St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

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The Virtues of Faith, Hope and Love

1 Corinthians 13

May 7, 2006        (Click this link to see the bulletin)

1. Years ago, probably 35 or 37, my 13-year-old cousin hanged himself. It was awful! He was my favorite uncle’s only son; the youngest of the cousins; the last to be born in that generation. There would be no more. He was such a bright kid; was wise beyond his years. He had such a promising future! When it happened, the whole family fell into despair. Somehow we got through the days between his death and the funeral. Numbly we drove to the Church to gather with his young friends as we said our good-byes. After we buried him, we went back to my aunt and uncle’s home. Guilt polluted the air in their living room. There were so many questions! How could this have happened? Had we missed an important clue? Could we have intervened to save his life? If you’ve ever been in that situation, you know what I mean. None of us knew what to say that might shine even the slightest ray of hope into that gloom. Then a miracle happened! Laura came into the room, carried by her mother, who, along with me, anchored down the oldest end of the age spectrum in that array of cousins. Laura was just a baby at the time. The arrival of that baby saved us!

2. How can a baby save a room full of sad adults? Well, for one thing, a baby demands attention. Can you imagine a baby being carried into a room without the rest of us immediately diverting our focus away from whatever was to that which will be? Doesn’t a baby transform doom and gloom into bright light? You bet! We have an example right here among us! Little Hanna Turley! None of us can see her pass by without interrupting what we are doing to focus on her. As she gets older and starts smiling or waving, oh my goodness! I can hardly wait!

3. And we have another example of a baby bringing hope, an example from Scripture! Remember what happened to the Israelites about 800 years before Jesus was born? Their leaders were carried off into exile They fell into despair. They just knew they would be invaded again, all of them would be killed. As far as they knew, they had no future! Their memory would fade into history. They asked God for some sign of hope, and God sent them words of hope through the Prophet Isaiah. Those words are recorded in Isaiah 7, beginning with the 10^th verse. Isaiah pointed to a young woman in the crowd: "Look at that young woman over there. She has never had a baby, and she is pregnant! When the baby is born, his father will name ‘Immanuel’ (which means God is with us)" [not God against us, or God far away from us, but GOD WITH US! It’s a miracle]. Isaiah continues, "He will grow up and learn good from evil, but even before he is old enough to learn, your leaders will have been freed and will come home." Their future was secure, and that unborn baby was the sign God was sending to them. In other words, babies and children are God’s promise that there will be a future! That promise was true for the Israelites, it was true for my family years ago, and it is still true today!

4. These kids up here in the choir loft, and the ones sitting in the pews among you, all of these children are God’s sign to US that there will be a future -- and that future looks good! In a metaphorical sense, these children are seeds to plant, and we will nurture their growth with three virtues in the gardens of our lives – the virtues of faith, hope and love. Imagine these beautiful "flowers" growing! Look at ‘em! Here’s Faith! Faith believes in the right things. What could be more right than believing in children! But believing is more than just head stuff. Believing is also taking action to show the world what you believe. Every time we baptize a child, we all pledge to help the parents in their tough job of child-rearing. Each of us vows that we will show our faith in very active ways. And here is Hope. Hope takes a positive view of the future, a view that good will prevail. And look at Love. Love has a deep concern for others, one that will make us stop what we’re doing and go out of our way to help someone else. Paul says these virtues will last forever – and the most important of them all is love.

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