing that they could no longer associate with our denomination. For
me, it has been deeply disturbing, for it makes me feel like a child of divorce.
Unfortunately, conflict and division in the Christian church is nothing new; it was
something with which even first-generation Christians such as the apostle Paul were keenly
acquainted. When Paul wrote his first letter to the church in Corinth, he was writing to a
church that was straining to stay together. A quick review of the letter will reveal that there
were leadership struggles, there was licentious behavior, there were occasions of irreverent
and disrespectful worship, there was bickering over who was more important in the life of the
church.
After Paul addresses many of the issues the congregation in Corinth is facing, he
offers the readers in the 12th and 13th chapter of his epistle a model for understanding how the
church can remain strong and united through differences and disagreements. The 12th
chapter is Paul's brilliant teaching on the church as the Body of Christ, likening the church as
a collection of parts united under Christ, much as the human body is composed of different
parts working together for the whole. And every part is necessary for the health of the body.
And the 13th chapter of the letter is what has become commonly known as the “Love
Chapter.” It is one of the most familiar of all of Paul's writings, even maybe in the whole New
Testament. In some form or fashion, Paul's words in this chapter are incorporated into the
vast majority of all Christian weddings.
And yet, nowhere in this chapter—or in any of the chapters immediately preceding or
following this chapter—nowhere does Paul mention marriage in the chapter about love. The
truth is, this chapter is written, not in the context of the importance of love in Christian
marriage, but in the context of a church that is straining over its differences and
disagreements. It is in a context not unlike that which we find in our denomination today that
Paul says, “And now I will show you the most excellent way...”1
And what is that most excellent way? It is the way of love. “If I speak in the tongues of
men and of angels, but have not 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...” – in other words,
if I have all the right doctrines down by heart and can defend them backwards and forwards –
“...but have not love, I am nothing.” 2
Now, I need to caution you that the kind of love of which Paul speaks is a far cry from
1 1 Corinthians 12:31b. In many Bible translations, this section of 12:31 is set apart as a distinct introduction to what
follows in the 13th chapter.
2 1 Corinthians 13:1-2
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the warm and mushy feeling that modern society promotes as love. The kind of love to which
Paul refers really doesn't have anything to do with physical attraction. It really doesn't have to
do with a feeling at all. Instead, the kind of love of which Paul speaks is a disposition that we
are to have toward one another; it is an attitude that issues in a way of relating to one another
after the manner of Christ, with a view toward building up one another.
Look at the way Paul describes love in the 4th through the 7th verses in this chapter:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it
is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres.”
Paul isn't talking about emotions or feelings, is he? Instead, he is talking about a
posture that you and I are to have toward one another in this body of Christ that he has just
described in the previous chapter. The way we are to remain together in the midst of our
differences is to love one another—to treat one another with dignity and respect and honor, to
seek to build one another up, to forgive, to care about the welfare of one another, to assume
the best in our neighbor and to want the best for our neighbor.
Love doesn't mean we have to condone, agree with, or even accept teaching or
behavior that is contrary to what we believe; love isn't the same as accepting something that
is wrong in the name of not hurting the person who is doing the wrong thing. Love doesn't ask
us to compromise what we believe. But love is willing to come alongside someone who is
different, because love sees the other person as a child of God in spite of the differences.
Notice some of the things that Paul doesn't say here. He doesn't say that we are only
to remain together as long as we are like-minded. He doesn't say that we are only to remain
together as long as we're comfortable with each other. He doesn't say that our unity is
conditioned on whether or not we agree with each other.
Instead, he recognizes that each of us is a different part of the same body, united by
Christ, and held together by the same kind of love for one another that Christ has for us.
Ted Wardlaw, the President of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, told about a
time when he was a minister in the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. There was a particularly
tense and fractious presbytery meeting that ended after a long day of difficult votes. (I would
venture to guess that one or more of those votes dealt with issues of human sexuality). When
a minister was called upon to offer the closing prayer, the minister stood and remained silent
for a long period of time. Finally, he spoke, “Lord, we are forever asking you for many things,
and what you are forever giving us instead... is the gift of one another.” 3
And that, in a very simple yet profound way, is the doctrine of the church: God gives us
the gift of one another.
And it is a gift that we should cherish.
This past week I have followed closely the various debates of the General Assembly of
the PC(USA) as it met and deliberated in Pittsburgh. You have good reason to consider me a
Presbygeek when I tell you that I was more interested in watching the live streaming of the
meeting on the internet, than I was interested in what was on TV. There were passioned
debates on a number of issues: perhaps most notable were issues surrounding how to
respond to Israeli-Palestinian relations, and the definition of Christian marriage. I've made
copies of a post-Assembly summary published by the Presbyterian Outlook, so you can get
an idea of the business that was conducted and the outcome of some of the decisions.
There were passioned debates, and yet there was a spirit that, even among the
3 Ted Wardlaw, “A Bad Spirit Has Risen Among Us”, in Insights: The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary, Spring, 2012,
p. 10.
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differences, there was one church at work. Nobody demeaned others for their different
opinions—all were valued as vital and indispensable parts of the Body of Christ that we know
as the PC(USA). To be sure, deep differences remain. But I do believe that Christ was
honored by the spirit of love for one another that prevailed in the midst of the heated debates.
One of the ways that I refer to you when I speak to you from the pulpit is to call you
“my friends in Christ.” There is a reason that I use that term. The truth be told, you probably
wouldn't be my friends were it not for Christ. Not that you are unsavory in character, or
anything like that, because most of you are exactly the kind of person I would want for a
friend. But the truth is, we are friends because of Jesus Christ. It is because Jesus has called
you unto him, and because Jesus has called me unto him, that our paths have crossed in the
first place. It is because you have experienced how wide and long and high and deep is the
love of Christ, and it is because I have experienced how wide and long and high and deep is
the love of Christ, that you and I can experience the width and length and height and depth of
that love with one another.
Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
My friends in Christ, Blest be the tie that binds, indeed.
Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.
Amen.