I pulled open the blackout curtains to the light spilling around the edges of the large picture window. The grand view of the vast high desert lay under a thick blanket of smoke. Red Hill, the area's namesake volcano at just two airmiles away, was barely visible. "Through a Glass Darkly," I thought.

A raven soared overhead, its black silhouette fierce against the pale gray sky. I leaned into the window with my cellphone to capture the eerie image. Deceptively beautiful, it looked as if a thick fog had settled over the land but it smelled of charred wood and ashes.

The water in the kettle rumbled over the fire on the stove, signaling that it was hot and ready to pour over my morning coffee. After pouring the water, I gathered my robe about me and a tin of cat food. Mr Bumpers, our adopted stray, greeted me at the door to the greenhouse where he sleeps. I spooned his food into his dish and turned to go back into the house. Just as I shut the door behind me, he let out a low, loud cat yowl. Apparently, his paw caught in the jamb. I immediately opened the door and, feeling terribly guilty, invited him to come inside. He happily obliged, without any obvious injury.

With coffee and reading glasses in hand, I made my way to the chair where I often sit to do my daily Bible reading. Mr Bumpers jumped into my lap. We settled in and I read from a well-known passage.

Devotional 1 Cor. 13:8-13 The Love Chapter

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but then perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

1 Cor. 13:8-10 NIV

Context

Paul, during his third missionary journey, directed this reminder to the church, the gathering of the saints who were called out to follow Jesus, in the major metropolitan area of Corinth.

The city of Corinth was located on the sea with ports to its north and to its south. Great trade and wealth funneled through this center and gave rise to bustling markets for textiles, pottery, and wine shops and lent itself to much cultural diversity.

"Located on the isthmus that joins mainland Greece to the Peloponnese, Corinth was one of the most prosperous and economically diverse cities in the ancient Greek and Roman empires." (see citation with image of the ancient market here: https://sitemap.bibleodyssey.com/articles/the-church-at-corinth/

Formerly a Greek city, Rome rebuilt Corinth in 44 BC and the city became a hybrid of Greco-Roman identity with up to 12 temples in the area dedicated to the gods and goddesses. It is said that a thousand Aphrodite temple priestesses would descend into the city to seduce seafarers and travelling salesmen. https://apologeticspress.org/corinth-a-city-of-corruption-4914/

This fascinating world also played host to the biennial Isthmian Games. These athletic competitions were second in importance to the Olympics, held in honor of Poseidon.

Corinth sounds like a city that would appeal to many today. In fact, any number of our cities could be substituted as a modern day Corinth.

With the knowledge of this rich and dynamic context, we see the church in Corinth desperately struggling in a world with it's diverse cultural and religious (Greco-Roman pagan) roots and practices.

Freedom in Christ

The Corinthian Christians misinterpreted their freedom in Christ to allow for all manner of sexual immorality and immodesty practiced in their culture. Paul rebukes them for these practices and gives them this letter, one of three, as correction. Only two of the letters survived. But there is enough meat in this letter to be relevant today.

I read on.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now, we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

1 Cor. 13:11-12 NIV

The King James version renders this verse with the familiar wording as, "For now we see through a glass darkly."

This verse contrasts the veiled and clouded vision of our understanding, limited by our earthly bodies and minds, with the coming clarity we will have in our resurrected form. Paul goes on to make this connection in chapter 15. In fact, he hinges all these teachings regarding faith, love, and gifts on the hope of resurrection. He says,

"If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'"

1 Cor. 15:32b NIV

Without the resurrection, our faith is in vain. Even more, Paul says,

"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins... If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

1 Cor. 15:17 & 19 NIV

Application

Because of the significance of The Resurrection, Paul's argument concludes with the beloved verse well-quoted in wedding ceremonies. Paul challenges the Corinthian Christians to contrast the free-living, hedonistic lifestyle of debauchery and sexual immorality with the redeemed life guided by the hope of resurrection in Jesus's kingdom where all things, including gifts, will pass away but what remains always is this:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Cor. 13:13

When I study, I want to know the context, the history and the world as they lived it. Maps help visualize the place. Historical documents lend outside validity to the text. Cross-referencing with other scriptures builds a story that includes other significant figures. Archaeological evidence gives us a glimpse into real lives of real people who lived long before us but shared the same human experience.

It is through these tools that over 2000 years later, as we look through a glass darkly, that we can gain some clarity in our faith vision until the time comes when we shall be perfected. We continue to study the Word, though maybe we've read it before, and hold it as a mirror up to our own lives as a measure of the transformed holiness that is given to us by Christ himself.

In the midst of a culture not very different from Corinth in Rome, we continue to use our gifts for the glory of God. But we also know from this passage that all these gifts will, in time, pass away and those which will remain forever are faith, hope and love. A holy, uncorrupted, Holy Spirit love.

Maranatha,

Pamella Gayle