1 Corinthians 13:1-13
“True Love, No Really, True Love”
02.09.03
Sunday Morning Sermon
“Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church body.”
Intro:
Whoever loves much, does much. Thomas a’ Kempis.
On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him. C.S. Lewis.
I firmly believe that we don’t know what love is. Our culture has taken this idea of love and made a reality TV show out of it. Our culture, our nation and our society hasn’t got the first clue about love. Every week it seems like another actor and actress are getting a divorce. Our movies and TV shows are filled to the top with many things portraying something that’s close enough to what we understand as love, we can’t tell the difference. The people most qualified to speak about true love are those who know and understand the love of God. The Bible says that God is love. If I don’t know God, I don’t know love. It might look like the two can work without each other – relationships can work without a drop of love. Since we know God – we should love one another. If we don’t love one another we don’t know God. Doesn’t mean that we can’t know about him, it means that we haven’t made him Lord. Doesn’t mean that we have to know everything about him – it simply means we haven’t made him Lord until his love for us – causes us to love those we wouldn’t normally seek out and love.
Valentine’s Day is special for many people. It’s the day that we can reflect on those we love, either because we have them here with us, or those who have gone on. There is nothing wrong with the celebration of a love that has gone. Many men struggle with emotion on Valentine’s Day. We want to express our love – but somehow the words get tangled. It’s then that we realize the girl can over look a lot of stupidity to put up with someone like us. When I went to college and figured out that I wasn’t the geek everyone on High School thought I was – I memorized scripture. 1st Cor. 7:1 – “Now for the matters I wrote you about: It is good for a man not to marry.”
Discussion:
The Bible speaks about love over and over. There are 3 kinds of love – only two are in the Bible. The third kind is found in writings that were written at the same time as the New Testament books. The first kind of love is Agape – which is God’s love for us. Our text this morning in 1st Corinthians speaks about Agape love. The second kind of love is Philo love. This is brotherly love, a friendship kind of love. This is the love that Jonathan and David from the Old Testament had for each other. The third kind of love is Eros love. This is the kind never found in the Bible – it’s a sexual love.
Let’s turn to our text this morning 1st Corinthians 13:1-13 (read)
This text is clearly divided 3 ways. The first is:
I. Excellence in love displayed (1-4)
Paul starts off verse 1 – Now I will show you a more excellent way. What he is saying – church you have acted like you love each other, but you are simply going through the motions. Church you have acted like you love your brother, that you can see, but you are simply going through the motions. Church – This is the MOST excellent way! It’s interesting to me that the most controversial section of scripture speaks about gifts and love. They had problems. They were doing all the right things on the outside but they didn’t love each other on the inside.
a. Spiritual gifts listed
i. Gifts into actions
ii. Whatever you do – do out of love
1. If God gives you the ability to speak so clearly and people flock to hear your words.
2. If God gives you the gift of prophecy – many times in scripture this means that you are holding a video camera instead of a crystal ball. – You have the ability to tell people what is truly going on around them.
3. If God gives you the ability to have great faith – and you display that faith over and over.
4. If God plants within your heart the desire to give all your possessions to the poor – and what Paul says – “Surrender your body to the flames.”
All those things are worthless without love. If something else is a motivating factor you will fail. Shortly after the Super Bowl – the person interviewing John Gruden asked him how long he would be a coach. For those of you who don’t watch football – he has a passion for coaching. His response – This is my passion and I will coach until that passion is gone. He loves the game of football. He loves the people he coaches.
iii. What about us –
1. What gifts are you showing?
2. How do you know you have gifts?
3. Assuming that you have gifts how do you know what they are?
a. Finding your spiritual gifts
i. First pray and ask God to reveal your gifts to you.
ii. Look at what you do professionally. What do you like for hobbies. Maybe your gift isn’t
iii. It’s possible – the spiritual gift you have isn’t something different than what you already enjoy doing.
1. Maybe it’s cooking and you can bring cookies.
2. Maybe it’s encouragement – the ability to seek out those who are discouraged and lift them up.
Whatever you do – do it with love. You can make the best cookies in the world, but without love they aren’t the same. You can call people and offer encouragement – but without love, it’s only words.
Paul goes on to explain
II. Excellence in Love defined (5-7)
a. Explained – Patience take anything from others.
i. This isn’t our love for each other – trust me – it’s not an earthly love.
ii. This is God’s love for us. This is the Characteristic of God’s love for us.
1. His love is Patient
a. The word literally means “long suffering”. More times than not it speaks of being patient with a person not a situation.
An early church father said – “It’s a word which is used of a man who is wronged and who has it easily within his power to avenge himself but will never do it.”
b. God’s Characteristic --- Himself
i. His patience keeps him from destroying the world
2 Peter 3:9 -- The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
ii. His patience allows time for men to be saved.
Robert Ingersoll, the well-known atheist of the last century, often would stop in the middle of his lectures against God and say, “I’ll give God five minutes to strike me dead for the things I’ve said.” He then used the fact that he was not struck dead as proof that God didn’t exist. Theodore Parker said of Ingersoll’s claim, “And did the gentleman think he could exhaust the patience of the eternal God in 5 minutes?”
c. God’s characteristic – in us
i. Don’t pay back – Don’t get revenge
Romans 12:17 -- Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
ii. Patience should be in all of us – some of you think you are being patient right now with this sermon.
Ephesians 4:2 -- Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
If patience will take anything from others – kindness will give anything to others.
d. Love is Kind
i. Explained –
1. useful
2. serving
3. gracious
Peter tells us that we should “long for the pure milk of the word” and thereby “grow in respect to salvation,” because we “have tasted the kindness of the lord (1 Peter 2:2-3).
e. Kindness lived
i. Are you being Kind?
1. Christian people and Christian families should be kind to one another.
2. Christian brothers and sisters should be kind to one another.
3. Husbands and Wives – this should be a no brainer – but you should be kind to each other. If you aren’t, check out your relationship with Jesus.
Let me say it this way – If your young people understand Christian values and hold to the word of God, you will find many things that we dread about teenagers decrease. But let me tell you this before you start praying for them to change – you have to change yourself. They are only doing what they have seen you do – that sounds harsh and possibly even untrue – but think about it.
f. God is kind
Romans 2:4 – Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
i. His kindness will bring people around to him.
ii. His kindness will bring people back to his house
iii. His kindness will bring people back to fellowship with him.
God uses his people to be kind to those who need to be brought back around. Is he using you in this way? Is there someone who needs to know Jesus, renew a relationship or even start back to church? Try this: be kind to them. If you are already being kind to them, be kinder and see how that works. If you care about people on a small level – they will invite you into their lives on the bigger things. Someone told a class of preaching students they should go calling. One of the students asked why – he honestly wanted to know. The reply was simple but it came from years of experience he said – “If you don’t care about me when I am healthy, leave me alone when I am sick.”
g. Paul mentions 14 more characteristics of God’s love
While I would love to go through all of them I know you will get more out of it, if we hit the main points – but it’s my prayer that you will go back and read all 16 points and see how they effect you and what changes you should make in your life to be more like God in his love.
h. God’s love is not self-seeking
i. Do we share in that with God – or do we look after what we want first?
There is a tombstone in a small English village that reads,
Here lies a miser who lived for himself,
And cared for nothing but gathering wealth.
Now were he is or how he fares,
Nobody knows and nobody cares.
In contrast, a plain tombstone in the courtyard at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London reads, “sacred to the memory of General Charles George Gordon, who at all times and everywhere gave his strength to the weak, his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering, his heart to God.”
ii. The person who displays the love of God, looks after others first.
When I first learn about a checking account, it was tough to understand about record keeping and the importance of keeping a record of the money you spent, and the deposits you made. It’s important for any business to keep good records. The purpose of making records is to keep them for future date. You want to know where all the money went, or how to cut some expense to have more money you keep records and you save. That is the correct thing to do when it comes to business and personal management.
i. God’s love keeps no record of wrongs
i. God’s love forgets the past.
1. Have you confessed your sins before God? He forgave them the very minute you confessed.
2. You don’t have to carry around a load of guilt and shame over the sin.
ii. This is making our love take a step up
1. It’s not easy for us to do this
2. The world says forget the past you should get burned!
3. A Non-Christian says - You do something against me – I might look on the outside like I don’t care or that it doesn’t bother me – but in my heart I am making a list. Can you relate to that? Honestly ask yourself – am I doing that?
j. Last 5 statements about God’s love
i. Always protects
ii. Always trusts
iii. Always hopes
iv. Always perseveres
v. Love NEVER fails
Paul has told us about love on display, he has defined true love – God’s holy and pure love and he’s going to finish with giving us excellence in mature love.
III. Excellence in mature love (8-13)
a. Immature love
i. Based on things that pass away
ii. Based on hopes and dreams that are unachievable
iii. Might even be based on the Eros love that I mentioned earlier in this sermon.
Immature love is something like this: When I was younger my mom told me that if I made the honor roll I would receive the CD player of my choice. That’s nothing today, but back then a cheap on cost $100.00. – The same model would be $20 today. That summer I had a job. I saved up and bought a CD player because I couldn’t see the bigger picture. All it would have taken was extra effort and a little time on my part and the Biggest and best CD player would have been mine. I cut myself short, instead of trusting. Fall rolled around, school started I was on the honor roll. Immature love says I will take what I can get now instead of waiting for something better letter.
b. Paul says –
i. When I was a child
1. I thought like a child
2. I acted like a child
3. I reasoned like a child.
ii. Now that I am a man
1. I have to put that child like behaviors behind me.
iii. A reminder
1. What you see now is simply a reflection of what is to come.
2. Right now you only know in part – we don’t know everything.
3. When Christ comes back – we will know everything.
a. We will be able to understand all the whys and hows of the universe.
b. We will remove this body of flesh and be with him in glory.
c. We will live with him forever in heaven.
I don’t know about you – But I am excited about that day. I am excited about the day I will leave this world and finally be able to go home. We get caught up thinking this is home – if you are a Christian – this isn’t close to home. This world with all the features and benefits it has in it and the beautiful places that we call beautiful has NOTHING on heaven. We went to the Grand Canyon a couple summers ago and if heaven is ½ as pretty as the Grand Canyon I’ll be impressed – but I know for a fact it will be 100 times better – because it is home.
c. Closure on this chapter
1 Corinthians 13:13 -- And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
i. Can’t improve on Paul
1. The greatest of these is love
Conclusion:
Ted Stallard undoubtedly qualifies as the one of "the least." Turned off by school. Very sloppy in appearance. Expressionless. Unattractive. Even his teacher, Miss Thompson, enjoyed bearing down her red pen -- as she placed Xs beside his many wrong answers.
If only she had studied his records more carefully. They read:
1st grade: Ted shows promise with his work and attitude, but (has) poor home situation.
2nd grade: Ted could do better. Mother seriously ill. Receives little help from home.
3rd grade: Ted is good boy but too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.
4th grade: Ted is very slow, but well-behaved. His father shows no interest whatsoever.
Christmas arrived. The children piled elaborately wrapped gifts on their teacher’s desk. Ted brought one too. It was wrapped in brown paper and held together with Scotch Tape. Miss Thompson opened each gift, as the children crowded around to watch. Out of Ted’s package fell a gaudy rhinestone bracelet, with half of the stones missing, and a bottle of cheap perfume. The children began to snicker. But she silenced them by splashing some of the perfume on her wrist, and letting them smell it. She put the bracelet on too.
At day’s end, after the other children had left, Ted came by the teacher’s desk and said, "Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother. And the bracelet looks real pretty on you. I’m glad you like my presents." He left. Miss Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her and to change her attitude.
The next day, the children were greeted by a reformed teacher -- one committed to loving each of them. Especially the slow ones. Especially Ted. Surprisingly -- or maybe, not surprisingly, Ted began to show great improvement. He actually caught up with most of the students and even passed a few.
Time came and went. Miss Thompson heard nothing from Ted for a long time. Then, one day, she received this note:
Dear Miss Thompson:
I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my class.
Love, Ted
Four years later, another note arrived:
Dear Miss Thompson:
They just told me I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be first to know. The university has not been easy, but I liked it.
Love, Ted
And four years later:
Dear Miss Thompson:
As of today, I am Theodore Stallard, M.D. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now; Dad died last year.
Miss Thompson attended that wedding, and sat where Ted’s mother would have sat. The compassion she had shown that young man entitled her to that privilege.
Let’s have some real courage, and start giving to "one of the least." He may become a Ted Stallard. Even if that doesn’t happen, we will have been faithful to the One who has always treated us -- as unworthy as we are -- like very special people.
Do you want to begin a relationship with Jesus this morning? Are you ready to step out and say – I am ready to begin that journey as a Christian. Maybe you are sitting there this morning and you have already made the step out and walked to the front – but you have since walked away. You didn’t mean to do it, it just happened. Come this morning and claim his love for you and your life.
