A Portrait of Love

A Portrait of Love
Love Without Limits, prt. 6
Wildwind Community Church
David Flowers
February 6, 2010


1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails...

1 John 4:8 (NIV)
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
4 God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud.
5 He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs.
6 God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 God never fails...

Today we bring to a close our series on the love of God. What I have tried to do over the last few weeks is put these cookies on a lower shelf – one all of us can reach. In doing this I am not in any way lowering or demeaning God, for God – in Christ – lowered HIMSELF. The whole purpose of His coming was so that we who were so tired of fruitless efforts to reach up to him could finally stop straining, and simply welcome into our midst the one who had reached down to us.

As I speak, great violence is being done to people all across this nation – all over the world. The message of God’s love, of grace, of being steadfastly in the grip of the one we cannot grasp – that message is being substituted in pulpits all over the world for a message of striving and effort. God’s complete sufficiency is being snuffed out in favor of focus on our insufficiency. Millions of people who are lonely, frustrated, discouraged, angry, confused, heartbroken, convinced that they are worthless, people who are isolated from love, who do not know grace, who have not experienced mercy, and who come into our churches seeking it, hoping to see it modeled in a word, a gesture, and maybe a sermon, will walk away more convinced than ever of the greatest heresy the church has ever propagated, which is the idea that there is space between us and God – that we cannot get to him – that he is unavailable to us – that we must say the magic words, fill out the response card, show up in church, come to the altar, or otherwise rub the lamp to get him to show up.

So let me be clear now to whom I am speaking. I am speaking to you, those in the pews this morning. Many of you barely made it here today. Some of you are glad you did, others of you are still not sure. I am speaking to you, people from this congregation who are not with us this morning but are listening to our podcast. I am speaking to you who have never been to this church. Some of you are thinking about coming. Others of you will never come. I am speaking to some perhaps in this congregation, perhaps listening on a CD or podcast, who went home with someone last night they shouldn’t have gone home with. I’m speaking to those who are struggling with their sexual orientation and think that because you are attracted to the same sex God cannot or does not love you. I’m speaking to those who are