The great gift of love is for the least, not the best

The good citizens of Corinth were city dwellers. Perhaps not quite like our modern-day metropolises, Corinth was nonetheless a major urbanised city and commercial hub in ancient Asia-Minor, with a heavily mixed ethnic, religious and linguistic population. When St Paul lived among the fledgling Christian community there, a few decades on from Christ’s death and resurrection, he was part of a wealthy and influential city-state, well used to the exchange of ideas and philosophies.

It was to the Corinthian Christians that Paul first wrote about the Church as the body of Christ. Just as a body is made up of many parts, so each believer was, in baptism, incorporated as an individual member into the one Body that is Christ’s. As he put it to them, “we were all baptised into one body in a single Spirit, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, [whether woman or man].” It was from within this image that St Paul wanted his Corinthian friends to understand the individual gifts each had received for the sake of the one Body they formed.

Eloquent speaking, prophetic messaging, knowledgeable faith – each a gift of significant power – were all, in Paul’s understanding, quite empty without the unifying gift of love. It is the perfect and lasting gift that does not come to an end. In a city of such cosmopolitan realities, and among a citizenry used to exercising their talents competitively, Paul’s message to the Corinthian Christians to be ambitious for the higher gifts that unite would have grabbed their attention.

But let us acknowledge the nature of this love that unites us in Christ Jesus. It is kind and patient; it is self-effacing and humble; it is enduring through difficulty and joyful in the truth. Where might we see such love in operation? We are not likely to see it in material achievement or social success; these do not last, nor do they fulfill us for they are self-referencing. The love that we are called to live is the love that is centred not on ourselves, but on others. It is the greatest of gifts when it is lived for the sake of others, especially the poor in spirit, the broken-hearted, the disabled and the imprisoned in either spirit or body.

It was towards these people that Jesus spoke the words of Isaiah at the Synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Jesus stepped outside of the context of his own people to bring this message to all people, not just the chosen or the privileged. This is what enraged those inside the synagogue – that the great gift of love should be first for the least, and not the best. Note that it was when Jesus was hustled outside that he could slip away in the crowd, a crowd now made up of those who had not been allowed inside.

The greatest and everlasting gift – the gift of love in Christ Jesus – is not given for our own advantage, but is given so as to bring it to others. So, let us hear once more Paul’s description of this greatest of gifts, and take them as our calling: “Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.”

Feature image: Christ Preaching in the Temple (drawing) by Guercino, 1591-1666