The Energy to Serve
1 Corinthians 13:1-13[1]
There are times in our lives when we are full
of energy. Our work, our relationships, our hobbies are fulfilling to us, and
we feel like nothing can stop us. There are other times in our lives when it
seems like everything is against us. No matter how hard we may try, it seems
like other people, or God, or perhaps even our own shortcomings conspire
against us to make everything seem hard. In those times, it can feel like we’re
trying to swim through molasses. Or perhaps quicksand. We just can’t seem to
find the will, let alone the strength, to keep moving forward. Those are the
times when we may ask ourselves why we’re going to so much trouble. We may do
some deep soul searching to figure out whether we really want to keep pushing
so hard.
It's those hard times in life that test what
we’re made of. When we find ourselves running the gauntlets that life puts in
our way, we may wonder what made us choose this path in the first place. We may
wonder why we keep going. We may wonder whether we should change direction and
just walk away from it all. But if we stay the course, we find that those hard
times become the times in our lives when we do some of the most important
growing we can ever do. Our ability to endure even the hardest of times may surprise
us, as our faith grows strong and resilient. And the test of how strong our
faith has become is, as always, how we respond to hard times. We can choose to
respond in a wide variety of ways. We can feel hurt and decide to “pout.” We
can get angry and perhaps nourish a grudge. But, as the Apostle Paul says it,
faith “works” through love (Gal 5:6). When we respond to hard times with faith,
it will clarify for us what keeps us going.
In our lesson from 1 Corinthians for today,
the Apostle Paul is addressing a church that was badly divided. They were
squabbling over just about everything, even who their “real” leader was—Paul,
or Peter, or Apollos. While Paul had founded the church at Corinth, both Peter
and Apollos had visited them, and had fruitful ministries there. I doubt that
any of them could have imagined that the result of their work would have been a
congregation fighting one another over which of them were most important. As
Paul asks, “Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for
you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!” (1 Cor 1:13,
NLT). It was ludicrous to think that they had any other “Lord” than
Jesus Christ!
One of the issues the believers at Corinth
were fighting over was “spiritual gifts.” It was a time when spectacular
displays of spiritual power were particularly valued. Perhaps like the “faith
healers” of our day, many of the Corinthians believed that if your faith is
real, you should be able to demonstrate it through obvious acts of spiritual
power. Now Paul didn’t completely shut them down on this thinking. And the
analogy of “faith healers” might not be the best one. For Paul, everything
every one of us does in the name of Jesus Christ is a demonstration of the
power of the Holy Spirit working though us. That’s one of the main points he
wants to get across to them. The Spirit is at work in and through us most
powerfully in ways that might not be so obvious.
This brings us to our lesson for today. Paul
was trying to help the believers at Corinth find a healthier perspective than
trying to prove they were more “spiritual” than each other. And to do that, he
called them to follow what he called the “way of life that is best of all” (1
Cor 12:31, NLT). And that way is the way of love. It is the way that Jesus
chose for his life. And as Paul says elsewhere, our faith really works only as
we put it into action through love (Gal 5:6). Here he puts it more bluntly: he
says that even if he had the ability to demonstrate spiritual power in the most
obvious ways, if what he did wasn’t motivated by love, he would only be making
a lot of noise (1 Cor 13:1, NLT)! He says that even if his faith were
such that he could “move mountains,” if it didn’t express itself through loving
actions toward others, he would be “nothing” (1 Cor 13:2, NLT). He said that
even he sacrificed everything he had, even his own life, if he didn’t do it out
of love, it would do no good for anyone (1 Cor 13:3)!
For Paul, the measure of our service is the
motivation that energizes it. From his perspective, our service has meaning only
when it is motivated by love that actually cares about the well-being of
another person, especially those who are different from us, and most especially
those whom we may perceive to be “on the other side” from us. Again, as I
mentioned before, in the Christian sphere of life, Paul could say that the only
thing that matters is “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6, NET). From one
perspective, that’s how we demonstrate that our faith is real: by putting it
into action out of love for others. Of course, there are other motivations for
our service. We may serve out of a sense of leaving a legacy, or because we are
grateful for the gifts we have been given. But for Paul, it all comes down to
faith put into action through love.
Some of you know that one of my “heroes” of
the faith is Henri Nouwen. He was a Roman Catholic Priest who lived with a
great deal of personal pain, and he became a pioneer in the field of pastoral
care and pastoral theology. Because of that, he became something of a celebrity
in American Christianity. He taught at the most prestigious and influential
divinity schools in the country. But all of that left him burned out and empty.
After spending a year living in France at L’Arche, a community where
intellectually challenged people lived with their caregivers, he came back to
serve as the chaplain at the Daybreak L’Arche community in Toronto. Many of his
friends urged him not to “waste” his talents, reminding him of how much more “good”
he could do in the Academic world. But I think Henri had found the joy of
serving others out of love for them, and he never looked back.
We’re all facing some of the most challenging
days of our lives. The very fabric of society has become frayed and is
unraveling before our eyes. Sweeping changes are completely transforming our
whole way of life in ways that none of us could have imagined or dreamed, even
ten years ago.That has implications for everything from families to work to the
ability to even talk to people who have different convictions from us. We’ve become
so “tribal” that we can’t even talk to people who have different views from us.
What does that have to say about where we are as a people and as a society? It
can leave us feeling like all our efforts for good in this world are useless,
just making a lot of noise. The difficulties we all face right now can test our
motivation. It can leave us asking ourselves why we are doing what we are doing.
Especially when it comes to what we are doing in and through the church to
serve others. If we take our cue from Paul, we may find that the only way we
can continue to have the energy to keep serving in a way that truly helps other
people is through love. Whether through “obvious” acts of service, or simple
everyday interactions with the people around us. The lesson that Paul wants us
to learn is that faith works through love! It always has and always will!
[1] ©2025
Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 2/2/2025 for Hickman
Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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