Introduction: The Wedding Text
Of course, this is the text that most preachers dread because everyone wants it for their wedding. And we get our hackles up and say, “This is inappropriate because this is written for a COMMUNITY not a couple getting married.” And yes, that is certainly true. But there’s a little more context than that going on here. And, in fact, the fact that it is written for a community might actually make it a good wedding text. Because we can then charge the community present that day (family, friends, coworkers, and colleagues) with supporting the couple in their journey of marriage. Maybe it’s the perfect wedding day text when we see the community that’s present as having a relationship with this couple too.
But I digress. There is far more context going on than just “it’s for a community.” And so, let’s look at what’s brought us to this moment.
Narrative Context
It is critically important to remember that Paul is picking up right where he left off and building on the arguments from the last two weeks. This is not a new train of thought but a continuation of his talking about spiritual gifts. These opening lines are about speaking in tongues, prophecy, generosity, and faith, all of which are spiritual gifts. They are all ways that we can be a part of and working for the Body of Christ based on how the Spirit of God is working through us. But this is where Paul strays from the earlier conversation. Even if we are displaying these gifts of the Spirit, even if we believe that we are acting on behalf of Jesus, we may be doing so ineffectively or harmfully.
Paul writes, “1If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And 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. 3If 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.”
Paul is emphasizing that if we use our gifts of the Spirit, but we do not do so with love, then our gifts are useless. This is a continuation of passage two weeks ago, “12:3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.” If we do not have Jesus, then we cannot have the Spirit of God within us. If we do not have love, then our spiritual gifts are ineffective or maybe we do not have the gifts of the Spirit at all.
If we remember the context from the last couple of weeks, the Corinthian Church is experiencing factions. Background, status (economic, political, and free or slave), and heritage are creating divisions among the whole church (maybe even within house churches). Additionally, people seem to be jockeying to be perceived as being more powerful because of their spiritual gifts.[1]
And so, Paul is establishing an order of operations. In order to be a Christian, you must believe in Jesus Christ as Lord. The one who was crucified and was risen. The one who displays power in weakness. And when you know him as Lord, it is then that you can truly come to know love and grace. Paul is using ἀγάπην here. This is a benevolent, sacrificial love. This is a ridding yourself of prestige, honor, and glory for the purposes of loving fully and unconditionally. And it is in understanding this love for us through Jesus Christ our Lord, that the Spirit of God ignites faith within us so that we might use this love for the world. Each of us, empowered through the Spirit by the ἀγάπην/love of Christ will use the spiritual gifts of God in order to make the love of God more present and known in all the world.
First comes Christ. Then comes love. Then comes the gifts of God to make the love of Christ known to the world (Yes, I modeled this after the childhood rhyme for the sake of the wedding text).
Preaching Possibilities
Love as the Great Corrector
We may recognize that the beauties and strengths of “love” are actually the opposite of the Corinthian’s behaviors found elsewhere in the letter.[2] According to Paul, the Corinthians have been boastful and arrogant. They insist on their own way and seem to boast in their wrongdoing. And Paul even downplays the Corinthians favorite spiritual gifts. Prophecies, tongues, knowledge, will all come to an end. But love will remain.
Now, this might be a reason that some will say that this isn’t a good wedding text or a good text for us today. Paul isn’t talking about love in general, he is using it to deliberately challenge the Corinthian way of being. The argument is then that it’s too contextual and doesn’t apply broader contexts.
But I want to pause for a second. Do we not know of those who are a bit boastful and arrogant in the nation or the world? Actually, what about in our families or congregations? What about ourselves? Do we not know folks who insist on doing things their own way? Maybe in decorating the church for Advent and/or Christmas? Maybe in planning the family vacation? And do we know anyone who has boasted about their gifts that might only serve them? Those who talk about how savvy they are in getting people to sign up for loans. Those who talk about leaving others in the dust for their own success. Those who put down others to raise themselves up further.
While we may not be the identical context, it’s ludicrous to think that these things don’t apply to our culture and society today. And I believe that Paul will still tell us that “ἀγάπην/love” is still the answer.
Can we only do things for ourselves if we are loving our neighbors? Can we only do things our way if we are loving someone around us? Can we only talk about ourselves if we are showing love for the community around us?
It feels pollyannaish to say that love is the answer but there’s a reason that it comes up in Paul so frequently (Roman 13:8-10; Galatians 5:13-14) and why the Gospels write about it so frequently as well (Matt 22:34-40; Luke 10:25-37; John 13:34-35). When love is what inspires our gifts and actions, there is no way that we could only serve ourselves. And that is found most concretely in the greatest example of ἀγάπην found in Jesus Christ our Lord.
[1] Michael D. Coogan, Ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible,3rd ed., (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 286 (footnote).
[2] The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 286 (footnote).
Micah Krey 
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