Gifts and Talents – Yes! Love – Even Better!
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it. 28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.
1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known. 13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.
This is the third Sunday in a row where our Epistle lessons have come from First Corinthians – chapter 12 the first two Sundays, and chapters 12 and 13 this Sunday. All three deal with what is called spiritual gifts.
What are spiritual gifts? Spiritual gifts are Holy Spirit-created talents or abilities that he gives to each and every Christian to be used by each and every Christian at some point in some way to help and build up believers. “For the common good,” St. Paul says (1 Cor. 12:7).
I know that can sound kind of vague, so let me list some of them. About 20 are mentioned in the New Testament epistles, though there is no indication there are only 20. They can be classified in several ways. For example, there are gifts we can call Spirit-ordained ecclesiastical offices: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor and teachers. There are miraculous-sign gifts, some of which likely no longer exist or at least to the degree they existed in the church at the time of the apostles: miracles, healings, prophesying, and speaking in tongues. There are speaking gifts: interpretation of tongues, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, exhortation (encouragement). And there are non-speaking gifts: distinguishing between spirits (that is, between true and false teachers), faith (a kind of great faith), giving, showing mercy, serving, leadership, administration.
Some of these gifts are connected to natural abilities. Some would appear suddenly. But they would all be given, inspired, and directed by the Holy Spirit.
One of the themes from last week’s lesson was that even though there is a diversity of gifts among God’s people, they are still one, still united. “For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. Indeed, the body is not one part but many.” (1 Cor. 12:12-14). One body, made up of many parts. And no part is unwanted, unimportant, or dispensable. Some will receive greater recognition. Some might receive more honor. Some will need more protection or covering. But God has arranged and set up the different parts exactly as he wanted, in one united body.
The pastor is not to think he can or must do everything. Members are not to sit back and leave the building up of one another in the hands of few. We work together in ways we can and with the gifts given to us, while at the same time making sure we fulfill our vocations outside of the church – within our families and within society.
That brings us to today’s verses. Paul is saying, “You have your gifts, use your gifts, and even desire the greater gifts, but, I will show you an even better way.” There is something more important than simply using one’s gifts.
“If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
I can have the most impressive spiritual gifts imaginable. I can know every language in the world and the language of angels. I can be a prophet speaking directly for the Almighty. I can have the wisdom of Daniel and know all mysteries (Dan. 2:20-23). I can have faith to heal our brother who has not seen anything but hospital and care facility walls for one year and four months. I can sell everything I own to help the poorest. I can sacrifice my body to save your lives and look like a brave hero. I can preach the most amazing sermons (and maybe you’re thinking, “We’re still waiting!”). But if there is no love, a Spirit-inspired love from the heart, it is all for nothing, useless, meaningless, hollow, empty. I am nothing and I gain nothing.
So what is love? “Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
These fours verses speak for themselves. There is a handout that defines some of them more carefully, giving you an idea of how they apply. Let’s take one or two examples. “Kind”: “Serving and helping another, no urging needed; being thoughtful, sympathetic, and understanding of another, whether he deserves it or not.” “Not Irritable”: “Refusing to become mad or provoked because another has done something irritating, “stepped on your toes,” shown you disrespect, violated your rights, hurt you, or not loved you.”
These four verses are the most beautiful description of Christian love. It is this love that is to regulate and referee and guide every spiritual gift, talent, position, and vocation you have, every interaction with others, especially your brothers and sisters in Christ.
One of the reasons Paul writes about Christian love right after spiritual gifts is because the Corinthian Christians blew it. They failed to have this love guide them in the use of their gifts, and therefore, as we see in the earlier chapters, they messed up in a number or ways. Paul had to take them to task for their pride and factions, for their tolerance of gross sin, for needlessly offending a weaker brother, for divisions when it came to the Lord’s Supper. It all came down to a lack of Christian love.
Again, these four verses are the most beautiful description of Christian love, which means it is a beautiful description of the law – the second table of the law. It is beautiful. But it is still law.
So we not only have in these words a beautiful description on how we are to love– not once in a while but in every interaction with every human being – but we also have a an excellent description on how easy it is to sin. If you ever want to know if you sin or what sins you have, just go to 1st Corinthians 13.
And then, go the One who gave you these words, the One who became flesh, the only One who kept these words, and the One who went to the cross with all your sins and failures firmly fastened to him. That is why there is the picture of the crucifixion behind the definitions of these words on the handout, for in the crucified Christ we find this love lived out and died out. God loved the world in this way. Jesus and his Father were patient with you. The Son and his Father have been undeservedly kind to you. Jesus put aside his rightful supremacy. He was not self-seeking in his coming to earth but sought your salvation. God’s easy anger was not directed toward you, but toward his Son instead. God keeps no record of your sins, because of his Son. They both rejoice in the truth that you are forgiven. His love for us never ends and it never fails.
The spiritual gifts we are given now will come to an end; they will cease. They will have served us well on earth, especially as they are tempered by Christian love. They will have benefitted us partially. But a day is coming when “the partial comes to an end” and “the perfect comes.” Paul describes it this way in our text: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face.”
This is packed with comfort. Look at it this way. Back then they had mirrors, but they did not have photographs. If they had had photographs, Paul could have used that instead of the mirror illustration. So, you have a photo of the place you always wanted to visit, and it’s beautiful. In that photo is also the person you love and adore more than anyone, someone you have been away from for years – a place and a person you have longed for. But all you have now is the picture. It’s accurate, but it is not real. But then one day it becomes real. You are there, face to face with that most beautiful land and with the one you have loved and who has loved you. Heaven and Jesus.
Paul also gives us this comfort: “Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.” Here and now, we know as best we can, in part. We know the truth that Jesus is God and man. We know the truth that he was crucified on the cross. We know the truth that this was for our sins. We know the truth that he rose from the dead. We know the truth that he is coming back. We know the truth that we will go to heaven when we die. This knowing gives us hope. But right now, this knowing does not fully satisfy. However, once we get there, our knowing will no longer be “in part.” We “will know fully.” It will be a knowing not only in heart and mind, like it is here, but a knowing that embraces everything about us and around us. We will fully know and experience Jesus, as God and man, as our Friend and Redeemer. We will fully know and be in awe of his great sacrificial love. We will fully know and realize the crucified and resurrected Christ has in fact defeated our sin, death, and the devil. We will fully know and be convinced that this perfect paradise with this awesome God is forever.
But in the meantime, what do we do? We remain in the true faith, we continue in the sure hope, and today and tomorrow our lives are guided by the greatest of these three – Christian love.
Amen.
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