From Pastor Ray Stedman – 1 Cor 13:8-13
I have never forgotten that story because it seems to illustrate so beautifully what Paul is talking about here: Love that will not quit, despite all the obstacles that stand in the way; love that refuses to give heed to what would turn off anything less, but keeps right on. God’s love is like that, he says. It will never quit, even though for the best interest of another person it may temporarily turn its back, or appear to. God does this with us, as a mother eagle does with its young. To kick it out of the nest may look cruel, but the eagle knows that is the only way the young will learn to fly. It braves the wrath of its young in order to force it into maturity. Love will do that too: God’s love will, and true love will, but even then it is hovering there, waiting and watching to see lest disaster strike, ready to help in time of need. This is surely what Paul is describing here.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; (1 Corinthians 13:11a RSV)
There is nothing wrong with that. Children are supposed to act like children; everybody expects them to, and it would be folly and a shame if they did not. Paul says he did when he was a child, but,
…when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (1 Corinthians 13:11b RSV)
Why? Well, because he had become a man. That is the end toward which a child always moves — maturity — and therefore these things were no longer needed. Now, what Paul is saying, of course, to these Corinthians (and to the Californians), is that the mark of maturity is the ability to love, to love the unlovely, the selfish, the distasteful, the ungrateful, and to not let that change your attitude or your actions toward them but to keep on working fully for their best interests. As the ability to do that increases in our life, it will replace all our childish concern about the gifts of the Spirit. To make much ado about gifts, as though they were the overall important thing that God wants to emphasize, is to be childish in our attitudes.
自從答應在朋友父親的安息禮拜上負責慰勉後，一直在醞釀。
遺憾沒有在伯伯去世前探望他，只能藉朋友在幾年前閒談的片段，模糊地勾點。
整個星期以來一直醞釀，心裡想：「上主的話將要對他們說甚麼？怎樣說？」周日的下午，自個兒在家，哥林多前書十三章浮現在眼前。但我看到的不是人所熟悉的一段「愛是恆久忍耐、恩慈……」我看見的，是那通常為人忘記的結語：「我們現在所知道的有限，我們現在是對著鏡子觀看，模糊不清；到那時，就要面對面了。」驀地，我悸動、融化。還有比上主的話語更活潑，更真實的嗎？
哥林多前書十三是家傳戶曉的經文－－愛的禮讚和詩篇。今天在閱讀的時候，讓我有真實、感動，甚至震撼的，倒是它的結尾。
在我們以為保羅已經為愛作了最完滿的定義之後，他卻以「所知有限」作結。
縱使他寫下偉大的愛章，但他承認所知的不過是圖畫的部份。
無論是愛的本身、他所愛的人、他表達愛的方式，他期望愛的回應；這一切，無論所知所行，所感所悟，都不過是片段。
我 說這經文真實和震撼，因為它觸動的不單只是愛，也是我們生命中許多的體驗和經歷。像恐懼、憂慮、興奮、歡娛，這不都是既熟悉又陌生的「部份」麼？我們每天 恐懼這、憂慮那的；但真要我們清楚掌握恐懼憂慮的內容，往往也說不出個所以然來。事實上，憂慮和恐懼的定義就是一知半解，不明所以。同樣，興奮、歡娛點綴 我們的生活，它們瞬間逝去，更讓我們確實體會，我們所知所感是有限的。
這 經文真實和震撼，因為它不僅燃點愛，也觸動恨。是的，恨。恨與愛一樣真實。可我們對它的了解，也像對愛、憂慮、恐懼、興奮、歡娛一般，必然有限，只是部 份。我們不能完全了解我們的恨，甭說我們所恨的人；也許連他自己也不能明白自己所作的一切，如何傷害別人，如何叫人可恨。
不 是說我們付出的愛不真摯，不是說我們的傷痛不沉重。只是我們的的確確生活在「有限」的經驗裡，我們猜、我們測，往好處想，到壞裡鑽。保羅說得好，「我們如 今彷彿對著鏡子觀看，模糊不清。」無論我們多努力，落空的愛掏空我們的生命，累積的恨扭曲我們的心靈。這是實實在在的人生。
經文的真實、震撼和感動不單在於觸動了我們生命的深處，也告訴我們另外一個可能性，落空的愛可以填滿，削刮的傷痕可以撫平：「到那時，就要面對面了。我如今所知道的有限，到那時候就全知道，如同主知道我一樣。」
我們不知道那會是怎樣的一個境界，也不知道它甚麼時候來臨。可是我們知道，不，我們相信，因為耶穌基督的復活，必定有這樣的一天，面對面，沒有黑暗，沒有因為羞愧或自卑而來的偽裝或隱藏。
因為這面對面的一天，我們拒絕讓憎恨繼續扭曲我們的心靈，也不叫落空的愛掏空我們的生命。是的，我們祈求父上帝的恩典，藉著耶穌基督的愛填滿我們心靈，聖靈的安慰撫平我們的傷痕，從今直到那面對面的一日。阿門。
