Reflections on "Called to Love' Deuteronomy 6: 1-9; I Corinthians 13: 1-13

this sermon seemed to well.  It was a nice day of worship withe the Troy High School Jazz Band helping lead worship, which makes the sermon part go better as well!

Lots of good biblical studies stuff that I think I used well.  Ironically, the quote from the Book of Order was my initial reflection on this passage, but then it moved down the pecking order of the sermon.  In fact, I probably could have left out the third move, except it seemed important to bring a communal aspect to the sermon. 

“Called to Love” January 31, 2016; Call Mini-series; I Corinthians 13: 1-13; Deuteronomy 6:

Introduction: We began reflecting on call by noting how God calls us by name, that is, the personal nature of call. Last week we focused on God calling the body of Christ into being and calling us to be part of the body of Christ. This week, we turn to Paul to be reminded that we are called to love.

When I first began in ministry, I quickly learned that this passage in I Corinthians was the go-to passage for weddings. Still does. I have a wedding in a few weeks, and the couple asked for this passage to be read.

Even if the couple chooses not to use the passage, they bring it up and say something, like, “We don't want to use that passage because everyone does!”

often, the couple can't quite remember where this passage is found so they start describing it, and when I read it, they get this smile – not only have I found for them the passage, but it gives such a wonderful picture of love.

About 15 or 16 years ago, I met with a couple to plan the memorial service for the wife, who was nearing death. As we talked about the service, the woman said, “Would it be weird to use the love passage from I Corinthians at my funeral? I know it's usually used for weddings, but I like it.” Knowing the woman and how dearly loved she was by her family, it seemed to fit.

Since that time, I have probably used this passage a dozen times at memorials services for similar reasons.

Let's be clear: Paul was not writing this passage to an engaged couple as part of their pre-marital counseling. Nor was he writing to a family who was grieving the death of their mother. He was sharing with the church community in Corinth about how they ought to live in relationship with one another.

We can imagine how people in a church community might struggle to get along. We can look around the pews and see the challenge of being in relationship with one another Add to that, the Corinthians are new to this. They are learning what it means to be church, what it means to love and work together.

To them, Paul writes this beautiful passage that reminds them that their calling is to love one another.

Move 1: Love is the basis for their relationships, and love is also the foundation for our relationships.

a. The Deuteronomy passage reminds us that the emphasis on love is not new to Paul's writings.

1. Love of God is foundational to how God's people should relate to God.

2. The Israelite are told to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.

3.. This type of relationship is all-encompassing.

4. “All your heart,” that is the deep feeling from within, is to be given over to God in love, but that alone is not enough.

5. “All your soul” all of that which is at the core of who we are is to be given over to God in love, but that alone is not enough.

6. “All your might,” or that which we have that we put toward doing good, is to be given over to God, but that alone is not enough. (Steed Davidson, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament McCormick Theological Seminary
Chicago, Ill. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2610)

7. All of those – all our heart, all our soul, all our might, are to be given over to God in love.

8. That is the basis for our relationship with God, and later Jesus will use that as the model for our relationship with one another.

9. Paul is sharing with the Corinthians what it means to love God and love neighbor with all their heart, their soul, and their might.

b. I may have mentioned before that I have friend who always says, "I love you," when he says good-bye. We finish a phone conversation, and he says, “I love you.” Maybe even more challenging is to say good-bye in person because then he wants to hug and say “good-bye.”

1. At times I have found that rather disconcerting. I was a Freshman in high school when we became friends, so it was really weird to me then.

2. In my mind, "I love you" signified serious commitment.

3. I still don't have it figured out. I generally mumble something unintelligible when he says it, and hang up the phone or leave quickly.

4. Perhaps he has a better grasp of the type of relationships to which Paul calls us, or at least he puts it into words.

Move 2: love is something you do.

a. At the heart of Paul’s passage that we read this morning, the English translation uses the predicate adjective in its description of love.

1. Love is the subject, is the verb-to-be, and then an adjective to describe love.

2. In the English, that feels like love is something you can describe. Some picture of something we wish to attain.

3. But in the Greek, verses 4-8a use “love” as part of the verb form. Something you do.

4. Instead of love is kind or love is patient – a description of what love ought to be; the Greek literally says love “acts with kindness,” and “love shows patience.”

5. Not describing what love is, but talking about how love acts.

6. Love is a busy, active thing that never ceases to work. It is always finding ways to express itself for the good of others.

7. The point is not a flowery description of what love “is” in some abstract and theoretical sense, but of what love does, and especially what love does to one’s brother or sister in the church. (Brian Peterson, Professor of New Testament, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, SC; http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2734)

b. We see something like this in the Deuteronomy passage.

1. You may know that the command to love God will all your heart, soul, and might is called the shema.

1. Shema is the Hebrew word for “hear”

2. The shema also became shorthand for this passage that begins, “hear, O Israel.”

3. Notice that the Israelite were told to put this saying on their doorpost, put an emblem on their foreheads. (I'm thinking that is an exaggeration, but in our time with tattoos everywhere, it's not beyond the possibility)

4. That’s what Israelite s did. They would post the word “Shema” on their door the doorpost of the Israelites.

4. Every time they walk into the home they are reminded of it.

5. The command to love God and love one another.

6. The command that should shape their lives. Guide how they act. The command they should recite to their children so they can learn how to love.

7. Remember my friend who says, “I love you.” It was a family tradition that grew out of a tragic accident in which his sister was killed in an automobile accident. His parents decided they never wanted to part ways without the reminder that they loved one another. Over time, it also became a reminder of how they were to treat one another, a reminder to love.

c. Loving is not easy.

1. I recently read an article about a group of people from a Lutheran seminary who were on a trip to Israel and Palestine.

A couple of evenings ago on our trip we had a presentation by the Parent’s Circle, a grassroots organization for Palestinians and Israelis who have lost loved ones due to the conflict. The representatives who spoke to us were two fathers, a Palestinian and an Israeli, who had both lost daughters because of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. We had a very honest discussion about the conflict and about life before and after the Separation Wall. “No wall, not matter how high, can stop two kinds of people, one determined suicide bomber and the one determined peacemaker,” said one of the fathers. They each went through their own moments of wondering how life could possibly carry on given the death of their children due to such senseless, mindless fighting. They could have chosen revenge to ease their pain but instead realized that the only way forward was to talk to each other. (Karoline Lewis, Associate Professor of Preaching and the Marbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, Saint Paul, Minn. http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=4249)

2. a choice in how to act in response to a tragedy in their lives.

3. Thinking about loving the enemy as a theoretical response or as an example of what ought to be done was not enough.

4. Only by acting in love, reaching out to another person, that was what they needed to do.

5. Respond by loving.

d. Closer to home.

1. Marriage, or relationship with siblings, or friends – the idyllic quickly gives way to the reality of sharing lives together.

2. In the midst of the daily living, the give and take of sharing lives, the good and the bad, in those moments we too often just react.

3 Paul calls us to different way of living together.

4. An intentional way of loving. Not just wishing that the magical image of love from the movies makes an appearance in our lives, but make choices about how we respond, choices that reveal our love.

5. I find it ironic that couples choose I Corinthians to be read at their weddings because of the picturesque image of love it offers. But what they actually hear is Paul's challenging call for how they should live their lives and love each other.

Move 3: community of love

a. In our Book of Order, we Presbyterians hold that "The church is to be a community of love, where sin is forgiven, reconciliation is accomplished, and the dividing walls of hostility are torn down."

1. Now we come back to the context in which Paul's writes – the church.

2. Our calling both individually and corporately is to love.

3. That's who we are as a community of faith.

4. A community that practices what it means to love by forgiving, offering reconciliation, and breaking down the walls that divide us.

b. We live in a complex world with complex issues.

1. We enage in lots of conversations.

2. we hear lots of conversations going on around us.

3. when the wo4rld looks to the church to see how we should engage the world, we ought to be doing and saying things that show forgiveness, work toward reconciliation, and break down dividing walls.

Conclusion: Because God loves us, God calls us. Our calling is not easy, but it is the call to love.