Father and Son
There’s a story about father and
son. One day they took a subway together in Seoul, Korea. The 3-year-old son
was unusually hyper that day. He was restless and agitated. The passengers in
the subway became more and more annoyed, irritated, and even angry. Eventually,
one of the passengers scolded the boy and said to the father, “You’d better
calm him down.” The father said, “I’m sorry for disturbing you. My son and I
just buried his mother. He doesn’t understand what’s really going on. He
doesn’t even know how to process it.” After listening to the father, the place
became still. The expressions of their eyes changed, became less impersonal and
more compassionate.
Putting the Love Chapter into Context
“Knowledge knows only in part, but
love knows fully” (v. 12). Today’s
passage, 1 Corinthians 13, is famously known as the “love chapter.” It is often
read at weddings. We are told that love is patient; love is kind; love is not
envious or boastful or arrogant. It is used for a husband to declare his love
for a wife, or vice versa. There is nothing wrong with using the love chapter
in these contexts, its original meaning was to demonstrate how church members
relate to one another. Paul by the Spirit wrote this love chapter to edify the
church members in Corinth. In fact, he wrote this letter to rebuke the
Corinthians because they were lacking each of these attributes of love. At that
time the Corinthian church was filled with problems. They judged each other
harshly; they were divided over minor theological issues; they committed
adultery; they divorced without biblical grounds; they sued each other; they
ignored the needs of the poor, and the list goes on.
If we were Paul, we could have very easily thrown in the towel. But he didn’t. Why? Because he knew that the local church was God’s idea. He knew that Christ Jesus is the head of the church, and he knows what he is doing. It was Jesus who began a good work in us (the church), and he will bring it to completion. One of the chief metaphors to describe the church is family. Church is family. We don’t get to choose our family members. We are given to each other. We are family when things are going well. We are family when relationships are difficult. The nature of family is to stick together through thick and thin, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health. Family can be messy. In the same way, being a Christian, especially living in community with other Christians, can sometimes feel like being in a family with a thousand drunk uncles.[1] But still we are the family of God, who intends for us to stay together. In fact, the church is a great classroom for learning how to get along and practicing unconditional love.
Compassion
When I was a student pastor,
serving the young adult group, there was a time when my relationship with the
senior pastor was difficult. In my eyes, at that time, he seemed to say one
thing and do another. He started different ministries, but he left so many
things undone. His sermon seemed to be unprepared. I was critical of him. But when
I myself was put in the same position, serving as a senior pastor, I then
realized that he did his best. I realized that I was looking at things only
from the young adult group’s perspective, while he had to consider things in
its entirety. Then I became more compassionate toward him and those who are in
similar positions. Knowledge sees only in part, but love sees fully.
The word "compassion" is ‘compati’ in Latin, meaning “suffer with.” Compassion means someone else’s heartbreak becomes my heartbreak. Another’s suffering becomes my suffering. The Bible says when Jesus saw the crowds – smelly, dirty, hungry, needy, demanding, unlovable, ungrateful, he was moved with compassion, because they were helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them, preached the good news to them, and healed their diseases (cf. Matt 9:35-36). On another occasion Jesus heard the news that John the Baptist just died a martyr. He wanted to get away for desperately needed prayer time. But the people didn’t leave him alone. They kept following him. But instead of reacting in anger, the Bible says this: When he went ashore, he was a great crowd, and he was moved with compassion and healed the sick, preached the good news, and fed thousands of people with the five loaves and two fish. (cf. Matt 14:13-21). Jesus’ ministry was the ministry of compassion.
All attributes of love in today’s passage are Christ’s love and his compassion:
Christ’s love is patient; his love
is kind; his love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Christ’s
compassion does not insist on its own way; his compassion is not irritable or
resentful. Christ’s love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the
truth. Christ’s compassion bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things.
As we were embracing Mars Hill UMC
family as our new team ministry partner, the people at Hodgdon UMC had to make more
adjustments than Houlton UMC. For instance, they used to see all of the Hans,
but now they see only half of them each Sunday. Joyce used to be fully involved
in children’s Sunday School, but now she is no longer able to do so. When we
were gathered for our listening session, at first we talked about what we would
miss, what we would lose. But then, one of the members said something like
this: “Last Sunday when I heard the news about Mars Hill UMC. My heart was
broken. I can’t imagine what they are going through. They had a shepherd to
lead, feed, protect. But all of sudden, they became a sheep without a shepherd.
I am so happy that now they too would be fed and guided again.” Knowledge knows
only in part; compassionate love knows fully.
The Gift of Love
Just like all other spiritual
gifts, love is a gift from God. It’s
not something we can earn. We receive this agape love, this compassionate love
as a free gift. “God’s love has been
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”
(Romans 5:5). How do we receive the gift of love? Yes, we receive it by faith.
But also, we receive the gift of love by
living in community with other Christians. Especially, those who are
difficult people are actually a gift from God. They are like a mirror, that
shows our reality – how selfish, how loveless, how unforgiving we are. As we
learn how to get along with them, practicing forgiveness and compassion, we
become a person whose heart is filled with Christ’s love. May we stay connected
and grow in love until we see Jesus in each other’s eyes.
Let there be love shared among us
Let there be love in our eyes
May now your love sweep this nation
Cause us, O Lord, to arise
Give us a fresh understanding
Of brotherly love that is real
Let there be love shared among us
Let there be love
[1]
Scott Sauls, Jesus Outside the Lines: A
Way Forward for Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides (p. 50). Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
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