The Love of Gifts St Mark’s 20.11.16
Ezek 34: 11-16; Ps 119:25-32; 1 Cor 14:1-19; Luke 22:31-34 + John 21:15-17
Introduction
In the roster for our series on 1 Corinthians Dale called this week’s sermon “The Main Game”. My guess he was referring to the repeated emphasis in this passage about the “building up” of others (vv. 3-5, 12, 17). Everyone knows the difference between good and poor workmanship. When we went to have a phone installed in our newly built house we discovered the cavity into which the phone line was meant to go had been completely plastered over. The telecom technician had to guess where he thought the cavity should be and take to the wall with a hammer. When churches are poorly built it’s just as obvious as when a home is badly constructed; the people don’t know their Bibles, struggle to pray outside their own devotional life, find it hard to praise God in painful situations and are embarrassed to talk to non-Christians about Jesus (cf. 1 Cor 3:10-15). Christians are spiritually weak when they have not been properly built up in their local congregations (Col 3:16-18). Paul had already told the Corinthians they were like “infants” still on milk and not ready for “solid food” (1 Cor 3:1-2). Their biggest problem wasn’t that they lacked access to good teaching, after all they had been exposed to his apostolic ministry. The root of their spiritual dysfunction was a failure to apply his words expressed earlier in the letter; “‘knowledge’ (of a self-centred sort) puffs up but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). Only a deeper love for one another expressed in all the spiritual gifts through all the members of God’s family can mature the Church.
Exposition
Last week David brought us an exposition of the famous love chapter 1 Corinthians 13, and at the start of today’s passage Paul directly connects love with gifts. “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” (v.1). love and gifts are sometime placed in competition. Some people have said things like, “You can have the gifts, but I will have the love.” This is a total confusion, for love build up through our desiring and expressing spiritual gifts for the good of others. Paul focuses on the gift of prophecy because prophecy is a spontaneous Spirit-inspired message delivered, as he will say a little later, for the “upbuilding, encouragement and consolation” of the church (v.5). Prophecy is elevated above the Corinthians favourite gift, which was speaking in tongues, because a tongues speaker “speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him” and he/she “builds up themselves” (vv.2, 5). Prophecy is “greater”/more useful than speaking in tongues because it benefits others; except in the case when “someone interprets” the meaning of the tongues in which case it functions as equivalent to prophecy in building up the hearers (v.5).
The application of this part of the chapter is straightforward. If we eagerly desire to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22) we will be like the young Samuel who prayed with such sincerity, “‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’”” (1 Sam 3:9), then we will share what we hear from the Lord with others. Mostly however we don’t seek to hear the word of the Lord. Here’s a section of an email I received this week from a friend just returned from India; “there is little sense of entitlement (there), and so the little we offered would be received gratefully…The people are hungry for God and truth in a way you rarely see in Australia. Even the young people are willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel.” Third World Christians are hungry for the Word of God in all its forms because they understand it’s through God speaking to us that we become more like Jesus. There is nothing more exciting than in helping others become more like Jesus (Eph 4:13). Not everyone can preach or teach but everyone can receive words from the Spirit of God that will assist others in becoming more like Christ. If we lack the sort of spiritual zeal which Paul encourages us to have for spiritual gifts it may be because we have never been taught to seek such gifts or perhaps we have a fear that any messages we speak will be rejected. Most likely however we are suffering from a much deeper problem. Let me start with an illustration.
A few weeks ago we had an unwrapping of presents for Boe on the eve of his third birthday. He was standing there in the kitchen saying, “I can’t wait, I can’t wait.” This wasn’t just his childish self-centredness but a profound intuitive understanding that because we love him we will give him good gifts. (Our previous pastor) Alison liked to call God the Father “Abba!” which in the Bible means something like “Dear Father!” Jesus taught us that if evil people like us give “good gifts to their children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit/good gifts to those who ask him!”” (Matt 7:11; Luke 11:13). Mature Christians know that God is the sort of Father who can be fully trusted to give us good gifts and that this includes gifts of the Spirit for others. Paul goes on to stress the problems of speaking in tongues aloud in congregational worship without any interpretation.
6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
Unless our speech in church makes sense to others it is useless. The Corinthians had a problem with many voices speaking at once and no one understanding what anyone else was saying. This is not our issue, but perhaps we have the same problem in a different way. Some of the old hymns we sing from time to time are wonderful for us but because of their difficult tunes and archaic words are unintelligible to someone who comes in off the street. The “revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching” we need to grow in Christ must be in a form that actually communicates (v.6). We must do what we can to remove any unnecessary obstacles making it hard for people to understand Jesus. At the end of this paragraph Paul makes his main point once again; “strive to excel in building up the church” (v.12). Being zealous to receive spiritual gifts from the Lord for the good of others doesn’t come naturally. It requires prayer, persistence and the support of brothers and sisters in the faith. Paul concludes our section with some very balanced insights.
13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
Paul was a person who had some amazing spiritual experiences (2 Cor 12:1ff). But it does not matter how marvellous our experiences may be the test of whether they are truly Christ-like is whether they “build up the other person” (v.17). In this section Paul talks repeatedly about praying and singing with both “the spirit and the mind also” (vv.14-15). A healthy relationship between the “spiritual” and the mental is very difficult to realise. I once worked with an Anglican priest who after a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit went and burnt all his theology books. At the other extreme after I completed my PhD, which was all philosophy, my sermons were long extended logical arguments with up to 100 scripture references in them. Like the Corinthians, some types of churches thrive on intensity and passion and their services, especially for youth, can be like rock concerts. Other types of churches love logic but suppress claims to immediate spiritual inspiration. It is the partnership between spirit and mind that Paul’s sets out here as a pattern for mature functioning as a church.
Conclusion
This passage in Corinthians is a great challenge to how we do church. The average service structure gives no space for the Spirit to speak prophetically through the prophetic gifts he would distribute to the congregation. Whether the church is Pentecostal or Anglican things are dominated by a select group of people up the front. Some places teach that spiritual gifts should be exercised in small groups, this is good, but the New Testament pattern of hearing Jesus through each other involves gathering together as a whole family. One of the great things about healthy family life is that when everyone gets around the dinner table everyone has something to say. Church is meant to be a family where the centre of shared conversation is Jesus. If we have service structures that restrict this happening, or if the dialogue after the service in the hall has nothing to do with Jesus, we need to go back to the foundation of what will enable the Holy Spirit to flow amongst us.
The start of our passage, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” needs to be paired with its climax, “strive to excel in building up the church.” (14:1, 12). If we love Jesus we will zealously seek spiritual gifts to build up the Church to look more like him. What could be more wonderful than to help someone else to become more like Jesus? Not to do this is a sign of a failure to fully love one another. The people of St Marks do care for one another and do want to grow in love for one another, so what is holding us back from praying for spiritual gifts and using them in faith? I have prayed about this deep issue and believe the Lord has given me a rather audacious answer.
Jesus opens up to a radical way of living that clashes with the selfish individualism of our culture. The love which by its very nature “builds up” (1 Cor 8:1) is the all constraining love of God manifested in the death of Christ (2 Cor 5:14). His is a love which has died to self-interest, self-protection and self-comfort. Theologian Tom Torrance infamously said, ““in the Cross of Christ…the utterly astonishing nature of the Love that God is…has been fully disclosed, for in refusing to spare his own Son whom he delivered up for us all, God has revealed that He loves us more than he loves himself.”” I think this difficult statement is best understood in a very practical way. Jesus’ suffering on the cross to save us means that “in his experience” God has loved us in a way he never loved himself in the pain free bliss of heaven. This is pretty much what Paul is getting it when he says to the church in Philippi, “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit…3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as excelling yourselves….look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:1-8).
To regard others as “more excellent than ourselves” is exactly the mind set which will move us in love to seek spiritual gifts for the sake of others. If with humility we think of others as more worthy than ourselves we will be like Jesus and make any sacrifice that will help them grow in his love and grace. Such other-centredness is humanly impossible without a deep revelation and a potent experience that each charismatic gift is empowered and enclosed by the Spirit’s love which took Jesus to the cross and raised him from the dead. This Spirit-empowered crucified love stands in opposition to our selfish culture and the natural inclinations of our fallen personalities (Heb 9:14). If you are an extrovert/self-confident person seeking gifts will come easy for the sake of your ego, if you are an introvert/shy person you will hate speaking in a public way. Only Christ-centred and cross-formed people can love one another through gifts to build up the Body of Christ in the way God intended.
Even at this late stage of my life I struggle emotionally to speak out some things the Lord has shared with me for others. Last time I preached I used a word about God’s call on our family-church which I personally would never use. I said that as a family we would become “an amazing place”; today’s word from the Lord which makes me feel so uncomfortable is that in the love of the gifts of the Spirit we can become a centre of “excellence” where men and women will behold the excellencies of Christ (1 Pet 2:9; 2 Pet 1:3). I want to be a part of this giving love, whatever it takes and whatever it costs. And if we seek the love of the Spirit to break free in the way of spiritual gifts, especially prophecy, it will cost a lot. The devil will rise up in the diocese and other powers will resist what the Lord is doing here. However the fruit of this spiritual opposition will be more love and more gifts and more of the excellence of Christ in our church. “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” (v.1). Surely we can obey the Word of the Lord today about such excellent things?