Love’s Permanence and the Preacher’s Humility

This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “I Corinthians 13” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, August 25, 1996.

Sermon transcript

Our scripture reading begins in Matthew 5, and we are reading from verse 38. Matthew 5, verse 38. Give your attention to the infallible word of God. He has heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you that you resist not evil.

But whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will take you to law and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whosoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two miles. Give to him that asketh you, and from him that would borrow of you, turn not away. He has heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, for He makes His Son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what do you more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Therefore be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

Then turning to 1 Corinthians 13, reading at verse 8, love never faileth, but whether there be prophecy, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly. But then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know, even as also I am known.

Father, in the confession of our faith, we are also confessing the power of your Word. We are saved by your Word, even as that Word presents to us savingly the Lord Jesus Christ. Your Spirit works in and with the Word, for the Word is the Word of the Spirit. We thank you for your Word. And Father, we can confess also that in our lives, when we have been discouraged, when we have been overcome by doubts, fears, and the difficult situations we face in this world, your Word has come to us with refreshment, and we have been revived. O Lord, bless us today by your Word, and may we receive it fully, and go from this place as those who have absorbed it and are also committed to living it.

We pray this to the glory of your name, for the furtherance of the fellowship that is ours in Jesus Christ within this assembly, and also to the end that we may be most useful to your church and to your kingdom. Amen. Verses 8–12 in 1 Corinthians 13 have as their theme love’s permanence. Now, this is not the love of the world, or the love that the world generates. This is the love that has come from heaven, this is the love of God, this is the love that is manifest in Jesus Christ and in him alone.

For the end of this section, in that thirteenth chapter, the Apostle Paul employs two images to illustrate his point. In verse 11, he speaks about his own movement from childhood to adulthood. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. And then in verse 12, he speaks about first seeing things in a mirror, and then seeing them as they really are. For now, we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. That is the New American Standard translation. As Joseph said to Pharaoh, concerning his dreams, your dreams are one. So we say about Paul’s illustrations here, they are one. That is, their intention is one and the same.

At the very heart of Paul’s intention is the contrast he is establishing between one time and another. In the first instance, a contrast between the time of childhood and the time of adulthood. In the second instance, a contrast between the time of mirror-gazing and the time of seeing not the image, but the real thing.

It is possible for us to lose our way in these illustrations. First, because they are illustrations. As illustrations, they contain a built-in temptation for the people of God. They can obscure or eclipse the purpose. They can become ends in themselves. People can become overly focused on the illustration and lose the point. Second, because we do not keep in mind the force of Paul’s contrast in these illustrations. This is also a reason why we lose our way while making our way through them.

With regard to this latter matter—keeping in mind Paul’s contrasts—Paul has in mind the difference between the present imperfect earthly state of the Church’s life and the future perfect heavenly state of the Church’s life. In the midst of this difference, the prominence of the love that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ and its constancy. In verse 8, Paul tells us, “Love never fails.” That is love’s permanence. Over against this permanence of love is the impermanence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit—prophecy, tongues, and knowledge—listed here.

These gifts, as wonderful as they are and as they are the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit, are nevertheless marked by partiality. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. Furthermore, they are marked by temporariness; they are temporary. But when the perfect comes, Paul writes in verse 10, the partial will be done away. The time at which the perfect will come is the time of Christ’s return and the arrival of the kingdom of heaven in its final, complete glory.

Paul’s two illustrations in verses 11 and 12 are meant to drive home his point. He draws upon the natural distinction between the immaturity of childhood and the maturity of adulthood. He uses this distinction to serve the transition from the world of the partial and temporary into the world of the complete and permanent. He then draws upon the technical distinction between the artificial and indirect reflections in a mirror and the direct gaze in the reality of the face-to-face encounter. Now, there are many things to say about these illustrations.

For one thing, they serve so well Paul’s immediate purpose in his argument. In the first instance, verse 11, he places the extraordinary gifts, in which some Corinthians boasted as if they were the apex of spiritual maturity, in the context of childhood. And in the second instance, verse 12, he places the extraordinary gifts, in which some of these Corinthians boasted as if they were the apex of spiritual wisdom and knowledge, in the context of dim and even distorted, but at the very least indirect reflections of the real thing. This is a clear rebuke. Paul could not have chosen more effective images to challenge Corinthian arrogance. There is a power to these images that cannot help but put vain Corinthians in their place, if they are still listening. Those who have imagined themselves to be so high, so mighty, so endowed, are now being described through these illustrations as if they were engaged in childish things. And not only that, these people have imagined themselves to be in direct contact with the most profound knowledge that comes from heaven.

And the apostle uses the image of a mirror to convey to them that what they are actually engaged in is a dim and even distorted reflection. But you must keep in mind that Paul, by his illustrations here in verses 11 and 12, has no intention of being cruel, as if he were devoid of the very love of which he speaks. In fact, it is to preserve that love and to maintain that perspective that he uses the first-person pronouns in these illustrations. When I was a child, verse 11, verse 12, for now we see through a mere dim light. Do you grasp what the apostle is doing, even though he means to put the Corinthians in their place? He does so by placing himself in their position.

Do not miss the depth of this action, illustrated by Paul in his language in verses 11 and 12. To the extent that these vain Corinthians have exalted themselves above their fellow church members, insisting on a distance between themselves as the elite and the rest of the church, to that extent and more, Paul has humbled himself. His high office as an apostle and his privilege in possessing all the spiritual gifts do not prevent him from identifying even with the least gifted of the Corinthian saints. Such a condescension on Paul’s part underscores the common life shared by the great apostle and all members of the assembly, all the people. He, as it were, humbles himself to share in the lack of gifts of the least of the Corinthian saints, while they, even if they are so lacking in gifts, are exalted to share in his office and in his glory.

But consider this carefully. Illustrations are difficult. Often they do not make things easier to understand, but instead make them more complex. This is the mistake people make with Jesus’ parables. They are not merely simple tales. Likewise, remain with the Apostle through this.

Paul goes so far that in the very illustration designed to confront the proud and the unloving, though gifted, Corinthians, he demonstrates the love he advocates and exhibits it toward these very people, for they are included as well. You see, if the gifted have been deliberately placed in the context of immaturity, in the context of childhood, as Paul says in verse 11, and deliberately placed in the context of seeing dimly, through distorted and indirect reflections, as he says in verse 12, then Paul equally places himself in those same contexts. He writes, “When I was a child,” not “when you were a child.” For now we see in a mirror, dimly, he does not write, “For now you see in a mirror, dimly.” How powerfully then the conclusion of Paul at the end of verse 12—neither accusatory nor breathing in arrogant and brutal hostility against those who are his opponents, even toward those at Corinth who have behaved so unbecomingly. Instead, Paul, by his inclusive first-person pronouns, sets himself squarely in the midst of their circumstance, not emphasizing his exalted position but his lowly posture, for he, like them, belongs to the era of immaturity and the epoch of reflection. He, with them, now knows in part, but then he, with them, shall know fully, even as they shall be fully known. Do I have to spell it out for you?

The love spoken of by Paul in this chapter—the love now observed in him, living and vibrant as he uses these illustrations—is in fact the kind of love that suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, and so on. We can move on from verse four through the entire sequence of statements that the Apostle sets forth.

In short, this love is nothing less than the love of God. It is love that is possible only in God. I am telling you that, apart from yourself, you do not have the ability to love in this way. It is not within your power. In short, this love is the love of God made visible in and through Jesus Christ—a love that gives itself, even to the undeserving. Such love is seen in the cross of Christ and in the sacrifice of our Savior for us, who are sinners. For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Herein is the love of God made clear. Paul’s illustrations therefore teach us about love, even as it is personally expressed in him. Very well could the Apostle say earlier in this epistle, in chapter 11, verse 1: Be imitators of me, even as I am of Christ.

And here is the love of which Jesus Himself spoke when He said: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same. If you greet only your brothers, what do you more than others? Even the Gentiles do the same. Therefore, be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Finally, with regard to these illustrations, I make a point about homiletics. What is homiletics? You might observe that it is a plural noun with a singular verb. Homiletics is the discipline practiced by preachers and those who aspire to be preachers. It is the study of the art of preaching, the craft of preaching.

And in that regard, we should not forget that Paul’s illustrations, here and elsewhere, serve the interests of the gospel and the kingdom over which God has established His own Son. Unfortunately, much preaching loses sight of the fact that biblical and therefore sermonic illustrations are on a very short and tight leash.

In my early days of preaching, I believed the illustration was the most important part. I will go even further: I believed that the illustration was the message. Often, these illustrations were more than vivid descriptions. I doubt they were ever the carefully focused images that the Apostle Paul uses here. Sadly, they were often broad, self-indulgent verbal paintings. Some were embellished stories from evangelical tradition.

Some were even openly personal stories from my own life, which I used to support my sermon or, better yet, my religious message. Their purpose was more aligned with a kind of religious romanticism, where the true meaning was not the revelation of the kingdom of God or salvation through Jesus Christ, but the emotion they sought to create—whether laughter or tears, or perhaps the feeling I hope to convey to you that you must go out and act.

I thought the greatest people in the world were those who could make you laugh in one moment and bring you to tears in the very next. Men like that were my heroes, and I wanted to be just like them. See, I made you laugh. Now the challenge will be to make you cry. Personally, I was sobered by this approach when I realized not only was I preaching the sermon so that I could tell my stories, but that the people were remembering the stories and not the word of God.

Good preaching, I am now convinced, keeps in view the short and tight leash clearly evident in Jesus’ parables, and also clearly evident here in Paul’s message and the illustrations he uses. With that short, tight leash, the kingdom of God never loses its preeminence, and salvation in Jesus Christ never loses its central importance for us. May God bless His Church with good preaching.

Let’s pray. Our God, the love seen in Paul is merely the reflection in the Apostle of the love of Jesus Christ. The love seen in Paul for his opponents is the same love he has found in his Savior. Lord, we ask that, as this man sought to be instructive to the Corinthians, we might have preachers of the word who are equally concerned to be instructive, not only by their words but also by their actions. Father, may it please you to grant to your church good preaching, so that your people may be well fed and built up in the faith which we commonly confess. We ask this through Christ, who not only precedes us in love but also precedes us in preaching and in responding to the word of God. Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.