“Love” (1 Corinthians 12:31—13:13)

1 Corinthians 12:12-13:13

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Pastor Tom Johnson, January 30, 2022

Our Scripture from 1 Corinthians 13 is often called “the love chapter.” Paul introduces it as “the more excellent way.” You’ll remember that the earliest name for Christianity was “the way.” To follow Jesus is to follow the path of love. Last week we saw the diversity of spiritual gifts in the unity of the Body of Christ from the previous chapter. Here Paul wants us to make sure we don’t lose our way toward the goal of love in our pursuit of self-realization. In other words, without love at the core of our being, we may deceive ourselves into thinking we are on the right track. But without love we are not following the way of the Lord. We are following meaningless, empty, false religion.

Paul tells us what love is not. Love is not impressive speech. Love is not measured by theological prowess. Love is not complete when we merely give our time, talent, or treasure. Without love, our thoughts, words, and deeds mean absolutely nothing. Love can be identified by the following attributes: patience and kindness. The following attributes are contrary to genuine love: competitiveness, pride, rudeness, insisting on one’s own way, irritability, resentfulness, or enabling sinful behavior. Love and joy increase with the truth. Love is bearing one another’s burdens. Love is characterized by putting the best construction on all things. Authentic love creates the byproduct, hopefulness. Love gives us strength to face our challenges ahead. Love never ends. Love does not come into our lives with an expiration date. Love is born out of Christ’s love for us since before the foundation of the world. Love is something that is either growing or dying in our lives. God’s design is for love to gush out of our tender and spirit-filled hearts. As for all the other spiritual gifts, God has richly blessed us. But these gifts are a temporary aid on this side of eternity. Our gifts are there to build love up in us and among us. The gifts and talents themselves are not the goal but to increase love. This Scripture calls us to self-examination: is love a priority in my life? Is love at the core of who I am and what I do? Or do I throw temper tantrums when I don’t get what I want or things don’t go my way? Am I maturing in love? 

One day when my children were very young, I had an epiphany. I was reflecting on the love God had placed in my heart for these little ones in spite of my irritation with them and their irritation with me. Even though it was a new experience to be a parent, there was something familiar. I looked into the proverbial rearview mirror. I had flashbacks of my childhood—my ingratitude and my ignorance of all the love both of my parents showered on me. Looking at my kids through the lens of a parent caused me to look into the mirror dimly of who I was so long ago. I picked up the landline phone, punched in my parents’ phone number, apologized for my years of ignorance and ingratitude, being a thorn in their sides at times, but most of all to thank them and tell them I love them. In these moments of clarity, we discover how much growth is possible in love. We are often blind to the love around us. We look dimly at our own reflection. We may only vaguely see the love that is lavishly poured out into our lives each day. If we look at ourselves in this mirror of self-reflection, we will discover Christ’s image dimly reflected in our lives. We see love beginning to take root and priority in our lives as we grow in our Christian faith and as we journey together as God’s people.

The Christian life is like taking a shower in a bathroom without an exhaust fan—or an open window. God washes away all our filth through the water, Word, and Holy Spirit of Holy Baptism. The old loveless and lovesick self is drowned. The renewed beloved one is raised from the dead. We look into the mirror as we anticipate the new day—the day Jesus takes us to be with him face-to-face. When we first begin to look into that mirror we may not even see the outline of our own humanity. Over time, we begin to see the image of a child of God. But we do not see or recognize ourselves. We do not recognize the image of Christ in us nor through us. But with patience and time, our newly baptized selves begin to emerge. We see our own selves fearfully and wonderfully made. The dimness fades. The fogginess evaporates away. We see in our reflection that beloved child for whom Christ died and rose again. We see Jesus who loves us so much he will one day be willing to be thrown off the cliff by our sins. We discover that we are not the only ones in the mirror. We also see family, friends, church family, and neighbors in the background. We see the love we need to give and the love we need to receive. Soon we are no longer so focused on our own image. We see the love of Christ poured out through them to us. We see the love of Christ begin to percolate and then pour out of our own lives toward others. Love becomes a priority. Love starts to become the core of our being.

We all long to see authentic love in this weary, broken, and sinful world. Genuine love restores our faith in humanity. We need love to increase our faith in a benevolent and loving God. They will know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. Love gives us hope that God is not done with is and at work in us and through us. Love gives us hope that what he has begun in us he will bring to completion when Jesus comes to bring us to our heavenly home. We will not need spiritual gifts in heaven. We will not need faith or hope any longer. Love will be fully realized. This perfect love will cast away our fears and wipe away our tears forever. Love will make all other gifts fade away and dissolve like the steam on the mirrors we look into today. Jesus will finally render our mirrors obsolete. He will take away our preoccupation with our selves. We will close our mirror-fixated eyes in this life and open them in the very presence of him who created us and redeemed us. As Scripture says (1 Jn 3:2), “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” We will finally see him face-to-face. We will fully understand that God is love. Love created us, love sustains us, and love grows us into eternity. What an awesome and exciting truth about love: “Eye has not yet seen, nor ear heard, nor heart imagined” the love God has for us now and the love to be finally revealed when we see him face-to-face.

“Body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12-31a)

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

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Pastor Tom Johnson, January 23, 2022

Sisters and brothers in Christ, God does not want us to wander aimlessly in the dark regarding spiritual gifts. There is a great variety of talent and strengths in our little community on the near north side of Chicago. We are one. But we are also many. Paul spent a lot of time with Luke on his missionary journeys. And you’ll remember that Luke is a physician. I cannot help but imagine all the lessons in anatomy and physical health that Paul learned from Luke. Maybe that’s where Paul gets this useful analogy of each faith community being like a physical body.

The human body is considered a single organism. But did you know that only 43% of the human body is composed of human cells. The rest are microscopic colonists. There are an estimated 39 trillion of these microbes and bacteria. Biologists call this a symbiotic relationship—different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both. This innumerable host of microorganisms helps us to absorb nutrients, break down toxins and create blood vessels. They replenish the linings of the gut and skin. They replace damaged and dying cells with new ones. They are vital in preventing illness. They all work together for the health and prosperity of one human being. Their work is invisible. It’s a mystery as to how they all know how to work together for the benefit of the whole. So it is for the rest of the human body. There is a rich diversity of appendages, organs, and senses that make up one, individual person. 

Is it not like Holy Baptism? There is one washing with water, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And yet this one Baptism floods all humanity. The water gushes out the Living Water, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit satisfies the thirst all people—no matter our ethnic and cultural differences, no matter our gender identity, no matter the hue of our skin, no matter our mother tongue, no matter our regional accent. God has stitched and woven this fabric of humanity together to make a beautiful quilt and tapestry. Together we are a masterpiece of our divine Maker. 

We are all essential workers. That’s why it is ridiculous for you and for me to tell one other that some of us don’t belong. That’s why it is so out of bounds for us to point to part of the body and declare that it is useless—regardless of how insignificant we may think it is. Imagine the heart telling the lungs, “I don’t need you.” Where is the heart going to get all the oxygen it needs to pump through our veins and keep our cells alive? The heart cannot live for more than six minutes without the lungs before the body dies. Imagine the brain telling the liver and kidneys, “I don’t need you.” How can the brain continue to function with all those toxins poisoning the brain? The brain cannot live without liver and kidney function for more than about 24 hours. The heart should not try to—nor can it do—the work of the lungs—and vice versa. The brain cannot do the function of the liver and kidneys—and vice vice versa. Otherwise we will be, as the old Irish song says, “a jack of all trades and a master of none” or a tribe of chiefs giving orders with no one to carry them out. So the members of Christ’s Body are not in competition but collaboration with one another. In our Gospel reading, Jesus says “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” So we can say that “the Spirit of the Lord is upon us.” 

Several years ago I ran the Chicago Marathon for the Liver Foundation. They told us to look for the big, pink liver waving and cheering us on at mile 15. At mile 15 I saw that ridiculous costume—a six-foot tall liver with white gloves waving and in pink leggings jumping and holding a sign saying, “Go liver.” But I didn’t just need my liver to be cheered on. I needed my whole being cheered on—my legs, my mental focus, and my spirit—not just my liver. The truth is, if it was just my liver running the race, it would be in a lifeless heap on the starting line. So it is for all of us, to run the race set before us we need our sense of hearing to hear the starting gun. We need our eyes or a guide to show us the way. We need our brains to keep focus. We need our sweat glands to not overheat We need our digestive system to stay hydrated and provide the energy we need. We need our lungs to bring in the oxygen and expunge the carbon-dioxide. We need our hearts to beat fast enough to keep up with the higher demand for oxygen and nutrient distribution.

So God, in his infinite wisdom, has put us all together. It is no accident that the Holy Spirit has you where you are right at this moment. You are essential to the health and efficiency of this body of believers we call First Saint Paul’s. Not one of us is singularly responsible for the health and well-being of this congregation. We are collectively responsible. It is as ridiculous as thinking that one six-foot liver at mile 15 can give us all we need to run 26.2 miles. So each member deserves dignity and mutual respect. We should not over-estimate the importance of any one person. We should not under-estimate the importance of any one person. We each have indispensable gifts working for the whole.

We are here to nurture, encourage, and edify each other—to work together for the glory of God and mutual blessing of one another and our neighbor. That is why we have all the numerous called, commissioned, paid, and volunteer positions in the church. Imagine if each of us had the exact same gift? Let’s say…of teaching?  We would need hundreds of Sunday school rooms for each of us to teach. But who is going to help distribute communion? Who is going to read the Scripture? Who is going to sing in the choir? Who is going to count the offerings? Our church cannot live without our vast array and diversity of people and gifts. Next week we will continue our reading into 1 Corinthians 13. It’s about the greatest of gifts—the more excellent path toward wholeness and wellness: love. Authentic love is the glue that binds us and fuels us. 

We are one. We are many. Christ is our Head. We are his Body. Each of us matters. We have been united in a death like his. We will be united in a resurrection like his. In the meantime, we work together for the whole—for the glory of God—and to bring this weary world healing, hope, and good news.

“Water to wine” (John 2:1-11; Isaiah 62:1-5)

Isaiah 62:1-5
John 2:1-11

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Pastor Tom Johnson, January 16, 2022

Jesus changes water to wine. It’s the first of his signs. That means that Jesus was not doing party tricks at the reception. He was providing a sign of who he is, a sign of the transformation he brings, a sign of what is, and a sign what is to come. As we heard from our reading from Isaiah, marriage is a picture of God’s relationship with his people. The prophets tell us many times that God is the Groom and we his people are the bride. God wants to be in a healthy marriage with us. 

Our Scripture takes place on the third day of a wedding celebration. They have run out of wine. The chief steward tells the groom that it was his responsibility to provide the wine. The groom fails to provide even before the wedding is over. Imagine attending any wedding reception today—if they had no champagne for the toast, no beer, no wine, and no cocktails served at the meal. Even today it would be really poor planning and a big disappointment. Mary tells her son Jesus they have run out of wine. Jesus says his hour has not yet come. And then adds, “It’s not our problem.” And why would Jesus want to provide more wine to those who are already drunk? It’s the groom and chief steward’s problem. But Mary insists. She tells the servants, “Do whatever Jesus tells you.”

There is a lesson in that for all of us—especially we who are servants of Christ’s church. It is always good advice to do whatever Jesus tells us. He tells us to love God with our whole being, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and love one another as he loved us. He tells us to be faithful. He tells us to sin no more. He tells us to bear good fruit. He tells us to trust God and himself. He tells us to share the good news, make disciples of all nations, and to teach one another to observe all that he has commanded (Matt 28). Jesus tells the servants to fill six 30-gallon stone jars with water. They fetch the water. Jesus changes the water into wine. There is now 180 gallons of wine. That is 900 bottles or 75 cases of wine. That is a truckload of wine.

Their cups runneth over indeed. When God provides, he extravagantly and lavishly provides. And it’s not just the quantity of wine. It’s the quality. The prophets speak of a great banquet when Messiah comes “...a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, …of well-aged wines strained clear. …he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces” (Isa 25:6-8).

Mary and the disciples don’t know how Jesus did it. But they do know that he did it. The chief steward, the groom, and the wedding guests don’t even know that he did it. But they do know it was superior wine. In fact, it’s so good that it becomes a bone of contention. The chief steward tells the groom that he should have served the superior wine first and then the inferior wine after they had become drunk.

This is the sign—not so much the water turning into wine—but Jesus stepping up to fulfill the duties of the groom. He is the superior Groom who provides superior wine. His blessing overflows to the bride, the groom, and the whole wedding party. Only Mary and the disciples witness the miracle. But everyone benefits. Is that not like the work of Gospel ministry and the mysteries of the Kingdom of God? We witness signs and miracles every day. But some people miss it even when it is wafting under their noses and warmly trickling down their throats. The true Bride of Christ knows Jesus makes water into wine. We believe Jesus transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. We witness the profane made holy. By his Word and Holy Spirit, he makes ordinary water into Holy Baptism. By Baptism he transforms us from sons of Adam and daughters of Eve into children of God. By his Word and blessing, he gives bread for his Body and wine for his Blood. By Holy Communion he forgives our sins and strengthens us for the journey ahead. By that same Word and spirit he transforms our lives outside-in and inside-out.

This is the sign the whole world desperately needs: genuine life-transformation. Not water to wine—but despair to hope—pride to humility—harm to blessing—hatred to love. We all need a Savior who makes a real difference in the lives of ordinary people. So God does. He changes our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezek 36:26). He transforms Saul the persecutor of the church into Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. So Jesus says they will know we are his disciples by our love for one another—authentic love is the sign of our transformation of mind, body, and spirit. Just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 that the unbeliever should encounter God in our worship, bow down before God, and worship him, declaring, “God is really among you.” Jesus’ hour will come. He gives his blood as wine upon the cross. Just as water and blood gush out the wound inflicted by the spear, so forgiveness and eternal life will gush out the wound inflicted by our sin. And on the third day he rises to say to us, “I, the Lord, take you, the Church, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do fully unite, according to my holy will; and I pledge to you my faithfulness.” “What God has brought together let no one separate!” (Matt 19:6). Jesus’ hour will come. He will sweep us off our feet as his bride. We will celebrate the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end.

Praise we Him, whose love divine
Gives His sacred blood for wine,
Gives His Body for the feast—
Christ the victim, Christ the priest.

Now no more can death appall,
Now no more the grave enthrall;
You have opened paradise,
And Your saints in You shall rise. Alleluia!
          (“At the Lamb's High Feast We Sing,” LSB 633 vv. 2 & 6)

“The True Light” (John 1:1-18)

John 1:1-18

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 Pastor Tom Johnson, January 2, 2022

On Christmas Day last week we heard the first portion of our reading from John chapter one. Today we look at this whole introduction to John’s Gospel account. It’s often called “the hymn of the Word” or simply “the prologue.” This hymn is perhaps the most profound and beautiful words written about the Word made flesh whom we have come to know as Jesus Christ. Last week we saw how this Scripture is about 1900 years ahead of our best scientific minds who only recently agree that the universe has a beginning. What I want for us to celebrate this morning is not only the gift of creation and the gift of the Christ Child born over 2000 years ago. I want us also to celebrate the gift of Christ who has always brought light and life to Creation.

Creation itself cries out the true light. Psalm 19 says the sky above preaches a sermon 24 hours a day. And its message is preached globally.

“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; whose voice is not heard. Yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”

Our Scripture is not a story of the Word creating the world, stepping away for all human history, and then deciding to show up again. No, this Scripture reminds us that the Word is the True Light. The True Light enlightens all creation. And the True light has been enlightening all people since the dawn of time. When Moses compiles and writes the Scripture in first five books of the Hebrew Bible he is enlightened by the Word and True Light. The grace and truth of God that show up in these stories is the eternal Word. Later in the fullness of time, that same Word becomes flesh.

The Word made flesh is Jesus of Nazareth, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary but who also has no beginning. He is the eternal Word who left his heavenly throne to take on our humanity. He entered the darkness of this troubled world. He walked, talked, healed, and called us to follow him. Wherever he went his true light shone. He enlightened all of those who came across his path. He called on us to be the light of the world along with him—to let the light of Christ shine through us. We who have received this light. We who are enlightened now get to radiate that light to those who still dwell in darkness so that they too can give thanks and praise to the eternal Word who created us all.

This is a wonderful reminder during this Christmas season. Jesus’ story is not limited to his entering history as a Baby in the manger to live 33 years, die, and rise again. He is the one who shines in all creation now, has shined since before the creation of the cosmos, and will shine until he comes again in blinding glory. The amazing thing about light is that it cannot be overcome by darkness as our Scripture reminds us. Darkness is the absence of light. Darkness cannot be gathered up. Darkness does not emanate from a source. Darkness cannot block light. Darkness cannot cover light. 

If you ever toured a cave, I’m sure you have experienced this. They try to give the experience of absolute darkness. Everyone has to turn off their devices. After the last candle flame is blown out, even the smoldering wick is enough to illuminate the room until its tiny embers die out. This is a beautiful and hopeful reminder. The darkest places in our world cannot put out the light. The darkest chapters of human history will not snuff out Christ’s light. Those experiencing deep darkness in our communities and world can still experience great light. The light wants to shine even in the darkest nights of our souls.

This not only gives us personal hope. It gives us hope to all the world. There is no darkness too deep where Christ’s light cannot shine. This is why he came: to bring light, forgiveness, and life to all creation. It encourages us to pray with faith and confidence. It inspires us to pray—not just for the darkness around ourselves—but globally. God assures our prayers reach the Word made flesh who enlightens everyone. God assures our hopes and prayers for this beautiful and broken world are not in vain because he is the Word who enlightens everyone. His light radiates through the Word of Scripture. Our hearts burn within us as the Word illumines and warms the core of our spiritual being. His light shines through our Communion together at the Table this morning as we sing and give thanks for the Word that feeds us body and soul. 

Let us all with gladsome voice
Praise the God of heaven,
Who, to bid our hearts rejoice,
His own Son hath given.

To this vale of tears He comes,
Here to serve in sadness,
That with Him in heav’n’s fair homes
We may reign in gladness.
          (“Let  Us All with Gladsome Voice,” LSB 390 vv. 1-2)