If you called to mind the one scripture that for us
defines charity, it would likely be in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. But who wrote those passages, and why? I’d like to look deeper at the context and
meanings that give us one of our most quoted verses of scripture. But to do that, I’ll need to start from the
end.
1 Cor 13:12 was written by the
Apostle Paul
12 For now
we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but
then shall I know even as also I am known.
- Paul did not always see clearly. Look up and remind yourself of the story of Saul, who became Paul.
- Glass in this verse is comes from the Greek esoptron, which some have translated as a mirror. But Paul, as we know, was a zealous student of the Mosaic tradition, and some suggest the esoptron or glass refers instead to the Jewish tradition of an aspaklaria (speculum), or polished stones that shine through which we may see the face of God.
- When we look through the glass, either literally or figuratively as we ponder the scriptures, we may see in part, but not clearly. Paul’s is a personal testimony that the scales can fall from our eyes and that we can see clearly (as in Acts 9:18).
- Our eyes are not yet open nor able to understand what we behold, in the same way the Saul’s eyes were not yet opened when he met the Lord on the road to Damascus.
Acts 9:18
Saul becomes Paul; scales fall from his eyes.
17 And
Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him
said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even
Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that
thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
18 And
immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received
sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized….
- The Lord had to remove his physical vision for a time in order to strengthen his spiritual vision. Much like the story of the man blind from birth.
John 9:39-41 Jesus heals blind man on Sabbath (who was the sinner?)
When Christ healed the man who was blind from birth, there was a great debate about who was the sinner…whether the blind man or his parents. In response…
39 ¶And
Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not
might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
40 And
some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
- In verse 39: "see" comes from blepo, and is pretty straightforward. But "blind" is from tuphlos, meaning smoky, proud.
- Though the man had physical blindness, the Pharisees were spiritually blinded by their pride. They could not see the Lord clearly, nor their brother who suffered.
- I have made a lot about seeing clearly – but what does this mean for Charity and why is it a part of 1 Cor 13? When we cannot see clearly, what does that mean for our progression?
James 1:22-23 We are familiar with verse 5 from the Joseph Smith story.
22 But
be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For
if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass:
24 For
he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner
of man he was.
- Again, we have glass, which for some may mean mirror, for others a way to see God. Many of you may be familiar with the term narcissist. To expand on this thought, there is a well known myth that tells the story of a man called Narcissus.
Narcissus
- Narcissus was extremely proud, and turned all those who loved him away because of his pride.
- Ultimately, he fell in love with his own reflection in a pond, and wasted his life away admiring himself.
- Not only did he not see others clearly, he did not see himself clearly as the image of God.
- What he wanted to see was so much less than the truth. Which takes us back to 1 Corinthians 13:12.
1 Cor 13:12
12 For now
we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part;
but then shall I know even as also I am known.
- When we can look through that glass clearly, we will see not only God as he is, but also our brothers as they are. And we will not only know the fullness of the truth, but we will see ourselves and our brothers how God sees us. This is the first step towards having Charity.
Paul’s Journey
Paul’s journey
was in three stages…first, learning to see God, himself, and his brethren
clearly. The second step was to choose,
and to understand what that choice meant, we need to look to Peter.
2 Peter 1:5-9
5 And
beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And
to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And
to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
You might ask yourself, what is the difference between brotherly kindness and charity? Isn’t charity simply looking out for our brethren?
KJV Translation Tangent
The King James’ Translation of the bible is a miracle and an answer to
prayer. Before it’s commission,
righteous men were persecuted and executed for translating the Bible away from Latin
and into English, a language that the common man could understand.In fact, the KJV that inspired Joseph Smith’s first prayer is largely taken from the translation by Tyndale, who was burned at the stake for his efforts, but who also famously said, “If God spare my life, before very long I shall cause a plough boy to know the scriptures better than you do!”
Translators (at least those who do not have the benefit of an inspired translation) always have to make difficult choices. Partly to keep its language simple for the people of the time to understand, and partly because of the current state of scholarship, the KJV uses only 8,000 different words (compared to 17,000 in Shakespeare’s works, or the 50,000 different words the average person uses). Which means there are a lot more ways to “love” in the New Testament than it might seem.
Love
- In Peter’s text, there is a clear difference between “brotherly kindness” and “charity.”
- Brotherly Kindness comes from philadelphia. You might recognize it as a place name, but in Greek it means to love your “brother”.
- But the distinction here is that phileo, the root of that word, means to love with your heart. It is your natural state of loving someone who is easy to love; whom you identify as your brother or friend, and it has the connotation of something we cannot help but feel. Brotherly kindness, or philadelphia, is of the heart.
- Charity, on the other hand, is translated from agape. And this word for love has an entirely different set of expectations than phileo. This love is from the head, not the heart. It denotes a choice, a moral obligation, or the need to subject our own will to something greater.
- Where brotherly kindness is a natural affection, charity is a choice.
Peter goes on to
say in verses 8-9,
8 For if
these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But
he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath
forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
- If we do not choose to love, we become blinded by those things that kept us from the right choice – whether they be pride, money, fear, distraction….Those become scales for our eyes.
Becoming like Christ
Paul’s final step in his journey was to become
like Christ. It is interesting that Saul’s greatest weakness,
his zealousness, becomes Paul’s greatest strength. For immediately after the scales fall from
his eyes, the scriptures say:
20 And
straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
- And so we return to the beginning of that famous phrase in 1 Corinthians, charity never faileth.
- What exactly does that mean? To understand more completely, we have to read the phrase in context.
1 Cor. 13:8-10
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail;
whether there be tongues, they
shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall vanish away.
- These words were written before the apostasy, before prophecies fell away, before tongues ended, and before the world lost knowledge of the fullness of the Gospel.
- But where all of these things fell away, when all of these things failed, Charity remained.
- We are taught that all men are born with the light of Christ, and with the ability to choose between good and evil, whatever their circumstances.
- Charity is an eternal principal, and the one that allows men to be good, even without the fullness of the restored gospel.
- It is a choice that is available and common to all mankind – to choose to subject our own will and to choose to love those around us.
- As the verses continue, Paul says that,
9 …we know
in part, and we prophesy in part.
- Right now, our knowledge is limited, and our ability to foresee the future is partial. But in verse 10,
10 But when that
which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
- And so we end with perhaps the most misunderstood commandment in the New Testament. Let’s turn to Matthew 5:48:
Matthew 5:48
48 Be
ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48
43 ¶Ye have heard
that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But
I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That
ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust.
46 For
if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans
the same?
47 And
if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be
ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
- Perfect is a funny word. It doesn’t mean what we think it means. Perfect comes from the Latin per + facere, meaning complete or whole.
- As Paul tells us over and over again, if we do not see clearly, and do not choose to love, we only see a part of what God intends for us…we are not complete.
- As the Savior says in this passage, if we only love those whom it is easy to love, or pray for those we feel deserve it, or pour out our light and riches only on those we deem worthy, we are incomplete.
- As God does, we must choose to make the “sun shine on both the evil and the good” and to “send rain on the just and the unjust.” Because it is only light that can chase away the darkness in the hearts of men, and it is only water that can wash away their sins.
Conclusion
Having
charity is the story of a man called Saul, who was zealous for what he
believed, but didn’t see himself or the world around him clearly. It is the choice to become Paul, to pull the scales from our eyes and choose to see the world truthfully, and to act on what we know.
And it is the blessing of being complete, like the Savior and our Father. Charity is a choice, and it is a choice that will never fail us.
