One of my favorite theologians, Frederick Beuechner, says this about words:

"Take any English word, even the most commonplace, and try repeating it twenty times in a row – umbrella, let us say, umbrella, umbrella, umbrella – and by the time we have finished, umbrella will not be a word any more. It will be a noise only, an absurdity, stripped of all meaning. And when we take even the greatest and most meaningful words that the Christian faith has and repeat them over and over again for some two thousand years, much the same thing happens."

We tend to do this with oft repeated rituals and prayers, having done them so many times they become more a collection of sounds than a way of life or a life changing prayer. One of the reasons I have come to cherish the ritual we have developed around The Lord's Prayer, of standing and holding hands is that in doing so we have a chance of taking the oft repeated words away from the tendency to rush through them – by having that pause to stand and join hands we also get that pause to think about what we are about to say, and it sounds to me as if our voices join together a little more firmly and clearly.

Oft repeated Bible verses have the same problem – once you hear the familiar opening lines the rest of the verses can get tuned out because you have heard the words so many times you figure you know what's coming. I love when I find phrases in familiar scripture that I've never "heard" before, reminding me that no matter how many times you read scripture it retains the ability to surprise. This morning's text from I Corinthians is one of those oft repeated texts: "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude … " Chances are as soon as that text is heard we have visions of couples hearing those words spoken at their wedding – a description of the love they are committing to one another. Read at a wedding service we hear these words as words of hope and promise, words that describe the relationship of two people who actually want to be together. This text is so connected with weddings that we forget the context in which it was written and forget the challenge Paul is giving us here.

At a wedding, the love chapter as it is so often called, describes hope and promise. As people begin their lives together this is how they intend to live. But Paul had a very different scenario in mind when he penned these words. Imagine the most contentious church meeting you have been to, or the most tense relationship you have with another person, or the most impossible impasse you have in your family … then you will begin to get Paul's reasons for this chapter.

We talked briefly last week about the Corinthian church. The city of Corinth was a rich and populous city, with a great commercial shipping trade. But is was also a city where evil and raunch flourished. The Greeks had a phrase coined from the word of this city – literally translated it went: "to live like a Corinthian." It meant to live with drunken and immoral debauchery. (Barclay) The church at Corinth reflected som of the chaos of the city and was filled with strife and discord. The members of the congregation were threatening to leave and form new groups. Again as we talked last week, factions fought over all kinds of things from the gifts of the spirit, to the way communion should be celebrated. It is into that milieu that Paul writes: "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Not to people that are pledging to be together for the rest of their lives, but to people who aren't even sure they want to be together in the same room, and maybe not even on the same planet.

In this context Paul writes for those of us who struggle to be the church, to be a people who strive to be the body of Christ … people who work towards the description of love that we have in this 13th chapter. It is one thing to hear these beautiful words read at a wedding when it is clear what it is all about. How jarring it would be to hear these words given to a couple struggling to stay together. It is one thing to speak these words as a church forms with all the possibility their future brings … quite another thing to speak these words as prescriptive in the midst of the most difficult, contentious debates of the church. You want me to act this way towards "them!!??"

It is from this place of being bound together in the love of Christ that we turn to offer the world what we know here. As the body of Christ learning to love is not an option for us … it is a way of life. In various ways this season of Epiphany, we have been asking the questions, what are you willing to do for sake of life, what are you willing to do to be the body of Christ. The words of Paul in this familiar text challenge us to do what it takes. We are called to see each person with the love of Christ … and there are some people that really challenge us in that department! Is there someone you need to be reconciled with, a relationship that is gone awry to the point it is shading all else. Are you being challenged to find ways to live out Paul's directions for love? With God's help and guidance, fix what needs to be fixed so that nothing gets in the way of our being the visible presence of Christ.

In Paul's words today may we find the challenge for our lives … to embody the love of Christ, not only towards those like us, or that we are in like with … .but to those we have hurt, and to those who have hurt us … with those we agree with and those we disagree with. As the church, we are the very presence of Christ … as we talked about last week, the only hands and feet God has in the world. We are called to get it right here, so that we can face the world … to work and live in the example of Jesus so that others might know they have a place in God's love. Examples of how we do that abound. From every health kit we assemble to the man we feed as he comes to our building for a few moments of shelter during his days of wandered … we follow in the example of Christ.

As we are lead in song, may you be open to letting God's love work in you … and be sent out "for sake of life."

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