Friday, May 14, 2004 AD
1 Cor 13: "hymn to love", or spiritual shock treatment?
I mentioned to a commenter (correction: on a comment on Andy Bartus' blog) that I would try to post Dick Lucas's exposition of 1 Corinthians 13; saying this more in hope than in expectation of finding a copy on the web. But now, thanks to the miracle of Google, here it is.
Lucas points out that 1 Corinthians 13 is a much-abused passage, almost invariably ripped out of its context in 1 Cor 12-14 and taken as a free-floating "hymn to love". In fact, St Paul's purpose in writing the chapter was a lot more pointed, as Lucas demonstrates in this exposition (which is worth printing out and reading carefully, with the text to hand). Lucas uses this as an illustration of why preaching is so necessary, as without explanation people are liable to misinterpret and misuse even (or especially?) a key chapter like 1 Corinthians 13.
As Lucas points out:
Now in his late 70s, he is continuing to travel around speaking at churches and preaching conferences, with a real desire to pass on to younger generations of ministers his passion for expository biblical preaching. He is easily the best preacher I've ever heard, and he also has a rather acerbic and biting wit, which makes him engaging, if not always relaxing, company.
One of my favourite Dick Lucas comments comes from when he preached at our last church a couple of years ago. He announced the text - 1 Timothy something-or-other - and said, "I'm not going to tell you the page number. The Bible is the most important book in the world, and if you don't know your way round it then you should do." That's the spirit!
Lucas points out that 1 Corinthians 13 is a much-abused passage, almost invariably ripped out of its context in 1 Cor 12-14 and taken as a free-floating "hymn to love". In fact, St Paul's purpose in writing the chapter was a lot more pointed, as Lucas demonstrates in this exposition (which is worth printing out and reading carefully, with the text to hand). Lucas uses this as an illustration of why preaching is so necessary, as without explanation people are liable to misinterpret and misuse even (or especially?) a key chapter like 1 Corinthians 13.
As Lucas points out:
No girl in Corinth wrote to the apostle with the request that he speak at her wedding when next he came by, on the grounds that he wrote so marvellously about ‘love’; if she wrote at all it would be to warn Paul about the angry and resentful reception he might expect from the elders as a result of his plain speaking.For those of you who have never heard of Dick Lucas, he was for many years the minister at St Helen's Bishopgate, a large conservative evangelical Anglican church in the City of London. He was also one of the founders of Proclamation Trust, which has probably done more than any other organisation in the UK to promote sound expository preaching.
Now in his late 70s, he is continuing to travel around speaking at churches and preaching conferences, with a real desire to pass on to younger generations of ministers his passion for expository biblical preaching. He is easily the best preacher I've ever heard, and he also has a rather acerbic and biting wit, which makes him engaging, if not always relaxing, company.
One of my favourite Dick Lucas comments comes from when he preached at our last church a couple of years ago. He announced the text - 1 Timothy something-or-other - and said, "I'm not going to tell you the page number. The Bible is the most important book in the world, and if you don't know your way round it then you should do." That's the spirit!
